Desperate Times (The story of my Mersey Roads 24hr 2024)

[teethgrinder]

The stars didn't align for me getting some fitness for the Mersey Roads 24hr TT.
My HRV and resting pulse readings were off what I would like earlier in the year and I was extra unlucky to have very poor recoveries from what felt like good sleep before I set off for 2 big build up rides to gain fitness. The poor recoveries led to poor performance ending in my not achieving what I set out to do, therefore gaining less fitness than I would have liked.
Which in turn, meant that I didn't enter the Bristol Glasgow Bristol Audax, which would have gotten me into good shape for the 24hr TT. Bristol Glasgow Bristol is a tough ride! Only half those that turned up to ride were able to finish the one time I rode it. And this year's edition, only one of the five starters finished!
So, I figured that I shan’t bother with the 24 this year as I am not going very well and a few months on, still getting relatively poor recovery in spite of seemingly sleeping well.
Except!
A stirring in the midst of Arctic Aircon! Nick Clarke, who has ridden over 500 miles in a 24hr had decided to ride. Though from my understanding, which may or may not be true, he was told that he should only go for a little bike ride this year. So he decided that a Brompton was quite a little bicycle and decided to ride the Mersey 24 on one of those.
Then Joe Gorman piped up and said that he wanted to ride the 24 again as well. Another classy 500+ mile rider.
This, of course, meant that Arctic Aircon needed another rider to make up a team and for the umpteenth time, take the team award. So I went into hiding. After all. Arctic Aircon has such legends as Michael Hutchinson and The Boss (Mike Broadwith) among it’s ranks. They wouldn't want an old plodder like me, would they? Surely not!
I kept a low profile as messages were exchanged.
Apparently, The Boss hadn't been riding very much and was claiming, unfit. I found this hard to believe and figured that even an unfit Mr B would still leave me for dust, especially when I am not exactly at my best. The Boss is no liar though. I follow him on Strava, and he doesn't appear to be riding very much compared to the glory days of him bossing the Mersey Roads 24hr and RRA records.
But I still had the other ace up my sleeve in the form of Michael Hutchinson. I mean, he surely wants to ride. He's won a national title at every distance, if I have that right, except for the 24hr! Yes! Let him do it and leave me alone! I’m pretty sure that he’s itching for a 500+ mile ride and to get the full set of national titles.
I lay low and let the conversation flow, but it wasn't looking good for me.
Michael Hutchinson was out of sorts and his fitness wasn't what he would have liked. I still thought that an unfit Michael Hutchinson would still comfortably yield more miles in 24 hours than an off par version of me, just by pure higher FTP and aerodynamic wizardry, of which he is a Master.
But it seemed that the mighty Hutchinson might have been in a worse place than he might have implied. Word was that he would send in an entry but may not turn up to ride.
I found it unbearable. I begrudgingly sent off my entry. I guess these are desperate times.
I didn't think I could persuade The Boss to ride even though I still think he would have done better than I would. I also thought that my entry would give Michael Hutchinson a way out of either doing a ride he wouldn't want to put his name to or just not being up to riding. I didn't know how off he was. But if I enter then it wouldn't all be down to him whether we have a team or not. It would give us at least a chance of taking the team award and 4 riders is a better chance than 3. There was also the fact that I only had to do more miles than a bloke of questionable scruples on his Brompton and I would be given a medal for being in the winning team.
Granted, my Brompton riding team mate is something like 80 miles up on my PB for a 24hr. But he rides a super TT bike with all the aero kit whereas I ride a steel road bike with clip on tri bars.
Only this time, I would ride without my tri bars in the road bike category, making this, my 25th 24hr TT (if my sums are right) my 2nd 24hr TT without tri bars. The other time being on the North Road 24 in 1999, when I rode 2 days after finishing PBP, which didn't allow tri bars, in under 70 hours so I could make my flight to the start.
I feel a bit of discomfort in the arms race of TTs, so welcome the road bike category. Even then, you can buy a lot of free speed on a road bike. The irony being that free speed seems to be very expensive! I am not keen on spending thousands on getting and optimizing a bike that I would probably only use to ride a 24hr on. The bikes I have are a better match for the road bike category if I remove the tri bars than they are for the TT bike category with tri bars. I actually think that my road bike with tri bars is roughly on par with an optimised high end road bike or TT bike from the 1990s. I could be wrong. I’m no expert in these things.
