Bok prop's Epic challenge

Former Springbok and Sharks prop Adrian Garvey has taken up the challenge of riding the gruelling Cape Epic. He is currently placed 302nd out of the 600 teams with a time of 6 hours 34 minutes.

Garvey is not the first rugby player to take on the immense challenge that the Cape Epic presents, Breyton Paulse and another former Sharks prop, Robbie Kempson, both having completed the event through much sweat and tears last year.

1995 World Cup-winning flyhalf Joel Stranskey is also trying his hand at the Cape Epic again this year, having done it once before, as is another former Bok front ranker, Marius Hurter.

Here is Garvey's account after day one:

I'm not your typical rugby player. Preferring swimming at school, I only tried my hand at rugby when I turned 16 and the school needed a tighthead.

Tackling guys twice my size somehow never proved enjoyable! Where I was your typical sportsman though, was in the training - I loved to keep fit, always have and always will.

Besides being team sports in which you sweat blood, I cant see many similarities between rugby and cycling - which is perhaps slightly frightening and makes me wonder why I have committed to this torture! I do however love a challenge (as do most athletes), and because I cannot run the Comrades due to a poor knee, I would like to believe that the Epic is the equivalent. And after the 89km stage, I am beginning to believe it!

In terms of my weaknesses in cycling, I have identified three to date: My weight, the wind and the hills. The power of a positive mind is an important thing though, so my 115kgs may stand my partner and I in good stead as we head downhill...

Whilst I do believe that I am mentally fit and strong, I know that a challenge such as this Cape Epic would be impossible without the support of my wife and family. I still have no idea how I prepare myself mentally for the start - I just buckle down and do it! What I do know is that never before have I worked so hard to Lead The Way.

In terms of how I prepared for a rugby match, it would always start immediately after my last game, with my mental preparations starting on the Monday. You always need to feed the body with the correct nutrition and give the body rest, which you could afford to do as all the fitness was done in the pre-season.

I definitely feel that I will carry these preparations through to this epic event - I will give myself a lot of rest and hopefully I stay mentally focused during the remaining 7 days.

Besides asking myself, 'Why am I doing this?', my head is filled with reminding myself of how fortunate I am to be riding in such a beautiful country. I really hope that I won't be too exhausted to enjoy the surrounds and the people I am riding with. I think that being as painfully organised as I am will help in making the race somewhat easier for me as I hate leaving things to the last minute - and after stage one things are going accordingly to plan.

Sometimes I wish I could be more relaxed and go where the wind takes me. Perhaps when I am out in the countryside, I can stay focused, relaxed and enjoy almost every minute and after cycling for 1 hour 40 minutes yesterday, I did manage to achieve this.

Another thing that occupies my thoughts is sports icon Muhammad Ali - his mental strength was admirable as nothing was ever too big or better than him.

This race has been unbelievable thus far - and I am suitably impressed with our finish of just over 6 hours 30 minutes today - well inside the cut off time of nine hours.

In terms of the final finish line, I have no idea what I will do when I cross it - there's still so much time between now and then! I am, however, fairly certain that after an exhausting eight-day event, I will reach for an ice cold beer!