by James Barlow and Ian Megginson
I drove up Friday, with Phoebe and the twins, the weather was awful, I cycles back on Saturday, the weather was awful, the end!
Not really, I got there Friday around 7pm, registered and picked up my bits. I was going to set my bike up there and then, but they were keeping them all outside, so decided against it, plus I was hungry and tired and needed to sleep.
On the morning of the ride, I was up and ready at 7am, yogurt, fruit and cereal, didn’t want no greasy big breaky (interferes with your carb processing). Phoebe then drove me over to the start, as I was setting up my bike, it was dry and windy, Bob pulled up as he was also off in the 9am start, we wouldn’t be seeing Brian or Ian, as they went off at 10:30am, there was also another wave off at Noon. I wasn’t worried about the distance, as you all know, I’m pretty much a nutter for 500km rides, but the that rain and headwind really bugged me, cheers Bobbo!
…Meanwhile
Preparation
I signed up for the Ride 24 event with two local St Ives mates, Mark Clinton and Chris Edgley. The longest ride I’d done was about 120 miles back in 2010 and I’d only just joined SICC in 2015 and done a few recent Sunday club 60 mile rides. So my training plan comprised of a need to increase my weekly mileage and increase the distance of my long rides.
I did several 100 mile sportive rides at the start of the year, joined Cambridge CC for their ride 175 mile Hunstanton return ride and did some 135 solo rides.
The longest practice ride we did was a 270 mile overnight trip from St Ives down to London, across to the Suffolk coast with the Dunwich Dynamo (fantastic event) and back to St Ives. That ride gave us confidence that we were physically and mentally ready for the Ride 24.
My weekly mileage peaked at an average of 210 miles.
I bought a new bike in May! A carbon Canyon. Riding it seems to require less effort than my previous 2nd hand Specialised. Could just been that I am fitter!
We discovered that a few other St Ives riders were doing the event – Bob, James and Brian. So a decent turnout for a small fenland town.
The night before the big day
I had been checking the weather App on my phone all week. The forecast was grim! I was also following Ride24 on Strava and Facebook – there were some funny comments amongst the usual mix of what tyre pressure. I really liked to best wishes messages posted on the SICC forums.
We took the train up to Newcastle on Friday evening, to check into a TravelLodge hotel in the city centre. We guessed we were getting close to Newcastle as several revellers got onto the train in York with beers and prosecco flowing to start their evening. Newcastle is a lively place!!! We pushed our bikes through the city to the hotel, passing loads of bars and nightclubs. Looked like a great place to come for a party weekend. We went out for an Italian meal to stack up with carbs. The hotel was noisy. We all got woken up at 3:30am by the night revellers returning from the clubs. Didn’t really get back to sleep after that and woke up feeling tired. Not the best start…..
“Good luck indeed. Hope the weather is kind and most importantly the wind is behind you!!” Alison Booth (facebook)
…and
Sarah Glidergoth Found the tracker info:
http://newcastle2london.livetrail.net/coureur.php?rech=124
for Bob – http://newcastle2london.livetrail.net/coureur.php?rech=475
for Ian – http://newcastle2london.livetrail.net/coureur.php?rech=494
for Brian – http://newcastle2london.livetrail.net/coureur.php?rech=247
for James. Ride well, lads, and we’ll try to cheer you through the darkness in Hilton.
Off we Bob…
Myself and Bob, set off at 9am, we near the back of the starters, so not with the pace riders. All the pace riders were at the front and wearing pink. We wound our way through Newcastle, including the Tyne Bridge and out past the Angel of The North, our course would follow mainly A roads and some B roads. The wind was strong but not too bad and we was easy our way into it, passing people.
Finally as we left Newcastle, there was big group, I worked my way to the front, only to realise that Bob had not come with me (turns out he was left at roundabout). I pressed on, pulling away from the group, passing other riders, down to Durham. During the stop start of Durham, I found myself latch onto a large group of a 100 riders, with Pink at the front, yay I was at the head of the 24hr snake.