But I thought it the more sporting and appropriate thing to do and still put me at an advantage to Nick on his Brompton even though he was most likely in much better shape than me.
The quote I gave to Arctic Aircon was for 400 miles.
Looking at my power data from my 2 rides earlier and taking into account how poor my recovery was before those rides, it looked like I would just about manage that if I could start the event with a half decent recovery before I started instead of the terrible ones I had before those rides.
But only if I used my tri bars. So I guessed I’d best be on to it.
I figured that my poor recoveries were inflammation based. I might have *had something*
I don't know what, but when I was getting HRV recording of over 200 and resting HR in the mid 30s a year ago and only getting HRV 130 ish and HR mid 40s on a good day, something isn't quite right and I couldn't think what it might be.
I tried cod liver oil and that steered things in the right direction. 4-5g a day. HRV and HR didn't get back to what they were but a definite and significant improvement.
I also figured that a gain in fitness would be beneficial. From my stats from my 2 planned big rides that I didn't fulfill, I reckoned I might be able to manage a Normalised Power of 155W, maybe 160. That would probably give me about 400 miles on my bike with tri bars, going by I did something like 175W when I rode 450 miles (but was only credited with 440 odd even after I disputed it, such is life)
Even if 175W would give me 440, a drop of 20W should put me very close to 400 with the same bike set up.
But I was going to use a less aero set up. So I opted to do some strength exercises, which definitely made me feel stronger on the bike and I seemed to be going a bit faster. I would have done interval training as well but I still wasn't recovering so well and really didn't want to overcook it and be overtrained at the start. HRV does seem to be a very good and reliable metric to use, but probably only with Whoop. That's because it takes the reading from the last 5 minutes of calculated deep sleep whereas other devices take a reading at a specific time of day, which isn't that good. But that's another rabbit hole to go down. I'm just telling my story here and this is what I did.
And so!
The bike to be used was retrieved from its life of neglect. It needed to be rendered rideable with its tri bars removed.
As per usual, this was done at the last possible chance and turned out to be a royal pain in the arse. I took a day from work to do the deed. Surely a day would be plenty?
I thought I would have the bike ready to go by mid afternoon, maybe even lunchtime.
The day drew on and my plan to ride to the start developed into catching a train. Time ticked on and progress was slow…
It was something like 3am when the bike was *finally* ready! Though there was the caveat that I wasn't entirely sure that the tubeless tyres would stay up.
Oh well, I can have a look in the morning and if not, I have some new tyres I can fit and plenty of sealant.
A few hours sleep gave a poor recovery reading. The tyres still weren't quite right. Bags needed packing and preparations needed to be made.
Catching the midday train became catching the 2pm train. Then re planned again untill…
I was ready to go!
I rode to the train station and caught the last train that would allow me to take my bike on. That was a close thing!
Of course, I could have taken the Arriva train and book my bike on, but that would cost me about double and I am a tight arse. And because I am a tight arse is why I booked myself into a YHA instead of a hotel. For £15 I could sleep in a bed in a dormitory. But unusually for a YHA, Chester doesn't have a bike store shed, so I splashed out on a whole room to myself with 2 beds for £25. Still a whole lot cheaper than a hotel and I could keep my bike in my room. Plus I had my own bathroom and shower etc. Also should be said that I could use the communal kitchen and laundry facilities etc, which I think is a lot better than a hotel. My 2 bed room turned out to be 2 bunk beds. That might be because I asked if there was a bike shed when I checked in, in case it was just missing from the on line details then explained that I booked the room to myself so I had somewhere to keep my bike. So he might have given me a bigger room than I booked that was going spare?
But how would I sleep?
After very little sleep the night before, I was having concerns of whether I would be able to stay awake on the 24hr.
I got to bed early and slept well. Then I looked at my sleep stats while I ate my eat all you can breakfast at the YHA.
I had slept for 10 hours or so and my recovery was roughly half, rated as amber on Whoop.
That's not a bad recovery. A bad recovery is red, which is what I got the night before on very little sleep. But it's not green either, which is a good recovery. I hoped it would be green, but amber was acceptable enough considering the night before. I wasn't well rested, but I wasn't too bad either. Certainly a lot better than when I started my 2 build up rides that didn't go so well earlier in the year. I wasn't going to be as good as I could be, but would I be good enough to get through the night without getting sleepy? I had doubts, but thought that there was a chance.
