Alas, Team IronHorse Extreme is no longer…
However, we are very pleased to announce that the team now has a new title sponsor, a new bike sponsor and a new team blog.
for all the latest news and info please visit:
http://syncros-endurance.blogspot.com/
cheers
Team Syncros Endurance
We realise that there has been little mention on the website for a while but rest assured that the team are well and good and everything is underway for a cracking 2010. News will be up on this site real soon regarding our new title sponsors and our plans for the coming season.
For now though we’d just like to wish you all a great festive season and hope you get to ride bikes at some time during the holidays, til next year…
cheers
Rob, Clive, Rich, Josh & Dave
2 Butts’ HQ
Well, that’s the season over.
It’s been a bit quiet on here, of late, but we’ll get to that later.
The date was the 10th of October and it was the final time that the team would get together, officially, this year. Josh and I were racing solo 24 and were greatly looking forward to it.
Relentless 24 was on!!
This was Josh’ first ever solo attempt and I must admit to being worried about him, and what would happen to his future, if it went wrong for him. He’s slain a lot of demons this year. I knew he could do it, physically, but worried if he had had too many changes in his life this year for him to prepare properly for the mental torture that only a solo 24 can deliver.
We needn’t have worried.
I, on the other hand, had a bit of a mare for a short while. It became apparent that the team weren’t worried about my ability to finish and I’m glad about the fact that they had faith in me.
The venue was the Nevis Range Complex at the foot of Aonach Mor, and the World Cup Doonhill and XC tracks. There is some proper lumpy and gnarly stuff there, and it looks great. It’s just a pity that we couldn’t play on it.
Next time…
No Fuss Events had organised Relentless24 amongst their other classics like 10 Under The Ben, 10 More at Moray, and the ridiculous Ben Nevis Triathlon. My mrs wants to do that one, but I’ve banned her from it until her tendons catch up with her sports specific muscle gains from the increased running she’s doing these days.
So, Jo, Rich, Rob, Tim (Josh’ Dad), Zoe, Doug (from Nevis Cycles) and I pitched up and got everything ready. Clive couldn’t come due to prior arrangements, but he was in my head, shouting at me. I must ask him to stop.
Josh and I lined up at the front of the start and got ready for the onslaught to follow. We were counted down, very very slowly, by Frazer and eventually got into our 300m run to the bikes. We both had a good start, and got away without being held up anywhere.
The weather (from solo memory- so not the most dependable, by a long chalk) was sort of non-descript for the first few hours. It was chilly with a blank grey sky and a little bit of wind. It would have been nice if it had stayed like that but that doesn’t happen in the UK, especially when you are halfway up one of it’s biggest hills. I always remember the Grey Corries seemingly being the first to drop into good winter condition and the ice tools coming out there first.
After a few hours it started to get windy and rainy and the temperature seemed to drop like a stone. Then it got dark, colder, and windier for the rest of the night, with the addition of quite a bit of rain and some sleet thrown in for good measure. It was horrible, but that didn’t matter as it was the same for everybody.
Sheesh! It got cold and really quite muddy. I ran a crossmark front and a monorail rear which both behaved superbly and are my new favourite combo.
The race itself was incredibly well natured and run. Everybody was there for a good time and everyone was really polite. Most folk were Scottish, so what did you expect?
8hrs in (again from failing memory) and my stomach backed up.This is the point where my metabolism usually kicks in and I settle in for the long race. But I’m not used to this gastric distress anymore, as my nutrition hasn’t been a problem for a good while. There is a good reason for it, which I tried to force my way past and which meant I shouldn’t really be racing, but never mind. I had demons and back hugging monkeys to slay due to SITS this year. Nothing was going to stop me.
My pace slowed a bit but I kept going like a brave little soldier: My mum used to say that to me.
In hindsight, I had planned to lap at 1hr (or so) after a fast first lap to get out of the way of the crowds. I went a good bit quicker than that, and suffered the consequences later.
