8pm Saturday 4th October - 8am Sunday 5th October 2008
Race Report by Jenn O'Connor
Pics by Simon Ward
The Solo Women's Podium (from left) Mel Alexander, Jenn O'Connor, Fi Spotswood
We knew it was going to rain and we prepared for it as best we could, but really there is no way to make 12 hours in the mud an easy task. I managed to win the race by a fairly comfortable 30 minute margin, but the race behind me for second and third place was vigorous throughout, and there was never any question that I would be able to ease off the pace, or take too much of a break. The organisers had put up a £1,000 cash prize for the win, and with prizemoney paying down to third for women, and tenth for men, the solo competition was always going to be fierce.
The rain was forecast to start about 10am on Saturday, but apart from a few spits and squalls it stayed dry, with a brisk wind. The course was fast and clean when I rode it during the day, and we were all hoping that a miracle might happen and it would stay that way.
Andy was there to support me as always, and we had Ruth and James as our cheerleading squad, as well as Endorfin distributor Gordon Bettany, there to check out the scene. Also in our camp were Patterson Training client Nadine Spearing and partner James Hampshire, racing as a mixed pair, and our friend Simon Ward, who had ridden across from Macclesfield on his touring bike, on the promise that we would provide him with a tent for the night and a lift home the next day.
By the time darkness fell and we were getting ready to race, the weather warnings had been issued and the rain was gusting in. Those not about to ride were either staying in tents and cars or wrapped up in layers of fleece and Gore-tex. Umbrellas were turning inside out on the startline. I did my warm-up on the turbo, and took my place in the second row for the start.
The prologue lap behind the quad bike was fast and frightening, as the most nervous and twitchy riders in the pack had somehow appeared in front of me, trying to gain that extra second before the race had even started. It finally did start, and I pegged out a quick pace in order to keep out of the traffic behind me and avoid the queues in the singletrack. Each time I came through the pit area, I could see the rain blowing in under the floodlights, but out in the forest I didn’t notice it. Thetford Forest is fairly dense, and most of the course was remarkably sheltered.
The weather stayed stormy, with gales and squalls of rain, but the course held up well. By 2am, halfway through the race, I was thinking ‘well this isn’t too bad after all’. I was gaining about five minutes a lap on the rest of the field, and had a lead of about 30 minutes at that stage, so I stopped for some hot soup and a bike wash.
Clearly I had jinxed the race with my optimistic thoughts, because from then on the course began to soften up, and soon there were whole sections developing a thick layer of gloopy mud. My ideas of finishing 12 laps in 12 hours started to look unrealistic, as fast sections became slow sections and my bike started making scraping, grinding noises as it ploughed through the gritty mud.
As always, I was running Lupine lights, with a Wilma on my helmet and the 7-LED Betty on the bars. I calculated my run times using the smallest batteries I had, and the lights ran faultlessly, despite the mud and rain, requiring just one battery change.
I used my five-minute speed advantage to stop after every lap for the last six hours of the race, so that Andy could clean the bike, and I could sip at hot drinks and soup. My lap times stretched out to about 1hr20mins, and I revised my lap goal to 10 laps. The course remained largely rideable, but was very heavy going, with even the descents requiring pedalling effort to keep the bike moving.
By the time 6am rolled around, the first half of the course was a proper mud-bath, with hub-deep puddles and long stretches of deep ruts and sloppy mud. The second half of the course was not much better, but with concentration and a great deal of effort, it was still possible to stay on the bike and keep moving. This was as much as I could manage.
On my final lap, as I trudged up the final climb and clambered out of the last mucky bombhole, I saw a huge banner reading “Go Jenn”, and I could hear Ruth and James shouting and cheering. I’ve never had a banner just for me before, and I was hugely impressed. Even more impressive, according to Andy, was watching them make it using a can of spray paint and a bedsheet in a force-10 gale!
The rain continued to pour down as I rode up the finish straight and across the line. I attempted a victory salute and promptly crashed into the barriers, much to the amusement of the commentator and various spectators. It was a huge relief to finally be finished.
This was the last race of the season for the Altura Patterson Training race team, but we have some exciting plans for 2009, which we hope to let you know about soon.
Jenn
Bibby made his break in the later stages of the race.
