Marking the end of a reasonably hard ‘overload’ week of long rides, I joined in the fun with the guys from the Rapha Cycle Club (with their impressively large truck and coffee machine) and a few other intrepid cyclists for the Pennine Night Ride. After Dave and Phil arrived at my house we set off into the night towards the Velodrome…

I’m no stranger to riding in the dark and riding through the night and into the daylight of the following day, but still the sight of a group of road cyclists zipping through the urban sprawl from Manchester Velodrome towards the Peak District was a very impressive sight. The thousands of drunken women that had spilled out onto the Manchester streets from the Take That gig at the stadium across the road also seemed impressed. The ones that weren’t sprawled out on the pavement after a few too many Bacardi Breezers anyway….

As we followed the route towards the ‘proper’ hills we were told that the Mottram Moor climb at Stalybridge was the one and only prime of the ride – basically the first one to the top gets a prize….Dave, John and me needed no more encouragement to race to the summit, which was exciting. Somewhat inevitably, Dave took a narrow lead and kept it until the top, winning some kind of ‘Rapha essentials kit’ which we assume includes some gear that the gentleman cyclist should never be without….dunno. He’s not got it yet 😉

The route then included a lot of familiar roads in the Peaks – some brilliant climbs and exhilarating descents, a slightly surreal climb and subsequent re-grouping outside the Cat And Fiddle Pub at 3am, a close call in the form of a sheep in the road that caused a locked-up rear wheel on the descent of the Cat and Fiddle, another Rapha coffee machine coffee stop near Buxton (the strongest coffee ever), one of the finest sunrises I’ve ever seen and a return to the Velodrome though the near-deserted streets of Levenshulme…only the early-morning zombies were up and about, keeping us entertained as they staggered around, doing weird stuff like shouting at carrier bags…..

9 hours…that’ll take us to about 7pm…plenty of time at 7pm….hmmm we’re going to need to stop soon for some food. Keep it short and we’re still in with a chance of getting to Bridlington by 8:00pm. No, we’re going a little bit slower than we were due to this surprise headwind…better make our ETA 9pm. It’s ok, we’ll still be in time….just….

I wasn’t thinking about it being dark when we arrived in Bridlington at the end of our ‘Way Of The Roses In A Day Daft Ride’ – a coast-to-coast, 170 mile, Morecambe to Bridlington (mostly) road route, newly-unveiled by Sustrans. I had some lights with me anyway.

I wasn’t bothered about the expiry time of my pay and display ticket in the car, left at the end of the route at 6:30am the same day. I’d bought an all-day ticket.

I wasn’t even bothered about the fact that I left my house at 4:15am to meet Dave in Bridlington to then go to the start of the ride in Morecambe in his car. Even though my eyes were stinging a bit.

I didn’t get at all worried when Dave’s GPS packed in after 90 miles as the route was really well signposted, all the way across the very hilly first 90-odd miles through the Yorkshire Dales and the remainder of the route across the relatively flat but very twisty (and windy) 80 miles to the North Sea coast.

I was however genuinely concerned that if we didn’t keep up our quick pace and get to the end before long, the chippy would be shut. And that would have been an utter disaster.

We made it, obviously, then had a large bag of chips each on the prom.

(Then we drove back to Dave’s car, left in Morecambe 11 hours earlier; 11 hours that including stops for pasties, photos next to statues of Roman emperors and map checking.)

photo courtesy of Sportsunday

I knew deep down when Shaun somehow talked me into entering this event that it was going to be a mistake. A very hilly 110 mile road sportive in the Yorkshire Dales, a week after a 24 hour solo race, was never going to be a picnic was it? It was certainly never going to be my most glorious day in the saddle anyway.

Despite last weekend’s efforts though I was feeling ok (I thought) and I was well up for it. I met up with Chris and Shaun and off we went, the pace immediately quite fast.

I was still feeling ok after a while –  a bit slower than usual on the climbs but not too bad. Coping. Weird pain in the back of my calf and my scabby hip was aching a bit but nothing too surprising so I pressed on. The weather wasn’t brilliant and we were riding into a headwind mostly – there were a few rain showers but nothing too bad.

At around 60 miles I got a puncture. I stopped to fix it but the other 2 carried on, unaware that I’d stopped. Once the bike was sorted, I started to feel weak, you know, like I was tired for some reason….

At the 70 mile feed station I was really feeling it, fatigue had crept up on me from behind…and then BLAM it hit me. Things were all different now. I was getting knackered, basically.

So rather than press on and smash myself to bits (and probably delay the planned start of my Mountain Mayhem training a bit further) I decided to stop for a bit and eat some of the corned beed sandwiches on offer. Then I dropped my pace quite a bit, riding all the climbs but not caning it.

The weather by now was getting pretty horrendous – gusting winds and horizontal, persistent rain. I carried on for ages and ages and eventually it was all over. I crossed the line about 7 and a half hours (!) after I’d set off, my average speed dropping so much in the final 40ish miles that I’d ‘achieved’ a rather ponderous 15 mph over the whole route. No matter, I’ve kick-started my Mayhem training now, all that I need is for summer to get it’s arse back into gear.

I’m freezing. Really, really freezing. I’ve got a Crimean war-style bandage thing sticking out of a huge hole in the side of my bib shorts (an expensive pair kindly given to me by a sponsor) that’s hopefully keeping the wet mud that’s flying everywhere out of a painful wound on my hip.

Before

It’s dark – it is 3 am after all – and it’s also raining. Hard. Welcome to summer. Welcome to the 24 Hours of Exposure.

