Friends to tackle the Cape Epic

Ballito resident Dagmar Mulhbauer will pair up with her friend, amputee Reuben van Niekerk, to take on the ABSA Cape Epic this month.
This will be Mulhbauer’s first attempt at the grueling race and she is excited for the challenge, even though she has had limited time to prepare.
“I got a surprise call in January asking if I wanted to pair up with Reuben, so it was short notice,” she said.
The friends first met in Johannesburg where Van Niekerk used to work with Mulhbauer’s husband. They began riding together and helped Van Niekerk after an motor-cycle accident forced him to have his right leg amputated.
Van Niekerk was set to do the Epic with Dane Wilson, who was selected to do national duty at the Para-cycling Track World Championships in Mexico.
Their history together made her the obvious next choice. She will need to work closely with Van Niekerk, as his cycling prosthetics make it difficult to walk.
“He is fine on the bike, but last year he found it difficult where it was really sandy.”
Looking forward to the race, Muhlbauer believes she is ready for the challenge.
“The first day or so we will have to settle in and communicate with each other. The race is very technical with some rocky terrain, but I am not too worried about the climbing. I have trained quite a bit, with a focus on doing long rides back to back,” she said.
Muhlbauer is a Holla Trails regular and rides five times a week and puts in early morning 4.30am sessions.
The race runs from March 23 to 30 and riders complete 718 kilometres of intense riding with 14850m of climbing.
Mulhbauer is an emergency care practitioner for Netcare and is the campus manager at the Netcare Education Faculty of Emergency and Critical Care campus. She also works operationally on a primary response vehicle for Netcare 911.