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For those who rode, what a simply amazing weekend.
No mountain bike event will ever be the same again after that, my first 24hr race. We lucky few.
A lot of people seemed to really enjoy this event. 🙂
Was ace even though i did crap. Looking forward to next year already. Good to see the big guns fighting it out too.
Sign me up!
75 new mountain biking "friends".
What a cracking set of riders and support crews and staff.
So much was nigh-on perfect, I'm still finding it difficult to organise my thoughts on the event, and what an epic battle for the title!
Matt, your race win was quite astonishing to witness, huge congratulations to you and your crew; in fact, congratulations to everyone who raced - we lucky few!
I took bike walking to new lengths...
The most crazy, humbling, extraordinary, exhausting, uplifting and fun thing I have ever done.
The lap counts for some of the riders, in [b]that[/b] heat, were amazing.
That was by far and away the best race I've ever been part of in just about every aspect. The course was brutal but good and I liked how the two way sections meant you could almost keep up to date with action at the front whilst racing at the same time.
At 24 hour races when you see someone whizz past you its easy to assume they are team riders. This event we were all solos but people were still whizzing past!? Respect!
It was a truly amazing experience to be in the same race as these top athletes. I feel proud to have been on the same course (despite feeling more like a moving obstacle for them than a competitor at times;-))
Big, big thank you to the team who put it together!
Bigger thank you to all the people on the day(s) who all contributed to the fantastic, laid back, supportive, un-intimidating atmosphere.
Cant wait til next year!
Ditto all of the above. Even when i thought i was moving and flowing through those berms i could still hear a racer catching me. No shouts of "racer" just a "on your left fella" followed by "come on, this is great you can do it". To be told you're doing great by a guy whose not been off the bike for 23hrs and is still travelling at twice your speed is humbling.
Of course there was one kn0b but there always is.
What a fantastic race. The course was great, very tough to race on for 24hrs but nothing nasty enough to catch you out when your brain was fried.
I struggled with the heat on saturday and had to have a lie down in the evening.
Big thanks to sip, the sponsors, the marshalls, rock uk, the locals who were full of encouragement, and all the supporters/pit bitches.
Are the results up anywhere?
Truly magnificent event. The atmosphere was not unlike a singlespeed event in that it was incredibly laid back and folk were just there to ride bikes.
I would like to thank everyone who asked if I as OK when I fell off my bike sideways at the bottom of the last long grassy climb and didn't get up. I was comfy and couldn't be bothered to move. 😀
On my last lap, at the top of the grassy climb, I sat on the bench for a good 10 minutes soaking up the view and the bird song.
Moments of pure indulgent bliss at the end of a tough but hugely rewarding race.
If SS events are like that, I'm off to buy one! 😉
It was a great idea to use the trails at Newcastleton - they're perfect for that sort of race and made it a lot of fun.
The atmosphere in the 'arena' (it was a little small to be a real arena, but you know what I mean) was great all weekend, as it was out on the course. I had a great laugh even after dropping out...once I'd finished feeling sorry for myself.
I was a bit shocked to see the timings being done by a bloke and a clipboard - I'd expected, what with these being the National Championships, to have decent electronic timing/live updates...but it seemed to work well enough (though having to call your number out each lap at night wasn't exactly briliant).
And just who organised that weather? 😀
I can only echo all the comments above, I had a fantastic time, met loads of lovely people, was overwhelmed by the amount of support i got from everyone involved. Very humbling but inspirational all at the same time.
Good to meet you too Tim, had a few conversations with you, I was the chap in the Arragons Cycle top, think you got a picture of me on one of the grasy climbs:)
Obi_Twa - Member
Truly magnificent event. The atmosphere was not unlike a singlespeed event in that it was incredibly laid back and folk were just there to ride bikes...
Bang on. There was a good sense of fun about the whole race. Like you say, just like a SS event, or the 'Puffer.
You can guarantee that if I turn up next year then it will be lashing down all weekend - none of this warm sun malarky! ;o)
@Rod; at least if does lash it down you can be happy in the knowledge that the trails can take it =D
You can guarantee that if I turn up next year then it will be lashing down all weekend - none of this warm sun malarky! ;o)
Good!
I demand you do it now!
That was waaay too hot - I got complaints off my pit helper that there was no way to keep his beer cool 😆
Making my debut at the Bonty 24 in July, I can only hope it is even half as good as this one sounds like it was...
But I like hot and sunny (it's my swarthy complexion you see...). Rach would be very grumpy in the pits though!
What's good that whatever's said on line, or whatever comments are posted up, once out on the trails and racing, we're all the best of friends. It really was a great pleasure riding with you all.
I was surprised, give the nature of the course, that more mechanicals weren't an issue (or did I miss them?) although both my bikes need some £ throwing at them before I ride them again.
Here's some pics.
Help yourself. If you want the full size just ask. Chucked the lot in, even the low quality because you never know what may be of interest. If anyone doesn't like a pic being on display, just contact me and I'll remove it.
