What does it take to build the world’s biggest mountain bike stage race from scratch? In this conversation, Kevin Vermaak unpacks the untold story behind Cape Epic — from years of financial pressure and relentless risk-taking to creating an event that transformed cycling in South Africa and around the world. We also dive into the future of gravel racing, the vision behind Gravel Burn, and why Kevin believes the next era of cycling is only just beginning.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

0:00 — The Vision Behind Cape Epic

2:45 — From London Banking to Building a Race

10:35 — Himalayan Expeditions & Adventure Mindset

19:05 — Five Years of Losses & Extreme Stress

20:23 — The Decision That Changed Cape Epic Forever

31:05 — The Reality of Building Something Big

36:50 — Riding Cape Epic for the First Time

41:25 — Selling Cape Epic & Building a Legacy

52:50 — Why Gravel Is the Future of Cycling

2:09:30 — The Big Vision for Gravel Burn

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

#ActiveHobo #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling

Simon Stofberg joins the Breakaway for an honest conversation about fatherhood, fitness, and finding your

way back — three and a half months in.

Also in this episode: Gallows 2026, the XCO Western Cape Schools League, a young Wellington rider's miraculous recovery.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

0:00 Intro

0:28 What's on today: Gallows, XCO schools, and the Giro

1:29 Simon Stofberg: three and a half months into fatherhood

4:58 Life stood still: postpartum depression, emergency C-section, the dark first months

6:35 Light at the end of the tunnel

7:00 David's parallel: 18 months in with Gabriella

8:00 The all-in athlete personality vs. having a baby

11:20 First race with the family — and the panic attacks that came before it

14:13 The dopamine crash: going from 20 hours a week to nothing

15:01 48T vs. 44T — GRG media weekend to GRG with a newborn

17:00 Garden Route Giro debrief: Stage 1, Stage 2 blowup at Rooibos Pass

23:39 David's GRG — Day 1 power PB and Stages 5–7 riding with Dusty

26:08 Shout out to Dryland and the 36ONE weather situation

30:15 A young XCO rider from Wellington: broke his neck, three hours alone, making a recovery

33:28 XCO Western Cape Schools League: 926 boys, 280 girls

35:30 Titan Racing, Ford and Shimano back the next generation

37:30 Elite racing highlights — and why the YouTube footage is worth your time

39:01 Jan Vitor from Tech Science — the next guest David wants in the studio

39:43 Why Simon skipped Gallows, and what's next with Cam Roach

42:15 Gallows 2026: Poffada, The Hosepipe, and the climb to Heavens View

49:20 Finding an XCO schools correspondent: Boaf ⚠️ verify timestamp

51:11 Episode 17 wrap

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

# === MORE FROM ACTIVE HOBO ======================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/VRIeP2JYf5U

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

Related episode: https://youtu.be/lGfvanjllXY

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

#ActiveHobo #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling

Daniyal Matthews is the 2025 SA National Road Champion and African track champion —

and the first person of colour in over a decade to win the Elite Men's national

road race in South Africa. He races with 7Eleven Cliqq Roadbike Philippines,

riding Elves bikes, and is competing at UCI Continental level. He grew up in

Cape Town's Southern Suburbs, started racing on the track at age eight because

his father dragged him there, and spent years gripping the start line with so

much anxiety he didn't actually enjoy cycling until his mid-teens.

This episode is the full story: the sprint finish that made SA cycling history,

what it means to represent a country where your face doesn't often appear on the

podium, what life at a Continental team racing in Asia actually looks like,

and an honest conversation about road safety, the motorist-cyclist tensions that

cost lives in South Africa, and what it will take to change the culture.

