Went round today. Too bloody warm.

Plenty promising bottomless black puddles though.

Quite a few sizable rocks are lying loose on the line, and a few thousand riders will loosen some more.

I think we’ll see some very fast laps this year.

The claggy bit has been sanitised and it’s too warm for the interesting stuff. There will be mud, I got plastered with it today, but it’s the thin runny granite stuff beloved by bike shops that sell drivetrains. 🙂

I think most of the brake pad problems are a thing of the past – pads seem to have improved. I’ll be using disks this year instead of my usual drum brakes.

The slow wobbly fatbike with big white mudguards is me. Please don’t use me for traction, I’m going flat out.

Racer to watch is Ron Smith, he’s 77 and it’s his first solo. I’ve been trying to get him to go solo for the last 10 years – he’s done all the ‘Puffers. He’s a real machine, ex(?) fell runner, rower and trials bike rider, he’s lean, mean, and fast. He’s going to surprise quite a few much younger guys IMO. Give him a rousing cheer if you see him on the track. 🙂

Please don’t under-estimate the drive back. Doing the puffer might feel as if it will kill you, but it won’t. Falling asleep on the way back really could kill you and/or somebody else.

Ranulph Fiennes fell asleep whilst driving home after an endurance event and crashed into another car leaving the driver with collapsed lungs, in a coma for 17 days and with a broken collar bone, broken ribs, a broken wrist and a shattered left knee and right pelvis. Typically Fiennes just got 4 points on his license…………

Please don’t under-estimate the drive back

I don’t. There are two of us driving back, we are not in a rush and, given my lack of training, I fully expect to spend a significant part of Saturday night safely tucked up in my sleeping bag fast asleep.

Good for you Frank, and good luck 😀

Two months ago MBR showed you how to make some disc brake covers that they claim keep the mud off the pads and prolong their life. Looked like they might be worth a go for the puffer

Myself and Yokaiser ended up stopping in a lay by near perth on the way home for a break. Woke 2 hours later. 😆

Definite for a pit bitch. You don’t want to spend your rest time between laps queuing at the bike wash. Even if you have a spare bike and you can get one of your neighbours to wash the bike down for you whilst you’re on the spare bike for a few laps.

I’m going to drop something into the conversation which might give some food for thought that I was reading recently and found quite interesting, more for the folk going for top places and not planning on stopping for much.

Power files of 24hour racers have shown that putting out more wattage in the first 4 hours of a race creating a gap on the competition can be a huge advantage later in the event. In an ultra race (over 6 hours) most athletes fatigue at the same rate over the next 18 hours, so a gap of 45mins from rider 1 to 2 at the 6 hours mark is most likely going to hold for the next 18hours.

Power, racers, wattage, competition, ultra, athlete.

All words that do not apply to me