A Day To Remember

Share on Facebook  Share on Twitter

BY: Mark Spratt

Published: 12th May, 2011

Credit: Joolze Dymond

As my previous blogs have made clear, the UK 24 hour champs was a target race for me this year, one I've been aiming towards since entering at the Cycle Show in October of last year. Whilst I've continued to enter XC races I've done little "top-end" training, instead focussing on longer rides at a good pace. Ideally I would have entered a few enduros in the run-up to the 24 but this year's calendar wasn't kind, allowing me only the inaugural (and excellent) Goshawk and Dyfi Enduros as tests of form. At the Goshawk I was pleased with how I rode, finishing 4th a few minutes behind Matt Page but on the evening before the Dyfi, a week before the UK24, I started sniffing with warning signs of a cold so rode at a very gentle pace. The next few days at work were spent glaring at anyone who came near me with the vaguest signs of cold or flu and I started to feel very, very nervous.
Mel and I travelled up to Newcastleton on Friday, arriving shortly after midday, got settled into our cabin and I headed out for a lap of the course while Mel took her road bike round the borders for a few hours. When I've supported Mel at 12 and 24 hour races in the past I have always ridden the course and my biggest concern was that I would get bored of the repeated laps. The UK24 course at Newcastleton left me with no concerns, I knew it was going to be tough but interesting. The rest of the morning passed in a blur with some last minute bike fettling, rider briefing and me delivering my own briefing to my pit crew of Mel and Niall from XCRacer and George of CycleCoachingWales, principally explaining the running order of my Exposure lights, available spares, tyre pressures and bike strategy.
At 11am I rolled down to the centre of Newcastleton, signed on and shared some light hearted banter with a few friends also racing, then suddenly we were in the starting chute and being led out of the town by firstly a piper, then some crazy bikes and finally the lead-out van with Joolze Dymond bobbing around in the back pointing her lens in our direction. As the van pulled over the pace went up and the lead group started to stretch out. Entering the first section of climbing singletrack I was behind a rider on a singlespeed who showed some good early pace but was unfortunately off and walking by this point, allowing a small lead group to break away. Exiting the section I knew it would be foolish to try and chase down a group containing Matt Page and Ant White on my own so I opted to ride at my own pace and save some energy for later. As the lap progressed I variously rode with Dan Treby and Ian Leitch, then passed Jason Miles which gave me some confidence as I know him to be a strong and experienced 24 hour soloist.
About half way through the second lap I was surprised to exit a section of singletrack and see Matt Page just in front of me. Clearly he'd had a mishap but he didn't stick around to tell me about it, disappearing up the trail well beyond my ability to follow. The next few laps were uneventful; I started lapping some riders, made my first bike change after 3 laps then every 2 laps thereafter. My pit crew were telling me I was 2nd Vet but about 15 minutes down on Rich Rothwell and I knew I was in about 6th position overall. Just before dusk I was joined by Niall with his helmet cam for a lap and promptly slid off on the first section of muddy singletrack. Very kindly he chose not to use this in his report!

Credit: Joolze Dymond

It was then time for the lights to go on, so I headed off on my first night lap with Maxx-D on the bar and Diablo on the helmet. This was a significant lap as I first caught Dave Powell who was in 5th and then Rich Rothwell. Dave was struggling on a muddy climb and I was able to go straight past him but Rich was more tenacious, immediately pulling up beside me and introducing himself (we'd not met before). He then jumped in front on the singletrack and gave me something of a lesson in night riding at Newcastleton. I was pleased to be able to hold his wheel and we rode together for the rest of the lap, exchanging a few words as we did so. We were then together for the first half of the next lap before I dropped my chain and Rich leapt forward. Despite chasing I didn't see him for the rest of the lap but I knew the gap couldn't be big. The following lap I caught him again on a muddy section where I seemed to be stronger. As a heavier rider I'm not the best climber but I suspect my extra strength helps through sticky mud. We were once more locked together for the rest of the lap before unknown to me I was able to pass Rich at the pits. I spent a whole lap trying to chase him again before Mel and Niall told me I was ahead. From then on I settled back to my (slightly uncomfortable) pace, expecting Rich to appear on my wheel at any moment.
As the night wore on the temperature dropped and the rain started. I first changed my jersey for a dry one and added my JIF gilet, then arm warmers, then swapped to another dry jersey and a waterproof shell. The decision for each change was made during the lap, such that as I pulled up I called for what I wanted and Mel, Niall or George promptly delivered. Plans changed during a lap, such that I might change earlier or later than originally intended but I believe I made the right choices at the right times. I'm very aware though that one late change of clothing might have lead to a different result as the cold and rain set in..
Strangely, this rationality seemed to continue and despite prior warnings that I'd have lows and my mind would wander it never did. At one point Mel offered me a choice of energy drinks, a pointless exercise as I'd just grab what was nearest, and I replied "Don't give me options, I don't want options I just want to ride my bike". And I really did. There was never a point when I needed motivation (though Niall in particular shouted plenty at me) and I never tried to sit down or struggle to leave the pits. This may be because of Rookie excitement, perhaps because I was leading or maybe it's an unforeseen benefit of recent red-eye business trips where losing a night's sleep but having to stay motivated and perform for work has been a frequent occurrence.

