A couple of weeks out from the event, and things seemed to be going pretty well – i was having fun racing the FNSS races, probably because they’re quick 1hr races on quite testing courses; not scary tech stuff, but hard to ride flat out – they’re a big helping of what i love about ‘cross and mtb rolled into one. I also seemed to be finding some form after a pretty slow start to the season, which did my motivation wonders. So things looked good on the physical front, perhaps the more untested part of the equation was my mind. Deciding i needed something to take my mind off it, i planned a couple of days off work, so i took the Thursday to practice my technical riding under Jenny’s watchful eye – the few things she suggested to Rachel and I made the world of difference to our riding – it was incredible how much i’d been riding below par in the technical department, and how much i’d needed a refresher! Thursday evening we drove over to stay at Rachel’s parents’ house in Worcester, before making the final push on to Plymouth on Friday morning (it’s really quite a long way from Cambridge!). We got to Newnham at about 4pm on Friday, and already the solo camping area was filling up. It seemed from where we were that a lot of teams had realised that the solo camping put you nearer the course, and so they latched onto their one solo rider in order to get a huge course-side spot to cheer their team mates – not quite what the area was intended for, but at least they added to the atmosphere!
Having set up camp, Rachel and I headed out for a couple of steady laps of the course, and immediately realised that our help from Jenny had changed the way we thought about riding offroad, we kept spotting better and better lines in the tapes for me to take. It was really good to have someone riding around with me to discuss things with too – it calmed my nerves and also reassured me of my choices. After that, it was time for noodly-goodness, and then a wander around the arena. We headed for Theresa & Mike’s party for Keith Bontrager, safe in the knowledge that wherever T was, good food and good company could only be close by. Having been helped to food and wine (good way to settle nervous stomachs, right?!) we hung around and chatted to a few people before heading off to hit the hay. It was bizarre, there were still another 24hrs to go before my race even started – what was i going to do with all that time?!
Saturday morning dawned and the sun shone, ready for the off at midday. Trevor Allen, a mate of mine and Rachel’s through doing altogether too much racing this year, was going to be off in the 24hr race up against stiff competition from the likes of Ian Leitch, Matt Page, Ant White and Ian Payne. Watching him come through very steadily towards the back of the field, the enormity of what he was going to do over the next 24hrs hit me, my race would be barely more than a warm up! Getting involved with looking after him with Nick made me feel so much better, and made me feel useful too – bonus! Come the afternoon, i decided the excitement of the 24hr and 12hr soloists was a bit too much, and lay down to get a bit of sleep, over the coming night i was sure i’d be glad of it. I shovelled in an uncomfortable amount of risotto for dinner, and then kept snacking right up to my 9pm cut-off; i was going to have everything ready for 9, then go to bed for a couple of hours, and try to trick my body that it was morning when i woke up by having a bowl of crunchy nut, my breakfast of choice! It was more surreal, but it might just have worked – i felt pretty awake and ready to race by the time i rolled up to the start line at 11:50. Finding the start proved a bit tricky, but we all made it there in the end – after a bit of an anticlimactic whistle, we were off into the night. I slotted in third wheel from the torchbearers with the aim of putting out a reasonably quick first lap, more to remind my body i was racing than for any time advantage.
Feed zone hilarity
Going up the first big climb i had a chat with Nick Evans before he slipped away into the night, it had me rather worried that i was giving a bit much too soon and that he was pacing himself rather better than i had. I let my pace drop a bit for the second and subsequent laps, aiming to maintain a decent rhythm on the climbs, and then let rip on the descents, although even with my helmet-mounted light this proved a bit tricky; all the lovely lines i’d sussed were out there somewhere in the blackness, but try as i might i couldn’t find them anywhere. Somewhere around the 5th or 6th lap i had a particularly bad one, riding like a total spanner through the rooty woods, and fluffing most of the techy bits, and came in pretty frustrated with myself. There were the first hints of light in the sky, and i was struggling to stay on the case – my legs felt good still, and i was putting away the gels, bars and energy drink i needed to keep me going, but i was annoyed at not being able to ride well. I had a good old whinge to Rachel when i came into the pits, and stopped for a minute eating a banana to give me time to think about what to do next. I was very tempted to quit, and as soon as i said this, Rachel gave me the “bad” news – i couldn’t quit because i was in first place. I didn’t have a huge lead, but there was enough there that i could try to extend it.
I headed out for another lap, the sun starting to lighten the sky discernibly now, i knew i would only need lights for the darkest bits of singletrack next lap, which did everything to raise my spirits. Even better, i had flat coke in my water bottle – my little treat to myself for the last few hours. As the race wore on, i found i was missing my tunes so i grabbed an ipod in the feed zone, stuck a bud in one ear and got Calvin Harris going to keep me on it. I needn’t have bothered though, i soon had Nick for company again, and we rode around together for a few minutes trying to work out where in the field he was, we reckoned second or third. At this point i was really excited, i’d just lapped the guy in third – things were looking better, i might be able to hang onto this. As the sun came up properly, i started spotting those errant lines that had escaped in the peripheral blackness not two hours before, and my lap times started to quicken again. I was riding with energy i hadn’t realised i had, i was cleaning the tricky rooty section in the woods every lap, and better still i was really enjoying it. I had one slight scare when, going for it a bit too much i burped the air from my back tyre, and had to make a pit stop to top up again, but apart from that to get the adrenaline going, it all went like clockwork. I spent the last three hours carefully checking and rechecking whether i could stop early and be sure to win, and by the sounds of things so did Rachel and Nick in the pits! Come 11:25am with 14 laps completed, and nearly 2 laps ahead of my nearest competitor, i decided to call it a day – i came through the feedzone to shouts from Nick to zip up my jersey with a huge grin on my face, as much one of relief as excitement. It was a bit of an anticlimax coming through the arch and doing the arms, given that there were only about a dozen people there to see me, presuming that everyone would finish post-12pm, but it did still feel great – my first win!
My first trip to the top step of the podium!
Trevor hung on admirably to get 3rd in the 24hr solo category, even if he did eat my olives! I got some great prizes courtesy of the kind people at Trek/Bontrager, and was even topped up with extra goodies by Mike Jackson on the Trek stand; such comfy socks! It was a great weekend all things considered, and the atmosphere really reminded me why i love mtb events, but i don’t think i’ll be doing another 12 solo any time soon – i’m much more keen for the big loop marathons. So roll on Kielder....
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