Yesterday saw the final stage in the Absa Cape pic 9 day race. Before the dust settles and event is just a memory in my 2008 season I want to share how happy I felt during the final 62km.

I pretty much drifted to the bottom and back over the final 3 and a half days of the Cape Epic stage race. At 115km of the 146 km stage 5,  I (as Sue ( my partner ) aptly said died 1000 deaths) and sucked wheels home to our third stage victory. That night I started getting sick and by stage 6 had a sinus infection. It was okay though we backed it off a bit and still rode strong to 2nd place on the day. Day 7 however was brutal for me. My respiratory infection had gone into my bronchials and I felt really grotty. So I counted down the kms all 91 of them knowing that all that mattered was the finish of the stage. I was a mess at the end but thats part of it eh?

Day 8 dawned and with it the last day. What a ride. It was what I came for and its is my drug of choice. The utter confidence of knowing I can do it. The absolute knowledge that 'its all good'. I was so happy. As I was riding I was thanking everything in my head. K'ms didn't matter, Terrain didn't matter, Riding a bike was fun and  I was loving it. Sign me up again. I want more.

I'm so thankful forthis experience. It was awesome!

The Trek/VW ladies ( Sue and I ) finished 2nd overall. The men ( Chris and Jeramiah) 11th. It was a great investment on the part of our team to send us here and it has paid enormous dividends in terms of PR, press, media and exposure. These events suit and need more top tier womens teams and it is great that Trek/VW and Trek/ Dolphin have invested in this event.

Following suit I wish to thank Steve and Laura (our mechanic and Soigner) as their respective role's where vital. Our bikes and equipment where basically problem free. We used the new 08 SID forks on our bikes here and I was very impressed. I have used Rockshox forksfor quite a few years now and in my opinion the  08 SID is by far the best crosscountry fork. Solid and dependable. I probably locked it out on average once a day only if it was a pavement climb otherwise I didn't give its function a second thought.

Happy riding
Jennifer smith