A shopping trip for my food for the 24hr on the way to the start. I bought 2 packs of oatcakes, a pack of 20 shortbread biscuits, 250g of cheese, 2 cans of Red Bull and a packet of 48 Pro Plus because I forgot to pack my caffeine pills. I thought that was enough for the 24hr but if I was offered anything tasty I would take it. I had a friend who said he would be coming out to watch and that he would hand me up some food and drink. I hadn't arranged with anyone in Arctic for support either but figured that someone would probably pass up a few bottles and there was always the bag drop tent on the course that would have water.
Water was my drink of choice, but again, I would take a coffee if I was offered and I had my tins of Red Bull.
I would carry my food, some tools, power bank, spare lights and batteries etc in a frame bag. I’d be riding old school, with no official support, on a road bike, carrying most of my kit, playing by ear and taking what I could get. Let the games begin!

[teethgrinder]

I made it to the start with my shopping and got myself organized. Numbers collected and pinned onto clothes. Food and stuff sorted. I couldn't carry it all so I had to put some in the bag drop. I was ready and at the start line with about 10 minutes before I started.
And I was off.
The plan was pretty simple. I would ride at 170W Normalised Power for the first 50 miles and see how I felt.
170W is about 5W, maybe even 10, less than when I rode my PB (but not officially, as mentioned earlier) so I figured that 170 was probably too much but not ridiculously. But on the other hand, I might just be able to pull it off because I definitely felt stronger after my month and a bit of training. I could always ease up and even increase output again later if I thought I was up to it.
I was off quite early and expected riders to catch me soon as I was keeping to my 170W and below 230 up hills.
And I was right. I was caught within a few miles by two women on a tandem and wished them luck as I presumed they were going for the women's tandem record.
More riders passed as I headed south. I was OK with that because I was doing my own ride. Just so long as number 30 didn't catch me!
Michael Hutchinson had decided to ride after his previous doubts. This meant that we had 4 riders so I would need to be faster than one of them to get my shiny medal! I definitely wasn't going to be faster than Joe Gorman, who was probably on for another 500+ mile ride.
Then there's Michael Hutchinson. He was a heavily compromised version of himself but even if I could match his output; which seemed unlikely when I was some way short of being at my best; he has his aerodynamic wizardry advantage that would leave me for dust.
This leaves our man on the Brompton who started ten minutes behind me at number 30. My rival in foolishness!
There was also the small matter, that on paper, we weren't the fastest team. FTP had 3 riders with very good rides and they were the obvious favourites. We couldn't rule out the Royal Navy Marines Commandos, though we were faster on paper.
But, the speedy can often be the most fragile, especially in long distances. I looked through the CTT history of our rivals for the team award and saw that they had formidable speed, but a bigger history of DNFs than us. We had a chance…
And as for my chances, I saw him coming the other way after doubling back at a roundabout after about 30 miles. He hadn't caught me yet, but he was gaining on me!
I continued to do my own ride and be cool about my teammate rival. I happen to know that he likes to start too hard and where I might only slow down a little, he would probably slow down a little bit more. I was still holding my 170W NP. Talking of which, what yield was I getting for my output? I reckoned I would get around 17-17.5 miles to the hour for my 170W. If all went to plan, I could probably spend 20 minutes, preferably less, not moving, while I got bottles filled, put on or removed clothing, toilet breaks and other faffing.
But alas. I was only getting 16.6 miles per hour for my 170W. Not the exchange rate I was hoping for, to say the least!
However, it's been a light headwind so far and 16.6 is only 0.1 mph off of 400 mile pace. Surely some tailwind that I must be due will help with the yield? But can I really maintain 170W, which I figured was a bit too high? I seem to be so far. This is looking to be a very close thing if so!
Riders caught and overtook me and I even managed to pass a few myself!
