I only thought about adding a team name just in case everyone else turned up and then it would be like a proper team like, me doing a solo, alx and his 4 way team, maybe some other doing pairs...

I never really noticed the monotony to be honest, well apart from the big road climb where I religiously would force food down, and the clif climb which got steeper and more soul destroying each time, till the point when you realised feck this i'm going to have to get off...it didn't help that the course at newnham was deteriorating with each lap down to the terrible weather the week beforehand, but it made life interesting.

Being on the track for so long as well you'd notice people who'd overtaken you at some point shouting things like "come on solo" never in my life has encouragement been so greatly appreciated than the calls of random strangers to keep going.

you like the calls of random strangers don't you....

Can't wait to get back to the 2412, did the innagural event with a bunch of BM folk and will be there next year as a bike shop team. Love the 24 hour vibe and they've conveniently moved it just down the road from me! Tops.

Oh dear. In a moment of madness I seem to have entered the 24hr solo. Think I may need to do some training.

Get in!

Training? I didn't do a single bit of training, I had a beer before the start of the race, I didn't have "pit bitches" just a missus who went to bed at 9pm but made me stop riding after a big off when the conditions went a little treacherous, I had a fag break every couple of hours and I came 27th.

This year I'm quitting the tabs, not drinking beforehand and might do a ride longer than 3hours in preparation.

To put this in perspective...the bloke on the other side of the track had a dutiful pit bitch / obviously long suffering wife, he would bark BANANA at her apparently as he rode past, she massaged his legs halfway through and he ended up 4places ahead of me.

Treat it like one long long ride and enjoy it, I had the time of my life riding it.

Edit: Also just entered Solo 24hr

I'll pick your brains about it closer to the time if that's ok. This'll be not only my first 24hr solo but my first mtb event of any kind so I don't have a clue what to expect

Great atmosphere, beer, dodgy music & some complete mentalists.

Well this will only be my second!

I will approach next year in much the same way, treat it with a sense a humour. I will however, be trying to ramp up my riding in april, may and june and I will not be smoking.

I did pick up some brilliant advice from the likes of Nick Evans most importantly eating and pace:

There is a (or was) on the course a sluggish long climb (funny actually on the Newnham 60 I sprinted up the hill on a single speed) where I would every lap religiously eat a god awful SIS bar drink a sachet of gel and half a water bottle of mixed up drink...it made me want to puke sometimes but i reckon doing that prevented me from ever 'bonking'.

Ride slow, ride slower than you ever have possible slower than feels comfortable ( I think I was perhaps riding a little too slow with retrospect but I'm going to look at that next year) just concentrate on smooth cadence and not having any blips of power.

and lastly try and prepare for mental exhaustion, I had to pull over for a couple of hours in the night as I was getting mentally exhausted, I think that was part down to the conditions in the forest section...very slippery I came off a couple of times and was struggling to think straight and compose myself, for safety I gave my head a rest then refreshed set back off about 3am...there was nothing nice about putting mildly damp cycling clothes on and forcing yourself to get going...but a lap and half in I was back in the swing of things.


Next year as I say I want to give it a little more training, take it a teensy bit more serious, and try and up the pace a small amount and I would like to finish in the top 20, last year my missus would be popping over to the timing tent to kill time in between reading her books and roughly every hour when I passed the van would be telling me...you're 56th....you're 38th...you're 33rd...when I got home and checked the website I was over the moon about my result.

One thing that I don't think i'll ever be able to convey is just how emotional you get, strangers shouting out "come on solo" is like concentrated power bars