Exposure 24 - View from the Pack by Jason Robinson

Share on Facebook  Share on Twitter

BY: Louise Robinson

Published: 20th May, 2013

I had been thinking about entering a 24hr solo race for some time.  However the dates or locations of the various 24hr races never really worked for me, basically I had always managed to find an excuse not to enter.   When it was announced last November  that the 2013 UK & European 24hour Solo Championships were to be held at Wasing in Berkshire , only 30 minutes from home, it seemed ideal for a first try.  I had raced at the Southern XC there earlier in the year so had an idea of the terrain.  I am not new to endurance racing and I have previously raced a few 12hr solo events before,  and generally done fairly well, certainly better than I can do in XC races.   While I was confident in riding for 12 hours, stepping up to what was essentially  two 12 hour races back to back seemed like an impossible task.

From then onwards the event was bubbling away at the back of mind, but it was only from March that I thought I better get some decent time in on the bike and started to really up the training.   With a fairly busy life outside cycling it was a case of fitting in the rides where I could.  Suddenly I found myself out riding at 11pm on a Saturday night (a puncture in the middle of Swinley Forest at midnight was a highlight of one of those rides), or 5am weekend morning rides - goodbye social life!   The longest ride I managed was 6 hours, I also did a 5 hour ride, but everything else was under 4 hours. I squeezed in a couple of xc races, but these where on the back of a long ride the day before.    Luckily I am more than happy to endure the tedium of a turbo trainer so clocked up some long rides on there too; working my way through several box sets of DVDs.  

In the week before the event it felt very much like an approaching exam.   I felt as if I had run out of time to improve any further, and it was just a case of reassuring myself that I had put in more time on the bike than I had ever done before and that I was more than ready for the challenge ahead.   Luckily the amount of preparation needed distracted me from worrying about the race.  Three bikes to sort, clothes to pack, food to arrange etc etc.  before I knew it it was race day.

Every 12 hour race I have competed in before I have always been self supported and never really felt I need for a pit bitch, however 24 hours gave different challenges with bottles to refill and a higher chance of bike problems.   Originally Lou agreed to pit for me, but then just before the event our son got invited to his best friend's birthday party in the afternoon, meaning she couldn't be there from 4 until 7 on the Saturday, as she had to provide a taxi service for him.   So I roped in Del (aka Mr Four4th Lights) to cover for the few hours in the afternoon.   I was sharing a gazebo with Julian Green who was racing single speed for the 24 hours and Julian had Nik Pullen pitting for him.  Nik is an experienced endurance racer, and was happy to help me too which made things a bit easier , as well as giving Lou someone to drink wine with.

Did everyone's pit table look like this? (Photo courtesy of Nik Pullen)

Race morning was spent sorting bottles, food, clothes and bikes.   I had a rough strategy of one bottle of energy drink every two laps, with an assortment of drinks to give a bit of variety.   This was supplemented with energy gels and bars. For a 12hour race I normally ride with a few of these in my back pocket and take them when I feel like it.  This works well for me over 12 hours but I had no idea if 24 would be too far without proper food.   I did have some precooked pasta on standby, together with bananas, flapjack, chocolate and jelly sweets in case I fancied a change.   

Bikes ready to roll

With the weather looking a bit variable I had set my 29er Rocky Mountain hardtail up with Specialized Ground Control tyres, which I find good in slippy conditions, and not too draggy in the dry.  I also had my Epic 29er set up with Racing Ralphs, with the intention of using this when everything was dry and fast.  I had a 26er singlespeed on standby incase everything became really really bad, but didn't really plan to ride this bike - at least I hoped it wouldn't be that bad.

Before the race I had a few dilemmas on how much to wear.  At the start the temperature was hovering around 10 degrees with a cold breeze and a chance of showers.  I decided to go with arm and leg warmers from the start as my plan was to ride at an easy pace from the start, so didn't imagine over heating would be a problem.

 

Rider ready to roll (Photo courtesy of Nik Pullen)

Before I knew it I was lined up on the start line.  I wasn't as near the front as I wanted to be, but with 24 hours before me I wasn't too concerned.  I started on the Rocky Mountain as the course was still a bit damp in places, and if there were showers it is a more suitable bike.   The race started with a steady paced fireroad loop, after this the race got under way properly.  Having always previously competed in events with team riders present too I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed and friendly the start was, everyone was polite and the race settled into a natural order very quickly.

Thanks to SouthernXC for the picture

I slowly made my way up the field until I got into a position where I felt comfortable.     The 1st lap was completed in 38minutes   and felt very good, I was easily spinning the pedals  and keeping up a reasonable speed.  My heart rate was slightly higher than I expected, but I didn't feel like I was working hard.   The next few laps passed without incident until a light shower appeared which damped the course down a bit but didn't really cause too much disruption.  This soon cleared with the sun making an appearance and drying the course out to leave a great fast line.   Around this time I had my only mechanical as a stick lodged into my rear mech on the first single track climb on the course.  I stopped looked down and saw my mech wedged into the rear wheel, and first thoughts where that only three hours into the race I was faced with a 5mile push back to the pits.  However a bit of brute force managed to get the mech out of the wheel and I carried on riding.   Surprisingly everything worked fine although the chain was skipping  a bit on the cassette, but  I could live with that until the end of the lap.  

