Mersey Roads 24hr 2022

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Does anybody know what the course will be for this year's Mersey Roads 24hr TT?

Anybody else here riding it?

[felstedrider]

Does anybody know what the course will be for this year's Mersey Roads 24hr TT?

Anybody else here riding it?

Last year the course was the same as when you last marshalled although they may have done one or 2 extra Battlebridge legs.   Safe to say it's all still based at Prees.   The finishing circuit was new and all on the industrial estate at Wrexham (quite quick as no hill).

I entered last year and flaked and haven't been on my TT bike since.   This may be permanent.


Rob

[LittleWheelsandBig]

I'll be unsupported, untrained and on a slow machine, so I definitely won't beat the distance from my last MR24, two decades ago.

[tatanab]

on a slow machine,

3 wheels?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

on a slow machine,

3 wheels?

Yes. Nobody else has put their hand up to do so and John Taylor has commented that it would be nice to see another trike go round this year. Now to see if I can get comfortable enough. The last time I used aerobars in anger was last century.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Last year the course was the same as when you last marshalled although they may have done one or 2 extra Battlebridge legs.   Safe to say it's all still based at Prees.   The finishing circuit was new and all on the industrial estate at Wrexham (quite quick as no hill).

I heard last weekend that the A41 road surface has become pretty bad and I guess that fair chunks of the course are still truck-infested, despite the reduction in traffic to Ireland. Such is life, as they say.

[felstedrider]

Last year the course was the same as when you last marshalled although they may have done one or 2 extra Battlebridge legs.   Safe to say it's all still based at Prees.   The finishing circuit was new and all on the industrial estate at Wrexham (quite quick as no hill).

I heard last weekend that the A41 road surface has become pretty bad and I guess that fair chunks of the course are still truck-infested, despite the reduction in traffic to Ireland. Such is life, as they say.

I've not been up there since 2019.   I did enter last year but had a crisis of confidence and flaked.

You may have already found this but last years details here :-

https://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-details/22059

As a rider I didn't notice how busy it was but the team at Prees thought the roads were busy.   This is not unusual as I marshalled on the Breckland 12hr last year and I thought racing on the road was madness but I never noticed as a rider.   I didn't the A41 rough last time but there were quite a few holes in the miles coming up to and leaving Prees on the night circuit.   Trike-wise Quina Brook has a lot of bends but you probably know that.

Note also, compulsory lids at TTs this year, along with permanent front and rear lights.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Yes, I particularly hate the new requirement to wear a helmet for 24hrs straight in a low tuck. I don’t think I will do this race again.

The bends are the enjoyable bit of riding a trike. Trundling along in a straight line is pretty boring.

[felstedrider]

Yes, I particularly hate the new requirement to wear a helmet for 24hrs straight in a low tuck. I don’t think I will do this race again.

Thinking back on the 3 24s that I managed to finish I did have to take my helmet off for the last 2hrs of the first one when my neck pretty much gave out.   The other 2 it stayed on for the whole event but the option to remove in any heat or with a bad neck would have been useful.

I would like another go but I'm not sure I can put myself through the training again.   I may have peaked with my last ride.

[cygnet]

I'm not going to race this year - too out of shape and still recovering from last year (when I probably should not have raced)

I'm not a motorist, but am licensed to drive so if LWaB you would like some support (or anyone else of this parish) I'm happy to help. Otherwise I'll hope to to Marshall.

[Thought I'd give racers an option first)

[Karla]

I've never managed to finish a 24 or a 12 helmeted: I've done three 24s and four 12s, of which one 24 and two 12s had me wearing a helmet at the start; I ditched the lid in the latter stages of the 12s and about halfway through the 24 - I always get Shermer's Neck.  I've never spent the whole time in the tribars either.

I guess I could wear a superlight road helmet, but those things are parachutes.  I could also do super-Rambo style core exercises for six hours a day every day, but it's not like I've never tried that before.  My PB is close enough to the limit of my ability, and the work and resources required to stand a good chance of beating it are high enough, that I'm not prepared to try it if I've got a sword of Damocles hanging over my neck in an aero lid, nor if I've got to shoot myself in the aerodynamic foot, especially not for the sake of some stupid, scientifically-illiterate rule. Retirement it is then, I guess.

