Prologue - Meerendal

The Prologue was set once again at the Meerendal Wine Estate of Durbanville.  Today, riders started of the ramp and went through the front doors of Meerendal Manor, then out back and down the steps to then red over giant bags of grapes which are being crushed by riders wheels throughout the day to make wine later.  Riders then took on the first 23 km of the Absa Cape Epic, including the infamous Stairway to Heaven Climb.

Mike and Thomas took fourth in the Grand Masters Category with a time of 1:15:10.  Both kept the rubber side down today, quite the feat for these two.  Less than a minute separated Mike and Thomas from the third place team, The Absa Grand Masters, so it may be a tight race for the podium this week.

Jose Hermieda and Rudi van Houts of the Multivan Merida Biking Team took the stage win today for the Pro Men.  They were the first of only two teams that broke the one hour barrier, with a time of 59:08.  Full results from the Prologue can be found here.

The Stages Before the Stages... Pre-Cape Epic

Getting to Cape Town, South Africa is almost as much of an effort as the Epic itself.  Three continents in two days and over 22 hours of total flight time left us with a bit of a jet lag.  Luckily our eight hour layover in London gave us a bit of a break to stretch our legs and we took full advantage.  Thomas and Mike rented city bikes and made me chase them around on foot as we tried to navigate our way to the London Bridge.

On our way from Hyde Park, we managed to see Big Ben, The Parliament Building, Buckingham Palace, and we were only yelled at by the bobbies twice, despite biking on the wrong side of the road for most of the time.

After another two flights, we arrived in Cape Town on Thursday morning and we have been enjoying the city since.  

Yesterday, Thomas and Mike road out to Durbanville and Meerendal Wine Estates, where they previewed some trails that they will be seeing again in tomorrow's Prologue.  Meanwhile, I was hiking in Table Mountain National Park.  The spiders that live in these parts are a bit large for my liking... And when I say large I mean bigger than my hand.  Luckily I survived that encounter to attend a wine tasting and picnic at Cape Point Vineyard, which had incredible food, wine and views!

Today brought more adventures as we drove our Sir Richards/Kappius Jeep to Kalk Bay, for lunch at the Brass Bell, and then to Boulder Beach, where we saw the African Penguins!

The views on the drive back to Cape Town were absolutely breathtaking.

 Tomorrow brings Mike and Thomas's third start together as they ride through Meerendal Wine Estate for the 2014 Absa Cape Epic.  This year they will have live tracking on riders and they can be followed here.  Best of luck to Mike and Thomas tomorrow and the rest of the week!

Absa Cape Epic 2014 (By Anna Hogan)

Mike Hogan and Thomas Dooley have known each other since the age of 13.  They met at the American Birkebeiner cross country ski race way back when and have been flogging each other on skis, on bikes, running and anything else they can compete at.  Next week on Tuesday they leave to take on the 2014 Absa Cape Epic in South Africa… and I get to come along and enjoy the food, wine and country while I watch these two crazy old guys suffer through eight days of getting way too much exercise.  Sounds good to me.

After unfortunate crashes in the past two Cape Epic’s we are all hoping that the third time is the charm for Mike and Thomas.  They will be racing in the Grand Masters (100+ combined) Category.

You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. We're also submitting our stories and video to mtbr.com. Our friends at marathonmtb.com will also be covering this crazy race and most likely bringing up how old they are and the amount of beer, wine and red meat they consume during the race. Watch the video if you're curious.

Mike and Thomas will be riding for Kappius Components (kappiuscomponents.com) and Sir Richard's Condom Co. (sirrichards.com). Sir Richard's is a (RED) partner working to help fight aids in Africa and has donated over 1.5 million condoms to Haiti with it's buy one give one program. This is our chance to spread the word for Sir Richard's in South Africa and discover more opportunities to donate condoms worldwide. We'd like to also thank our great sponsors: Karen Hogan and Shigemi Dooley, Kappius Components, Cannondale, Jeep, TDA_Boulder, FirstBank, Brookfield Residential, Outdoor Prolink, Beaver's SportShop, Boulder Cycle Sport, Crank Bros, Rotor, and mtbr.com. Thanks Rus and Brady Kappius for getting our bikes race-ready and creating the finest wheels, rims and hubs in the world  (www.kappiuscomponents.com) They'll need them. Thanks also to our support crew: JP Van Der Watt, his father and Alta-Marie Bekker and all our friends in South Africa. Looking for to a great adventure. Stay tuned…

Team Kappius at the Colorado State CX Championships

Jeff Hall Took 3rd in the SM 45+ Category

Karen Hogan Placed 5th in the Woman's Open Field

Team Kappius put up a show on Saturday and

Sunday at the Colorado State CX Championships.