I decided to work my way up to the front and sit in about 5 or 6 back, with everyone riding 2 abreast, this must have been a nightmare the motorists to overtake, Suffice to say, a couple did behave like idiots! The terrain was nothing special, and being in the bunch, meant no wind and no rain so far, was a double bonus. 11:44am and we rolled into the Darlington Rest stop
Meanwhile…
Brian and Ian have started
The big day
We were on the 10:30am depart, so got up at 7:30am to meet in the hotel cafe for a full breakfast at 8am. Checked out and headed to the event start feeling excited. The weather was holding, but still forecast to be grim!
The registration process and the complete event organisation was fantastic. Our day bags were transported between each of the 7 pit stops and were always ready for collection when we arrived.
The briefing session was given and we were ready to leave. We decided to depart with the fast pace (22 hour) group and ride each stage as an ‘individual’ objective, so as not to get too overwhelmed with the full distance.
Darlington to Escrick
Just before I left, I bumped into Bob, I would only see him once after this, until the finish. This is the stage when the fun started to happen. Rain yes, wind was getting up and the pace riders started asking for help. Again the course was nothing special and I was sitting in my usual place, as helpers died off, after about halfway, I thought sod it, I’m bored, I will go and help, I stayed there to the next stop, riding strong, one the pacers came up and started riding hard down to York, flat, straight road, headwind coming from in front and to the right, this meant anyone on the outside really had to work hard, suffice to say, the group went from 100 to 20 odd, turns out that was intentional and we ripped it, the guys that stayed with us, were looking at me as if I was machine, and yes for the third time in year, I was called “A MACHINE”. The stage was long but not to taxing and I wasn’t soaked, so no change of kit yet and we arrived at 15:12
Meanwhile…
Bob is somewhere on the road behind me and rolls in again just as I’m preparing to leave and Phoebe has driven down and caught us up for a hello, Brian rolled into Darlington at 13:25, followed by Ian at 13:38
“Every time Bobbo does a big event – the weather goes shite.” Dave Pope (Facebook)
Stage 2 – Darlington to York (52 miles)
The weather started to turn for the worse on Stage 2. 18 mph headwinds with gusts and rain! We seemed to be leading out groups of riders. No other riders were taking their turn on the front – lots of wheel suckers. We picked up a following of 20 riders. Mark decided to up the pace heading into York to draw out our pack of followers. We started to tank along at a rapid pace. We lost our followers, but also tired ourselves. Riding through York was fun. We had a full meal at the pit stop and took longer in the transition than planned. We recognised that this was going to be a tough ride and needed to discipline our pace!!!
Not sure what time Brian and Ian reached York, as the timings were missed.
Another smash…
The next stage was short, I sat off the front to start but in the end I found myself there again and this time on my own, the pacers sat in the bunch, every now and then someone would spend 5mins alongside me, but from here on in, it was pretty much me, with my little following. The whole time, holding back, keeping calm and not enjoying it when it rained, oh and yes, it was still windy, Scunthorpe was reached at 17:59pm and
Meanwhile…
Bob arrives in Scunthorpe at 18:45, last time I would see him, literally as we left, as this was a longer break scheduled by the pacers.
Brian is probably about 2hrs back on the road and Ian an hour more as I prepare to leave Scunthorpe
Home turf in sight
Wind, rain and I’m pacing again. We put on lights for the start and did need them, I had also changed into dry kit and got soaked 3miles down the road! The route was a little more interesting than it had been, I still felt strong and rolled into Sleaford at 21:23, as the daylight finally departed fully.
Meanwhile…
Bob is nearly 2hrs back on the road now and rolls in at 23:07, Brian is catching Bob arrives an hour later 00:05.
