Man of Honour
That's some pretty impressive stuff there touch. Massive kudos 
Race reports
- Thread starter One More Solo
- Start date
Indeed, cracking effort and good write up too.
Soldato
I seem to recall someone here mentioning a race website outside of British Cycling but it was a while ago and I'm terrible at searching the backlog... any ideas?
EDIT: Think it might have been TLI Cycling?
EDIT: Think it might have been TLI Cycling?
Last edited:
Soldato
TLI is an alternative to BritishCycling. They do all types of races.
CTT is for time trials in england.
CTT is for time trials in england.
First TT for quite a while I came away relatively happy with last night.
10 mile flat course, but due to the wind the outward leg was a killer. Managed a 11:55 first five which included a few turns, then a 10:00 second half, although the way back isn't as much tailwind as side/cross you get on way out unfortunately, finished up with a 21:55 for 5th place and 267W avg. Which considering my recent struggles is almost back to normal. Reckon in a week or so should be in a good place.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1093324247
10 mile flat course, but due to the wind the outward leg was a killer. Managed a 11:55 first five which included a few turns, then a 10:00 second half, although the way back isn't as much tailwind as side/cross you get on way out unfortunately, finished up with a 21:55 for 5th place and 267W avg. Which considering my recent struggles is almost back to normal. Reckon in a week or so should be in a good place.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1093324247
Soldato
Another enjoyable race for me this weekend. Called the 'GT24' and involved racing from Glasgow to Inverness via the West Highland Way then Great Glen Way on mountain bikes (and also off mountain bikes: pushing, carrying and dragging them) - about 180 miles in total.
I didn't get off to a great start, I forgot that i'd moved my garmin mount to another bike so it made navigation awkward having to pull the garmin out of my pocket at every junction - even more difficult with a large backpack restricting access to my pocket. I followed the group for the first couple of miles but soon had to stop for food whilst everyone else rode off into the distance (a 7am start was too early for the B+B i stayed at so I didnt get any food before we met up at the Riverside museum in Glasgow for the Grand Depart). The stop didn't worry me too much - 10mins to grab a sandwich and bag of cookies is nothing in a race this long. I had planned it beforehand anyway as I knew I wouldn't get any food before the race. What did worry me though was that I had now lost the group and would have to navigate for myself.
I knew that once we were out of civilisation there would only be 1 path to follow but getting out of Glasgow proved quite tricky. The West Highland Way is well signposted but the signs are designed for walkers and are often small and placed right at the junctions. Fine at walking pace but on a bike pushing hard trying to catch up with someone who might know where they are going meant I overshot many junctions. Eventually I did catch the back of the group - starting to string out on the hike up Conic Hill only to lose them all on the descent again (I'm a terrible descender).
After the descent, the path along loch lomond starts with a surprisingly nice surface - it goes up and down and flows very nicely. not what I was expecting but I make the most of it - I've been warned that the path deteriorates badly towards the north end of the loch. The path is very busy with walkers but they are quick to jump out of the way when I shout at them (I've discovered that shouting 'Hello' is more effective than shouting 'Excuse Me', for some reason?). I make good progress along this section and come across a few other riders at various point but nobody riding the same pace so I have a few quick chats but mostly ride alone.
Then, suddenly, the progress stops with a puncture
Examining the tyre, I find a tiny hole in it and decide that it would be a good idea to just pump it up and see if the sealant will sort it. This is a stupid idea because if the sealant couldn't sort it when the puncture happened, there's no way it'll fix it now that it has all been ejected out of the hole and all over the back of my legs (I'm still picking little bits of dried sealant out of my leg hair now - that'll teach me for not shaving my legs!). Sure enough, the tyre is flat again in a couple of minutes - In goes a tube and I'm on my way again.
Then I get to the stretch of 'path' which I've been warned about. There's a good few miles with no rideable bits at all - just lots of manhandling the bike over rocks, ladders, steps and narrow bridges. It sounds bad but I'm used to this sort of thing and, from the way most people had described it to me, I had expected worse. I was still glad when it was over and I could start pedalling again though!
