Looking for a new challenge? Enduros and 24 hour races beginning to pall? Perhaps you’d like to have a crack at something slightly more substantial in almost guaranteed good weather?

The Cape Epic, billed as the Magical and Untamed African MTB Race, is an eight-day stage race starting on the Garden Route in Knysna on February 28 2004 and finishing 700km of Western Cape (“open plains, majestic mountains, deep ravines, prehistoric rock formations, arid semi-deserts, indigenous forests, flourishing vineyards, rough sea and an incredible variety of wildlife and plant species,” it says here) later on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town.

In the style of the TransAlp (with which there’s an organisational link) and Trans-Rockies, the Cape Epic is a two-rider team event. Categories include Open Women, Open Men, Mixed and Master which are fairly self-explanatory. Each stage starts at 8am and you’ve got until 6pm to finish. There are prizes for each stage and overall times will decide the eventual winners.

Organisers Planet Talk are laying on everything you could possibly need – tented accommodation, carbotastic breakfasts and dinners, race nutrition including energy bars and drinks and water during each stage, bike servicing, masseurs – plus a party every night. The post-stage parties will be themed according to where the stage ends are – a seafood braai in Knysna, ostrich steaks, dining in a wine estate – and will include “stage location specific infotainment”. Or, in English, the day’s TV footage and results plus a briefing for the following day.

Sounds good to us. Entries are limited to 250 teams, of which 100 are for international entries. The 125-team South African allocation is already full… The fees for international entries have yet to be announced (online registration opens in August) but it’ll be a bit more than the 7600ZAR (about £615) that SA entries cost. There’ll be an international package deal including air travel, transfers, hotel accommodation before and after the race and entries for the Cape Argus Cycletour the week after, just in case you haven’t pedalled far enough…

Everything you need to know is at www.cape-epic.com.