Dave and Daniyal also talk about the state of South African track cycling,

why the Bellville Velodrome matters, the generation of SA riders who are quietly

pulling the sport toward something that looks like a golden era — and why SA

Champs wasn't even Daniyal's primary target.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

0:00 — Meet Daniyal Matthews: SA Road Champion & African Track Champion

1:40 — The Elves signing that lit up social media

2:29 — Growing up in Cape Town's Southern Suburbs

3:08 — Racing track at eight years old — and hating every second

5:20 — A father's obsession: Belgium, UCI track teams, and a cycling inheritance*

10:29 — Track cycling in South Africa: Bellville Velodrome and the access problem*

27:30 — Career goals and why SA Champs was a bonus, not a target*

31:11 — Road safety: the fatal accident, the comment sections, and the real cost*

37:23 — South African cycling's future: Tshenolo, the golden era, and what's next*

40:06 — Matric, Asia, and the long road to Continental racing*

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

# === MORE FROM ACTIVE HOBO ======================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/VRIeP2JYf5U

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

Related episode: https://youtu.be/lGfvanjllXY

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

#ActiveHobo #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling

Massimiliano "Masi" Ambrosi is South Africa's 2025 Under-23 XCO Champion, a privateer

racing the UCI World Cup circuit on pure belief and a support structure built from scratch.

In this conversation, he walks us through the full arc: growing up in Johannesburg on

motorbikes, the deal his dad made with him to keep his school average above 75% or lose

the bike, seven years with Trek from a borrowed top fuel to a direct contract with Trek

Europe, and what it actually costs — logistically, mentally, physically — to show up at Les Gets or Andorra against the factory riders of the world.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

# === MORE FROM ACTIVE HOBO ======================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/VRIeP2JYf5U

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

Related episode: https://youtu.be/lGfvanjllXY

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

#ActiveHobo #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling

They couldn't hold Sabastian Sawe's marathon pace for more than 300 metres. That's where this one starts.

From there, Episode 16 gets into how good women's cycling actually is, whether Cape Epic made the right call shortening the elite women's route to match TSS rather than distance (the feedback from the elite ladies themselves is unanimous), and why the Femme Series matters to what The Active Hobo is building.

Then we get into gravel bikes. A YouTube poll. That opens a conversation about what R90k really buys you in 2026, who the premium market actually serves, and why every rand you spend at a proper bike shop is doing more for the sport than you might think.

But the heart of this episode belongs to Timo. A viral Instagram video. A gravel bike from D'VILLE CYCLERY and TITAN RACING. A friend who entered him while he wasn't looking. And in two weeks, the 36ONE — 361km, 5,500m of climbing, riding through the night to the finish. Timo's been training 20 hours a week, up at 4:30am, coached by André Hubert from Training Lab in Durbanville, fuelling on 80–90g of carbs per hour with 226ERS.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

0:00 Could you hold sub-2 marathon pace? We tried.

1:35 What we're covering today

2:27 La Vuelta Femenina Stage 3: Noemi Rüegg out, crashes dominating

6:00 How good female cycling actually is — and why people miss it

11:53 Cape Epic's call to shorten the elite women's route to match TSS

15:18* The Femme Series: KZN's XCO superstars, aged 16 to 18

18:08* Compete vs complete — why the distinction matters

22:08 YouTube poll results: what actually drives a gravel bike purchase

23:41 Inside the Titan Gen2 Switch MX Pro

26:12 Is R90k "good value"? Unpacking gravel bike pricing in SA

29:00* Why every rand spent at a bike shop matters for the whole sport

42:50* Craig Marzuola's legacy and the birthplace of a community

49:09 The 36ONE: how Timo went from "no way" to the start line

51:31 The viral Instagram video that changed everything

53:41* Training for 361km: 20 hours a week and 4:30am starts

55:41* Fuelling strategy: 226ERS, 80–90g carbs per hour, and why solids matter

1:00:08 What to expect on the 36ONE — advice from someone who's been there

1:03:58* Timo's origin story: October 3rd and the toenail moment

1:10:09* The next goal: Cape Epic 2027

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

# === MORE FROM ACTIVE HOBO ======================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/VRIeP2JYf5U

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

Related episode: https://youtu.be/lGfvanjllXY

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

#ActiveHobo #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling

Join David Jenkins and Orphan Street Clothing Shop founder Matt Kieser for a wide-ranging conversation about what it actually takes to build a third space in a sport that already has plenty of bike shops. They go deep on the OSCS story — from its Orphan Street origins through the move to Sea Point — the cycling community that grew up around it, Thursday rides and Cape Town Cycle Tour traditions, the global Pas Normal Studios partner summits in Barcelona, Mallorca, and Copenhagen, and why people will save up for three months to buy a single jersey and wear it every ride of the week.

