Sleepless in the Saddle 2007

Catton Park, Burton on Trent

Scene 1.. The Spread Eagle, Etwall, mid winter night.

“Do you fancy doing a team at Sleepless in the Saddle?”
“What’s that besides cycling at night then?”
“A 24hr mountain biking race”
“Err, I don’t go mountain biking….”

Scene 2…  Phone call, week before the race
“You still ok for Sleepless?”
“WHAT !!??? I’ve been ill since Joe gave me a cold to race Ironman Austria with, I’m on my 4th straight week of antibiotics for the sinus infection that it caused and I’ve done no training”
“Ok, you can do less laps, we’ll be late by the way we’re doing the relays at Holme Pierpoint before hand, just meet Paul Moss and Heskey there.”
“Who the hell are they?”
“Paul works for the BTA & Heskey’s a fell runner, see you there, I’ll text their numbers over” phone goes dead.

Scene 3…. Practice lap of the course
To the untrained eye it would appear that I can ride a mountain bike, to a trained eye an appropriate assessment would be ‘all the gear, no idea’ as I flounder around on Dave Nelson’s multi £k steed being over taken by everyone in sight apart from one 25st bloke who’s part way through a seizure half way up a hill.
The other pair bugger off into the distance not to be see until the end of the lap, then the final indignity comes when arriving at the top of a steep drop off I see a man clutching his arm and moaning about his collar bone at the bottom …. I walk down it.

Scene 4 ….13:40 - 20 minutes to race start, we have no wristband to pass between riders in transition (it’s in Brian’s car in Nottingham). Manage to obtain another one after comments of  “there’s always one” from the race referee.

The race starts as a Le Mans affair and the first riders have to run ½ mile to their bikes in bike shoes and helmets, Heskey’s off like a whippet and 3 minutes later he’s on the bike. Paul & I make our first mistake; Heskey is better than us, 37 minutes later he’s back …. Sadly for him we weren’t there or ready for another 13 minutes (oops !). Paul goes off and Brian phones, “I’ll be there in about 20 minutes”.

Paul does 50 odd minutes for the 7.3 mile lap. I go next and I’m soon going too fast at the approach to the big drop off and have to ride down it anyway as I can’t stop. The course is technical enough to make it interesting for everyone but not unridable for a relative novice like me….. But of course the lunatics go past at every chance (that said nobody got uptight about being held up and they all said thanks when they could come past). The big descent opposite the campsite has people cheering every successful descent (with a big Ooohh!! going up when ever someone comes a cropper).

Back at transition it’s vital to get the correct lane or you have to carry on for another lap, there’s no cutting across once the timing mats have been crossed. Stacey was waiting to go out.

Brian then follows and snaps his chain after 2 miles. He can’t fix it, meaning a long jog round the rest of the lap back to transition.

With no further disasters, we keep rolling round the lap roughly in turn (some people taking it far more seriously than others) until night falls and the laps start to get slower.

I’m waiting for Heskey, to turn up at 01:30 in the morning … no sign of him, at just after 2 o’clock he struggles across the timing mat having come off and landed flat on his back. He warns it’s started raining over the back of the course and it’s getting slippy – hence his fall. 5 minutes into the lap the rain starts to fall steadily and every grass slope becomes lethal with the rear wheel slipping at every chance. Riders are starting to come off all over the place but the technical wood sections are better as the rain hasn’t really got through the trees. At the far side of the course the inevitable happens when the front wheel washes out dumping me on the ground. I opt to walk down the big drop off having seen someone else come off and I can’t afford an injury before my approaching trip to Ireland.

Further round the course, I get dumped on the ground again, this time over the bars as the front goes again on the steep slope towards the campsite. Finally I reach Stacey who’s waiting and warn her to be careful. Heading back to my tin tent for some sleep, Hesky has gone to do some fell race, the last in a series he’s leading.

Brian does a couple of laps (and falls) before dawn comes, along with the sun that burns off all the dampness. I ride my last lap at about 10 o’clock before hitting the food tent that’s been open all night. Paul & Stacey then decide to share the rest of the laps between them until the finish at 2pm. Brian & myself are more than happy for that to happen as we hit the coffee and breakfast.

By 2pm there are more than 100 riders lurking before the timing mats (if you cross before 2pm) you or the team have to finish the new lap. The horn goes off and they all flood through, the solos looking haggard, the pro teams looking cool and unfazed by it all and the rest just looking for beer or coffee.

We ended up as 64th out of 82 mixed teams... not too bad for non mountain bikers ... interestingly on just my laps I'd have had several people behind me in the solo men... now there's a thought.

Overall a great friendly event for riders of all but beginner standard, just make sure everyone in the team has the same aim be it to get to get drunk, have a good time or to race seriously.

Russell
Aug 2007