Kyle Hudson caught me at around 40 miles. Riding his first 24hr I was watching him with interest, partly because of his wife's You Tube channel but also because they posted their stats about power outputs on their channel so I can test and develop some of my theories from their rides. His wife being Amy Hudson, now riding her 2nd 24hr after being 3rd placed woman last year! My theories being that my FTP was similar to Amy’s, but because I am bigger, she has about 1.5W/kg more than I do. However I am a different animal in that although Kyle and Amy have done a decent amount of long rides, what they have done in their first few years of impressive riding would barely scratch the surface of what I have done in my few decades of some even more hare brained antics on a bike and I can most likely ride at a higher percentage of my lesser W/kg  for 24hrs. And of that, all being equal, if we were riding bikes with the same aerodynamic drag, we would all be riding at about the same speed, Kyle would probably ride faster and spend more time stopped, because that's the impression I get, Amy would be steadier and stop less, but still stop more than me and I would end up with the most miles by virtue of spending less time not moving. However, all wasn't equal here. I was riding my steel bike with frame bags while Kyle and Amy were riding super duper Pinarellos. Spoils of being You Tube superstars! And I figured that those Pinarellos were about the same as my Steel bike with my tri bars set how I had them when I got my (unofficial) PB (I’ve since set them up different and think they're a bit faster now)
So I figured that Amy would be on for 430-450 miles, Kyle would do 400-420 and I would hopefully do 400, though by now I wasn't so sure about my 400 as I had doubts that I could keep up 170W or that the course would get faster so I could keep up the speed with less effort.
But Kyle and Amy passed me more or less where I expect.
I calculated that Amy was averaging about 19mph and was on for 430 miles, not 450 because although I thought she was pacing very well, she was most likely going to slow a little bit later on and spend some time not moving.  And of course, the power I thought she would be riding at was a calculated guess, but I doubt that I was that far out in my calculations. Time will tell, so onwards…
50 miles done and I was still right on the limit for my target of 400 miles. At around 60, I decided that I couldn't hold on to 170W for the rest of the ride. It was a bitter pill to swallow that I wouldn't hit my target for miles, but I thought that 160W would be enough. It just wasn't, so I underestimated how much of an advantage my tri bars gave me.
I was also getting uncomfortable. I was trying to keep low and more aero but I couldn't have kept it up so I would have to change my riding style a bit. No real surprise, given that I had only got the bike going a day or so ago and not only was it the first time I had ridden a road bike in several months except from an 18 mile ride, it was the first time riding that bike without tri bars. I even had to get used to using the gear levers on the brake levers because I already rode it with bar end shifters on the trip bars. The gear levers were stiff at first. They'd been on that bike for something like 50,000 miles and this was the first time they had been used.
But swallowing that bitter pill was the best option. Not the result I wanted, but trying to hit my 170W would only put me in more trouble and result in an even worse result. I can only ride to my limits, so I recalibrated my target to 600km (372 miles) after DNFing my 600km Audax, this ride would count to my Audax UK Super Randonneur series. That'll do. I can chase that!
So I eased up a bit, got comfortable and ate a pack of oatcakes. Then I ate some shortbread biscuits too after it occurred to me that I hadn't eaten since breakfast, some 7 hours or so ago. Ride easy and eat, then hey comfortable and see what power I can put out comfortably.
Another saving grace for me was the rolling hills on the course. It meant that I would be able to ride in different positions and that should help me stay more comfortable.
I rode easier and ate. I saw my friend, who handed up a bottle of water. I was also carrying Celtic Salt. I put a pinch of salt in my mouth before drinking my water as a way to maintaining electrolytes.
Then I settled into riding again and watched my power meter.
I started feeling better. I was getting more comfortable by not trying to be as aero and I was comfortably doing 170W but my speed was still OK. It had dropped 0.1, maybe 0.2 mph, but with over 18 hours to go, it was easily retrievable.
Still some doubt about getting the 400 I was after, but game still seems to be on but now no pressure, there's always the 600km to go for. It looks like it's all down to how long I spend not moving and if I really can keep up 170W, but so far, it's on! And that sodding Brompton still hasn't caught me, so Hah!
Steady on my way. I started to get more comfortable on my bike as I got used to riding it.
I was too slow to do the 2 laps of the extended, Battlefield laps so was marshalled to omit the extension of that circuit on my 2nd lap and on to the Quina Brook circuit, which was good because it's faster so I would do more miles for the same effort. Hooray!
