WEMBO 2014 World Solo MTB Championships ‘Fort William’ 10-11th Oct
Ride…eat…rest…laugh…enjoy…sleep… Ride…eat…rest…laugh…enjoy…sleep…
My next adventure would be my last for 2014 and hopefully the best!
24 hour solo racing is new to me. I had always liked the idea of it but I had never entered one.
So, what better way to do my first 24hr solo event, but at the World Solo Championships in Fort William organised by WEMBO and NOFUSS.
I arrived the day before having left Halifax, West Yorkshire at 5am and reached Fort William at 11.30am after having made a couple of stops along the way. I headed straight to Nevis Range in order to register and this would be where the event would take place.
It was great to be back in the Highlands as my last trip was only 2 weeks ago riding the Tour De Ben Nevis, another fabulous event. www.nofussevents.co.uk
Registration was straight forward, until she said to me “here is a bag for your pit crew”. I didn’t have the heart to tell the lady that I didn’t have a pit crew and that I would be doing the event solo after all it was the World SOLO 24hr championship haha!!!
My race number was 459 and I received 2 for the bike and 2 for the jersey that I would be wearing. My jersey choice would be http://pedalsportshop.wordpress.com/ my way of saying thanks for all their advice and support over the years.
My bike of choice would be the Zion 29er Van Nicolas completely ‘rigid’.
Now, I’m not making any excuses but this was a schoolboy error. For some reason I had it in my head that it would be a complete wash out weather wise and that it would be really muddy, especially looking at the forecast early on in the week, so I decided to ride the bike that would not cost as much to repair if something went wrong (typical Yorkshire man).
Anyway I started the practice lap and headed out. I climbed to the top and started the first technical descent that wasn’t a real boneshaker but on a rigid it felt bloody awful.
Thoughts started running through my head of why didn’t I bring the Spearfish or Mariachi which both have full and front suspension respectively. I hadn’t so I had to make the most of what I had.
The 8 mile course is awesome. It has everything from tough climbs, twisting single track, rock gardens and fabulous swooping descents. It has an elevation of approximately 1,500 feet per lap so it is tough going.
The morning of the event and I decided that I needed a chunkier tyre on the front so off came the Specialized Renegade and on went the Specialized Purgatory a fabulous thick tread 2.3 tyre.
After breakfast I headed to Nevis range for the start ready for action but before that I needed the loo. As I was coming out of the toilet, I bumped into Guy Martin who was also doing the event and he asked me “if I was racing it” but I said “no, more like riding it”. He’s a nice chap and he posed for a photograph which I quickly tweeted to my amigo Breakers who was now wishing he was at the event.
Frazer from No Fuss kindly put me in pole position in the pit lanes seeing as I didn’t have any support this placed me near to the café etc. so big thanks to Frazer.
The tension mounted for the event to begin but the Le Mans type start was cancelled as not everyone likes to run 100 metres to their bikes so a slow bagpipe start was the plan with the women and the elite riders at the front. I positioned myself somewhere in the middle with two awesome endurance riders Stephen Kelly from the Isle Of Man and Keith Forsythe from Musselburgh.
I never saw the ones at the front again until I was lapped on the second lap. These riders are in a different class altogether as they could blast round the course in the early laps in less than 50 minutes (now that is impressive). I’ve ridden the 8 mile course with 1,500 feet of elevation and the fastest for me was just over an hour.
I found my pace after lap 1 and that was steady. There was no way I was going full gas as I would burn out within a couple of laps. I think Andy Howett found it amusing after lap 1 when he saw me tucking into pasta. I have always had my priorities right haha!!!
Lap 2 was a steady 1hour 15 minutes and I managed to block Guy Martin twice on a technical section so that was a bonus and funny.
Lap 3 and I felt fine apart from my hands were aching a little from the rocky sections, other than that it was steady away.
Lap 4 and I was getting into my groove loving the event and my first ever 24hr solo. As I reached the top of the course for the first descent my front wheel hit the edge of a rock and over the handlebars I went only to land on the rocks and the bar end to poke itself into the top of my rib cage just below the armpit. I was winded for a while and dramatically rolled about the floor in agony hoping that Sportgraf or another rider had witnessed my spectacular fall but I wasn’t so lucky. I wiped the mud/dust off my lycra recomposed myself and descended steadily down with my ribs hurting and breathing painful.There was still another 4 miles to do and plenty more climbing. I struggled back and completed the 4th lap in 1 hour and 41 minutes.I was relieved to get back to the pits and headed for my bag to take some painkillers. All I had was Anadin Extra that I’m not sure did anything.
Lap 5 at about 5.30pm and I was really finding it tough now. After the fall this lap was painful and took me about 3 hours to complete I had my lights on and got back to the pits at 8.30pm.
It was time for a break and some food so I tucked into Jacket Spud and Tuna from the café. At 10pm I headed for the car and fell asleep until 6am feeling rough. I got up for a healthy breakfast of porridge, egg roll and black coffee, at 7.30am it was time for another lap.
As I climbed out of the car park and through the woods I saw a rider in front of me pushing his bike only to realize it was Andy Howett who had ridden through the night and was most likely on his 15th lap (hardcore and impressive). I asked him if he had slept and he said that he might have fallen asleep on a rock for about 20 minutes when he stopped for a rest.
I said goodbye to Andy and decided to press on and enjoy this fabulous occasion. To be able to ride a world cup course and only fall off once I was impressed and proud of myself. I completed the sixth lap and felt fine, had a coffee and a quick snack and continued on to do another lap. I bumped into plenty of awesome endurance riders on my seventh and final lap, I took some photos of this memorable occasion wishing them all the best Rich Rothwell, Keith Forsythe, Andy Howett, Jason Miles, Jason English, Bret Bellchamber, Saul Muldoon and Matt Page who all along with me share an absolute love and passion for mountain biking.
As I climbed the final ascent before the red descent I bumped into Keith Forsythe top rider and all round top bloke. He had ridden nearly 23 hours and was ready for another lap; he had climbed over 27,000 feet in less than 24 hours. That is higher than Mount Everest.
We chatted for a while but I couldn’t really understand him as he was slurring his words however he was still quicker than me on the climb haha!!!
I approached the timing chip area and that was me done at 11.15am 45 minutes before the end and I had fully enjoyed this one off occasion in Fort William. The riding, the people and the organisation were impressive. WEMBO and No Fuss should be proud of themselves to have hosted this event for people like me who love mountain biking.
A big thank you from me….
I’m looking forward to the next World Cup 2015… #Weaverville #CALIFORNIA….
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