A quick change of bikes and mumbled description of the problem on the Rocky Mountian and I was out again on a fresh bike.   I have never switched from a hardtail to a full suss mid race, but I immediately loved riding the Epic, it might have been the faster tyres but suddenly my lap times dropped  (admittedly only slightly) and I was enjoying the extra comfort over the numerous roots on the course.  As I started the lap my only thought was if the 740mm wide Mt Zoom bars I have on the bike would fit through the narrow tree gap on the course - when I got there they actually fitted through fine, but it gave me something to think about for 20 minutes.

(Photo courtesy of Nik Pullen)

As we approached 8pm I was thinking that it was time to stick some lights on the bike. I had previously instructed Lou to have a bike ready for me with lights on so I wouldn't have to stop to fit lights, but as I was enjoying the bike I was on I decided that sticking with the Epic was the best option.   I came into the pits to grab the lights and Lou presented me with the Rocky Mountain ready to go as the pit crew of Del and Nick had managed to straighten the mech hanger.  As they had put so much effort into getting it ready I felt guilty in not taking it, so grabbed it and rode off, thinking I would do a lap or two before switching back to the Epic.   Part way around this lap it started to get very dark (much earlier than I expected) and then the rain started…  this wasn't just a light shower, it was an immense rain storm combined with hail for good measure.   Within minutes the dry fast line had turned into a slippy river of slop.     It wasn't too bad in the trees, but in the open areas it was like being in a power shower set on cold.   

At this point I was very glad I had switched bikes to something more suitable.   A look at my Garmin revealed that the temperature had dropped from 10 degrees to about 3.   As I had started a bit over dressed I didn't actually feel too cold at this stage (lots of early morning winter rides help here) although I was aware I was very wet so grabbed a waterproof jacket as I passed the pits.    On that lap I remember passing the little hut a mile or so into the course and saw two riders sheltering in there from the rain and thinking that the rain must be heavy.  It never seems too bad to me when I am actually riding my bike.     It think the heavy rain only lasted a lap or so, but the course was a mess, suddenly several bits had to be pushed, and laps went from 40minutes to around an hour.    As darkness was here, it didn't look like anything would dry out and we were in for a night of mud.   When the rain fully stopped I used that as an excuse to make a quick stop and to change into some dry clothes and be force fed some flap jack before heading out again.   I put my waterproof back on only for the zip to fail on the start of the lap, aware of how cold it was I tried to fix it several times on the lap, but it was well and truly broken.  Hence another stop at the end of that lap to put on a windstopper jacket as I only had the one waterproof.   By now the 12 hour riders had finished and course was very quiet, I think I did several laps without seeing anyone.  

View from the tent (Photo courtesy of Nik Pullen)

Much earlier than I expected I started to see a few glimmers of dawn approaching, which was a very welcome sight.   During the race I didn't want to know my position until dawn, as so much can happen over night, and I was very aware that for my first 24 I had to ride my own race.   As I went through the pit area I found out I was in 4th place which I was very happy with, at the start I would have been pleased with top ten.   At the end of the next lap I found out I was a lap down on 3rd and a lap up on 5th, so not too much pressure I just had to put in a few more solid laps.   Around about 7am Julian Green caught me up (although he was a couple of laps down) and we rode the remaining laps together.  Julian was riding very strongly on the singlespeed, and won the single speed championship, and I am sure he would have got a couple of extra laps in if he didn't keep waiting for me…  

Penultimate Lap... (Photo courtesy of Nik Pullen)

I now deviated from from my energy food and flapjack diet, and would pick up a handful of chocolate, Minstrals in this case, as I passed the pits and munch on them on the first fireroad section - they tasted great.
Before I knew it it was 11am and I crossed the finish line for the final time having completed 26 laps and finishing in 4th place.    Thanks to Nik for the bottle of beer to cross the line with.

 

Thanks to Lou, Nik & Del who did a great job in the pits.  I am still not sure how you managed to hand me a bike at 8pm that I managed to ride for the next 15hours through torrential rain and mud and it didn't miss a beat.   Also thanks to Gaz and Jo (part of Kathy Bereford's pit crew) who helped me when I pitted during the night while Lou got a few  hours sleep.

Well done to all the marshalls who went through a tough 24hours. I didn't envy you guys when the rain started, although I was a bit jealous when you were all relaxing in the sun at 6pm.

Many thanks to the guys at SIP Events who put on a great championships.

 

Jason Robinson.  Cameraman, Mechanic, Driver and Fixer - occasionally allowed to race too!

Four4th Lights