In the quiet time after my first season of time trialling had come to a close in October 2021, I was left pondering on my targets for 2022. There was the Audax UK headline event of London-Edinburgh-London in August 2022, a ride which I had an automatic place for, and there was also the possibility of another French diagonale with Jim… but my head could not stop thinking about the Mersey Roads National 24Hr TT.
My interest in the Mersey Roads 24 comes naturally from long distance riding and now that I had a taste for time trialing, I really had to think hard about even attempting this race as knowing how far some of the participants ride in the Mersey Roads 24 had me concerned… 456 – 521 miles was the range of the top 10 men’s finishers in 2021! That’s an average speed of at least 19mph to trouble the top 10! When I think back to how hard a 25 Mile TT is… would I have to be operating at that level of intensity for 24hrs? Surely not, you simply couldn’t do it… but I would certainly have to be riding hard for 24hrs straight.
A list of thoughts and questions emerged:
- Should I wait another year or so?
- When is the 2022 event?
- Can I make the date?
- How should I train for the event?
- How would I work it with my family?
- Who could be in my support team?
- Who would actually want to be in my support team?
- What kind of kit would I need?
- Would I need to write a schedule?
- What would I target?
- How would I get there?
- Where would I stay before/after the race?
- Would I want my family there?
- What about LEL 2022?
- What about a French diagonale?
Reading Up
I had to do some research and from the time trialling forum I had learnt of the 24 hour fellowship – an organisation that runs a long distance time trialling Best All Rounder (BAR) competition. Their website has a guide to riding a 24 – The 24 Hour Manual, written in 2000 by Brian Griffiths. It is an encouraging and comprehensive piece which covers many aspects of preparing and riding a 24. I read the manual and then began thinking about how I would apply a lot of the advice within. Some quotes that resonated:
No-one should ever be pushed or persuaded to ride such an event – this would be a mistake. You have got to want to take part and then develop the idea from there. If you feel a sort of inkling that you could enjoy the experience or would at least relish the challenge, then read on and perhaps we can help you make an informed decision.
Page 1 – 24 Hour Manual
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Planing to ride a “24” is not a project to be taken lightly. For your first attempt it would be advisable to plan at least nine months in advance. There is much to learn and a lot of it is testing and building up the basic data that will get you through the actual ride.
Page 1 – 24 Hour Manual
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A ‘24’ is surely the ultimate test of a cyclist’s skills and strengths, and a true assessment of his fitness and overall ability to manage himself.
Page 4 – 24 Hour Manual
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In other research. I set up a YouTube playlist covering various Mersey Roads 24Hr TT events, and would watch these many times in trying to gain an understanding of the event through recent times.
The First Steps
Once I realised I couldn’t shake the idea of attempting to ride the 24 from my head, I messaged my trusted friend and cycling mentor Jim Churton…
“I’ve been looking Jim, and the Mersey Roads 24 is July 23/24 2022. I’m so curious about it, I may throw my hat in the ring, and I’d need you with me. I’d try my best and just see what happens… it could be a big learning experience? Let me know your thoughts”.
You need to start training now….it’s a big commitment….300+ miles a week….also a minimum of 3 x 100 TT’s. If you can’t ride a 100, you can’t do a 24! Well you can, but you aren’t going to do “a ride”.
Message from Jim, 1st Nov 2021
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I asked Jim to save the date, and he confirmed that he would keep it clear and would also head up my support team. To adequately support a rider we needed 3 in the team, so I needed to convince more friends to join the support team. I went to Chris Turner, a very good friend whom I’d cycled LEJOG with in 2005, and who’d really helped me and Jim out on our September 2021 BCM ride. Chris had no hesitation in agreeing to save the date and support. Top man!
Love to help you out buddy just as long as it doesn’t involve riding with you!
Message from Chris – Nov 2021
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Both Jim and Chris live fairly close to the location of the Mersey Roads 24 and logistically their support for me would not involve travelling far to the event. However, I needed a 3rd pair of hands, and my first thought was my main man Mick, but I wasn’t sure that this would be his thing or not, and he certainly would have to travel quite a way to support. From what I had researched, supporting a rider would be demanding. I’d put out a call for additional help soon enough.