At one point in the race, I came in feeling resigned to the fact that I was going to slow down even further. Rob came around, and was all understanding about my plight. He’s been there a hundred times himself. He said to me, “Just walk it, mate. You’ll still be doing 4 miles and hour or so”.
He wound me up, and he knew it. He knows what he’s doing.
“Stuff that!” I thought. “I’ll ride my bike, that’s why I’m here.”
So I silently stood up whilst finishing my cuppasoup, which was helping my tummy a bit, and walked up the first climb. At the top, I got on and stayed on. My lap times stayed a little slower but a slow lap is better than no lap.
The feeling you get when you know you’ve overcome something quite so deeply sabotaging, as the misery when things are going wrong in a solo, is one of complete satisfaction allied to a certain relaxation. All the stressors, intrinsic to your present plight, seem to evaporate and leave you feeling stronger.
That was a bit of a mouthful: it’s empowering, that’s all!
This is what we aim for as 24hr riders- apart from the win, of course. I was a lucky boy, really!
Me looking sexy after the race. Hmm?
I was also lucky to have Jo and the team waiting each time I popped around. They cheered me up as I wasn’t very well.
The guys thought that I only had to do one lap more so I set off and was quite quickly caught by Josh (ex-wash) who I couldn’t catch, obviously. So he finished the lap with me, until we got to a lone figure stood in mud at the bottom of the windy and open downhill. It was Rob, and he shouted out, “You have to do another lap, sorry, Dave Powell is catching up.”
Dammit.
So I stood up and peddled a bit harder. I forgot my discomfort and just kept going as quickly as I could. It wasn’t very quick though. My 21st lap was finished with me wretching and coughing my empty guts up, but I managed to smile for the camera!!
I smiled shortly after the finish, honest
Josh won the senior solo and I was second. It’s one of my worst performances but has more plusses to be gained from experiencing my mental strength at it’s most potent (and most needed). I’m quite happy.
Josh still had the energy to act like a monkey!
I’m still not sure that I should have been there, though.
That is real pain etched on my face. Rob MADE me bend my legs!
There may have been monkeys on the podium background, but there were none on my back.
Thanks for following this year. It’s time to start the preparation for next years’ BIG ride: once my doctor starts talking to me again.
Relentless 24 hour, what can I say? Totally blown away would be a good description; wouldn’t tell you what happened but would aptly describe the way I felt as I lay me head down to sleep in a hotel on the M6 sometime that evening after the race!
To my mind several things happened this past weekend: Josh took a massive leap forward, Dave took on an impossible situation and made it look easy, I found what could possibly be one of my favourite places on the whole planet, and we had a cracking good time along the way.
My weekend started on the Friday as Zoe and myself hooked up with Mark, from Reset Films, for a day roaming the countryside to check-out various sections of The West Highland Way which is to be the venue for 7ds4 in the early part of my 2010 season. The whole place looks stunning and I wanted to just climb on my bike and start with the out-and-back there and then! I can’t wait to do the ride next season and I’m really looking forward to getting back up there in November to ride some sections and hopefully do a bit of filming at the same time. Mark is a great guy and we enjoyed rolling from point to point and looking at the trail and other highlights along the way - a distillery and salmon leaping up a waterfall amongst the highlights. The day went too fast but Mark told us he was going to come up to join us at Relentless which made the whole weekend even better.
The next day we were up bright and breezy to meet the boys and set everything up for their race. Dave was looking for his first podium and Josh was set for his 24 hour debut. It’s been a long time coming but the anticipation was worth it, more of that in a bit. Rich was also on-hand to help with pit duties but managed to get an hour out on the trail as part of his first week back into training. He looked awesome in his Masters 24 Hour World Champions jersey which made me very proud of his efforts this season. Been moving his way up the ranks steadily but set all his eggs in the Worlds basket this season and reeped the reward.
The boys both knew what they had to do and looked very calm before the start. Ready for business in the mountains - good work lads! Everyone looked rock-solid and with Jo there to back Dave and Tim to support his son Josh I felt a bit redundant. Mark soon put an end to that when he turned up, wired me for sound and gave me the second camera to gather pit footage of the boys in action, nice one.
