{"id":17666,"date":"2013-01-31T00:41:05","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T22:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/ten-epics-a-question-of-luck-for-gale\/"},"modified":"2013-01-31T00:41:05","modified_gmt":"2013-01-30T22:41:05","slug":"ten-epics-a-question-of-luck-for-gale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/ten-epics-a-question-of-luck-for-gale\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Epics a question of luck for Gale"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t \"John<\/a><\/p>\n

John Gale returns for a 10th Absa Cape Epic on the trot. Photo: Sportograf<\/p>\n

John Gale, one of only nine riders to have participated in all the Absa Cape Epics to date, will return for his 10th from March 17 to 24.<\/p>\n

The 45-year-old has taken part in four Old Mutual Two Ocean Marathons and finished numerous mountain bike races such as the To Hell and Back and Nedbank sani2c.<\/p>\n

Gale and seasoned cyclists from all over the world will complete the legendary eight-day mountain bike adventure of 698km with 15 650m of climbing from Citrusdal to Lourensford Wine Estate.<\/p>\n

Gale, a chartered accountant, started mountain biking in 1997. He reckons his biggest achievement off the bike is that he has \u201cthe great and inexplicable good fortune to be married to Dr Beth Harley\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing would be possible without the support of Beth. And next to raising her children, Cape Epic training is a doddle,\u201d says Gale.<\/p>\n

His diet is managed by his wife. He says that if it were up to him he would \u201cride all day\u201d like John Denver, but the Lord and his wife wouldn\u2019t take it very well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI work when I should and cycle when it\u2019s possible, and do enough riding to be able to survive the Cape Epic.\u201d<\/p>\n

The highlight of all his Cape Epic adventures has been the 2003 edition.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the first day, after 80km, the route marshals needed policemen to keep us riding. At 100km they needed the army,\u201d says Gale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the first year we knew nothing and were completely unprepared. In the second year I\u2019d forgotten all about what happened in the first one.<\/p>\n

\u201cITB forced me to stretch and walk at 20-minute intervals. The first two events definitely stand out in my memory.\u201d<\/p>\n

His riding partners over the last nine years have included Jakes Jacobsen, Riaan Meintjies and George Evans. He has competed in many events with each one of them. This year he will be partnering Evans.<\/p>\n

The most important ingredient for him to be able to finish is luck. \u201cA whole year of luck in training, and being lucky enough with health, work and personal life to be at the start line.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked whether he finds the first or last stages more difficult, Gale says: \u201cThe first stage. After eight days of training I\u2019m ready for the latter stages.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the early years I was elated to cross the finish line, but increasingly I feel an incredible disappointment that the adventure has come to an end.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John Gale returns for a 10th Absa Cape Epic on the trot. Photo: Sportograf John Gale, one of only nine riders to have participated in all the Absa Cape Epics to date, will return for his 10th from March 17 to 24. The 45-year-old has taken part in four Old Mutual Two Ocean Marathons and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[3258,830,885],"class_list":{"0":"post-17666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-mysport","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-sport","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}