Training
I was 9 months out from the start of the 2022 event and the highest priority item to work on was training. In 2021, I had consciously tried to put some structure to my training in an attempt to become stronger for time trials, this had led to me having ridden just shy of 9,000Km by October 2021, and looking back through my training log I had on average spent around 10-11 hours per week riding. I hoped that I could at least maintain this level of time per week and possibly stretch it up – but the balance would have to be made with a busy job and my family.
When Jim was riding 24s he was a big mileage kind of guy, and nowadays he still rides a lot. My approach couldn’t be the same as Jim’s had been, I simply didn’t have the available time to put to cycling that Jim was able to carve out back in the day. So, again taking to the time trialling forum I found 2 threads on training for 24s, the vibe of these threads was around the positives and negatives of training with big distance – some suggesting that there is no substitute for big miles, others suggesting that big mileage training rides will impact ones ability to train as hard as possible. I reflected on how I’d felt the day after recent bigger distance rides, and yes, I’d felt tired and wouldn’t have fancied a hard interval session on the turbo… so maybe there was something in that?
It has to be said that though huge training miles were thought to be essential in years gone by, it is not necessarily true that it might bring the right results for you. Some will always prefer to do big miles; if that is their choice and their belief we won’t argue. However it could be said that they may be putting themselves at a disadvantage, especially in the final stages of their preparation.
Page 6 – 24 Hour Manual
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Nov // 2021
My training consisted of a few hard intervals each week on the turbo and some decent 100K rides in the B groups on Zwift, this took me up to 35 hours riding and 901Km cycled for the month. I set myself a goal of cycling 200Km/week in Strava – just as a number to aim for at the time. I was keeping Jim informed of my training from November 2021 onwards, and he was quick to point out the need for balance…
Andy, l do find it difficult to equate turbo training with “real” time getting in the miles for a 24….l know I’m old school and l know it’s how you’re having to prepare….l get that. However, l cannot see how it will square up to reality in terms of both stamina and conditioning and especially the latter in weather terms.
Message from Jim – End of Nov 2021
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Jim was bloody right, I’d become so used to hitting the turbo trainer that I’d not much considered riding outside heading into the UK winter. Jim’s words helped me adjust what I had normalised. I had to break cover.
Dec // 2021
So, the next weekend I went out and did a 100 mile training ride – solo. It was a windy affair, but I managed to average 18.1mph for the distance. I was pleased with that, but the thought of doing 3 more of those rides at 18s straight away filled me with dread…I was knackered. The road had pummelled my body in ways that the turbo just didn’t provide and this was the necessary hardening up Jim was referring to.
As December progressed I did more road rides, a fast 50 miler where I was able to average 19.7mph and then with the Rapha Festive 500 kicking off again on Christmas Eve, I got a handful of road rides in on that whilst visiting the family. The weather for these rides was very nasty, a fair bit of wind and a lot of cold rain, but returning home I had to make the rest of the distance up on the turbo.
I completed the Festive 500 on New Years Eve, and it all felt a little flat really. I’d been getting sessions on the turbo early in the morning to then be able to look after the kids whilst my wife worked. I was riding easy on the turbo, but the sessions were long (2-2.5hrs) but even though I was riding easy I was still feeling tired. I was relieved to get it done and would take a day or so to rest before hitting any hard workouts in 2022.
In summary for 2021: 10,545Km cycled, 6,013 on the Turbo, 4,531 on the road. I was pleased with that, as that was the most amount of distance I’d covered in a year.
Jan // 2022
I upped my weekly distance goal from 200Km to 300Km and began with Pyramid intervals and Hare and Hounds racing on Zwift. I also completed some 100Km rides on Zwift with more interval training and remembering Jim’s advice… some fast outside rides (19.4 – 19.5mph) over 56-75miles on a repeating lap course nearby.
I dropped my aero bars by around 15mm to help flatten my back in an attempt to become more aero, purchased a Poc Cerebel aero helmet in the Christmas sales – this was a lovely upgrade from the much cheaper Carnac Chrono helmet I had purchased in my first TT season. I also got my first skin suit… a Nopinz Pro-1 with a clear number pocket on the rear (no more annoying pinning on of numbers). I also put the feelers out for additional support team members.