Dave had a plan, Josh had a plan, we all knew what we needed to do. The hooter sounded and the race was on; both our boys got away cleanly and came round lap one in the top 6 perfectly placed. I watched each soloist as they passed each lap and predicted when they would fall off the pace. Shame Ladbrooks weren’t on-hand to take my bets as I would have made enough to cover next seasons budget!
Both the boys rode perfect races. Josh looked like a Pro and you could have thought he’d been doing this all his life not that this was his first solo 24. I was very impressed and can say without a doubt that it was the best debut 24 solo I have ever had the priviledge to be a witness to. Dave wasn’t happy afterwards, feeling that it was his worst ever performance, but I think he is, as many of us are, way too hard on himself. I don’t think I would have finished if I’d had to overcome his woes leading into this race. The guy is as hard as they come.
Zoe was in charge of nutrition. I don’t think any other person has had such an impact on the performance of our team, awesome. Jo and Tim worked tirelessly (and took quite a bit of stick - Jo more that Tim - from their athletes) and made a massive impression on the outcome of the race. Rich and Mark both helped a lot more than they needed too and also managed to keep me out of trouble and in the mix. All-round a great team.
The final result was Josh 1st and Dave 2nd in the Senior mens solo, you couldn’t ask for much more could you? An absolutely amazing weekend, with a great bunch of people and set amongst one of the most beautiful places in the country. I’ll be back next year without a doubt.
Hi All! Had a few technical glitches with my personal blog but the guys at Union Room sorted things out for me pronto. Thanks to Glen and his team for their good work.
Anyway… I’m back! In a bikey racey kind of way. I decided that I didn’t want to end my season at the Kielder 100. As well organised an event as it was, as much of a physical challenge that it was, as good as the scenery was etc. etc. it simply did not get my mtb juices flowing… So, I did a quick scour of the events listing on xcracer.com and it reminded me that the Grizedale Challenge was on Sunday 20th September. 30 miles + of Lakeland trickery. Perfect!
I had done this event a good few years back and I remembered that it was a cracking course; big climbs, super fast singletrack and some steep, rocky sections. Just my kind of riding….
It became apparent that the event had grown substantially since I first did it… There were around 600 entrants on Sunday. That’s a heck of a busy start line! The opening fireroad was pretty narrow too so, like at the Whinlatter Challenge in Spring, the atmosphere was ’cosy’ as the huge crowd got themselves into position….
I stood around two rows back and scoped all the usual Lakes suspects. Keswick Mountain Bikes and Wheelbase had a strong presence and other strong riders looked ready for a good end of season friendly dog fight.
The hooter went off and the pace was high. I did enough to get clear of the rabble but wanted to use this race as a pacing exercise. I had gone off too quick at Kielder and slowed up towards the end as a result. So this time I let a large group of riders disappear in a cloud of dust up the long first climb.
The race was two laps which turned out to be 17 miles per lap. I learnt at the Whinlatter Challenge (a similar race) that the second lap is crunch time… Many people slow up considerably. So I just hit a good steady but forceful rythme and enjoyed the technical sections and stunning scenery… The weather was perfect; clear blue sky and a light breeze. The views across Coniston Lake were as fantastic as ever.
And the riding was top class too…. these are the type of trails that keep me coming back to Lakes time and time again…. Two stand outs particularly; steep, big sections of random rock outcrops, multiple lines, super fast freefalls… I love this stuff! I was having so much fun on the techy sections that the race seemed immaterial…
I came through my first lap in 10th or 11th. Not that I was concerned. I picked up the pace and picked off one or two places. The climb began towards the top of my favourite descent on the loop… the super sketchy plummet with big rolling drop offs, and I saw a group of three or four riders who I chased into the start of the drop. The red mist came down and I just jungled it straight through the pack (who seemed to approach the section like it had a singletrack line as oppose to a big free canvass to throw yourself over). I gained about 50 meters on them in the space of about 1 minutes descending…. I haven’t descended like that in a while and I was having a ball…
Next I caught one of the Keswick mtb boys who I know is a strong fell runner…. just as we hit a long singletrack push up. I knew the only way to gain any ground on him was to run as hard as I could. It really hurt…. but I didn’t look back. Just got my head down and stamped upwards. As soon as the ground levelled I jumped on my bike CX style (something I’ve been practicing recently) and felt like lots of attention to detail like this was helping me make up vital seconds here and there. When I finally looked back I had opened a good gap on my pursuer.