Stage 3 – York to Scunthorpe (38 miles)
This was the start of the dull part of the ride for me. The route took us along some busy A roads and the weather remained very grim. Chris punctured twice, which took time to fix and Mark started to feel ill, so we slowed the pace down considerably. We lost all the fast groups. At first, I thought that Mark was bonking, but then recognised that he was actually ill – he was looking green and said he felt sick. He rang his dad and arranged to be picked up at Scunthorpe, pit stop 3. We took a very slow pace ride on the 2nd half of stage 3, to ensure Mark got the pit stop safely. We stayed with him for some time in the pit stop to make sure he was safe. We left Scunthorpe in the dark.
Dark times ahead
No! I wasn’t in a dark place, I was riding in the dark, group still together, rain had stopped and I was still on the front, did I mention it was dark, oh and still windy! As we approached Whittlesey, we had a bout of tailwind and were really flying, well we could of but wasn’t allowed! I touched down in Whittlesey at 00:36, next stop St Ives (kind of).
Meanwhile…
There is still an hour between Bob and Brian, Bob is in at 02:48 and Brian 03:49 and finally pass in the night, Bob leaving, Brian arriving.
Ian has been into Sleaford 01:21 and left as I arrived in Whittlesey
“Bob’s due to Sleaford at 23:20 and it’s another 100k to St Ives from there and another stop, so certainly post 4am. It’ll be light when the rest come through that started at 10:30.” Sarah Glidergoth (Facebook)
“Reckon James’ bunch won’t be through before 2am. From the tracker, there looks to be a group of 15 or so working together so they’d be unlikely to stop for a mad woman in Hilton with coffee!!” Sarah Glidergoth (Facebook)
Stage 4 – Scunthorpe to Sleaford (46 miles)
Me and Chris were still keen to do the ride under 24 hours at this stage, but recognised that we’d need to up our pace and lessen the time in transition at all the remaining pit stops. We set off with that objective but the weather continued to be harsh – riding conditions were brutal – headwind gusts were up to 33mph, the rain was persistent and we were a man down. At 27 miles into stage 4 I started to count down the miles to Sleaford. It seemed to take an eternity. We ate well in the cafe. The food at all pit stops was great!
Bye bye pacers
The pacers wanted more of the group to the work on the front, well that didn’t happen, just before the turn to Ramsey one of them punctured, so both of them stopped and we continued on at snail’s pace, to allow them to catch up. The route went a silly way through Ramsey then out to Pidley, we stopped for a relief break by request.
“Everyone here?”
“Yes”
Off we go, St Ives, Hilton (no Glidergoth in sight), Papworth, Caxton, Arrington and Royston, up the hill and along a silly backroad and into Buntingford, now with a group of 8 on my wheel and no pacers, they had never caught up after the puncture, oh well! 04:32, this was a dangerous stage for us, our beds were so close!
Meanwhile…
Bob arrives at 07:19 and Brian 07:55, practically having breaky together now.
Ian arrives in Whittlesey half hour after my arrival in Buntingford.
Stage 5 – Sleaford to Peterborough (41 miles)
The brutal weather remained. And the roads were dull. I was starting to get bored. I was physically fine, just fed up. We had some respite when the rain stopped for a while and the clouds cleared in patches to reveal the moon. The road also turned at one point for a short segment that gave us a backwind – which, although only 5 miles or so in length felt great. I and Chris took the decision to simply complete the ride on this stage. We recognised that we were very unlikely to achieve the 24 hour target, what with all the stoppages and forecast headwinds. Unlike my Dunwich practice tide, I didn’t get any ill effects from the lack of sleep – no jetlag feeling. A few others at the 5th pit stop seemed to be knackered. Several riders were taking a kip and I overheard several others arranging transportation to London, as they’d decided to pull out. One guy fainted as he entered the marque. We had a full meal at pit stop 5 and left with the sunrise.
