Four days into the Cape Epic, and it was time for some Porra Power. Jacques Wentzel and Braam Gericke, the two winemaker-riders from Black Elephant Vintners and Wildekrans Estate respectively, finished Stage Three to the scent of baked duck and white wine from the volcanic islands of the Azores.
Amorim Cork, one of the sponsors for Team Jacques and Braam, had decided to surprise the riders with a Portuguese culinary spread after another huge day of riding.
With the help of his mother-in-law, Amorim SA MD Joaquim Sá, had prepared an expansive dish of traditional Arroz de Pato (duck rice) to fill the riders’ empty tanks. And when you have two winemakers riding, supported by a culinary obsessed Portuguese sponsor like Joaquim, the food has to be matched with the right wines, of course.
For this, Joaquim had brought along a magnum bottle of Verdelho made on the Portuguese islands of the Azores.
“The vineyards on the Azores resemble large parts of the Cape Epic terrain,” says Joaquim. “Steep, stony and unforgiving. This shows that when some of you guys see a mountain biking route on tough geography, we see the potential for making good wine.”
While tucking into the layers of baked rice, juicy duck and spicy chouriço sausage, it was evident that one prologue and three stages of unforgiving riding had done nothing to negate Jacques and Braam’s wine-tasting abilities.
The cool, minerality-driven Verdelho wine was discussed and analysed, with Braam comparing the wine’s aromas to the whiffs of fynbos and stone encountered while grinding pedals up the Greyton slopes. Jacques was impressed with the Portuguese red variety Bastardo made by the well-known Conceito winery. Here his keen palate detected hints of savoury, crushed black-currant and sweaty bicycle saddle.
There is nothing like a plate of great grub and a glass or two of wine to reboot the wires of a tired mountain biker
The Third Stage over 78km took in 1 650km of climbing, and Jacques and Braam completed the route in 4hrs 42mins.
“Another day of, as they say in Afrikaans, hoes, poep en lippe klap,” says Jacques. “Still surprisingly hot with four painful climbs. But the engines are feeling just fine. You’ve done the Epic before, so you know after each climb the end is in sight, before you climb again.”
Both riders experienced mechanical glitches, the curse of any rider. “You can be in great shape and have the keenest mind-set, but there is no control over your machine. Fortunately we got fixed without losing too much time.”
Stage Four today, 112km with over 2 000m of climbing. But with the tanks filled with duck, rice and wine, everyone’s looking forward to seeing what Porra Power can do.