And then, with about 3 miles to go, a spectator shouted, ”Good effort third!” I had no idea where I was in the field so this came as a pleasant surprise. I crossed the line pretty pleased considering I had entered with no real expectations.
More importantly though, this was a great exercise in pacing and letting people go at the start is something I need to get comfortable with. My pacing was far more controlled than it has been at any other XC style race.
And I had fun! Brilliant course, good crowd, beautiful scenery. The perfect season closer. Just the kind of happy memory you need as you head into winter training.
This weekend was the last of my big training rides before the cross season starts next weekend. I decided that riding Cheddar Sportive with my friends from work would be a great way to end the Summer season. All the boys from Strada entered and this being our local sportive many of our regulars entered also. Great to see so many Strada jerseys out on the ride.
A core of 6 of us had agreed from the start to set out together and stay together as best possible and this was how it stayed for the first 50 or so miles until 3 of the guys thought the other 3 had left a feed station (we were still there amongst the crowd) and set out to chase us down. I was in the second group of 3 and as we left the feed Matt got some serious cramp (he ran his first half marathon last week and I think this ride was a bit soon) so we dropped back futher still.
It became obvious pretty soon that Matt was done in by the cramp and that he’d be wise to stop at the 60 mile cut-off, which was also the start/finish, and Mike decided to join him. I then set out on the chase and the second loop of 40 miles to finish the daddy distance of 100 miles.
The second loop started with Cheddar Gorge which was also the first proper climb of the day. I caught a couple of friends near the bottom and passed them. Their friend came with me and had a good dig a couple of times on the way up. I knew I could follow but also knew that serious bursts of speed with 35 miles and a lot of climbing still to cover were a bit beyond my current fitness level so let him attack each time and then real him back each time. Worked out fine and we went over the top together and took turns to set pace across the tops.
The descent into Wells was new to me and the other guy ( I think his name is Dave) was a solid descender so again I made my own way before pulling back onto his wheel towards the bottom. As we exited I reaised we were at the bottom of the Wells climb which is just the sort of climbing I like so I set myself a good tempo and pulled myself clear, pressed on over the top and kept it going…
Feeding strategy was spot-on again and I felt really good for pretty much the whole ride. Been a while since I could comfortable move around a group and put serious effort in on the climbs… Not done that for a long time, things are deffo coming back to me, just need to get the weight back down and I’ll be back in business as a bike rider.
All in all a great day out. Got to ride with a lot of friends, ride the first half chilled and enjoying the company, used the second half to test my fitness, awesome…
Even though I just live down the road from Kielder, I rarely go there. Yes, it is choc full of wilderness, big hills and huge views but… the riding (in my opinion) does not match the grandeur of the scenery. The man made trails are constructed from draggy, sandy dolomite which breaks down into gritty bike destroying sand. Please don’t misunderstand me; I appreciate the amount of work that has gone into building the trails and think the dedication shown by the Kielder Trail Reavers is exceptional. However, I think the material that has been used spoils otherwise well shaped trails.
Beside the man made trails, the natural sections in Kielder are grassy and boggy. And then there is the fireroad and doubletrack…. (take a deep breath… stop typing for minute).
OK, I’m back. I ‘don’t like’ fireroad (he says calmly). I particularly ‘don’t like’ fireroad in mountain bike races (he says through clenched teeth). The best rides I have had around Kielder have been on a CX bike, up the road from Morpeth, through the Forest Drive and home again. Lovely. Particularly with an inch of snow on the ground. I know all this to be true. So why did I enter the Kielder 100?