They also get into the beautiful collision happening in Cape Town right now: Strava rivals who have been chasing each other's segments for fifteen years, finally sitting down at the same coffee table and shaking hands for the first time.

Who is Matt Kieser?

Founder of Orphan Street Clothing Shop (OSCS), Sea Point, Cape Town — South Africa's home for Pas Normal Studios cycling apparel and one of the city's most beloved community cycling hubs.

What is Pas Normal Studios?

A Copenhagen-based cycling apparel brand founded in 2014 by Karl-Oskar Olsen, Peter Madsen, Tommy Pedersen, and Brian Nygaard. "Pas normal" means "not normal" in French — which is exactly what the brand set out to be.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

0:00:00 — Matt Kieser: The Man Behind OSCS

0:01:37 — David's First Ride With Matt: Cape Town Cycle Tour Eve

0:04:00 — The Pas Normal Studios Perception Problem

0:07:00 — What Really Happens When You Show Up to a Thursday Ride

0:13:00 — How Matt Got Into Cycling (And Down the Rabbit Hole He Can't Escape)

0:23:00 — The Hong Kong Jersey That Started Everything

0:25:00 — How OSCS Became a Pas Normal Studios Stockist

0:31:00 — What Happens at the Annual Pas Normal Brand Summit

0:36:00 — Is Premium Cycling Kit Worth the Price? An Honest Conversation

0:51:00 — The Fashion World Meets Cycling: Kim Jones, Orphan Street, and Virgil Abloh

0:53:00 — Building a Community Space, Not Just a Shop

1:05:00 — The Coffee Problem (and How Ali Solved It)

1:05:51 — Moving to Sea Point: What Changed

1:13:00 — Strava Rivals Who've Never Met — Until Now

1:28:20 — Closing: What Comes Next for OSCS

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

# === MORE FROM ACTIVE HOBO ======================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/VRIeP2JYf5U

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

Related episode: https://youtu.be/lGfvanjllXY

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

#ActiveHobo #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling

Garden Route Giro, the race that's been years in the making, finally happened — and we rode every stage.

Mossel Bay to Wilderness. Six days. Nearly 700 kilometres through mountain passes, Klein Karoo desert, and some of the most staggering gravel road on earth. We raced it, we filmed it, and we got humbled by it. This episode is the full debrief — what the racing felt like from inside the peloton, what we got right on the media side, what we'd do differently, and why Dryland have built something this country has genuinely needed.

But this weekend wasn't just about South Africa. Paul Seixas is 19 years old and he nearly broke Tadej Pogačar. Sabastian Sawe ran a sub-two-hour marathon in a sanctioned race for the first time in human history. And someone ran the entire London Marathon with a 25kg fridge on their back — for his mum.

Big week. Here's all of it.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

0:00 — Back to the roots with Dave and Alec

1:38 — Garden Route Giro from inside the race

8:00 — What Dryland got right with race media

13:10 — Favourite moments, hard stages and riders going too deep

17:00 — The elite racing, women’s field and why the event felt serious

23:45 — Gravel bike chaos and setup debates

26:20 — Pogačar, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Paul Seixas moment

32:45 — London Marathon, super shoes and impossible speeds

44:00 — Wheelchair racing, robot marathons and strange endurance stories

50:00 — Alan Hatherly, the Giro d’Italia and what comes next

53:30 — Gattas, gravel bikes and upcoming races

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW THE BREAKAWAY =======================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

Alec @alec.gates

# === MORE FROM THE ACTIVE HOBO ====================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/VRIeP2JYf5U

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for show: noah@activehobo.com

# Like, subscribe, and share with someone who

# needs to hear that endurance sport is never just about the strongest legs.

#TheBreakaway #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling #GardenRouteGiro #Pogacar #LondonMarathon

René Haselbacher — Tour de France sprinter turned Cape Town kit maker and Double Century winner.