Good luck LWaB!

[CrazyEnglishTriathlete]

I did two 24s.  One on the Mersey Roads and one in Sussex.  I got a distance I was satisfied with in the Sussex one and vowed never again.  I ride those Sussex roads now and again and realise that every bit of the night circuit is etched into my psyche.  That's one vow that doesn't look like getting broken.

[Frank9755]

I've entered twice and finished once. I've always thought I would have another shot as my PB is rubbish and I probably could have got my club record (65 miles more than my PB!) if things had come together in the day, but I don't think I will now.

I was a beginner at TTs when I did my first one so really didn't know what I was doing. I entered the next year but DNSd as it was a friend's wedding. The next year, my second attempt I was at my TTing peak but DNFd after I slipped off my record schedule, and panicked after dropping a bottle and had to replant my stops. I may or may not have got the record, would have been close, but I would have got a decent PB.

I entered the following year but developed a neck issue which meant a 24 would have been hell so didn't ride. Neck issue was fixed last year (six years later), by using a standing desk!

I wore a fairing in all my 12s and 24s, all the way through, and it wasn't an issue. But I can't be bothered to do all the testing on aero helmets, and I wouldn't ride without having fast kit as that would undo me psychologically.

[Delph Cyclist]

I'll be unsupported, untrained and on a slow machine, so I definitely won't beat the distance from my last MR24, two decades ago.

I'll be at the unsupported riders tent, along with Terry from Bury (a former Perth-Albany-Perth rider) so we'll be pleased to look after you at Prees Heath from time to time.

Anyone else riding without helpers?  We'll be there for you!  Let's hope it's not as hot as last year's.

What's that about "permanent front and rear lights"?  Does that mean non-flashing, always on the bike for 24 hours, or on the bike and working for 24 hours?

Mike Wigley

[Revellinho]

Lights can be flashing - front and back - but obviously 'proper' lighting needed to see your way in the dark.  I was at the 100 this weekend and they were checking them at the off.  Got the wooden spoon there, so am hoping for a better result at the 24.  I'll be leaving a 'night bike' at the unsupported tent and am hoping someone will replenish my bottles from a container I will leave there and also to look after my scotch eggs, pork pies etc.  I've decided to use my audax bike in the darkness a) to avoid awkward lighting faff and b) to give the body a change of position.  Mrs R will be in charge of support during daylight hours, but she does insist on having her beauty sleep back at the caravan...

[Notfromrugby]

Legendary Jim Henderson on the start sheet, more famous for his 3 minute effort than his 24 hours ones...

[mattc]

Is it in July again?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

Next weekend

[mattc]

Next weekend

Fingers crossed for cooler weather 

[Karla]

Good luck LWaB & co.  The current forecast is for temperatures just over 20C with winds slightly over 10 mph - i.e. pretty dang good. 

This weekend has the TdF, the MR24 and Chris Murray's LEJOG attempt: so much cycling I'm going to explode trying to follow it all!

[John Stonebridge]

Im not riding but I just found a booklet that arrived through the post.  Im not sure when it arrived.  Presumably I got it as a previous helper and (modest) financial contributor. 

The only name I recognised on the start list was LWaB - the march of time I suppose but I was expecting to see some more familiar names (no G Berwick to be seen).     

Ive finished four times with one DNF.  Id probably only enter again if I thought I could beat my PB [379 miles in 2010].   

I enjoyed marshalling last year.  Always interesting to see things from a different angle. 

Good luck to all.  I will be riding a DIY 200 on Saturday (the limits of my post Covid abilities) and painting a kitchen in Leith on Sunday. 
 

[cygnet]

Little bit of rain around Wrecsam/Chester this evening, might bring temperatures down a bit at the start tomorrow. But it feels fairly humid.

[Karla]

The road between Prees and Espley is closed so you'll be on the Battlefield and QB circuits.  I hope you guys like the lumpy stuff 

[Feanor]

They've just posted that the Espley circuit is out of action, so moar Battlefield hills and Quina Brook.

Bah! Ninja'd by K.

[cygnet]

Battlefield leg is 28 miles so 7 1/2 miles longer than Esplay. Maybe worth a larger bottle if you're only feeding at Prees.