Well, like many other people no doubt, the event captured my imagination. It attracted a huge field. And unusually for a high profile event, it was just down the road for me. So despite deep down knowing that the course would be a mostly fireroad slog, I rolled up to registration on Friday night.
And then it all seemed like a good idea. Because my targets this year have been the Coast to Coast and the Worlds, I have not caught up with many of the entertaining ‘usual suspects’. It was great to have chat and the atmosphere at Kielder Castle was excellent.
I had decided to sleep in ‘The Volvo of Dreams’. (What a fantastic vehicle! I think they should sponsor me.) I was incredibly comfortable and, lying at a shallow reclined position, I could look out the window at the large full moon and the trees swaying and wooshing in the steady breeze. And I looked. And wondered. And tried to close my eyes. But the moon was so bright, it was like daylight. Balls! I have to be up at 5am for the 6:30 start. I started to worry about the prospect of 100 miles on no sleep. Which kept me awake. Balls again. And then I needed the toilet. And realised I had locked myself in the back due to the child lock. I was wide awake now and could feel a healthy morning heart beat in my chest. Aaargh!
Anyway, a bit like counting sheep, I counted the fireroad miles….. 1,2,3,4,5,….73. That did the trick! Zzzzzzzzzz…..
Five minutes later I woke up. And didn’t feel too bad. I got my swag together and headed up the bank to the start line. I got there quite early to secure a place up near the front. Which was nice because it meant that the midges had a good twenty minutes to feast and torment.
The race was started by a pacing car which paced us for about 2/3 miles…. bit excessive. When it finally pulled away the pace went through the roof. I had expected this because there were some Marathon specialists there and Ian Leitch with his super fast start strategy. A group of five hung tantalisingly close in front of me. I tried to close the gap but I was beyond redlining it and, as I was clear of the main bunch, just settled into a steady high pace. (I heard later that soon after two guys broke that group - the four had not worked together long).
I paired up with one or two different people whose company I thoroughly enjoyed and after the crazy start we settled in for the long haul. There has been a lot of rain here recently and, (between the fireroad sections) we ploughed through saturated deep cut double track. Absolutely soaked and thick with mud within minutes. Some pools swallowed my bike up to the hubs. This was going to be a long 100 miles…
There was the odd bit of decent man made trail though and it was here that I was making some time on some of the people that had settled around me. One guy, (with legs like tree trunks) by his own admission conceded that he could not handle a mountain bike as his background was road time trial. So a pattern emerged; I would gain 50m or more on any technical section. He would pull it back on the fire road. It was like a yo-yo effect.
We passed over Bloody Bush road to be greeted by a piper. Nice touch. Poor guy though; standing in the freezing drizzle and mist in a skirt. Visibility was down to about 50 metres… We then dropped down into Newcastleton and I must say I enjoyed it. There are some good fast swoopy sections and the ‘proper’ surface material was a stark contrast to the speed robbing trails of Kielder. After leaving Newcastleton, TT man caught me again. And we settled into a fireroad bash.
“So”, I asked, “What type of time trialling do you do?”. “24 hour road”, he replied. (I was interested). “What’s the furthest you’ve ridden?” “497 miles”, he said. Bugger. This guy isn’t going to fold…. He picked up the pace. I sat on his wheel. He picked up the pace again. I tried to sit on his wheel. He pulled away like he was on a motorbike. I sat up and pressed play on my MP3….
And then the truly hideous section began… it must have been about twenty miles of straight, flat (or gradually climbing) fireroad or completely non-technical doubletrack. TT boy would be at home with a cuppa by now….
The last twenty miles were a complete slog and mentally I had completely had enough. I was so bored. There was no technical interest. I was literally in no man’s land.
One amusing incident though. There was a short steepish fun descent with a grassy berm. I went to brake. And nothing happened. Evil Knievel style, I nose dived of the berm, missing all the trees etc… My pads were down to the backing plate… Oh well. Nearly there so I didn’t bother changing them. One more sketchy decent and the slog was over.