We had 12 riders, with 3 podium finishes.

 Mike Hogan, Jeff Hall, and David Weber took 1st, 3rd and 5th in the SM 45+ category, and those weren't the only great finishes.  Clay Harris and Scott Upton took 9th and 10th in the SM 35+ category also.  Karen's fifth place finish placed her as the first non-pro finisher, behind world class athletes like Georgia Gould and Meredith Miller

Domination at the Winter Park Superloop for Team Kappius

Team Kappius had a great showing at the second race of the Winter Park series, a.k.a. the Superloop.  We had a total of 3 first place finishers, who were Mark Gouge, Karen Hogan and Mike Hogan.  Mark beat Rus Kappius himself in a tight race in the Expert men 50+ category, giving Rus the Silver medal.  Keith Sanders placed fourth in that same category, and Jack Boltz placed 11th.

Mark and Rus on the podium

Kappius Rocks the PV Derby

Multiple Kappius riders raced the PV Derby on Saturday, including Jeff Hall, who won the Marathon Men 40- 49, and Michelle Bliss, who won the women
single speed open category.  Here are the race
results: http://www.warriorscycling.com/results/2013/Current%202013%20RME%20Standings.pdf

Kappius kickstarts a new hub

Kappius Components recently launched a Kickstarter campaign, featuring a new type of Kappius hub: the KH2.  This hub can utilize any cogset, and has many of the advantages of the KH1, making it more usable and more affordable for a wider range of riders.  Check out http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/432274460/the-kh2-by-kappius-components?ref=live, to get this campaign going.

Cape Epic Stage 7 - Lourensford

The final stage of the Epic was 54 km, taking riders from Stellenbosch to their final destination: Lourensford Wine Estate.  Mike Hogan rode with Will Hayter, who was the rider that crashed in front of Mike at the Cape Epic 2 years ago, causing Mike to crash out as well.  This year, Mike arrived at the finish line in one piece, and in just under 3 hours, which would have moved him up to 9th in the General Classification of Masters.  Congratulations to Mike on his first Cape Epic finish!!

Team Burry Stander - Songo held the lead to win the Cape Epic.  Multivan Merida took the stage win with a sprint finish agaisnt the South African Team Scott Factory Racing.

Cape Epic Stage 6 - Wellington to Stellenbosch

 The trek from Wellington to Stellenbosch was a 99km  route with 3000 meters of climbing.  Riders woke up to a rainy morning, but arrived in Stellenbosch to a sunny day at about 75 degrees.

Mike Hogan finished the stage in 5 hours and 44 minutes, and is staying consistently in 11th.  

He also remains in 10th place for the General Category.

Jarlslov Kulhavy and Christoph Sauser are staying consistent as well, with another stage win.  They are now winning by about 6 minutes over Team Bulls.

Cape Epic Stage 5 - Wellington

Today's 75 km stage with 1800 m of climbing was the shortest stage of the Cape Epic.  Mike Hogan would have taken 11th in the stage once again and remains in 10th in the General Category.

And you thought guys with this little of hair couldn't get helmet hair...

Team Burry Stander - Songo won the stage again, although this time all the lead riders stayed on course.  Kulhavy and Sauser extended their General Category lead by 3 minutes today over the Team Bulls, who came in 3rd behind the Scott-Swisspower MTB-Racing Team.  

Cape Epic Stage 4 - Tulbagh to Wellington

Today's stage left the Saronsberg Wine Estate and traveled 120 km to the town of Wellington.  The route took riders over Bain's Kloof Pass, with a beautiful view of the valley they were about to descend into to make their way to Wellington.  

Stage 4 was conquered by Mike Hogan in 5 hours and 46 minutes.  This would have placed him 11th in the stage and 10th in the general classification.