It’s ‘exposure’ alright. I think people have died of exposure in the past, in fact. I’m not going to die though. I’m not going to drop out either, despite the regular temptation as I approach my pit, manned by Wayne and Michael, holding up bottles of go-go juice and offering sympathy, flat cola, loud rock and roll, shelter and bags of sweets.

Photos courtesy of Joolze Dymond

No. I’m rock hard, me. I’ve no idea where I am, position-wise in this race but I’m aware that plenty have dropped out and I’m riding consistently. I’m also acutely aware of the brutality as well as the immense fun of this course, each lap seemingly getting more and more hilly and more physical as each climb appears far too soon for me to fully recover from the last one…no matter though. This race will represent a cornerstone in my racing ‘career’. I’ve decided this just now. I’ve done too many of these things now to be surprised and deterred by anything, both mentally and physically. I’ve somehow put myself through the mill on a routine basis to become an ‘old hand’ at this and I’ll need a really bloody good reason to pack it in.

Hitting a patch of gravel at 25mph, somehow letting the front wheel wash out and immediately slamming into the ground, still clipped in, skidding along on the side of my body to an eventual halt in a cloud of stones and soil was not a good enough reason.

“Do you want me to radio in a lift back to the start, mate?” asked the clearly worried marshal, his companion already looking for a first aid kit after witnessing something that clearly looked quite bad. I didn’t answer. Not with words anyway. I got up, whimpered, swore at myself and rode off…a bit gingerly.

Photo courtesy of Sheldon Attwood

Conditions deteriorated. The course stood firm as most of it uses the Newcastleton ‘red’ trail centre stuff but there were one of two muddy bits. The 12 hour racers finished their shift and the course went quiet. The Team JMC/Ragley pit wasn’t quiet – Wayne and Mike were still well lively. Michael has started to really get the hang of this 24 hour race support game now and knows just what I’m going to need before I get back, so my stops were as brief as ever. A couple of bike changes for mechanicals and tyre changes and I kept tapping out laps.

Morning arrived and I had to stop for 15 minutes or so – blurred vision was starting to make things a bit dangerous and it was still raining. Back on the bike again and Steve at the timing tent told me that I was running in 4^th  in my category, 5^th “or maybe 6^th “overall…I got a big boost from this.

A good result after a week of illness and virtually no sleep is really encouraging, especially in a year that started as crazy as this one. It’s not a podium but who cares. Plenty of podiums up for grabs and it’s only May.

Cheers from the crowd and other pit crews. Keep going. Nearly there now. Just 3 more laps and you’re done. Leg wound isn’t hurting any more. Don’t know if this is good or bad. Don’t know how far behind 5^th place is. Get paranoid. Look over shoulder quite a lot. Don’t back off.

Blunt-edge a root, hard with the front wheel. I felt the tyre hit the rim but due to the fact I’m running tubeless now (at last!), no puncture. A puncture on the last lap would have been a slap in the face, but thanks to my lovely tyre full of latex, I got away with it. Rocking!

Got passed by Matt Page and Ant on the way to 1^st and 2^nd place. Matt quite cheerful, Ant looking forward to the end like I was. Good. I was starting to think it was just me that was having to dig very deep…

Then the end arrives. Hugs from Deb and from Michael, handshakes from all the friends that are there to see me finish. This is the best bit.

4^th place, 6^th overall was mine. An improvement over last year when the conditions were much better and I wasn’t ill. Something to build on for the rest of the year.

From the start of the race a whole day ago in the centre of Newcastleton village, on the front row due to last year’s result, I’ve pushed through without doubt the hardest 24 hour race I’ve competed in. The combination of the course, the weather and the pace of those around me has left me in a bloodied and mud-covered heap, now eating ‘real’ food, already thinking about what must be possible in the races yet to come….

After!

…..I think this race might have other titles but 3 will do for now.

As Dave has already said  – this has come around quickly. A little bit too quickly I think, but then is there ever a good time to ride your bike for 24 hours straight?

I’m a bit out of practice with this sort of thing, to be honest. I’ve competed in 24 hour races more regularly than most for the last couple of years however this will be the first one since Relentless24 last October. Oh well, I reckon I’ll soon be back in the swing of things after half a lap or so. It’s not like I’ve been sat on my backside for the best part of 8 months, is it?

The weather looks like it might be in a bit of a mood so compared to the blistering heat of last year -which I seem to remember I quite enjoyed- this one will be more like a ‘regular’ UK race. Wet, windy, thundery and a nice shade of Menacing Grey. The field looks as strong as ever with all the best UK endurance riders on the start list plus a large number of riders also taking part in the simultaneous 12 hour race (12 Hours of Exposure/UK 12 Hour Championships/European 12 Hour Championships….etc) How many (other) 24 hour racers will be trying to beat as many 12 hour racers as possible for the first half I wonder?

I’m looking forward to catching up with a few regulars before everyone starts to hurt each other anyway.

Finally, to add an extra level of difficulty, I have a cold. Not just a poxy man-flu thing either. A proper ‘streamer’. I’ve also got a cough as a bonus, so I’ve been sleeping sat up, which seems to help for some reason. I can’t even bloody drop out, given Dave set the precedent in January and pressed on with the Strathpuffer when he was full of cold and still came 2^nd….

If you do Twitter, follow @fastfarrell . If he’s got a mobile signal, Wayne, the Team JMC / Ragley pit maestro, will more than likely be tweeting race updates as things go on, providing we keep the mechanicals to a minimum. 🙂