My friend handed up bottles, chips from a chip shop and an espresso. He's a very good friend! The espresso gave me a faster lap of the Quina Brook circuit. I stopped for my first wee of the ride. I had been holding it for several hours but when I saw my friend with a bottle and some food, I couldn't take both with one hand so I stopped and did 3 jobs for the price of one stop. It felt like I was pissing for about 5 minutes. It was probably more like just one, but piss taken, bottles full and some warm chips in tin foil down my jersey to eat on the go, so off I went…
Of course, faster riders were passing me by, notably the FTP team along with our Arctic leaders. Plus some other super fast riders, though I didn't pay much attention to the sharp end, probably partly because I considering myself in a different category on a road bike even though there is no recognized award or even competition for road bikes. I was going steady and feeling more comfortable as I was getting used to the bike. Day turned to night on the Quina Brook circuit and it would soon be time for the foreboding highlight of the event, as we descend into darkness for endless laps of the hillier Battlefield circuit. And as an extra bonus this year, we would be on the Battlefield circuit until it was time to go to the finishing circuit, on account of there being roadworks with traffic lights on the Quina Brook circuit, which took it out of service.
So let's get on with it…
The Battlefield circuit was about 28 miles if I remember correctly. That's not so bad. A few ups and downs. But will I manage to stay awake all night and will I need to stop to find my extra clothes at the bag drop which is in one of the tents of about 20 sited at Prees roundabout? This will eat into my time and being so close to the wire, very possibly nudge me off target for 400 miles.
I took some Pro Plus pills just in case though I didn't feel especially weary.
I checked my distance at 12 hours. Half way and I had ridden 202 miles. This is very close! But I still feel OK enough at 170W, but now I will switch my GPS into battery saving mode so won't be able to keep such a keen eye on my power output. However, I am sort of at the stage where 170W feels like about the natural pace to ride at, which I think is a good sign that I am riding at just the right pace. I can check now and then but I will mostly just concentrate on surviving the night, keeping moving and being as comfortable as I can.
I wanted to keep something in reserve for the early morning too because the forecast was for the temperature to drop to 8°c.
I was wearing my shorts, a long sleeve base layer and a jersey. I was carrying leg warmers in my jersey pocket and had a warm jacket in the drop bag. Ideally I would not stop to even put on my leg warmer and hopefully the leg warmers would be the most I would need as they would only take a few minutes to put on. But finding my jacket would take time so I hoped it wouldn't come to that.
A lap of the Battlefield circuit. Then another. Things seemed to be going better than I feared! The hillier circuit didn't seem so bad. I just rode steady and if I was slow up the hills (I definitely was!) then so be it. An aero tuck freewheeling down hills, more upright and comfortable position on the flat and either sit back in the saddle or get out of the saddle to climb. I felt more comfortable riding the bike after 200 miles than I did after 50. I was learning how to ride this bike.
I called to my friend for a bottle the next time I passed but didn't get one. It was dark so there are lots of reasons why and we never made any plans so it was no loss, just a failure to gain. I’ll just have to find water at Prees, which I did by means of shouting and several people offering, such as it is on these events, though being pretty well known on this event most likely helps a lot. Rob Gray, who I have ridden with and has ridden this event filled my bottles and I was off again with little time spent stopped.
My night was going as well as I could hope for, especially considering my poor sleep from 2 nights ago. I took the occasional precautionary Pro Plus or 4, or 6. But it was almost too good to be true!
The Battlefield circuit felt a bit quiet. I didn't see riders as often as I thought I would.
I hadn't noticed Michael Hutchinson, or Joe, but some of the fast riders on TT bikes were definitely present and it's not unlikely I missed them as they went by in the dark. I still hadn't been caught by the wretched Brompton either, so all good.
The occasional glance at the GPS to check up on my Normalised Power revealed that I was still *on* for 400 miles.
The laps passed and I was starting to wonder where everyone had got to. It was probably one of the coldest nights I have had in the Mersey 24, the coldest was when it went down to 5°c. But 8 was plenty cold enough and I was surprised and pleased that I hadn't stopped to put on extra layers, not even my leg warmers in my pocket. Time is miles…
I could see that day would soon be breaking and braced myself for the coldest time of day. The next hour or so will be the worst it gets and from there on it gets warmer. I can do another hour of this without it taking too much from me.
I figured that the cold was getting to riders and they were stopping and that's why it seemed more quiet than usual. I hadn't seen Kyle or Amy all night and hoped that they hadn't packed it in. Maybe I just missed them as they went by. I was very much in my own world, concentrating on keeping my effort constant and keeping my eyes shielded with the visor on my helmet from dazzling lights. So when I was passed by other riders, I just kept my head down and stayed steady.
My friend had set up camp for the night and pitched his tent in the woods.