Once we pass loch lomond, it's not long before we reach Tyndrum. A quick stop at the shop for some food+water and I know that from here on I'll be riding on familiar trails. More uneventful riding and, as it's getting a bit late for walkers now at 5pm, I have the trail mostly to myself. (I dont know what the deal is with walkers stopping early? I spotted a few pitching tents as early as 6pm! I wont complain though - it gets them out of my way) At Glencoe I spot a photographer who is following the race (doing some sort of blog article about one of their sponsored riders I think) so I stop for a quick chat and find out that there are 2 riders not far in front of me: 1 about 5 mins and another about 10 mins. So that gives me a bit of motivation to push a little bit harder and see if I can catch up. The first comes into view on the Devil's Staircase climb. I can tell that I'm catching him but very slowly. It takes me the entirety of the Devil's Staircase climb and descent as well as the steep climb out of Kinlochleven but I finally catch him just as we reach the plateau and remount our bikes. Turns out to be a guy I know. I've spoken to him at a couple of local cyclocross races before and I know that he has done a 24hr race before so should do well in this type of race. It's getting late now and we have to turn our lights on for the descent down into Fort William. there's a 24hr petrol station here so we get a good feed:
The route takes us up Fort William high street and it's now 1am which I guess must be closing time because the street is full of people. We've completed the West Highland Way now and onto the Great Glen Way. The first 30 miles or so are flattish canal paths with good surfaces so we should make good time along here. Mark, the guy I'm riding with is starting to struggle a little and a couple of other guys catch us after just a few miles on the canal path. They stopped in Fort William for food too, so I dont know if they were in front and stopped longer than us or were already behind and are catching us. The 2 of them ride away and mark doesn't seem able to hold the pace. They claimed that they were going to stop for an hour or 2 to get some sleep at some point whereas me and mark had both decided to continue riding through to the end so I decided to just stay with mark - riding slow and not stopping is quicker than riding fast but stopping for a sleep.
Barely 10 minutes later, another rider's lights appear behind us. She catches us as we stop to open a gate and we realise it's a girl we both know quite well. She's had a minor crash and damaged her bike so she's now only has 1 brake but she's riding strong and we have to pick the pace up significantly to stay with her.
(when I say she only has 1 brake, I dont mean that one of them isn't quite right. Literally no front brake:
)
With the injection of pace, I keep looking around expecting Mark to have been dropped but he seems to have recovered now. We catch up with the 2 riders who had passed us before and it doesnt take long before they drop off the back leaving the 3 of us riding alone again. The rest of the flat canal path to Fort Augustus takes no time at all and it feels like we're very close to home now.
...but we're not as close as I'd thought. The race route uses the 'high level' variations of the Great Glen Way which, as the name suggests, involves a lot more climbing (and mostly very steep climbs which require pushing up).
I'm sure this would be a nice route with some great views on a clear day but as it's now 5am and the sun hasn't been out long enough to clear up any of the cloud, we can't see anything! All that extra climbing for no reason - made even more frustrating by it taking probably around 2-3 hours longer than the lower path I had expected to take. Never mind, we really are getting close to home now. But there's still time for one more quick stop in Drumnadrochit for some more food and coffee now that shops are open again. I've been looking at my watch the whole way round and I know exactly what the time is (9am), but I still get confused and can't work out whether I'm supposed to say 'Good Morning' or 'Good Afternoon' to the guy in the shop. It doesnt matter what I say - he's going to be offended by my smell anyway so I just pay for my coffee and sausage roll and leave.
Just as we get to within 5 miles of the end, it starts raining. The other 2 stop to put their jackets on whilst I tell them that they are wimps and it's not worth it this close to home. 10 minutes later, with the rain getting heavier, I pick a moment on a long climb where I can quickly stop to put my jacket on then catch up again and hope they didnt notice. They did notice - but at least I didn't get cold.
Into Inverness and with just 1 mile to go we've worked out that we're going to be very close to 29 hours. Somehow 28:59 seems like an acceptable time whereas 29:01 would be a disgrace, so we have a full-on sprint for the line.
When we get there, one other rider is waiting (and has been for over an hour) so we get 2nd equal. A good result.
