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Strathpuffer!

For anyone not familiar with the “Strathpuffer” it is an iconic race in the UK racing calender, taking its name from the nearby village of Strathpeffer. It is the only winter 24hr MTB race in the World and also regarded as one of the toughest challenges in the World by many people. Held in the Scottish Highlands in mid January previous conditions have ranged from constant rain to sub-zero temperatures and heavy snowfall. A few things are constant, including 16-17 hours of darkness and a guarantee of a tough mental and physical race.

Strathpuffer is a race that I promised I would never enter, why on earth would you want to enter such a crazy race? I also promised myself that I would never enter a 24hr pairs race again after my one and only attempt in Sleepless in the Saddle 2005, not even winning the race took away the pain. So why on earth did I agree to race Strathpuffer as a mixed pair on singlespeeds when Rickie Cotter (24hr UK Solo Champion & 9th at the 24hr World Solo Championships) asked me in Australia when we were racing? Maybe I was slightly delusional still after the hot weather and dehydration! Rickie entered as soon after we returned so then there was no going back!

Arriving on site as early as was allowed on the Friday we headed out and did a practice lap. It was a little icy to say the least! Fireroads were like ice-rinks and most of the singletrack was still covered in a layer of ice, but we just about got around on normal tyres and our gear sizes of 32×17 for me on my Focus Raven and 33×18 for Rickie seemed good. Everyone on site was saying that a band of rain and mild temperatures would melt the ice and make the course less slippery.

Come race day we arrived back on site and conditions had worsened! Some rain fell overnight, but it froze on the cold ground, covering the whole course in ice. We came prepared though… Ice tyres! I had a set of Schwalbe Snow Studs and Rickie had a set of Schwalbe Ice spikes. We decided to share the sets out, Ice on the front, Snow on the back. I was first off, so made my way down to the early 10am start which would be a 200m dash (on the ice!!) to the bikes and then onto the 11km course. I made it to the bike in the top 20 and going up the long, steady fireroad climb made up some places, the spiked tyres giving me grip where others had none. It wasn’t perfect however, the Snow Stud tyre on the rear struggled for traction at times when combined with a single gear. I made up plenty of places on the downhill sections where people were falling off all over the place, the grip from the Ice Spiker was awesome and I was the 3rd person over the start/finish line, the two in front had Ice tyres front & rear and were 2 minutes faster!

Our tactics were to do 3hr stints each, which we thought should give us enough time between to eat well, relax if possible and have a complete change of clothing for each outing. Given the lap times I guessed it would mean 3-4 laps each. After a frantic first lap I steadied the pace slightly and settled into a rhythm. After all the riders had passed over the track the second lap was slightly less icy, especially on the singletrack sections. I started to enjoy the course, which was as good as anything I’ve ridden in a 24hr race before, with the exception of Canberra. The final downhill section was a real highlight, especially with the confidence from the Schwalbe Ice Spiker on the front. I got a little carried away however and on a fast, cambered icy section I lost control of the rear tyre, but managed to stay upright with one foot down skating along; until the front wheel hit a tree stump and I lay flailing on the ground while the rider behind then crashed into my bike. He came off much worse than I did though, no damage to me or the bike but he had ripped his shorts and had some nasty road ice rash.

I finished my first stint of 4 laps which were pretty consistent and handed over to Rickie who was itching to get racing! Even at this early stage we had a comfortable 40 minute lead in the mixed pairs and we were 2nd overall in the pairs category, fighting it out against the men’s pairs! Rickie’s first lap was an absolute flyer and was loving the tricky conditions. She also settled into a rhythm and also managed to fit 4 laps into just over 3hrs. While Rickie was out I took the chance to eat some proper food and stayed warm, which meant after the 3hrs I was ready to roll again! By the time I was going out the sun had set and it was almost pitch black, so I had my Exposure Maxx-D and Diablo fitted ready. The course had changed quite a bit since my previous laps, the long climb had developed two thin lines mostly free of ice and the singletrack was starting to become quite muddy which presented a whole new set of problems. My 5th and 6th laps were fairly quick, but the next 2 laps of the stint were a little slower because my brake pads were almost completely worn, due to the very abrasive mud. I was trying to pick lines more carefully to avoid braking and also having to coast some sections and use more of the track to slow me down rather than brake. By the time I had finished my 8th lap I had no brakes left and the rear pads had almost worn completely through the backing plates.

By this time, around 7pm we were over a lap up on the next Mixed Pair and we were fighting it out with I-Cycles for 2nd place overall in the pairs, although our main goal was always the mixed pairs category. With the muddy conditions getting worse all the time and a slight drizzle starting lap times started to increase slightly. Rickie set off for her second stint in good spirits, but she was also suffering from brake problems and had worn through her brake pads and the piston has seized on the rotor making it almost impossible to pedal. She made it back to the pit and changed to her spare bike and headed back out.

During my second break I was starting to feel a little tired and knew that the next set of laps would probably be the most difficult. I didn’t have much time to relax while Rickie was out, having to do plenty of mechanics on the bike, including changing all the brake pads again. Certainly no chance to sleep, which is something I thought I’d have time to do. Heading back out I decided to let loose the power of the Exposure lights 6-pack! The light colour and huge width of the beam is very impressive and made a huge difference. I kept the Ice Spiker on the front because it was also proving to be great in the mud and there were still enough icy sections to warrant it. The first two laps past by fairly quickly but despite rationing the brakes, using them as little as possible and only one brake at a time I was out of pads by the end of lap 2. I managed to get finish 3 laps, but had to make an early handover to Rickie.

Almost all other pairs were doing either single laps or double laps, but I felt our strategy really worked for us and we would have found it more difficult with less down time between laps. The only downside was making the brake pads last long enough! The early hours were the worst for us both, either waiting about or riding. The course had become much quieter and while sat in the pit it was a struggle motivate yourself to get out riding again in the cold damp conditions. Time ticked by slowly, but 4am eventually arrived and with it my turn to ride again. I had set up the singlespeed and a spare geared bike and hoped to get 2 laps out of each bike. The first lap was great, but the second lap was a horrible grind and proved to be the most difficult of my race.

The brake pads were completely worn after just 2 laps so I jumped onto the Focus Raven with gears for the first time in the race. In general the course is very well suited and 100% rideable on a singlespeed, but it was nice to be able to click down a few gears on the short, sharp rises. The ice was almost completely gone by this time, apart from a few corners which needed a little caution so Schwalbe Nobby Nics were now the tyres on choice. My final lap seemed much easier and I ticked by each section knowing it would be the last. The rear brake even lasted to the end so I was able to really enjoy the final descent and carry some speed, which I wasn’t able to do for the previous 10 laps of so.

Handing over to Rickie we knew that we had already won the category, despite there being 4 hours of riding time left but Rickie was keen to ride again. There was a very slight hint of daylight creeping back into the sky after what seemed like an eternal night. Rickie did 2 laps and we both decided that it was more than enough, so stopped at 8.50am with a total of 27 laps. This was enough to win the Mixed pairs by 3 laps and we still finished 3rd overall in the pairs, behind the I-cycles duo and Cookson cycles and an impressive 9th overall, which includes Quad category as well.

With the event over and having time to reflect on what was a brilliant experience I would certainly make the journey to enter in the future. The atmosphere was friendly and lively and despite going through 10 sets of brake pads the course was brilliant. It was a pleasure to ride with Rickie, she was a strong and gutsy rider taking the tough conditions in her stride. I have a busy few weeks to end January before a February that is almost free of races where I can knuckle down to some serious training!