I could see his car parked with a plastic box on it. I thought that it was his food but it was intended for me. He just couldn't tell me because I wouldn't stop riding and when it got dark, he couldn't tell me from any other rider.
My depleting food was becoming a concern as it got light. I would need to stop to find the drop bag to get the rest of my food and that would take time but I could fill my bottles at the same time, so I decided on picking up my 2nd lot of food when my bottles needed filling.
Eating the last of my food became tricky in the coldest hours as day broke on a very fabulous but cold and misty morning that chilled the dexterity from my fingers. But it was a very nice morning indeed! For me.
But now it was becoming light I could see that it was taking its toll on other riders. Some were wearing quite a few layers and I could see the signs of a hard night's ride in the faces of a few.
I’d broken through to the other side and was still on for 400. But still very close and needed my food.
But my guardian angel in the form of The Boss came to my rescue. He had been keeping me watered through the night since after he arrived at around midnight, so I hollared to him to get my “black Lonsdale backpack” from the bag drop. And he did, as if by magic!
I ditched leg warmers from my jersey pocket, filled my frame bag and pockets with the rest of my food, then downed a tin of Red Bull as fast as I could before setting off.
Just need water refills until the finish now and I am good.
The Battlefield circuit grew busier with riders as the day began to warm. I spied Michael Hutchinson now wearing extra clothing. Word from The Boss was that he had a wobble during the night.
Yes, I reckon quite a few did and if Michael Hutchinson did, then I expect a good few others did too and some have probably DNF’d.
I did spy Amy looking like she was going through a bit of a rough patch too, but was glad that she was still going because I had doubts earlier.
Something like 18 hours deep into the 24hr and I was still ahead of the Brompton. In fact I was gaining on him! He shouted to me that I had to keep going. More of an order from a commanding officer than words of encouragement. I was a bit miffed that he thought I would need to be told.
Not long after I got the same from The Boss!
Bloody cheek! Why would I not finish!? They must know that I have finished this event in far, far, far worse condition than I am in today. Have they forgotten my last ride in 2019 when the only reason I didn't DNF was to guilt trip the other rider on our team into keeping going as I was clearly in a much worse state than he was on account of being wrecked after riding the Trans Alba. Sodding cheek of it…
Anyhow. The reason for all of this was that one of the riders from FTP had called it a day during the night so didn't have enough riders to make a team. (Actually, I don't know if 2 riders would count but even if it does, they would both need to break the world record to beat a team of 3 riders averaging 400 miles per rider) On the other hand, so had Joe, our fastest rider.
Us getting the team award depended on a compromised Michael Hutchinson who had just had a rough night. But I figured that you don't get to achieve what he has without knowing what's what and he has literally written the book, so he'll finish. I will most likely finish and our hero on the Brompton may be of questionable scruples, but he sure can ride a bike and he is looking strong!
But what about the Commandos? Apparently, they were out of the teams too. Derby Mercury would have been the other threat now that we lost Joe but we were ahead. Perhaps that night I just rode through was actually quite a tough one…?
But onwards. Another lap of the Battlefield circuit was getting old and this was surely my last? No. Another lap until finally, time to go to the finishing circuit. Hooray!
The route to the finishing circuit, up the A525 felt a lot easier than I anticipated. In fact it was mostly downhill and Strava confirms it. I guess I am remembering that road from riding it in the other direction.
That was lucky because I stopped at Prees to fill my bottles to get to the finishing circuit and my average speed was right on the limit for 400 and it was looking a bit doubtful but the mostly downhill run with a tailwind nudged me back on schedule.

[teethgrinder]

There was a queue of cars that slowed me down on that road and that had happened once or twice earlier in the race. Not a great factor for me but for the fast riders at the sharp end, that's probably a bit more of an issue.
The finishing circuit was flat but a bit windswept. But not long to go now.
Weather was getting warm and The Boss handed up some bottles to keep me going.
I also got my revenge on The Boss by telling him that I was going to DNF in four hours. The joke being that I had less than 2 hours left until I was finished. And the joke was lost on him as he started to tell me off while others were laughing, including me, as I rode away…
The fact that The Boss is a mathematician is the very delicious cherry on that particular cake.
I spied Michael Hutchinson still going and looking like he was fighting a good fight. Our hero on the Brompton was in good spirits, as were Amy and Kyle.
