Here’s the first one of; yes you’ve guessed it, mud. Of course you have to expect mud now and again as we do live in the UK right? But it did seem like we had just as much mud over the summer as we did over the winter last year! This particular mud is of the Malvern variety but there was of course a lot more to come of the Cotswold variety and even a little tiny touch of the slimy Catton Park variety.

It was a battle of mind over matter just to keep going in the conditions that prevailed at the 10th Anniversary Mayhem and those of us that persevered to the finish certainly earned our medals! Here’s hoping that maybe the weather gods will have a little more sympathy for us in 2008.









This next one could be one of any number of food items that epitomise one of the most difficult aspects I find of 24hr solo races, which is stoking the engine. Everyone has their own particular recommendations on what to eat and what not to and even when you stumble on what works great for you, this is further complicated by the fact that what works at one race doesn’t seem to be a magic formula that will then work at all races! Maybe it’s because I actually need to enjoy my food and drink that makes it a bit harder for me to just shove down anything that contains the right stuff like it’s going out of fashion but be that as it may, no food definitely equals no pedalling.



The final one is the physical state of my hands (and come to think of it a few other body parts) by the time I’d got to Sleepless in the Saddle. In desperation, as you can see, there was a rather unconventional cockpit set up to the Anthem but it was the only way I was going to be able to hold the bars so I wasn’t going to worry too much about being pulled over by the fashion police.