Feb // 2022
Weather was terrible with lots of storms. I got a head cold, lost a weekend due to that (feeling very tired and sensibly decided not to ride it out), but continued riding on the turbo once the head cold had passed. Later in the month I got some decent outside rides in too… and entered my first 2 time trials of the season, both 25s.
I continued with small kit upgrades with new (secondhand but new to me) Zipp Vuka Aluminium base bar and aero bars, which I had decided to get due to my Deda Parabolica aero bars being a little too short, and also the RH armrest cup having developed a crack which was only going to go one way. I also continued my considerations on planning For my attempt on the Mersey Roads 24Hr TT.
March // 2022
I continued on riding throughout March in a similar way to the prior months, mixing turbo trainer rides with fast outside riding. However, some renovation work began on our home in March and whilst I wasn’t expecting this to impact my cycling very much, I would be mistaken in this.
Less than a week into the work my garage had turned into a builders yard with all sorts of tools stored in there. My bikes were positioned all over the place and my turbo trainer was near impossible to get to. So physically it was a challenge to either get on the turbo or to even access a bike to get riding outside. This along with the stresses of having your house renovated we’re beginning to accumulate as a bit of a cloud over my head.
I was working a lot and my available time to ride seemed to be getting narrower by the day. I knew that I was falling behind my weekly distance targets and I also knew that this was starting to negatively impact me… I was finishing work and then trying to find a way to ride – largely unsuccessfully (due to the above) and then this was pissing me off as I knew I was falling behind on my targets. I was also finding it difficult to spend any decent time with my family!
I had managed somehow to ride just shy of 1200Km throughout March, but I knew it had cost me. I felt under pressure from a number of angles and just couldn’t see a way forward to repeating and extending this distance for the coming months. It was time to have a chat with Jim…
April // 2022
I reached out to Jim and arranged a call, but the following morning, before chatting Jim had sent me a long message, where he had taken a punt at what I may want to talk about. He had correctly assessed that I was struggling and he had some understanding and comforting words for me…
Put your cycling ambitions to one side for this season. The 24 and the way you want to prepare yourself are at odds with everything else. It’s becoming a millstone around your neck and the net result is you’ll end up hating cycling, the bike and all that is good about it. Rebalance your ambitions and take a step back for a moment.
Message from Jim – April 2022
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My wife had been expressing caution to me for a few weeks regarding the requirements I was trying to adhere to for the 24, but I seemed to need to hear it from Jim to allow me to properly release the ambition of riding the 24 in 2022. I really wanted to ride the 24, I’d developed the idea over a number of months and had built up good speed and stamina, but couldn’t see a way to continue to execute the required training…
Post Decision
Work and home are a must, so this bold cycling goal will have to remain on ice for me for another time. I made the right decision.
Since deciding to drop it I haven’t located a new goal… and have just been riding with no targets and as I feel. I have been riding weekly club and Open TTs and actually performing quite well, which has been surprising given my lack of structured training.
I’ve cycled well over the summer and have enjoyed several rides back to my home county of Norfolk and also a ride over to see Jim in Shropshire. I’ve also been commuting into my workplace a couple of times per week. Just enjoying riding.
I did discover Nick Tarmey’s blog on attempting the Mersey Roads 24Hr TT, which I enjoyed reading and will refer to when I decide to try again to undertake the training required for the 24Hr. Nick, rather fantastically ended up winning the Mersey Roads in 2022 on his first attempt, being the only rider in the event to ride over 500 Miles (516.56)! Nick’s blog is here: fullgas.uk
Very well done to Nick and to Steph Mottram (first placed female with 445.82 Miles).
Sounds like we are cut from the same cloth Andy! It has taken me many years to stop beating up on myself and simply just go with things as they come. Very wise words from Jim for sure! Life just simply gets in the way sometimes and to quote a movie that I saw many years ago “It is easy to forget about the things that are truly important…… so don’t!’
Well done mate!