You gals out there who haven’t yet taken to the dirt can sit down right now and pencil in something for 2008 that sparks your interest. I’m already pencilling in possible stuff for the long winter months and hopefully I’ve persuaded Jo and a few other friends to come join me over the winter for a go at some trail running and other off road adventures! And as for my 2008 MTB challenges well you’ll just have to wait and see……

Back for now to the fantastic SITS experience where we were finally blessed with some decent weather but even that had its price as the fun but bumpy course battered your body and keeping hydrated in the heat was a real challenge that proved too much for some. Having raced at the six-hour solo in April I was pleasantly surprised how “different but the same” the course felt - there were enough changes and new bits to make it feel fresh but the very best bits were still there!

Fellow Climb-On rider, Pro-Velo gal and singlespeed rocket Sara was also going for it solo and Mr M selflessly gave up the weekend and took on his alter-ego pit persona Ocsar the Grouch to look after us - he even had a last minute and very welcome sub pit crew of EvilGordon, B (Mrs EvilGordon) and Harold the dog.

My hands were still real sore from the previous races so my bike was decked out like Mr Bump with some snazzy road bar tape to try and get me through this last one. It worked fine but looked a bit strange!

Sara and I lined up together in the start funnel wondering if we had applied enough Factor 30 sun cream to get us through till dusk and before we knew it we were off and running round the start loop before heading back to the start for the usual game of hunt the bike.
I think my first eight hours or so went pretty well apart from the fact that my front tyre decided to wait until it was just fully dark before it picked up a monster thorn. I was being systematically eaten alive by midges whilst I changed tubes and wrestled with my pump (thanks everso to the nice man from Berties who kindly stopped to lend me his pump when I had a mental block with mine!) but I was pretty soon up and running again and thankfully this was the only mechanical issue I had for the whole race.






Whilst the pit crew was enjoying a selection of scrummy nutritional options, in the next few hours I hit my usual sickie patch (this is the really glamorous part – not!) and I had to take longer breaks and go slower as I simply could not keep enough food down to keep me going as fast as I’d like.

In the past when I’ve done 24hour racing on a team I used to dread riding the night laps but I’ve really grown to love it although when it started to rain in the early hours and riders were going down like skittles on the greasy grass my enthusiasm did wane just a little!












One essential item to have to enjoy the night regardless of your favourite main lights is the super dinky USE Joystick helmet light (this really is unbiased opinion as myself and Mr M bought these when they first came out). They are invaluable for nighttime single-track when your bar light is waiting to catch up on tight turns and of course they are great for trailside repairs, looking at your watch, midnight toilet stops, impromptu “I-am-a-Dalek” impersonations and other general camping duties.

The rain thankfully died out after a few hours and was replaced by a rather dewy dawn - the end was almost in sight (well only about eight hours to go anyway!).

By this time the pointy end of the women’s solo race had seen some scary drama with leader Sally Bigham whisked off in an ambulance so I was focussing on trying to keep eating and drinking as I didn’t particularly want to suddenly drop dead having got this close to my third finish.

Laps were steadily trundling by and it was soon time to shed my nighttime layers as the sun was back out and the temperature steadily rising. This is a really nice point of the race when the arena comes fully alive again, the music and banter is in full swing and once I change into that final outfit I really know that unless I have a stack and lose a limb I’m going to be able to make it.

Through bleary eyes I spotted Jo and Gwen (complete with sugar bombs) and it was fantastic to have them there to see me finish. By now pretty much everything was hurting and I could hardly even move once I was perched on my bike but I was enjoying the chilled out atmosphere that there always seems to be at this event and looking forward to that wonderful moment when you see Pat waiting under the finish banner to shake your hand.

I confess that I did indulge in a little bit of gratuitous lurking so that I didn’t have to go out for lap 20 but I was very happy with 19 laps and in the end it wouldn’t have made any difference to my 6th place which I was well chuffed with considering what was already in my legs.

MASSIVE thanks to my great little band of long suffering pit supporters (especially Mr M who gets to put up with me the whole year and therefore deserves a medal) and also to all those friends and people I don’t even know yet who kindly spared a valuable breath and cheered me on.

Would I do it again? Well I don’t really feel the need to do three solos in quick succession again but I will definitely be found at one or two in 2008 as the overall experience and challenge of these events is one that I really enjoy. I learned many things of course but most of all you find out what’s really lurking deep down inside you both physically and mentally.

[This is the part where you need to read whilst humming the tune to Top Gun]

Even when I felt what I thought was the crappiest I have ever felt I found that I could in fact feel even crappier and still be able to carry on and complete the task in hand. It just goes to show that to get a whole heap of personal satisfaction you don’t necessarily need to possess Olympic type fitness nor even trials standard technical skills - mind over matter will take you a long way on any journey you care to set for yourself. Whatever your ability just set yourself a target and give it a go – I guarantee you will probably surprise yourself!

[OK you can stop humming now!]

Oh yes, and what were a few of my favourite things?

o Skins recovery tights – I live in mine virtually non-stop when I’m not riding, they do wonders for aching legs
o Assos cream – worth the extra money if you want your sitbits to survive.
o Odlo X-warm long sleeve – I never thought I’d wear a winter base layer so much in an English summer!
o Buffs – you can never have too many
o Concurve windstopper singlet – brilliant for taking the nighttime chill off without being bulky - a steal on the GR2 site – spend your £10 now!
o Nivea face wipes – when everywhere smells like a sweaty dumptruck a quick wipe with these can make you feel like Kate Moss
o My Nalini tops – functional stuff that’s so cute just wearing it makes you smile

Well that’s it for now; I’m off for a bit more R&R that will probably involve beer and most likely several of Jo’s sugar bombs…….

NEXT RACE REPORT:

National Marathon Series Finals at Coed-Y-Brenin on 23rd September