Team Burry Stander - Songo took the stage win today, but this time it was the Bulls teams that went off course.  At the top of Bain's Kloof Pass, Kulhavy and Sauser lead by about 3 minutes above the chase group, which consisted of team Bulls and Team Bulls 2, as well as Team Multivan Merida.  The chase group was lead off course by signs that had been posted for tomorrow's course. Team Burry Stander - Songo won the stage by 13 minutes over the second place team, but the riders who went off course lost by about 22 minutes.  This moves Team Burry Stander - Songo the yellow overall jersey, and they will start tomorrow's stage with about a 13 minute buffer on their lead.

Cape Epic Stage 3 - Tulbagh

Today's 94 km stage took riders in a figure 8 figure around the Witzembourg Valley region.  Mike Hogan finished in just under 5 hours, which would have placed him in 8th place for the stage.  Mike would be in 11th place in the overall Master's category.

Thomas has returned!! After 2 nights spent in the hospital, Thomas is back for more Cape Epic, unfortunately on as a spectator now.

A very enthusiastic crowd of children from the nearby school participated in a soccer match played on the start/finish line while the riders were out racing.  Shout out to Big Tree Foundation for helping out at this school!!

Team Bulls wins the stage AGAIN!! Team Burry Stander - Songo took a wrong turn with 3km to go, leading them a few minutes off course before they realized their mistake.  Unfortunately, this cost them precious minutes, and Team Bulls passed them while they were off course to steal the win.  Team Bulls was surprised to hear of their victory after they crossed the finish line.  A disappointed team Burry Stander - Song crossed the line less than a minute later for second place.

Cape Epic Stage 2 - Citrusdal to Tulbagh

The longest stage in the epic, of 144 km, took Mike Hogan 6 hours and 47 minutes.  He would have been 7th in the masters.  Unfortunately, he will not show in the results because he does not have a partner.  To find his result, you can scroll to the bottom of the results page here.

Thomas went into surgery last night at Pau Hospital.  The surgery went well, and he has a lot of hardware supporting his collarbone!

Team Multivan Merida was leading at the first spectator point, but had dropped off the back by the second.  Team Burry Stander - Songo (Christoph Sauser and Jarlsov Kulhavy) and Team Bulls (Karl Platt and Urs Huber) lead at the second and last spectator point, but Kulhavy and Sauser did not stand a chance today.  Team Bulls won the stage by almost 6 minutes over their second Bulls team, and by almost 9 over Team Burry Stander - Songo.  The Yellow Jersey was taken form Jose Hermida and Rudi van Houts of Team Multivan Merida by the Bulls team.

Cape Epic Stage 1 - Citrusdal

After a grueling 96 km in the sun, with almost as much walking the bike as riding it, Mike Hogan finished the stage alone today in just just over 6 hours.  Thomas Dooley went over his handlebars during a descent at about 55 km, breaking his collarbone. Thomas was taken by helicopter off course, and Mike finished the stage. 

Thomas will be going into surgery tonight in Cape Town.  

Team Multivan Merida won the stage today, after being in t he saddle for 4.5 hours.  Jose Hermida and Rudi Van Houts will wear the yellow jerseys in tomorrow's Stage 3 to Tulbaugh.

Thomas is not the only one who will be nursing a broken collarbone.  Robert Mennen went down after crashing into a duiker (a type of African deer).  

Cape Epic Prologue- Meerendal

Let the suffering begin!  

Thomas and Mike finished the prologue in 1 hour, 12 minutes, and 17 seconds, which places them in 9th for the Master's category.

Great day for team Kappius, looking forward to Stage 1 in Citrusdal tomorrow.

Don't forget you can look at live results and rider tracking here.

Good Luck to Team Kappius in the Epic!

The adventure begins tomorrow morning at a 7:39 AM start time for Mike Hogan and Thomas Dooley.    They will be racing the prologue tomorrow, the shortest stage of the race, only 22 km, starts in Meerendal Wine Estate with the Stairway to Heaven Climb, and will end in the estate as well.

With rider registration this morning, Thomas and Mike received their bibs and rider briefing, as well as possibly the largest duffel bag I have ever seen, to transport all of their gear to the different racing venues throughout the next 8 days.  This evening, Thomas and Mike messed with their bikes a lot making sure everything was perfect. 

Good Luck Thomas and Mike!