Distance: 180miles
Moving time: 26.5hours
Elapsed time: 29hours
Strava
I didn't get off to a great start, I forgot that i'd moved my garmin mount to another bike so it made navigation awkward having to pull the garmin out of my pocket at every junction - even more difficult with a large backpack restricting access to my pocket. I followed the group for the first couple of miles but soon had to stop for food whilst everyone else rode off into the distance (a 7am start was too early for the B+B i stayed at so I didnt get any food before we met up at the Riverside museum in Glasgow for the Grand Depart). The stop didn't worry me too much - 10mins to grab a sandwich and bag of cookies is nothing in a race this long. I had planned it beforehand anyway as I knew I wouldn't get any food before the race. What did worry me though was that I had now lost the group and would have to navigate for myself.
I knew that once we were out of civilisation there would only be 1 path to follow but getting out of Glasgow proved quite tricky. The West Highland Way is well signposted but the signs are designed for walkers and are often small and placed right at the junctions. Fine at walking pace but on a bike pushing hard trying to catch up with someone who might know where they are going meant I overshot many junctions. Eventually I did catch the back of the group - starting to string out on the hike up Conic Hill only to lose them all on the descent again (I'm a terrible descender).
After the descent, the path along loch lomond starts with a surprisingly nice surface - it goes up and down and flows very nicely. not what I was expecting but I make the most of it - I've been warned that the path deteriorates badly towards the north end of the loch. The path is very busy with walkers but they are quick to jump out of the way when I shout at them (I've discovered that shouting 'Hello' is more effective than shouting 'Excuse Me', for some reason?). I make good progress along this section and come across a few other riders at various point but nobody riding the same pace so I have a few quick chats but mostly ride alone.
Then, suddenly, the progress stops with a puncture
Examining the tyre, I find a tiny hole in it and decide that it would be a good idea to just pump it up and see if the sealant will sort it. This is a stupid idea because if the sealant couldn't sort it when the puncture happened, there's no way it'll fix it now that it has all been ejected out of the hole and all over the back of my legs (I'm still picking little bits of dried sealant out of my leg hair now - that'll teach me for not shaving my legs!). Sure enough, the tyre is flat again in a couple of minutes - In goes a tube and I'm on my way again.Then I get to the stretch of 'path' which I've been warned about. There's a good few miles with no rideable bits at all - just lots of manhandling the bike over rocks, ladders, steps and narrow bridges. It sounds bad but I'm used to this sort of thing and, from the way most people had described it to me, I had expected worse. I was still glad when it was over and I could start pedalling again though!
Once we pass loch lomond, it's not long before we reach Tyndrum. A quick stop at the shop for some food+water and I know that from here on I'll be riding on familiar trails. More uneventful riding and, as it's getting a bit late for walkers now at 5pm, I have the trail mostly to myself. (I dont know what the deal is with walkers stopping early? I spotted a few pitching tents as early as 6pm! I wont complain though - it gets them out of my way) At Glencoe I spot a photographer who is following the race (doing some sort of blog article about one of their sponsored riders I think) so I stop for a quick chat and find out that there are 2 riders not far in front of me: 1 about 5 mins and another about 10 mins. So that gives me a bit of motivation to push a little bit harder and see if I can catch up. The first comes into view on the Devil's Staircase climb. I can tell that I'm catching him but very slowly. It takes me the entirety of the Devil's Staircase climb and descent as well as the steep climb out of Kinlochleven but I finally catch him just as we reach the plateau and remount our bikes. Turns out to be a guy I know. I've spoken to him at a couple of local cyclocross races before and I know that he has done a 24hr race before so should do well in this type of race. It's getting late now and we have to turn our lights on for the descent down into Fort William. there's a 24hr petrol station here so we get a good feed:
The route takes us up Fort William high street and it's now 1am which I guess must be closing time because the street is full of people. We've completed the West Highland Way now and onto the Great Glen Way. The first 30 miles or so are flattish canal paths with good surfaces so we should make good time along here. Mark, the guy I'm riding with is starting to struggle a little and a couple of other guys catch us after just a few miles on the canal path. They stopped in Fort William for food too, so I dont know if they were in front and stopped longer than us or were already behind and are catching us. The 2 of them ride away and mark doesn't seem able to hold the pace. They claimed that they were going to stop for an hour or 2 to get some sleep at some point whereas me and mark had both decided to continue riding through to the end so I decided to just stay with mark - riding slow and not stopping is quicker than riding fast but stopping for a sleep.