I came in 6th. To be honest, I’m not disappointed. The competition was very stiff. I was ten minutes behind Ian. He said he had expected to stick more time on me, as he felt he was faster this year. He concluded that I had got faster. A compliment from an excellent rider (particularly when he usually just takes the piss!). I also faded quite badly at about 5/6 hours. Whether this was not being recovered from the Worlds or the boredom playing tricks, I don’t know.
So what have I learned? (1) Don’t try to chase Marathon specialists of the start line; it’s a flogging to nothing. (2) Enter races that favour mountain bikers. The interplay between fitness and skills was so stark in the battle between myself and TT man.
However, I’m happy that entered I the Kielder 100 because it was a generally well organised and social event. But it’s horses for courses and this was not the course for me.
Team Mate Josh (far Right) during the start
The week away in Morzine was good for the soul and also my legs and skills, it seems. Chris hadn’t been too bothered about my performing at my best (peaking) for Torq 12:12. This is a 12hr race in The Gorrick area. It was actually held and based in the same field and surrounding areas where I did my Royal Engineers Basic Training in Gibraltar Barracks, 22years ago. I felt a bit old, but somehow revitalised. Memories of creating an ambush in a gully, and getting a kicking when we got it wrong. Happy days.
Right; the race!
It had been a busy week for me with work and home life, and my telling everyone to buy this month’s MBR because they printed a lovely piece written about me by a Lady called Alexander. They also used WC2C Pap, Matt Cope’s, photo’s. Major result! Great thanks to all involved. Why are these experiences always humbling?
So, back to the race, again, and I only got there on Sunday Morning, in time to set up my bikes and for Rob (Da Manager) to finalise the pit in his bid to keep me going strong. The course was great fun, and there were some real comedy offs, and some painful ones, in the dusty conditions. It actually rode like mud since it was so deep and the track was probably about 80% singletrack.
It was going well with Josh and I keeping a steady pace, passing team riders and fellow soloists. One guy kept shooting off when I rode up behind him. Then he’d slow down and I’d catch him up again, so he’d shoot off. I pushed a wee bit and just sat behind him, as he seemed to ride a little raggedly when he got excited.
Poor guy went over the bars at one point, and I felt a bit guilty. I stopped to check he was ok but he wasn’t much for conversation, so after a couple of cursory words in which he proved he was ok, I left and carried on. He must have hurt himself because I lapped him as he lurked at the end with his mate, 2hrs later.
At about the 4hr mark I had a bit of a problem which meant that for the next 30-40mins were done in “stood-up” mode and my pulse was way too high. It took probably around 3hrs to get over that because my legs were killing me for that period, but the lap times stayed consistant. All in all my technical problems cost me around another 15 minutes over the race period. I know what the problem was, but can’t own up to it quite yet.
No matter what happened though, my times were consistant.
Nutrition? Perfect!
Mental status and preparation? Bang on!
I’ve never ridden so fast for so long. I think I found another gear!
My coach is the business!
My support and Nutritionist support (Zoe) was awesome too.
5th place, which could easily have been improved upon.
Happy days!
2 races to go and then it’s back to preparation for a BIG ride, next year, as mentioned in MBR.
2010 will see a major overhaul and rebranding of our team. As part of that process we are reviewing our current team line-up and also our policy on rider development. Next season there will be a number of places up for grabs…
The senior team is in need of a strong solo rider to bring more depth to our palmares in the big UK solo events. You dont need to be a big hitter. but you do need to be on the way to being one…
If demand is there and the right riders can be found then we are also looking at running a 4 rider development team alongside the regular solo team. You will be the sort of rider fairly new to the sport with lots of ambition and a desire to improve whilst having fun and learning a few tricks of the trade along the way. You will be looking to race in a team or pair at the big 12 and 24 events and maybe starting to think about your first solo…
Applications will only be considered with a covering cv or letter telling us who you are and why you would be good for the team and the 7ds project…
contact Rob Lee ride7ds@googlemail.com to apply
Sleepless turned out to be quite a race, but I wasn’t really a part of it, this year.