At 21, René Haselbacher lined up at Paris-Roubaix on 23mm tyres, with no idea what cobblestones could do to a body. Four years later he was chasing Mario Cipollini's wheel at the Giro d'Italia, finishing third on two stages. Then came the Tour de France — the prologue ramp under the Eiffel Tower, a breakaway that nearly went all the way, two big crashes, and a snapped handlebar nobody in the press wanted to believe. By the time he signed with Astana and rode alongside Alberto Contador, René had done 14 years as a professional cyclist and seen the whole arc of an era. Then he stopped, at 31, almost overnight.

This conversation covers a lot of ground. The physical brutality of sprint positioning, what it was actually like riding in the Lance Armstrong era, watching Mark Cavendish through the ups and downs and then seeing him win his final stage, and what RH77 would need to kit out a Tour de France team. René speaks like a man who has made peace with every crash and every near-miss — warm, honest, and still very much racing. His son is on the start line this Sunday. So is he.

# === CHAPTERS ===================================

0:00 — René Haselbacher Joins Active Hobo: DC Winner, RH77 Founder, Tour de France Sprinter

2:27 — Vienna, a Cycling Father, and Making Austria's Under-23 National Team

4:28 — First Pro Race: Standing at Paris-Roubaix at 21 Years Old

5:04 — Giro d'Italia: Racing Three Weeks and Sprinting Against Mario Cipollini

13:03 — The Mental Game: Discipline, Self-Belief, and What Ronaldo Gets Right

21:02 — Tour de France Debut: The Prologue Ramp Under the Eiffel Tower

25:36 — Two Big Crashes, a Broken Handlebar, and the Media Story That Got Away

36:47 — Greatest Sprinters of All Time: Cipollini, Cavendish, and Being There for Both

47:03 — The Lance Armstrong Era: An Honest Conversation About Doping and Its Legacy

53:19 — Worlds in Salzburg, Riding for Astana With Contador, and Retiring at 31

59:52 — Why RH77 Exists: A Rain Bag, an Austrian Championship, and a Factory in Italy

1:10:36 — The Big Dream: RH77 Kit at the Tour de France

1:19:15 — The Double Century: René's Favorite Race in the World

1:24:25 — Pink Bibs, the RH77 DC Team, and Racing for It Again This Year

1:30:37 — Custom Kit Orders: How to Work With RH77

1:35:15 — Cape Town Cycle Tour, Cape Epic, and What the Year Ahead Holds

1:44:15 — Family, the Future, and Living Fully in the Present

# === LISTEN ON THE GO ===========================

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5GselFmeym7YgYXtcyPUXU

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/active-hobo/id1846864699

# === FOLLOW ACTIVE HOBO =========================

Subscribe: https://youtube.com/@activehobo?sub_confirmation=1

Website: https://activehobo.com/

Instagram: @theactivehobo

Strava: https://strava.app.link/ciVbx92FJ2b

# === THE CREW ===================================

Dave @davlewjenkins

# === MORE FROM ACTIVE HOBO ======================

Latest episode: https://youtu.be/VRIeP2JYf5U

Full podcast playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLc2XIoaiAXafwoZykJM-jg6HnrLkWlJXH

Related episode: https://youtu.be/lGfvanjllXY

# === WORK WITH US ===============================

Sponsorships & collabs: david@activehobo.com

Send a question for the show: noah@activehobo.com

#ActiveHobo #CyclingPodcast #SouthAfricanCycling #RH77 #DoubleCentury #CapeTownCycling