Credit: Sheldon Attwood

Though people will tell you that dawn heralds new energy and that lap times will fall I'm afraid they never did. As the end neared my pace dropped but I was met with the surprising news that I'd moved up to third overall, was holding a good gap over Rich in the Vets and was about to lap my friend Simon Smith, main competition for the Rookie jersey. In fact I passed Simon sooner than expected as he was changing to mud tyres but he didn't let this last long and promptly rode past me on an early muddy climb, impressing me greatly as I saw no other rider make it through that section. Simon then disappeared up the trail but at the time I was confident that he couldn't pull a lap back on me.
Once again a period of uneventful laps took place before a very tired Mel started telling me that Simon was eating into my lead and might take third. There wasn't much I could do to respond by this stage, my body was really starting to suffer. Not my legs or knees as one might think but my lower back and arms. The back pain was expected having never sat on a bike for so long but what surprised me was the pain in my arms and the feeling of weakness in them. I was barely able to support my weight on the bars and when I reached for my bottle I thought I was going to collapse every time. Changing gear became incredibly difficult and I rode long sections without shifting. All the time I was trying to calculate the pace Simon would have to ride to catch me before midday and every time my mind said he couldn't do it, even though the pit crew had said otherwise.

Finally, at 10:22 I stopped at my pit to be told I'd won the Vets, got 3rd overall and won the Rookie jersey. My calculations were right but I'd already decided I was going for another lap and on the same bike. Fortunately Sheldon Attwood, organiser of the SSEC2010 race spotted a large stick caught in my spokes and declared I couldn't use the bike. I remembered the sound of a stick entering my spokes  and thinking I would break one, then listening for a rattle and looking down to check wheel trueness; all seemed good so I'd carried on. I jumped onto my spare bike and headed off with 1hour 38minutes for a final lap. What I only later learnt was that the stick was firmly trapped and was rubbing on the brake caliper with every rotation such that the rear wheel wouldn't turn freely and was wearing metal from the caliper body. Hitting the first steep climb on this final lap I suddenly ground to a halt. The pain in my back and arms plus exhaustion and extra effort required with the rubbing stick meant I had to take a breather and stretch. The same procedure was repeated 2 more times that lap and as I approached the arena for the last time I knew I was running very close to the midday cut-off. As I rounded the last corner the tape was up and I was met with a cry of "you're 30 seconds too late!" I unclipped my right foot and fell to the floor, exhausted. I was quickly surrounded by friends who helped me to my feet and then held me up for the next few hours whilst photos were taken, podiums stood upon, jerseys pulled on, (and off, and on, and off, and on, and off) at a very well supported prize giving.

So, a target race; did I achieve my goals? Finishing was never the challenge, I was confident I could do that, but the pace needed to get a good result scared me. I had entertained thoughts of winning the Vets title but Niall had told me how strong Keith Forsyth (3rd Vet) was and every common friend we have told me that Rich Rothwell was in amazing shape and as a former Masters World Champion I knew he'd be incredibly difficult to beat. Being my first 24 solo I was eligible for the Rookie jersey but Simon Smith had already proved himself at the Goshawk Enduro and is 10 years my junior, so this was again an entertained but distant goal. You could say then that winning the Rookie jersey, the UK Vets jersey and the European Vets jersey in one race far exceeded my goals. And you'd be right.

Thanks to my sponsors One Industries . The Maxxis IKON tyres never let me down and the Sunline grips and 661 gloves gave me not one instant of numb hands.
Thanks to Cardiff JIF and Cyclopedia for the words of support and quality servicing done in the months leading up to the event, often at very short notice.
Thanks to the guys at Exposure Lights for loaning me lights when mine were fading.

But most of all a huge thank you to Niall Frost, George Rose and Melanie Alexander for all your support, training and patience.