A tight twisty course, with plenty to keep the mind occupied, and some passing places just where you thought there weren’t any.
Jo and I pulled up on Thursday night and set up camp.
Friday was a chilled out day- she went to buy a car and I kept well away. I just did my practice loop and fiddled with bikes, listened to music and met up with some friends.
Friday night and the other racers started turning up, all eager to impress and also to check out the competition.
James Leavesley popped in for a coffee and a good chat. But he was digging, cheeky boy. “How much training have you done?” etc.
“Tonnes.”
He then told me how he’s 10 years younger than me. Do I still like this guy?
I’m not sure he saw me as a threat as such, but he was checking me out. I found that to be a bit of a confidence boost, as nobody was ever bothered about me before, really. Well, no, that’s wrong. James has always been interested and supportive.
Rob Dean turned up too. He’s a big bloke, and recently completed the South Downs’ Double in under 20 hours. He WAS a big rival. He was a bit like me, keen to say that he was here to win, but nice and non-threatening if that makes sense. Exposure lights have sort of taken him under their wing, so I knew he’d be ok.
Saturday morning and one of my inspirations turned up for a wee chat. Steve Heading is a monster mile muncher and well respected by all who know him. He doesn’t stop riding, he doesn’t have to. He just keeps going, super steadily paced and annoyingly quick. He gets it done, whatever it is.
Keep an eye out for Steve and his input into cycling progression.
So I pop my head out of “Blanche HQ” (my gnarlavan) into the solo area, to view the delights before me. Most of the “threats” were hanging about each other, and sort of applying friendly posturing techniques during their pre-race conversations. Invisible heckles were being exhibited purely in the body language. These guys were going to go out and knock hell out of each other. I could just see it happening.
Jo then remembered that our team name hadn’t been on the start list, so I asked her to make sure that Vince Cox the commentator had some details about me and the team so he could say hello as I rode past.
Vince is going to ride around the world, next year.
Gulp.
How’s that for inspiration? What’s more is that he’s planning on arranging a race around the world, to finish at a point that coincides with the Olympic Opening Ceremony in London.
Wow!
I wonder if I could get 5 months off of work…
Anyway, Jo went up to talk to him and tell him about…
…He knew all about me, the 7DS and had followed our progress before and after the rides. He knew about the 7DS. He knew I’d been I’ll. He knew more than me.
I’m not used to that sort of thing, and although we sing and dance on these blogs, in a self-obsessed manner, about what the human machine can do and what we plan to do, you are never sure if anybody is actually listening.
Vince was genuinely interested.
The reasons for the 7DS came flooding back to me: If one person has found any form of inspiration from what has been done on this website, or others, then we’re doing the right thing.
When Jo came back to say what he had said, I was humbled. I really felt like, I don’t know, a very minor ambassador for the sport or something like that. It made me feel somehow how smaller, but with the possibility of a growing presence within racing.
We are all ambassadors when we don a team jersey but I felt out of my depth, a bit.
Never mind. Back to the task in hand.
15mins before the start. Pre-load drink in hand
Line up on the start line. Right at the front.
There are a lot of photographers about, try not to look too nervous.
Looking back, all the solo guys are behind me, and James winks at me as if to say, “You’re in for it.”
“Ignore it Dave, ride your own race”, says Coach Chris Eatough in the back of my mind.
Vince looks at me and starts to talk about the Coast to coast over the Tannoy, to all the folk that came to watch the melee that is the start of a 24hr race.
He walks towards, me.
I smile, and shrink behind some other guys on the start line. If he had been coming up for a chat, which I doubt, he changed his mind when he saw the fear on my face.
The hooter goes off, and the run starts. James runs past and pinches my bum! I had planned to follow him on the run anyway, so that I got the right pace as the last time I did a Le mans start I was 2 stone heavier.
Jo Reckons we were back with the first 20 runners.
Crikey.
We race off on the bike and up the first climb. I let all the solo riders rip off, and watch as they keep looking back at each other to make sure that they stayed in front.
