Thought I’d do a write up of the 12 hour before I forget it all and now I’ve had time to recover…
A 6.14am start meant an overnight stay the night before, and the early start meant pushing it as much as possible to maximise time in bed. The alarm went off at 5.25am, and by 5.30am I was in my kit necking an awful instant Nescafe, a pre-prepped pot of overnight oats and a Trek banana flapjack. I knew from the two 100s I’d done earlier in the year, keeping caffeine intake sensible early on was key to not having to stop every hour to pee and ending up at the end of the event having consumed a prodigious amount of stimulant and feeling like you’re never going to sleep again.
A mad rush to the start ensued, getting my numbers sorted (annoyingly forgetting one of my armbands and having to pin my previously pristine NoPinz skinsuit) and throwing the bike together. Regular TTers will know the stress of seeing people with much higher start numbers than you leaving the car park while you’re still putting your bike together. I ended up making it to the start with 20 seconds to spare. Enough time to unclip, get held up and clip back in again though I’d already rationalised if I was going to start a TT late, a 12 was probably the least costly option.
My wife and parents had kindly agreed to support me, which is crucial in an event like this. There are one or two 12s that can be done self-supported (the Team Swift 12 is one, as all the circuits regularly pass the HQ) but this was not one, with a long dual carriageway trawl to start with and then 3 different circuits in more SpoCo type territory around Duxford. The early start and nature of the course meant it would be 60 miles before I saw the support crew for the first time, so I loaded my bike up with 2 bottles (1 isotonic, 1 electrolyte) and enough food and gels to keep me topped up for roughly two and a half hours of riding.
CIRCUIT A
The first circuit of the course was almost all dual carriageway and very fast, even with the quiet early morning roads. It was more or less up and down a straight road 4 times for the first 80 miles. I’d given a bit of thought to target power, with experienced riders saying you can ride a 12 at 65-70% of FTP. I’d previously ridden my 100s at around 80%, which is at the lower end of the suggested power, and rationalised it would only get harder as the events get longer. I’m a firm believer you can ride a great 10 or 25 off 6-7 hours a week, but after that it really starts to favour the guys with time to build a massive training load and plenty of years of endurance riding in their legs. I decided I’d head out at around 170w (63%ish) and build from there if I still felt good later on. Even at that conservative power, on the fast DC sections I was still zipping along at 25mph at points. I made a mental note to come back and ride more of the E2 events as based on this, they would be bloody quick. As an aside, Alex Dowsett broke the 25 record on the E2/25 although I think the course was only a tiny part of that!
A couple of hours trawling up and down the DC passed by, I made my first food stop successfully and headed back towards Duxford on the final bit of this first circuit. It was on the way back in that I probably had my hardest point mentally. The little wind there was was against me, the road was getting busy and the traffic white noise was really mentally fatiguing. I was also starting to get a few niggles from my hip so took a couple of ibuprofen to try and keep it at bay. I was relieved to finally get off the busy road and start on the first lot of proper circuits.
CIRCUIT B
Minor hiccup as I joined the circuit and passed where I expected my family to be but they weren’t there. I didn’t panic too much as I’d taken on extra food at the previous stop just in case, but it was always a bit of a mental boost to see them. I tried not to get distracted and hoped I would see them next time round. The profile of this circuit was a small climb and descent with some rolling stuff in between and it was a nice change from the opening 90 miles, even if the roads were a bit grippy. I’d been trying to keep my power consistent, but positional fatigue is such a massive factor in a 12 and on the second lap realised I was better off getting out of the saddle up the climb where possible. It was a good chance to stretch my back and relieve my saddle soreness which was already becoming a bit of a factor. Once I settled in to a rhythm of power up the climb, coast down the descent and ride steady in between, I started to enjoy this bit of the course. I picked up my support team again for a refill of food and bottles.
Each of these laps was only 13 miles and they seemed to be going by relatively quickly. This, combined with the fast opening section, meant I was well ahead of where I thought I’d be and passed the 200km mark in 5 hours, 45 minutes. As the numbers got bigger on the Garmin, things definitely seemed to become easier mentally and I started ticking off little milestones in time and distance. Every 25km or hour down was a bit closer to the end and I was still feeling good physically. I remember passing my Dad after around 6 hours or so and saying to him I thought I was on for 250.
“Kilometres?”
“Miles!”
CIRCUIT C
I’d budgeted for 5 or 6 laps of this first circuit, but I was moved on to the next one a couple of laps early as the marshal team look to keep the bulk of the field together. It broke up my rhythm a bit and I knew it meant I’d be back on the busy A roads to transition to the next circuit. I was also a bit worried as to whether everyone knew I’d be moved on as I’d told them it would probably be 5 laps minimum. I needn’t have worried as when I made it to the next circuit, they were there along with loads of people supporting other riders. There was a great atmosphere as you turned on to the first part and both sides of the road were lined with people waiting for their rider and cheering on everyone else. My power was dropping down towards 160 average but the speed was still good and I knew I was well on track to match or better my initial target of 230 or 240 miles, even if I just kept moving.
This circuit was a weird one. Again, mainly on rolling B roads but with one A road stretch which was a fairly narrow single carriageway and most of the traffic giving you little to no room. It made passing other riders really difficult and you had to keep your wits about you. That was pretty stressful. I had budgeted before the event for the 8-10 hour point to be the hardest – the bit where you’ve got a lot of riding behind you and a lot of riding ahead of you. Weirdly, this wasn’t how it turned out at all. I’d realised after 8 hours that I was well on track to a good distance, and I also knew that I would be bringing up a load of daft little targets in this period. I remember knocking off:
275km (not long till 300 now!)
300km (nice round number!)
317km (longest ride ever!)
322km (200 miles!)
I was having to sit up a lot on the slower sections to give my back and backside a break, but I was doing under 30km/h so figured the aero penalty was less painful. Looking back at the pictures, my sat up position isn’t too awful so reckon it was still a lot quicker than the road bike. I remember passing the support team after around 9 and a half hours in great spirits because I knew at that point – barring a mechanical or accident – I was on track to absolutely smash my stretch target of 240 miles. The pressure was off and I just needed to keep my focus and not stack my bike into a massive pothole or ride into the verge…
FINISHING CIRCUIT
From here, it was simple. Keep riding until the time ran out, and then keep riding until the next timekeeper. The mental fatigue was getting to me a bit here and the saddle soreness was ridiculous. Luckily my wife and family were understanding as I was struggling to ask for food and drink in an anyway polite manner. There was lots of incoherent mumbling and hand waving. I remember being confused at one point that no-one had read my mind and got me a can of Coke.
“Food… food!”
Get handed a peanut butter sandwich.
“No, no, other food!”
My legs felt as good as they could have done at this point and I knew I’d left a bit too much in the tank, so I finished as strong as I could, pushing on to break the 400km and finally the 410km barrier. I reached a timekeeper just as my time ran out and rolled back to the car, parked just down the road. I’d done it. A provisional result of 255.1 miles. I climbed off the bike for the first time in 12 hours and took my helmet off, which was the best bit of all.
https://www.strava.com/activities/676547414
Niggles and saddle soreness aside, I knew already that I was capable of more. I reckon if you pace your first 12 right, you won’t want to do another one. By the next day, I was already working out how to do it better next time. Our club record is 274 miles, and was set by none other than Ian Cammish. That would be a nice one to break.
Went out last night to celebrate the last event of the year and still feeling the hangover now!
Got the hang of it eventually.