iBikeRide.com

Bontrager TwentyFour 12

Can I just start by saying, what an amazing event! I honestly can't remember ever having so much fun with my clothes on. It's fantastic!

My journey began a good few months back (6, I believe, according to BigFootMark) when somebody asked the question on our sites forum "who fancies having a go at the Bontrager TwentyFour 12?". There was a large number of people who fancied it and the list grew to around 16 and one mad, mad person who fancied doing it solo (yes you read right SOLO), riding around Newnham Park for 24 hours on his own, nutter! Anyway a member of the club mentions this to his boss and asks if he fancied sponsoring us, rather surprisingly he said YES! Right so that was our entrance fee sorted :) aswell as half of the jerseys we ended up getting made.

We had a few teams meetings to decide who was going to be in what teams. I still reckon it was a fix ;-) all the fast ones ended up on the same team lol. Luck of the draw I guess.

Right so teams sorted, shirts ordered and trainging underway all we had to do was get there and ride. I mean how hard can it be???

Skip a few months and it's Friday 25th July 2008, I get picked up from my flat at 08:00. We load the car with the bike and a few bags and off we go to Hayes (Kent) to meet at the shop (http://www.bigfootwebshop.co.uk/ if your really interested :) ) for o9:00. A few last minute things from the shop, stop for a group photo and off we go in convoy to Newnham Park, Plymouth. On the way we stop at the services for a well deserved and needed full english breakfast. 45 minutes after arriving at the services were back on the motorway all fed and watered and just looking for the first signs that we are close to the event.

Once we arrive in Plymouth we head towards the site we start to notice the signs for the race. We must be close, the next thing you know we are in Newham Park! We bunch up get out assess the area and decide where we are going to pitch camp. Tents start to go up aswell as the two rather impressive gazebo's Mark has managed to get from Trek and Gary Fisher. Once the tents are up out come the bikes and workstands, we are starting to look like we almost know what we are doing. Once all of the equipment is out and in it's place we make our way over to the Registration tent to get registered and also pick up our goody bags and free "ForGoodness Shakes" recovery drinks :)

So we are all signed in and raring to go. A few of us shoot out to buy food and few essential supplies whilst the rest of the group decide to pop out for a practise lap. Once we get back from the shopping we return to tales of how good the track is and fast rocky descents with crazy corners at the bottom that come out of nowhere to test all of our skills.

So off go the shopping group for our practice lap, we are expecting great things. We were not to be dissapointed either. To start with there is a fairly long blast slightly uphill along the edge of the camping area on the field with energy sapping grass that then backs on itself to do the grass all over again. Then we break away from the grass and follow the contours along the side of a hill into the woods. I have got to say this Newnham Park has some fantastic Singletrack in it's woods. After a mile or so of great singletrack you pop out to was to become the hardest part of the course for me as I HATE climbs and this one was relentless climb up a tarmac/gravel track along a field which is exposed to bright hot sunlight. This continues for a 1/2 mile perhaps till it takes a sharp right across the field. Easy you think but no the top of the field must have been quite wet at one point and the land rovers and tractors have made the grass very rutted and now its nice and hard. Interesting section that, then we take a left back towards the woods only to find a sharp climb on sand, bearing in mind I am just getting my breath back from the tarmac section and I come across this energy sapping sand. I officially hate sand aswell now lol.

Now were back in the woods with yet more amazing singletrack, then out of no where the track splits in two. You have two choices straight ahead that looks resonably flat or to the right downhill. I take the straight ahead because I think it's a trap and the route that looks easier would actually be harder. I was to later find out after over shooting the corner and having to go right to keep momentum that neither one nor the other was harder or easier, just simply different. Later comes the river crossing, having heard stories of the river being deeper than it looks I chose the wimps option every time and crossed the bridge. It was a little slower but I wasn't gettin my new Sidi's wet, no way ;-) Now my new Continetal Speed Kings had been performing great so far, but show them a bit of moisture and wet rocks and things become interesting. Slipping front wheels and spinning back wheels might look good for spectators and photographers but not for me lol. Oh I haven't mentioned the bombholes they were great fun, one in particular was interesting a huge drop in then only to find a massive rock and a turn straight out the other side made for interesting riding lol. There was a flat section through the shooting range that later gained a chicane during the race laps that was covered in gravel on tarmac so you had to slow down a little or risk losing the front wheel. Leave that section to a group of guys who set up a disco area to ride through with lights and everything at night lol. Then you go through a farm courtyard and into some more singletrack in the woods. Once you leave the wooded section you come to a very fast downhill section on grass, passed quite a few people here (especially on my very early hours of the morning lap when it was very misty and you can't see due to the lights filling the field of vision. Most people took it easy but I was having none of that it was a wicked hill :) ) which is always good and dropped into a another bombhole under a bridge with a sharp right hand turn to exit. ThHen a quick drop down across a road to a maze of winding track through the camping area to a fast run up to the start finish line. Wow what a course!

Practice laps over time for some food so we fire up the BBQ (no Campfires Allowed unfortunately) and get the burgers on. Mill around, natter, tinker with the bikes just waiting for the next day to begin so we can get racing. The night draws in and the temp starts to drop quite a lot and the dew, the dew was mental it felt as if it had been raining, the dew was so heavy. The bad starts up over at the arena area, none of us really go over as we want to try and get a good nights sleep, it's been a long drive to get there and we've had a practice lap so we sit around and try and talk tactics, which turns out we underestimated how quickly we would be getting round the track so there was some adjustments needed to time predictions during the day. We finally decide to call it a night.

Race Day. Turns out only 2 of us manage to get some sleep and we are the snorers lol. Guess Mark got his own back as he wakes me up at 07:00 in the morning!!! I wasn't gonna get up till 10:00, 5 hours early, thats mad. Not like we had far to go to get to the race lol.

11:00 see's the briefing from Martin (event organiser) and Mr. Bontrager himself.

11:50 everybody lines up on the start line raring to go! Pro's at the front and everyone else behind. It is now that we find out the starters have to do and extra 1km loop to try and thin out the riders. Something our volunteers to go first did not know lol.

12:00 There off hundreds of riders of at the same time, never seen anything like it. Looks like great fun, elbows up and off they go.

Comments (0)