Tour De Ben Nevis 21.9.2013 MTB Endurance Event- 41miles 66km

Tour De Ben Nevis 21st Sept 2013

I remember waking up at 3am sweating thinking, “why am I doing the Tour De Ben Nevis again, putting myself through the hurt and pain I experienced last year. I should have taken a leaf from my pal Breakers and Broke Back Bob and cried off ”

But this time it was different. I had trained more, felt fitter, lost a few pounds, got a fabulous new bike the Salsa Spearfish 29er and something about this event was calling me.

The thought of circumnavigating Ben Nevis and testing myself against some of the toughest terrain you will experience in the UK kind of excited me. A year is a long time to forget the pain one had experienced in 2012.  I needed to do this to banish the demons from my head that were telling me that this event is not for you,  it’s too hard, don’t bother, give it up…..”balls to that let’s ride”!

10am Saturday morning over 300 excited, nervous mountain bikers were led out of Fort William to the sound of bagpipes. We were climbing straight away and I was huffing and puffing on the road that eventually gives way to off-road terrain where the riding really starts.

I found the terrain completely different to anything that I ride here in Yorkshire, the bridleways are smoother and there are less ups and down back home, unless you are doing The Mary Townley Loop.

I passed a few mountain bikers and one in particular had remembered me from “the crossing”.  We spoke for a while and I wished him the best of luck and hoped he wasn’t broken by the time he reached ‘The Bothy’! (a small hut).

I made my way to the first stage, which is a timed section from the top of a tricky descent all the way to the bottom and each person sets off in 30 second intervals.

I’m not the best descender, but I held my own and made it to the bottom without falling off!

We climbed and climbed and climbed for quite a while until it started to descend to the river, I was soaked by the time I had reached the river even though the weather was fine. Not a drop of rain had fallen whilst riding, but the ground was very wet from the days of rain the West of Scotland had endured.

I knew that if I made it to the river in one piece and felt OK, then all I needed to do was carry the bike for the next 2 miles on my back up the Mamore hills.

This for me is my achilles heal in this event.  I’m not much for carrying bikes and really do hate every minute of this part of the event. After I had crossed the river knee deep avoiding crocodiles,  I rested for a while on the river bank.. I realized at this point that I was de-hydrated and needed to consume as much liquid as possible.

Along the way I had been asked by several people how far we had to go and how hard was it going to be.  All I could say was that when you have climbed the Mamore hill and made it to ‘The Bothy’ you have done the toughest part of the event.

As I approached the next climb, flashbacks from last year swamped my brain, my mouth dried and my legs started to feel weak. I think that I might have even gone slightly pale. I knew this was going to be the toughest part for me so I got my head down gritted my teeth and got on with it.

The Mamores are a group of mountains in the Lochaber area of the Scottish Highlands. They lie between Glen Nevis and Loch Leven ten of the ranges are classed as the Munros. We crossed the river Abhainn Rath and made our way passed Stob Choire Claurigh.  This was tough and my fellow mountain bikers knew that also. There was a peaceful silence and the views were impressive. We climbed until we reached the top and then realised that it wasn’t the top and that it was behind the next hill.

I finally started to descend and realised I was now shattered and needed to get to ‘The Bothy’ so I could re-fuel. ‘NoFuss’ had a barbeque going for the meat eaters but there was nothing for me as I am a Pescatarian, but luckily Norrie from the fabulous Berkley House B&B had made me a cheese and cucumber butty.  I gobbled it down as quickly as I could.  I was offered tea but looking at the colour of the water that had poured out of the kettle I thought I will pass this time.

After re-fueling with gels, sandwiches, SIS and Home Valley bars, I felt I had put enough back in the tank to make it back to Fort Bill. As I did the first climb from ‘The Bothy my right leg (the rectus femoris) felt tight so I had to ease off on the climbs.

The track from now to the finish line was fireroad and singletrack incorporating some of the 10 under the Ben route. A few bikers had passed me on the final climb but I really didn’t care as my job was done.  I ‘dibbed’ my timer for the last stage and descended some fabulous singletrack to reach my final destination.

I knew that I wouldn’t be the fastest, but I had last year’s time to beat, a personal goal to achieve and my body and mind intact.

I left Leanachan Forest and ‘dibbed’ my timer for the last time. It was a great feeling to have finished the race and I felt fine with no mechanical issues or physical injuries. Everyone who I met was great and the thought of leaving some fellow riders on the trail while I ate a veggie burger and drank coffee, wasn’t a great feeling.

I do think that the 41mile (66km) over 5,000 feet of climbing was an epic journey for me and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

‘NoFuss’ events had once again created a spectacular endurance event with amazing scenery, awesome trail riding and fantastic people. It allows you to push yourself to the limit, or over the edge. I will no doubt return in 2014 to improve on my time of 5hrs 50mins and it will, of course, be one of the toughest rides of 2014 of that I am convinced.

Thank you NOFUSS x

“A person without a bike is like a plane without a pilot ie. going nowhere”© San Kapil