The Last Leg (no not Adam Hills)
As we was set to leave, the pace riders turned up, but we were still allowed to go, this time, my little group of 8 decided they would like to take it easy and I sat at the back, they didn’t take it easy and daylight returned. We had a puncture as we approached the M25, (SOME SHOULD LEARN TO CHANGE THEM QUICKER) on the move again, the others started to slow, so I took it up and sped us into London. As you know, it’s not flat as you cross the Orbital and I was losing them easily on the hills now, but waited so we could roll over the line together. Twist and turns down to Smithfield’s, dodging glass and laughing gas canisters, few more turns and there it was, the finish, I gunned it, no way was I doing all the work and not going over the line first at 07:41 22hrs:38mins! A glass of bubbly and protein shake and I was done, I didn’t fancy riding back through London so called the family cab company. Off for a full English, coffee and two pints of real ale. I then returned and waited on the others.
“First home but pipped by someone who started 5 minutes behind you. Awesome effort.” Sarah Glidergoth (facebook)
“Hats off to you all. You’re all still going! That’s amazing. Thanks for the tracker links, Sarah. It’s great to see where they’ve got too. Well done James Barlow ! Made it down through horrible riding conditions in under 24hrs! 22:38 is incredible!” Anette Thompson (Facebook)
Meanwhile…
Bob has just left Buntingford, quickly followed by Brian, they would roll in at 10:41 and 11:24 respectively.
Stage 6 – Peterborough to Buntingford (53 miles)
My wife Jeni had been up most of the night on standby, having heard that Mark had pulled out, she wanted to be ready to collect me should I need. She came to meet us @ 7:30am at the BP garage in St Ives, with a bottle of coke, pork pies and flapjacks – nice! The weather was improving in as much as the rain had stopped, but the headwinds still persisted. A farewell to the Mrs and we were back on our ways, riding some very familiar roads towards Royston. Again the route was on A roads – dull and busy with traffic. I wasn’t having a fun time. Things got more challenging as we got close to Royston – hills! I’d just spent the previous week on holiday in Italy, riding some of the low Alps. My legs felt ready, but after the mileage we’d done I was really glad to arrive at the 6th pit stop. I viewed the tracking site on my phone to see where the other SICC boys were. It was good to see that they were all still in the ride. I think that James had finished.
Bob and Brian now finish
Stage 7 – Buntingford to London (40 miles)
Let’s do this! Sod having a quick transition…. we took our time at the 6th pit stop and then set out on the final stage. Again more hills. We really should have done the route in reverse… Gotten the hills over and done with at the start and had a tailwind all the way to Newcastle (dream on…!). At 20 miles to go I decided that I hate London. It is huge. How could we be on the outskirts of the city and still have 20 miles to go!!! I hate manhole drain covers – there are so many of the darn things in London. Constantly weaving around them was really started to take its toll. I am counting down the miles – my legs are fine – my shoulders are painful. I can’t feel my fingertips. What!!!!!…… why have the organisers decided to take us up a 12% hill at this stage. I hate this I want it to finish….. This is not the Peak District or the Italian Alps, I have no fantastic views to look across as I’m cycling along. This is London and it’s starting to get congested and stinky. Weathers improved mind! We ride on in a pair. Haven’t seen many other riders since Buntingford. Then all of a sudden a group of 15 riders appears ahead of us. We suspect that they have taken a short cut or been dropped off by a support vehicle. We join them and ride with them in a group. I start to feel better. 2 miles to go! Round the corner into the Smithfields Market. A big crowd of cheering supporters appears and an MC is bigging us up as we cross the finish line. I feel good! We get given a glass of bubbly, a massive thank you from the Macmillan staff and a meal ticket. Bikes put into safety and onto the pub for a full English. I feel relieved that it is over but disappointment that we didn’t achieve the 24 hour target. We ride our bikes to Kings Cross, get a massive Starbucks hot chocolate and take the train back to Huntingdon. Jeni is there to meet me and take me home.
Afterwards…
On reflection I do think I have made a great personal achievement. The SICC boys also did our club proud. We all completed the ride. I’m also really grateful for the support that other SICC members gave before and during the event, especially from Sarah and Dave.
I don’t think I would do that Ride24 event again. The route was dull. The event organisation and food were fantastic though and the event staff were super friendly – cheerful and helpful – so I might look into some of their other events.
