Well, Epic has come and gone and I'm slowly picking up the pieces - bike's been repaired (2 new chainrings, new chain, new cassette and new headset - not pretty!) and wrist ligaments are back in shape. Yep, there's been an absolute dearth of postings but at the same time there's been no rides. In between all the concentration on training for Epic and the intensity of the event itself, I think I've kind of lost the whole enjoyment factor of things... The Epic becomes an all-consuming affair, taking up all of your concentration and energy in the build-up and more than a month later I still find myself feeling very bored and unmotivated. Post-event depression? Who knows...

Anyway - getting back into running, which feels completely unnatural after so much cycling, as well as some swimming... preparation for the next challenges... triathlons! I've always been keen to give these a bash and I suppose there's no time like now to start, given that my next big goal is to do an Ironman.

Coming up?

27th May - New Balance Duathlon at Gansbaai
this time round I'm not underestimating just how difficult it can be!

3rd June - Robertson Winery Wacky Wine Weekend MTB Challenge
(phew... that's a mouthful) - PPA event but what the hell... gonna be at the wine fest anyway!

7th-14th July - Good ol' Knysna Oyster Festival!
A return to my favourite town and will be doing both the mountain bike and the marathon - both awesome, awesome times (check in the archives for my previous experiences).

After that, who knows?

Ok, enough promises about making updates! The Hell and Back writeup's half done but I just can't drag myself to finish it all off... Here's a quick wrap instead:

Hell and Back: lived up to the hype and vibe from 2005's outing.... Do yourself a favour and get an entry to this year's event! It's a fantastic 2 days and the descents are insanely fast....!
24 Hours of Wiesenhof: My first experience of 24 hour riding and night-riding and boy, was it fun! We entered a 4-person mixed-team and did damn well while still having a blast in the process. Helluva tiring but a great vibe - definitely to be repeated.
Boschendal MTB: An awesome route but this was one crap ride for me - had no strength, bonked badly towards the end and to top it all, bent my derailleur hanger with 25kms to go... eugh. Muddy as hell which at least made things a little more fun!
Cape Argus: My first big road ride since the shitty Tour d' Winelands and it was an absolute hoot. Nick and I rode together (well... he rode, I held him back!) and we spent the morning cruising at a great pace. Issues with his chainring saw Nick going up Suikerbossie in his big gear and it wasn't fun trying to keep up...

And now... the big Grand Daddy of them all is coming up... The ABSA Cape Epic! Yep, Nick and I are in the final stages of preparing for this. 10 days to go and I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm nervous as hell. It's been a long, hard 4 months of training with countless hours of lost sleep and early sunrises on the mountains. Follow the race progress at http://www.cape-epic.com!

We haven't really given much thought to life post-Epic, but the Knysna Oyster fest - both the marathon and the MTB - are on the cards. Be patient.... We might even get around to updating the site!

Apologies for the lack of updates! I would blame work and holidays but it's more sheer laziness than anything else. Expect a report on 2006 Hell and Back coming soon.... I won't even bother to report on Tour d' Winelands - that has to be one of the most miserable experiences I've ever had on a bike. Wind, rain and unfriendly roadies combined for one shitty morning.

At the other end of the spectrum lies the just-completed 24 Hours of Wiesenhof. 7.5km of some of the most awesome singletrack, ridden hard by a campsite packed full of adrenaline junkies makes for one fantastic weekend - report coming soon! (that's a promise)

In other news, Nick and I have been training full-time for the upcoming Sani2C classic, as well as the Cape Epic (although still looking for entries for this!). It's been a lot of early mornings and accordingly, the social life has all but disappeared (along with budget). No complaints though - part of our preparation involved great riding in the Summerveld area up in Natal, as well as a fantastic two days in the Cathedral Peak region of the Drakensberg along with Ruth, another Epic trainee.

Amazing scenery, fantastic times... truly taking it to the max!

Terrible timing but due to a knee injury I'm out of action at the moment... Action Cricket, of all things! Just when a bunch of kick-ass races are coming up...

These include:
- Koringberg and night racing
- Table Mountain Challenge
- Cape Town Marathon
- Mast Challenge
- Gun Run

I'll try to keep up to date and post up-coming race notices.

Nope - we haven't disappeared...! Things have been quiet as of late as the season for active stuff pretty much quietens down over the festive season. I'm also giving my body some time to recover after a little "incident" in Tokai Plantation involving a mountain bike, tree roots and some rocks. Enough said! Nick's been trying to track down the seat for his bike (don't ask) and should be back in the saddle soon enough...

In the meantime, we're hoping to do the Jolly Jester Sprint AR this coming weekend (4th Dec) - stay posted. One last biggie coming up in Mid-December and then we'll take it easy before the mad rush in January!

Enjoy your festive season, people and remember: take it to the max!

There isn't going to be too much activity over the next 2 weeks as I'm resting next weekend and Nick's going to be working on regaining fitness after 2 weeks in Sabie Sabie. *koff* In the meantime we'd appreciate some suggestions for activities! The more wayout, the better...

Plans in the pipe-line include:

- Paintball
- Abseiling
- A full-on AR
- Surf-ski paddling
- Gliding

Anyone got any more suggestions? The site itself is also going to be spruced up a bit - at present the layout's very basic and there's a couple of whoopsies to fix (like dates sometimes not being shown, etc). If you have any ideas for the site, drop one of us a line:
rich@badboyz.co.za or nick@badboyz.co.za.

Take it to the max!
Rich

Welcome to the new-look BadBoyz.co.za!

This site has been created by Rich and Nick - two Cape Town-based fun-loving guys who believe in taking things to the max. It originally began life as a means to share photos with mates and has now changed direction somewhat... we aim to share our experiences with people (both good and bad) and hopefully inspire you to get out there and do crazy stuff!

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