Or twentyfour12 Number 8. Firstly I thought this years was the 9th year that Twentyfour12 had run but obviously years of going round on my own had taken there toll and I'd wished a year of my life away. Having done 12hr team in year 2, a couple of Torchbearer pairs before concentrating on soloing the 12hr. After last years mud fest and despite winning the solo cat I'd had enough of soloing and decided that for 2013 I'd do it differently.
As some of you will know, about 4 yrs ago, Jane was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to go through surgery and both Chemotherapy and Radiotherapy, at the time she was told she'd never be as fit as she had been before treatment. A self fulfilling prophecy we were keen to ignore.
Throughout all her treatment Jane continued to support me in my racing and also helped to ensure racers in the South West had a place to race; being there to help Jay and Maddie put on the Fullysussed (or Circus of Dirt as I think it was called then) series.
Through all this cycling gave me focus and offered both of us a distraction from regular trips to Hospital. In fact cycling has been thread that has run through it all, it was whilst trying on a pair of winter bib tights that Jane noticed the tell tale breast lump that sent her into hospital. And this was one of the reasons that I chose to race in Breast Cancer Pink RNRMCA kit for 2 seasons.
After almost 12 months off work Jane managed to get back to nursing in Derriford Hospital and back on her bike. Annoyingly after just a year back at work she was forced back off the bike and back into hospital as a patient for more surgery. But again as soon as she was able she was back supporting me and Jay & Maddie as long as a chair was provided she'd be there doing registration and lap scoring.
When we'd both dried out from Twentyfour12 2012 I proposed (no not like that I did that 22 yrs ago!) to Jane that we give 12hr pairs a spin, perhaps not the Horton version of equal efforts but something a bit more realistic like, 3 sessions for me and perhaps 1 day and 1 night lap from her. So the gauntlet was thrown and a SMART object identified.
As 2012 rolled into 2013, Jane attended a Royal Navy women's only skills weekend as well as the Filthy Foxes weekend. She went back to work and started riding regularly in Cann woods with me. Returning to work also meant the return of cycle commuting. It helped that after a rubbish start the weather improved. The original plan had been a race at Jan Soggy Bot but that didn't happen so it looked like Twentyfour12 would be her debut!
Jane's first descent of Cottage return as part of the Filty Foxes Women's Weekend
Having ridden Newnham more times than anywhere else, when the course map was published I knew where we would be going and it looked to be a great lap for a novice like Jane, all the classic bits plus enough fire road for overtaking and recovery. A lap on the Friday didn't present any surprises, Couple of sections needed sessioning to get right and a couple of sections were deemed "next year's" challenges.
Sat mornings are registration, Noddy Questions and last minute detail rather than relax and focus but that's what happens when you agree to help Martyn out! Next year we're only doing Friday pm. Somewhere between giving out boards, bottles and Clif bars we had our team meeting and the aims for the 12hrs were agreed. Ride as hard as you can and enjoy yourself. Nothing more nothing less. I'd be doing the first stint of 3 laps before handing over.
Race start and we were away. I missed the Ice Cream van this year; I'm not that keen on lollies. The course was even better when taken at speed and after years of having to manage efforts as a soloist it was great to attack the course and really put some effort in. Just under 2hrs after the horn I was back to hand over. In the absence of a baton this year we'd been recommending hugs, slap, kisses as a suitable alternative handover procedure. It seems that the majority of teams we're going for high fives. We went for a lingering hug(remember team goal - enjoy yourself) and a kiss.
And with that Jane was away on her first lap as a racer and I went back to the pit like a pensive father. Being off the bike and in the pit was a new experience especially as Jane wasn't there to sort everything out for me. After faffing around for a bit, I went down to the mid lap point where course re-entered the arena, after a short wait up popped Jane, bottle less (not nerve, she's got that by the tonne) but she's dropped her drinks bottle. A quick dash back to the pit for a spare and she was away to complete second half of her lap. I went back to our pit to faff some more before I headed back to transition way to early to wait for Jane's return, but it did mean I got to catch up with a load of local riders I know(another thing you miss doing solo).
