Australian Mountain Bike Dads tame the untameable
Your dad golfed this weekend? That’s cute. My dad just conquered the ABSA Cape Epic MTB race! This will, in all likelihood, be the playground conversations made by Minter Barnard (46) and Luke Beuchat’s (45) kids this week. The dad duo not only managed to finish the race with their friendship intact, but achieved their goal of being in the Top 10 Masters shake-up by finishing 8th in their category and 58th overall out of 650 teams.
The gruelling 8-day race has seen its fair share of triumphs and trials. The dad duo had to overcome 624 kilometres of riding, 16,650 meters of climbing, a swollen (and possibly broken) hand, a tetanus shot after a rusty nail incident and some serious ‘Hurt Locker’ moments. ‘There are no easy days at the Cape Epic and it has taken eight days of pushing, pulling and motivating one another to get over every stage’s finish line’, says Beuchat. ‘I felt quite emotional when we crossed the final finish line at Val de Vie Estate, knowing that we have not only grown stronger as friends, but have managed to show other dads that nothing is impossible with the support of your family, with the right preparations and mindset.’
Team Velosure met up with some amazing Australian teams during the race and stayed connected by sharing their Cape Epic moments using #capeepic2019oz. ‘It is quite easy to get stuck in everyday routines, and we sometimes forget how important it is to challenge oneself to do something out of the ordinary and to keep life interesting’, Barnard mentioned.
The event has been life-changing according to Beuchat as there is no better journey to self-reflection than riding your bike through some beautiful but brutal African wilderness. ‘We are very proud of Luke and Minter, they had a hard week on the bike and showed a lot of grit and determination. They have certainly inspired me to tackle the Cape Epic next year’, says ALDC & Velosure CEO and dad of two, Theo Grobler.
