My right knee is getting closer to the size of my (non-hurting) left knee and I can walk a bit better, though stairs and getting out of chairs is a challenge.
I learnt a lot. I sort of enjoyed it! I've never suffered so much on the bike before. It went really well until about hour 18-19 when my knee made it's dislike of pedalling more and more apparent.
I started well, and felt great - my cold was a bit of an issue (sore throat), but I was over 210 miles at 12 hours, 293 miles at 18 hours - things were looking good for my target of 375 miles. My heart rate and power were pretty much exactly where I had planned.
My knee was getting worse and worse - I could still pedal, but couldn't get out of the saddle really. I was also starting to rock on the saddle to take away the pain slightly - this caused some minor irritation in saddle area.
By the 22nd hour, I was now in agony. But I am a stubborn idiot. So I carried on, getting slower and slower. I still thought I could get the 375 miles, so I pushed on. In the last hour, I had to stop several times to try and stretch my leg. I have just about got that distance on my garmin, but I will have to wait and see what the official distance is, as there will be a little extra distance dropping into the night HQ etc. I'll be upset if I miss out on 6 points in Audax world - but I'll have come very close indeed.
I was also caught out with water on the finishing circuit, I didn't find Assassin until a couple of times around - so was quite empty by that point. I guess if I could pick one hole in the organisation, it would have been that. I was lucky to have the help of Assassin, particularly in the first half, otherwise water would have been an issue for sure.
The atmosphere was great, and it's really nice to have everyone cheering everyone on. Encouragement from other riders was brilliant as well. Especially in the last hour, where I must have looked a right mess, rocking away in the saddle at about 10mph.
It was hilly! I've recorded over 5000m of climbing in my 600km - though I would take that with a pinch of salt as ever with Garmins going through long rides not being calibrated. The climb up Deadman's Hill in particular was really quite steep - a lot of the guys on time trial rigs with 12-21 cassettes and big chainrings were struggling to get their bikes up it at times.
Will I do it again? Maybe. I think I know what the issues with my knee are/were. General wisdom is that you need to move saddle forwards and up a few mm when you put aero bars on a road bike. I followed that wisdom and found that I did a lot of damage to my gentleman's parts. This was during testing on Audax rides etc. - where you just don't spend enough time on the aero bars in reality. So, I popped the saddle down again and all was well. Even as I used the aero bars more and more, I was fine. But clearly, after 18 hours, my knee had had enough.
I would love to have a whizzy TT bike - but it's not happening.
I can see the difference support makes - and I can't claim this to be an unsupported ride as Assassin helped a lot and will have saved me quite a few miles. I think I now understand better how support works and so on. In the end, I spent just under 2 hours off the bike. Without knee issues, I could have chopped a fair chunk off that.
Mentally, it was tough - but mainly because of the pain. Other than that, I think I coped quite well. I never felt bored, or in coasting mode - I remained focussed on my goals all the way (possibly to the detriment of my health - I hope my knee is going to sort itself out and not give me long-term issues!).
All in all, it was great. It made me realise that Audax isn't ever so difficult - even the hardest rides I've done come nowhere near as challenging at the 24. Someone commented on my PBP reflective gilet at the night HQ and asked if it was hard - I had to reply that it was a piece of cake compared to this.