Kyle was still riding to his character. Flying along, then stopping for… I don't know what, but he was stopping for something. Then off again. I had to admire his spirit for doing an interval session on the finishing circuit of the National 24hr Championships, but he seemed to not only manage it, but even looked like he was enjoying it!
Amy was looking in good spirits and gaining ground on me, just. I figured that she was now doing around 17mph, which I thought was very good pacing as she would have only been doing about 15 ish watts less than for the first 50 miles. That was the pacing I was expecting myself to do and I would have been very happy with that. I just got lucky this time as what I thought was an overestimate turned out to be a surprisingly accurate calculation and I ended up with a normalised power of 168 watts. My weight training probably worked!
In fact if it wasn't for getting backache and having to manage that at the end, I probably would have maintained 170, maybe even upped it a watt or two. But my discomfort slowed me down. As the race neared it's end, it looked like I would crack the 400 miles I had quoted to be my yield to the Arctic team. I actually thought I would be credited with less because of course measuring being taken into account.
Before my 24 hours had expired, my Garmin had clocked my 400 miles. I eased off so that my 24 hours would end as I arrived at the next timekeeper.
That would mean that I wouldn't have to keep riding for another 3 miles or so to the next one. It also meant that I would have a tailwind when I rode back to the event HQ. Most people get a lift from their support crew but muggings here has no such arrangement and my back was hurting a bit. I finished at the timekeeper a couple of seconds after my 24 hours was up and 402 miles on my clock.
202 miles in the first 12 hours and 200 in the 2nd.
I was very pleased with my pacing. 202 for the 2nd 12 hours was probably likely if I didn't have the bad back, but job done.
I was also very pleased with the lack of time I spent not moving. I was aiming to spend less than 20 minutes but Strava showed that I spent just under 5 minutes stopped in total.
What I did get wrong was that I thought I would only be credited with 398 miles but I ended up with my official result being 402 and I was pleased about that.
My friend who helped me earlier and went camping in the night hung around the event a bit and even got me another espresso on my way to the finishing circuit. Perhaps that's another reason I found that bit easier than I expected. The power of the magic beans…
He made his way home before the finish.
Michael Hutchinson yielded 455 miles for the Arctic. Not a good ride for a rider that good, but he knew that before he started. He did say that he would like to do a good ride in a 24hr, but this isn't my year. After all, it wasn't that long ago that we weren't sure he would even be riding. And it seems that the night was a tough one to get through for a good number of riders. Not good for such a good rider, but not bad for a bad ride! I know that I have done a lot worse!
But I do hope that he does have his day and gets the full set of national titles by winning the 25hr. That would be nice.
Similar for Amy. I was taken aback that she rode 0.16 miles more than me. She had gained so much fitness since her ride last year and her stats and the way she was going along with her very good pacing suggested to me that she was on for about 430. Alas, her You Tube (yes! She even made a YouTube film while riding!) and Strava revealed a rough time with cold and sickness through the night. Yes, now I do remember seeing her looking like she was going through a bit of a bad patch… But I do hope that she has at least one day when all the stars align for her. Even on this ride with the hard times that cost so many miles, Amy was just over 1mph slower than first placed Michelle Lindley, who looked to me to be doing an extremely well paced ride on a TT bike. I’ll let you calculate the difference between a road bike and TT bike…
Kyle did just about what I thought. Rode fast but stopped lots. But he seemed to be there for the shits and giggles and seemed to be enjoying his new Pinarello. Perhaps a harsh lesson there for him? He was very close to 400 miles but fell just short. I know that he knows he could have done it with a bit more focus. An impressive ride from someone who hasn't really been riding a bike for that long, just as how he rode PBP last year, having only ridden his first SR that year to qualify, then pulling off a very decent ride with Amy on PBP!
I can only hope that Kyle and Amy come to realise their true potential, become inspired, step up to try and amaze themselves, along with many of their viewers…
I succeeded in besting our man on the Brompton. Well, I had to really or how would I live that down!? I mean, he's a very good rider but come on!
Joe, our star rider pulled out because of tingling of the nerve variety in his arms and hands. That might not sound like much but these things can last for months, even years afterwards.
Hoppo didn't smash it like I thought he would after winning his age category in the European 24hr Championships by riding at about the same power as he did when he beat me in a 12 hour several years ago! Instead of smashing the ride, he smashed up some of his bicycles instead and lost a lot of time obtaining functional bicycles for him to ride. The path of Hoppo is more of an assault course.
