So, one of the BIG events of the year has come and gone. Last weekend was Sleepless in the Saddle, the 24 hour Mountain Bike Race in Staffordshire. My esteemed colleagues Bruce Wright & Adam George met me at Luton Airport for the trip to the venue of Catton Park. Upon arrival we pitched our 3 x 1 man tents and off to the supermarket for as much Energy Foods we could possible buy….. Bananas, Chicken, Bread, Pasta, Gels, Energy Drinks, Malt Loaf, 40 Ltrs of water and more….. The venue was pumping with music, a sh*t DJ that wouldn’t shut up and thousands of people (far more nut cases than I thought there would be). Our pitch was awesome, in between the start line straight and another aspect of the course.
Friday night we did a practice lap, 8 miles of hills, woods, fields and wee obstacle courses. Some of the route was 2 car lanes thick down to single bike width in the woods. Slept very averagely after a massive Sardine + Pasta dinner cooked to perfection by Brucey…. Nice!!!!
So, Saturday morning involved relaxation, eating, and stressing about our bike set up (night lights, mud guards, tyre type etc) & clothing during the race (weather was going to be wet (but cooold as well)). Had another whole wheat pasta and readied ourselves for the 14,00 Gun!!!!!!!!
Team ROCKY BALBOA – Off at the gun for a 800 yard run round to pick up the bikes and off…… 1,300 riders pushing and shoving, was a little tricky the initial mile with some heroes pushing through the pack hard and fast. Within an hour the downward vertical drops came – RAIN. I was ending the first 8mile lap when it came and it came heavily…. The ground slowly turned to a chocolate mouse with the consistency of tar… I must have gone over my handlebars 6 times and came off a further 20 times… BROWN FROM HEAD to FOOT…. NICE!!!! Muc Off – Savours of the day with 3 x power hoses allowed us to clean the Mud Goo out of the de-railers and wheels… At the 3 lap moment I met with Bruce and Adam for the 1st time in 7 hours. After a long discussion with rain still coming down we decided we were not actually enjoying pushing our light framed, expensive bikes now similar in weight and colour to heavy, brown mahogany chest of drawers through the thick clay mud so each bought an amazing steak sandwich. We managed 3 more laps and towards the end of Sunday the sun was shining and it was getting good cycling. We will prevail, we are not beaten and WE WILL COMPLETE A 24 HOUR MOUNTAIN BIKE RACE SOON…. The British weather may have kept us at bay this time…. NEXT TIME BW – NEXT TIME!!!!!!!!!! 
* 4 WEEKS TILL THE 165km ULTRA MARATHON – YIKES…..
* 3 WEEKS TILL THE SPONSORED LONDON TO PARIS BIKE RIDE…
* 1 WEEK TILL BW and MYSELF HAVE A TRAINING HOLIDAY IN VALENCIA
CS
This week has been a gooood week... Ran Tues, Thurs, Friday and managed a 40km run today... I am soooo burnt again!!! So 5km, 5km, 15km, and 40km = 65km week to date with Sunday left and going to try for a 10km run tomorrow, see how we go eh!?!? The run today was OK, I took the Camel pack and tried running on Gels (Isotonic carbohydrate energy). Pretty good though I got lost several times which really p*ssed me off and I lost all enthusiasm at one stage... 3 x gels though, good energy release and didn't feel sick but need heaps of water with them. (photo is me passing time with shadow photo's whilst running - don't ask).
