Write up I did for club newsletter here :-
The decision to ride another 24hr time trial appeared not long after my first attempt in 2014. I had targeted 400 miles and achieved 410 on the lumpy ESCA course. Despite over-achieving I felt that I could have done better having had issues with feeding, drinking, back pain and, eventually, a collapsed neck. Nevertheless I achieved 18th place in a National Championship.
2015 was filled with some more time trialling and my 5th Paris-Brest-Paris. I worked on my position and acquired some new aero equipment before settling into some hard Winter training.
The Mersey Roads 24hr takes place on roads on the Shropshire/Cheshire borders very close to Whitchurch. It lends itself to faster rides by virtue of the fact that it is quite compact. Studying the course with my supporters (Richard Thomas and Chris Tracey) we worked out they could camp out at the same roundabout – Prees Heath - for virtually the whole of the event and I would be passing there in different directions from Saturday afternoon through to Sunday morning.
I had tested my nutrition and hydration on a series of recent training rides settling on a mixture of Zipvit gels and Torq energy bars, providing me with just over 60g of carbohydrate per hour. Hydration would come from Hi-5 hydration tablets dissolved in plain water. With a new large top-tube bag I could carry 6hrs worth of food so planned to stop at 6, 12 and 18hrs to refill the bag. On the 6hr stop I would pick up a tracksuit top, lights and reflective kit. I would then give this all back at the 18hr stop. I chose to ride my usual fixed wheel TT bike but lowered the gear slightly to 50*15 (88”).
We arrived early and I spent a fair amount of time faffing with race numbers on my skinsuit and my night jacket. I met Catford member Keith Hyatt and chatted briefly about other Catford riders and the history of the event. My start time was 14:17 and I strolled around the start area watching the early starters go off one-by-one. It felt quite humid at the time so I continued to drink and tried to stay out of the sun. My start time came round quite soon and I rolled away, joining the main road for the 16 mile ride to the main circuits. On the way down I spotted Dave ‘El Supremo’ Hudson in a lay-by who had driven up from Sussex to spectate. I noticed my heart rate running a little higher than normal on the climbs and tried to keep a lid on it by breathing steadily and controlling my RPE. I put this down to the humid conditions and made sure I kept drinking.
From here I rode 2 legs of the main circuit which involved heading to Espley and back and then Battlebridge and back, twice. The leg from Prees Heath to Battlebridge turned out to be quite lumpy so I tried to ride easily on the climbs and not over extend myself. After this point we joined the 13 mile Quina Brook circuit. I did one lap and then stopped with my support team. I had been getting through a bottle each lap and was still thirsty. I noticed a few riders had removed their helmets so figured they were feeling the heat as well. I put my extra layer on, refilled my food bag, fitted lights and was off. I continued to complete 4 more circuits before being moved onto the night circuit as it got dark.
The night circuit is a 20 mile out-and-back course from Prees Heath to Espley and back. The first leg had some rolling hills before a flat and fast run along the Hodnet by-pass. I had a nagging feeling that I had been pushing too hard so decided to take the night leg a bit easier and turned the light off on my GPS in order to ride by feel. On each lap I picked up a bottle, making sure that I had emptied the last one. At around midnight I spotted Peter Hayes and Steve Airey who had made the trip up to provide support overnight. At around 2am I made my second stop and picked up additional food. Shortly after I checked my 12hr distance which showed on the GPS as 245 miles. This was only 13 miles short of my 12hr PB.
Staying hydrated, I was managing to feed well without any stomach problems. My neck and shoulders ached, but I was stretching out regularly and able to get onto my aero bars for most of the circuit, riding out of the saddle on the climbs. I completed 7 laps of the night circuit as the sun had risen and was moved back onto the Quina Brook circuit. It was a welcome return to a slightly more interesting laney route with only one climb. I started to get some discomfort from my lower back and my feet began to hurt but, at the same time, my neck started to feel better. The last 6hrs were going to be quite interesting.
At around 8am I made my third and final stop, dumping jacket and lights and picking up my last stock of food. Whilst taking the jacket off my left arm cramped up and I had to be helped out. After a couple more hours of riding I was routed back towards the finishing circuit. I was briefly elated, knowing I was getting towards the back end of the event, only to realise there were still 4hrs to race. The run back to the finishing circuit was fast and had a tailwind and I felt good despite my back starting to hurt. My average speed was running at 19.6mph at this point. Knowing that an average of 19.3 would get me the club record I started to entertain thoughts of maybe beating it. The finishing circuit was quite technical with a few bends, a couple of drags and one climb. The pain in my back and feet started to get worse and I was crawling on the drags but riding quickly on the flat, still using the aero bars.
Richard and Chris were outside the event HQ, handing me bottles each time round. I also spotted that Richard Parrotte had joined them. The atmosphere on the finishing circuit was outstanding with all helpers and supporters cheering you on and applauding each time round. I was starting to wish I could put a better show on. With about 45 mins to go I passed the HQ and estimated I would do one more lap. I was feeling a little wobbly so emptied what was left of my food bag and re-packed with jelly babies for that last gasp sugar kick. Eating a couple every mile I pushed harder checking the time as I passed each time keeper. I saw my clock tick over 24hrs and put a final sprint in to pass the last timekeeper with 24:02 on the stopwatch. My GPS said 462 miles, about a mile and a half short of the club record.
It was about 500 yards to where Chris and Richard were sitting and I was helped off my bike to sit in a deck chair. I removed my shoes and socks and emptied my last bottle. It’s an odd feeling finishing an event like this. It’s something short of elation as you’re too exhausted and in too much pain to process any rational thought. I mingled around the HQ for a while, congratulating others on their rides and being congratulated by others.
It was clear that Mike Broadwith had won again and the Arctic Tacx had added over 100 miles to the team competition record, with all 3 riders doing over 500 miles. Mike also complained of the heat and sore feet. In the end he did 2 miles less than the previous year and was given 532.8 miles. The first 4 riders all did over 500 miles.
When all the processing was finished I was given 9th place and 461.4 miles. I had added 51 miles to my PB and missed the club record by 2 miles. Downloading my GPS a few days later it showed that I had only been stopped for 13 minutes in the whole 24 hours.
Would I do anything different if I tried again ? I think I’d likely ride without a helmet or one that was better vented. I probably wouldn’t use overshoes again as I think the small aero benefit is outweighed by the additional heat and resultant ‘hot-foot’. It took a week for my legs to recover and stairs were very difficult for 2-3 days. I had my neck and back loosened by my osteopath after a week. The base of my left foot is still very sore and I have been ide packing it to reduce the swelling. I think I would do more long weekend rides and less speed work. It is definitely comfort issues that are the main problem as I’m sure my legs can go further.
Thanks to everyone that supported me on the weekend and through the long hours of training.
Will I try again ? I don’t know. My focus is on riding the Breckland 12hr in early September and then taking a bit of a break.