I’ve entered the 190 mile ‘Wales in a day’ with Mark and Chris and several others next July. That ought to be more scenic.
I would recommend the Dunwich Dynamo to anyone wishing to do an
Overnight ride – that was a magical experience.
The camera on my phone broke recently, so I’ve no photos.
I seem to have recovered well physically. Took a few days to get over the tiredness.
I can ease off the training now. I’ll return to XC racing and fishing for a bit. Then I’ll up my road training on the lead up to the Wales ride.
My final thought
As Ian says, it was dull, but I’m happy I completed the challenge, after this was Everesting, I tried with Terry but he insisted on a hill which was a bit too steep for my gearing and multiple repeats. As Distance isn’t a problem for me, I settled on Mere Way, 242 reps for a height gain of roughly 8900m in 26hrs distance just shy of 500km, first half went quickly, but after that with coming and goings, it seemed to be taking forever, my pace was pretty consistent until about the last 30reps, it was done though and I am now a wearer of the Grey Stripe and keeper of cloud.
A spectators view from Sarah Glidergoth
I’ve been planning to ride to or from Newcastle for some time and had then hoped to join the lads hors concours as far as St Ives until family issues conspired against me, so I was watching the event with great interest and a pang of regret and guilt for not being there to ride with my club mates.
The forecast for the ride could not have been more inclement with winds up to gale force against the riders for the whole duration as well as bands of heavy rain. I know from first hand experience how mentally tough it is to ride a long one-way journey into poor weather after my Glasgow to Luton ride last November and thought the guys would appreciate a friendly face and some shouts of support through the night.
I got the kids off to sleep and checked the trackers – the guys had previously estimated passing St Ives around 1am but the actual pace suggested otherwise, with a growing gap between the fastest and slowest riders. I calculated that James would be through around 90 minutes before the next St Ives rider, due through around 4:30am. I had intended to cheer all the riders then also realised that James was working well as part of a strong group and so they would be unlikely to want to stop for an impromptu coffee and would fly by so fast they’d not see me, so I took an extra lie in.
The alarm went at 3am – as I stumbled downstairs, I remembered the lads who had already suffered 18 hours of gruelling headwinds and stinging rain and still had around 100 miles to ride. I made two flasks of really strong real coffee, packed about 30 energy bars into my bike frame bags, added a couple of boxes of ibuprofen and some spare tubes and CO2 cylinders, and headed for the route. At 3:30am, I reached Hilton and saw bike lights ahead. A quick effort caught me up to the chaps and I offered them a fresh wheel and some encouragement for a few kilometres into the dark. Then it was back north to intercept the next riders. Most of the guys were, unsurprisingly, keen to press on but grateful for the little morale booster of a mad woman in the darkness of rural Cambridgeshire, but a few riders did take the opportunity to stop, take on some hot coffee and maybe add a few more painkillers to the mix. Most of the riders I saw thought I was part of the organising team and so I had some quite odd requests to rescue pals with major mechanical issues many miles away to the north.
Unsurprisingly, some of the riders were properly struggling in the darkness and many unaware of how fatigued they had become. Several riders were weaving in the carriageway and many had lights that had failed, but all seemed to get a mental boost from a fresh face shouting encouragement.
Whilst waiting for the next St Ives rider, the winning peloton that had started at noon rode through – a strong group of riders on carbon and deep rims working well and running over 30kph together. A few had dropped off the back and were sorry to be working alone after such a strong lead-out. I even saw a couple of riders on full out TT bikes, down on the bars, despite the ride regulations banning such for this ride.
As the sky brightened, I hailed the next bunch to hear Bob Cooper shout back at me in surprise. He must have been tired as he didn’t stop talking all the way to Papworth but he was still riding very strongly as he recounted the tale of his ride so far.
With that, the sun was now up so I peeled off for a quick powernap before readying myself for the club ride a couple of hours later. The coffee flasks had been emptied, the ibuprofen all taken but nobody did want any of the energy bars…