I sat back, and let them push on. I had time to work: 24hrs to be exact(ish).
At the end of the first slippy downhill, there were bodies everywhere. Then one of the solo riders rode past and smiled at me as he shouted, “C’mon! This is the easy bit!”
I let him go on too. These guys seemed to want to race right from the start, and I only know 2 or 3 people who can actually do that. James is one of them, and I’m not.
The hours run on, and the gap grew between me and them for about 4hrs or 6hrs. Then it started to shrink, and people in front started to drop out. At 8hrs I was 9th, I think, and felt well and truly settled into my rhythm. I was keeping my lap times to within a minute of each other and was reeling them in, and enjoying it.
My nutrition was bang on. I’m a liquid diet man, on a bike, and it was working nicely. I had no stomach issues, so my pace was just about bang on, too. The long haul was upon us.
At 12hrs in (lap 14?-I’m not sure how many I did) I slipped on a root and had to put my foot down to stop me falling. There was a little twinge in my back. It was the only discomfort I had had at all up to this point, which is a major plus, so I kept going and ignored it.
15mins later I got to the stupidly steep second to last climb and walked it as I had done for most laps, to keep my heart rate down. My back felt a bit tight.
Rode back to the pit, and the feeding zone. I couldn’t get my bottle out of the holder and so I said to Jo, “I’ll keep going around to the solo lane, I may have a wee problem.”
I was 4th and 12mins behind 2nd, who was the main concern for me. 1st was going too fast, I hoped.
Jo and Rich Holmes, a good friend from my local mtb community, were there. I stopped, and nearly face planted. My feet were stuck in the pedals.
Concerned looks.
“I’ll ride to the caravan, but I think you may have to catch me, there.”
I stop at the predetermined place, and Rich grabs the bike and helps me get a foot out. I try to stand up and immediately collapse against our car, in the shape of a bike rider. I was stuck.
Pain.
Hmm?
I’m sure I didn’t swear, but my back and leg/glute hurt a lot. Where was my right foot, and had I wet myself?
They dragged me to the inside of the awning, bike shaped, and lay me on my side with my legs bent at 90 degrees.
Luckily, Jo is a physio. So she started trying to bend and knock 10 bells out of me and get it so that I could move my legs and back out of the shape I was in.
She gave up after 20mins, and decided to try and get me into the bed so that I could lie straight and flat.
It took her about 30mins to lift and assist me into the caravan. Rich had had to go to help his mate on his own solo ride.
At one point, I had jo’s pink and girly hat on my head, and was being pushed along the floor of the caravan with my arms stuck under my body and face rubbing on the floor. The hat had been pushed down over my eyes, and I couldn’t do anything about it.
My bum was still hanging out of the caravan door and was stuck up in the air as if it was a bike stand.
“Park HERE!”
Jo asked me to look at something as I was being moved.
“I can’t see anything, Jo”
She saw my predicament…
…and fell about laughing.
After I got over the shock, and agony, of her dropping me I saw the funny side and sort of joined in. But it hurt to laugh, so I laughed some more.
Obviously I didn’t get out again, but once on the bed I was able to carry on with some gentle mobilisations and she also got the dreaded tape out.
With my back taped up and supported on a proper bed, I returned to Earth from my low orbit.
All I could do was mull things over and keep relatively still.
In the morning I could just about stand, but I couldn’t reach my knees. Jo got the flannel out and helped me clean myself.
“No, I can’t reach below my waist sorry, Jo…”
I had a look around, got dizzy a few times, felt sick, and then came back to the van to do more mobilisation/stretches and extensions. Things were easing slightly.
At the end, I was lucky enough to watch Rob Dean ride in for his first ever 24 solo, as the winner!
He was the number 2, that I felt was a real threat. Number 1 did stop, but I’m not sure why.
Lots of positives, one piece of bad luck.
A humbling but fulfilling weekend.
And a free flannel wash.
And Rich’s rider, Rik? He came 4th after a stunning upping of his game at solo 24!!!
The team, except Clive