[b][u][url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/34903211@N02/sets/72157624008053853/ ]Day one[/url][/u][/b]
[b][u][url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/34903211@N02/sets/72157624132433856/ ]Day two[/url]
[/u][/b]
So now I've vowed to never do another 24 all future events will witness perfect weather, you know what I mean don't you Steve 😐
epicyclo - MemberHere's some pics.
Help yourself. If you want the full size just ask. Chucked the lot in, even the low quality because you never know what may be of interest. If anyone doesn't like a pic being on display, just contact me and I'll remove it.
There's some nice pics in there and loads of smiles. Sums up the event nicely.
Echo all the comments about this being a fantastic event. Great course, great atmosphere all the way through and lots of words of encouragement. These were most welcome, particularly at the times I was blowing out of my a**e, which would be most of the time in that heat.
It has to be the best event I've done and by far the toughest. The pro riders were amazing to watch. How you keep going for so long at that pace on a course like that is so far beyond my comprehension its untrue.
indeed I do, on balance I'd much rather have the heat, I seemed to be able to cope reasonably well with it this time, I think I could have done 12 laps without the knee issue, its academic though as that is really my last ever 24 😉
Just like to say a big well done to all that competed. It was great to watch as the pedals kept turning through the night & to see the smiles at a bit of heckling. Also a a big thank you to all the organisers and sponsers as it was the one event that the UK has been missing.
Well done Mat as much as i'd have liked the result to have stood at 17 hrs you played a blinder.....:O)
Fantastic event. Brutal course that was tough but enjoyable.
Great atmosphere among fellow riders, I had so much encouragement and cheers it was great. So glad I was able to be a part of the race which I hope will continue to grow - it certainly deserves to.
it was good. A bit surprised about the manual timing and where was Magnus Backstedt's coffee?
Anyway, looking forward to next year's race.
Great event, heat was too much for me and i only got 7 laps, wanted more but couldnt eat anything. Everyone was great, nice to get encouragement off the top riders as the blast past you 😆
Bring on next year as long as they can sort out more camping, toilets and showers.
oh yes, having a shower in the one and only shower cubicle with a glass door on it was interesting. Nobody came in and saw my knob though.
Fantastic weekends racing, brutal course but so much fun attacking the man made stuff every lap regardless of tiredness as it was so good..and that final decent was a new level of pain,
Thanks to the organizers and everyone who cheers on and helped us out (USE man fixed my flat when my hands stopped working) as we were riding unsupported, some great banter in the timing tent throughout the night, (If your shoes creak you didn't pay for them apparently), then good food and beer in town after.... Thanks to Torq for the very handy bottle top up for each lap that saved the day in that heat.. and sorry to the rider who got caught up in our sprint finish, was a bit childish but had to be done.
Nobody came in and saw my knob though.
I was more pointing to the fact they didnt have specific male/female showers but yes i suppose maybe they could install some mood lighting and appropriate music for you exhibitionists 😉
Yesterday I felt fine and drove back to London in one hit & got on with some work.
Today, I'm battling through the day like it's soft sand. Siesta time me thinks!
Brilliant, brutal and beautiful.
A competitive race with a friendly and co-operative feel. How did they do that?
Excellent stuff. My first Solo 24 but I'll be back for my second next year. Top event, top course & great to meet and ride with everyone there.
The pot-luck showers were fun too.
results are up. 🙂
a link please.
not sure how to link but here is the page http://www.sip-events.co.uk/solo-home.html
grazedknees - Member
results are up
Can't see them
Still can't see the results. What am I doing wrong?
I didn't realise what was happening in the race overall - for sure a bunch of super fast fellas (and lasses) passed me regularly but it wasn't until i caught up with the commentary on Matt Pages twitter (twitter.com/mattpage24) that I caught up with drama of the actual championship.
Anyway enough of that I have to say that the guy marshalling at MP5 did some stint. 8 hrs staring at the tree in front of him. 8 hrs trying to sleep on the ground with a rock as a pillow and a gazillion midgies attacking him and then 8hrs resting up on his scooter with his forehead on the speedo! what a dude. Shall have to get Morvelo to knock up a UK 24hr Solo Marshall of the year top.
pedro_delb - Member
...Shall have to get Morvelo to knock up a UK 24hr Solo Marshall of the year top.
Good idea. Also the guy in the sleeping bag (cocoon?) where the gravel road went sharply uphill. He was so encouraging that I felt obliged to ride hard all the way up instead of staggering off and walking like I really wanted to do.
Actually a Morvelo event T-shirt/jersey would have been nice. I'd happily pay for one as a memento of it being the first event (obviously, not the same as the winners jerseys)
Yeah I'd go for a Morvelo limited edition T too.
It did strike me as a little homegrown at first that the timing was manual too for such an important event but then when you think of the economics there were less than a hundred entry fees of what £65? that is not much of a budget at all to have put on such a quality event once you've done things like hiring marques and portaloos and whatnot. Getting a timing firm in to do the electronic chip thing (and often they have manual back up anyway) would surely have pushed the entry price up considerably as there weren't 500 or so teams to offset the cost. Good call I say.
In fact I would hazard a guess that the reason it happened at all was down to certain people putting a lot of hours in 'for the love' so hats off!