Sleepless in the Saddle

A few weeks before the Dunwich Dynamo I was agonising over whether to purchase a ridiculously expensive light for this race 24 hour epic. I had resolved that if I felt strong through out the Dun Run then i would purchase the wonder light.

Well, Dun Run was a success and if I was doing the SITS race then I needed illumination that would last all night. The other tricky bit of the equation is that you actually need a light that is not just designed to make you seen by others (i.e motorists). For an off road night race you actually need one that enables you to see where you are going. This sounds simple and after all how expensive can such a gizmo really cost? The answer is hundreds. However, if I was up for this I kind of just needed to take the plunge and do it.

Anyway, what a lot of waffle about a light.

So i travelled up to Derby the Friday afternoon before the race and pitched my tent in the solo entrants area and set about fixing a puncture that had somehow occurred to my spare bike in the back of the car. Mmmm. Still scratching my head about that one. The whole set up for the race was awesome, there was a real carnival type vibe and everyone was really friendly and happy to help. I had a wander around the stalls and then got a quick lap of the course under my belt so I knew what to expect during the race. Holy Cow! It was a epic ride! By the end of one lap i decided it was time to treat my self to the big over sized handle bar grips that I had wanted for a while and had spotted in one of the trade tents. Suffice to say it was hard work and was very glad to have given my self a taster of what to expect. I registered my arrival and got my timing chip before having a cook up and watching a DVD in my tent.

The race it self kicked of at 2pm on Saturday and during the morning I took advantage of the shimano tent to get my bike checked over, they tuned my gears and even replaced a cable free of charge which I was very chuffed with.

The race began with a Le Mans style start where we all had to run for about a mile and then grab our bikes to cross the start line. All went well for the first few hours and I planned to stop at around 8pm to attach my light and get a good helping of food in before settling in to the night stage of the race. I remember stopping and texting my Brother's saying it was great, but stupidly hard and my hands were ruined and knee was hurting.

The hurt in the right knee soon developed in to get the most horrendous pain. I pushed on for a couple more hours but it became excruciating and I was worried I was going to do my self permanent damage. So I am guessing at around midnight I retired, pissed off, to my tent for a rest and then it started raining. I guess I stopped at the right time! I laid there in disbelief at what I was doing. When not riding, my knee felt perfect and I felt pretty fresh and awake and yet I had to stop. This was really odd. Eventually I fell asleep and woke at about 7am, I opened the tent to see other riders still going strong and glanced at my bike which I had dropped at the opening of my tent a few hours before.......

I could not believe what I was seeing. The seat had slid almost all the way down to the frame! No wonder my knee felt like it was about to fall apart. I pulled my cycling shorts back on and jumped back on the bike to re-enter the race. I could not understand a) why it had happened and b) why I had not noticed? The answer to the first question soon hit me. When I had taken the bike the service guy he has loosened the seat collar off before fixing it to his work stand.....I should of checked it after I got it back. As for why I had not noticed I can only put it down to fatigue and inexperience.

Anyway, so I got a few more laps in the morning and finished mid table out of approx 80 solo riders....bring on 2008. This time I intend to not make another dumb mistake like last year.