Of all the emotions I expected when Jane came into hand over tears wasn't one of them. As we hugged for a second time, we were both in tears, (good job we both had sun glasses on) the lap meant so much to us both. Something we'd discussed years ago, before Cancer got in the way, something I'd hoped would happen for so long finally had. My wife, Jane, was a MTB racer. She'd ridden on a course, with a number board on her bike and most importantly she'd enjoyed it.
Anyway, in-between tears we agreed strategy for the next session. As the laps were faster than we had estimated; I'd do 4 laps with a bottle stop in the middle, before the next handover. I'm not sure if Jane had worked it out at that point but that would mean if she wanted to do a night lap, and having Maddies "Queen of the Night" MaxxD why wouldn't you, she'd have to go out and do a third lap later.
The next session was pretty much event free. I'd realised that I didn't need to ride with soaking feet and a wet posterior so I'd started to use the bridges to cross the river. So much nicer to remain dry…
Second handover to Jane was slightly less emotional, but I didn't wish to linger in transition as I'd swapped to clear glasses by this point so people would see eyes full of tears. This time I managed to swap for clean kit - another new experience and make myself a cup of coffee. Checking in on Jane at the half lap point she was all good, the lost bottle from lap one had been located, it hadn't even left transition. In her haste she hadn't noticed it had fallen off her bike, but this lap she had a big smile and a bottle still attached to her bike.
Another hugging hand over, less emotional this time, we agreed another session of 4 laps for me which would leave sufficient time for Jane to do a night lap and me sneak out for one more before midnight. What a team, it was like we'd been doing this for years! First lap and a half OK until I caught the bars crossing the bridge next to the concrete river crossing. Let's just say it smarted a tad but to my credit I didn't swear as there were children around, I just got on with riding. I might have chosen not to mention the discomfort in my hand to Jane as I passed the pit to start my fourth lap of that stint but the pain was impacting on my riding, from doing 40ish min laps I'd dropped to 45-47 min the pain and discomfort interfering with my ability to brake in the tech bits. To stop getting in peoples way I was pulling over and letting them pass only to over take them on the hills of flat when I could take the weight off.
Referring back to team goal - Have fun. I decided that that would be it for me, trying to ride another lap wouldn't be fun so what was the point. In transition I mentioned a sore hand, that I'd had enough and it was down to Jane to take the trophy lap, finish the event off and take the chequered flag for the team.
With Jane out on the course for the last time I brewed more coffee, good move at 2230! Got changed into warm kit and started tidying up. More new experiences! Once I'd sorted myself out it was back to the mid course to see how Jane was getting on. For a while I thought I'd missed her and then slowly through the pitch darkness came a figure Illuminated by a single helmet mounted Joystick light. The MaxxD bracket had worked loose (oops - knew there was something I'd meant to check) and she'd had to ride the bombholes and all of Cottage Return with just the Joystick for light. She did say it helped her to learn to look ahead!
Anyway, one of the teams pitted in the Glamping loaned us an Allen key to reposition and retighten the bracket and off she disappeared back into the dark night to finish the lap.
23:40 Jane crossed the line and ignoring Martyn's offer to "squeeze one more lap in" she rode through the finish and completed her first MTB race.
All done, that's almost a smile!
We both rode as hard as we could and we both had fun, which is the best result I've ever had.
A well deserved Hot Chocolate with cider chaser courtesy of Rockets & Rascals Pop - Up cafe
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When Jane was first diagnosed with cancer the time between diagnosis and treatment was so short that it never occurred to us that she was a cancer sufferer, same goes for being a survivor, all things considered and compared too many Jane's had a pretty easy ride and doesn't class herself as a survivor either.
She's so demure that despite many people calling her inspirational she just shrugs that label but finally I think we've found one that she can no longer deny or dismiss and that's Racer! Here's a label I hope she get to "wear" for many years to come.
* There's a tenuous link in there. as my sore finger turned out to be a spiral fracture of the fifth metacarpal I'm banned from riding MTB for a few weeks so Jane has been drafted into my slot for Brighton Big Dog this weekend.