Sleepless
In The Saddle |
| Report
by:
Ant Yeomans Sleepless In The Saddle - 24 hours endurance event
Saturday 6th August 2011. The
weather is good, the ground rock hard and the sky is clear blue,
yet there’s a storm brewing. A storm of revenge, to wash
away the bitter taste of a narrowly missed podium in the same
event from 2010.
At 1pm the crowds gathered for
the usual pre race spiel and the team stood together for the
last time for 24 hours, amongst what turned out to be the biggest
turn out ever at Sleepless in the Saddle.
As the runners came back into
the arena our man was a great 6th position and well clear of
the stampede. Position A.
The 7 mile course was fast. Not nearly as many long climbs as Mountain Mayhem but short, sharp punchy climbs which needed attacking. This made it a tough 42 minute average lap. The single-track was tight in places, rooty in others and flat out in many. With a hard baked surface, traction was generally as good as you could ask for but lead you into some corners with speed that called on Lady Luck more than a few times. 41 minutes after the start gun, Matt was back in the arena and we were up there somewhere with the leaders. A clear run for me with no traffic en-track until the last mile where we were lapping some of the slower first lap riders - all good. Brommo was the next gun out and a lightning turn of pace out of the arena for his virgin lap. Back at the camp, amongst recovery drinks and face filling, the stories had began with tales of twists, turns, spills and thrills as Daz left to grab the batten off The Boss for his first lap. Minutes later, catastrophe. Craig enters camp with a face like thunder and a sick looking back wheel. A 4" nail in the tyre and three broken spokes together with a 3 mile run in disco slippers will do that to you!
Anyway, with a bit of lap juggling,
Craig hugging, a bit of help from the boys in the HOPE TECHNOLOGY
tent who came up with the right size spoke, and we we're back
in business. Craig was having to remember all his wheel building
skills and the wheel was not giving up lightly popping another
spoke on the re-build. Still 40 minutes later and just 5-6 minutes
down from where we were it was all gas for go again.
To give Craig the time to sort
his bike, Daz jumped in one slot earlier to take Craigs lap.
The night laps were cruel. Cold
under the clear skies and the course, although drying out from
the downpour and getting wetter with a heavy dew. The roots
in the single-track were deadly and lap times were getting longer.
It was the same for everyone and we know that we just needed
to keep getting out there and doing what we train for.
After 22 hours of racing we had hit 4th place and were gaining fast. Tiredness was overcome by adrenaline and we regained focus. This is it! As I waited in the change over
area for Craig to hand me the baton the commentary confirmed
our position….
“They are chasing Craven Energy who are in 3rd position who in turn are chasing Columbia Pronghorn and ACU 1”. Who the hell are Craven Energy and where the hell did they come from? There was some riders discussing that another cateogry had been dumped in ours shuffling the order but we have no idea what happened. Time was running out but there
was still Matt and Craig to do a lap. One final push to muster.
If there were two riders to put out there these were the two
that could nail it. But then …
It was cruel. At the end of the day there were
4 teams that had a better result than us. I’m sure all teams would be on the podium if they were given their ‘what if’s. Next time we’ll be another year older but do you know what? …. so will they! Pos.... Time..........
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