Barely 10 minutes later, another rider's lights appear behind us. She catches us as we stop to open a gate and we realise it's a girl we both know quite well. She's had a minor crash and damaged her bike so she's now only has 1 brake but she's riding strong and we have to pick the pace up significantly to stay with her.
(when I say she only has 1 brake, I dont mean that one of them isn't quite right. Literally no front brake:
)With the injection of pace, I keep looking around expecting Mark to have been dropped but he seems to have recovered now. We catch up with the 2 riders who had passed us before and it doesnt take long before they drop off the back leaving the 3 of us riding alone again. The rest of the flat canal path to Fort Augustus takes no time at all and it feels like we're very close to home now.
...but we're not as close as I'd thought. The race route uses the 'high level' variations of the Great Glen Way which, as the name suggests, involves a lot more climbing (and mostly very steep climbs which require pushing up).
I'm sure this would be a nice route with some great views on a clear day but as it's now 5am and the sun hasn't been out long enough to clear up any of the cloud, we can't see anything! All that extra climbing for no reason - made even more frustrating by it taking probably around 2-3 hours longer than the lower path I had expected to take. Never mind, we really are getting close to home now. But there's still time for one more quick stop in Drumnadrochit for some more food and coffee now that shops are open again. I've been looking at my watch the whole way round and I know exactly what the time is (9am), but I still get confused and can't work out whether I'm supposed to say 'Good Morning' or 'Good Afternoon' to the guy in the shop. It doesnt matter what I say - he's going to be offended by my smell anyway so I just pay for my coffee and sausage roll and leave.
Just as we get to within 5 miles of the end, it starts raining. The other 2 stop to put their jackets on whilst I tell them that they are wimps and it's not worth it this close to home. 10 minutes later, with the rain getting heavier, I pick a moment on a long climb where I can quickly stop to put my jacket on then catch up again and hope they didnt notice. They did notice - but at least I didn't get cold.
Into Inverness and with just 1 mile to go we've worked out that we're going to be very close to 29 hours. Somehow 28:59 seems like an acceptable time whereas 29:01 would be a disgrace, so we have a full-on sprint for the line.
When we get there, one other rider is waiting (and has been for over an hour) so we get 2nd equal. A good result.
Distance: 180miles
Moving time: 26.5hours
Elapsed time: 29hours
Strava
Soldato
Aren't you on tubs?
Rode my 50mm clincher last night due to 30mph gusts.
Also less than a mile in so would have turned around with a puncture anyway.
Last edited:
Soldato
Great effort! Looking forward to reading the report.
Man of Honour
Indeed, amazing work. I can only imagine how ruined you must feel now 
Soldato
Good ride at the National 25 for me yesterday, 39th in 49:26 a PB by over a minute and onto the all time fastest list! Will write up in full in the next few days.
https://www.strava.com/activities/1119789342
https://www.strava.com/activities/1119789342
Soldato
Chapeau!
What helmet is that?
What helmet is that?
Soldato
Giro Aerohead, with custom duct tape vent covers 
Great time and good picture too! The front end of the P5 is so tidy.
Awesome ride Tom! Although wet, looks like good conditions? It's a fast course but do you think there's more time there?
You're only 10s slower than probably the fastest TT'er around these parts (semi-pro Andy Turner), who'll have probably ridden it numerous times. He's regularly riding around with the R&K/JLT/Madison guys based around south wales & E123 road/crit racer (if you ever wanted a comparison!). Used to be a TT specialist but now he's riding for VC Equipe-Flix more of a breakaway rider.
You're only 10s slower than probably the fastest TT'er around these parts (semi-pro Andy Turner), who'll have probably ridden it numerous times. He's regularly riding around with the R&K/JLT/Madison guys based around south wales & E123 road/crit racer (if you ever wanted a comparison!). Used to be a TT specialist but now he's riding for VC Equipe-Flix more of a breakaway rider.
Soldato
Cheers, yeah conditions not ideal, headwind out and tailwind back, maybe a handful of seconds on a better day and or a better position. Widely regarded as the fastest course in the country, that or E2/25 so was always likely to be a pb.
Soldato