His long list of rides and achievements belie the struggles that had to be overcome to achieve them. The deeper you scratch beneath the surface, the more unfathomable his achievements become, until you go back about 20 years when he crashed on this event and broke his pelvis. He was told he would never ride again and probably be unable to walk. The rest is history…
But I thought that just this once, Hoppo would be well recovered from his sterling ride in Europe as unlike his heydays, he hadn't squeezed in as many extremely long distance races in-between as is barely inhumanly possible and be on for a blinder. But no. The path of Hoppo is more like an assault course…
The other rides of note, for me were the women's tandem record and the winner of the day, Adam Wild with a new British Record of 546 miles! A very impressive ride, given that the extra rations of the Battlefield circuit made for a slower course than usual and he must have had a very good night that most riders seemed to struggle through and took out some.
The women on the tandem set off quickly then eased off as they surely knew that they were ahead of record pace and pretty much needed to just keep moving and stay comfortable to clinch the record. And that's what they seemed to do. A rock steady ride after a rapid start and they seemed to enjoy riding along chatting to each other as they rode to glory.
Provisional results calculated, decoy medals awarded for photos and suchlike, then it was time to go home…
I was offered a lift to Chester train station and gladly accepted on account that my back was still hurting a bit and I, for reasons that are lost on me, was feeling a bit tired.
Train to Crewe then a train to home. I ordered myself a Too Good to Go bag from the Starbucks on my way home. A bag of 3 sandwiches and wraps with a cake or pastry. Whatever they didn't sell and would end up in the bin so a good way of getting food on the cheap. My train was due to arrive with plenty of time for me to collect my goodie bags.
But things seldom go smoothly with trains, moreso if you have a bicycle.
The train stopped at Rugby because, apparently it was broken.
Good news, there's a train due on another platform and we were told to get on that one.
Bad news, it's an Arrival, so I asked the train man on the platform if I could get on this train with my ticket but before we got to that, I was told that there was no more space left for bikes on that train.
So I would have to wait for the next train home. That's another reason I don't pay the extra to use Arriva unless it's the only real option. With the cheaper trains, you can generally just bundle on with your bike so long as you don't cause problems or travel at peak times and you don't need to book a reservation for your bike. A slower train service but a lot less bother and less stressful.
So I just relaxed at the station waiting for the train that was running ever later…
I was only 30 miles or so from home but there was the matter of collecting my food before it timed out and I would lose my money. I also had no food to eat when I got home, so my only chance of eating when I got home would be my local M&S garage, which would mean I would have to pay even more money after losing my Too Good to Go. I would need to ride faster than I was racing in the 24hr if I was to ride home and get my food in time. Probably not a problem, if I wasn't so tired, didn't have a bad back and wasn't carrying a backpack etc but I was at the mercy of the train.
The train arrived and was scheduled to arrive at Milton Keynes station, leaving me with 7 minutes to exit the train, leave the station, ride the half mile to Starbucks and collect my food.
7 minutes became 5. I prepared for the last race…
1st person out of the train as the doors opened, along the platform, up the stairs and through the barriers and off.
I arrived at Starbucks at 21:30, which is when my collection timed out, so I swiped the app to collect before I locked my bike and went in.
Success!
It had summed up and finalised the whole of this year's Mersey 24 for me.
My only just getting myself and my bike ready just in time to catch the last train to Chester that would get me there early enough to get just enough sleep for me to have a trouble free night of riding.
And a ride where I was right on the limit for my target, which led to us only just taking the team award because the other contenders fell apart.
And my result? 14th place. But only just!
In 10th place was Andy Halpin with 405 miles. So 3 miles separating 4 places with Amy beating me by 0.15 miles.
Rebecca Mason came in 20th with 394 miles. So 10 places separated by 11 miles.
Topped off with only just getting myself some cheap food when I got home, which might not sound like much but when you're hungry after riding a 24hr, had quite enough of oatcakes (I still had a few packs left) and haven't eaten in about 9 hours, it’s quite something!
Everything worked as I hoped. But only just in a chain of events that were on the limit. All because Arctic wanted a rider for a chance at the team award and I was who was left lurking at the bottom of the barrel.
As I said when they came knocking at my door.
You want me to help us win!?
These must be desperate times.
It seems that I was right…

[Peter]

Great - never doubted you for a minute!  Thanks for writing it up.