Twice Round the Clock // Mersey Roads 2024

Background

I had been in a motivational hollow off the back of my 2023 Diagonale, goal-less, working a lot of hours, travelling to the US, putting on weight, dealing with the serious illness and later passing of my Mother, a cancer diagnosis for my widowed Father and the general ebb and flow of being a Dad to teenage kids… cycling seemed un-important and a luxury that I hadn’t been able to indulge. However, I realised throughout April 2024 that I needed to cycle, I was giving too much to work and not enough to myself and maybe getting back riding would help me level up the balance.

I started by climbing back into my commutes, 25Km each way to the office, and oh how easy it was to see how much fitness I’d lost. Horrifying really. I did the commutes regularly twice/week and after a while felt some strength returning. I also started going out on Sunday mornings with my mates down to the café in Oundle. It was a pleasure to cycle with them again and to my surprise I wasn’t getting my legs ripped off every week.

Opportunity

The 27th/28th of July was the date I had in the calendar for the RTTC National 24 hour TT Championship (Mersey Roads), and with all that had gone on recently I genuinely had no intention of riding it, but I was still keen on just going up to experience the event as a spectator or to volunteer as a helper. However, on the way home from work on one of my commutes in early May I started to think differently. I thought if I really want to experience the event why not just go up and give it a try racing? No big build up, no big training miles just go up and give it a bash with the primary goal being to start and finish? I somewhat socialised the idea with a couple of mates on the Sunday ride and of course my friend Jim Churton. None of them said I wouldn’t be able to do it or scoffed at the idea… which gave me some encouragement to pursue it.

Motivation

I was certain that there would be times during the race where I would have to be truly motivated. So I needed to be clear about why I wanted to take part in such a race. The 24 Hour Manual suggests that no-one should ever be pushed or persuaded to ride a 24 and in this respect I felt no pressure from anyone other than myself to ride.

Ever since learning about the race I’d been intrigued by it. I had put together a YouTube playlist of Mersey Roads 24Hr TT videos and watched it many times to learn more about the event and to see how others had gone about it. In those videos, a camaraderie between riders and support crews can be seen and I was keen to experience this for myself, especially with Jim as part of my team.

I wanted to test myself in a 24. I’d ridden for longer on a number of occasions throughout the years, but I had never raced a 24 under calculated conditions. Unlike years gone by, the Mersey Roads is the only 24 Hour TT in the Cycling Time Trials calendar, so, in the spirit of seizing the moment… it was time to act.

Quotes to Motivate…

Bicycle Quarterly Spring 2009 – The First Diagonale (Brest-Menton 1930) by Georges Grillot

“I felt weak, and I knew that I lacked training. But, there is a god for the daring”

“We would suffer; if necessary, we would chew our handlebars, but we would succeed”

“The road is not invincible, it is a simple question of willpower”

“On the road, you have to persevere, you have to fight, but you can always win“

Support

One can race the Mersey Roads as an unsupported entrant, but it is much more common for a rider to have a team of helpers to support them. A rider’s team provides food and drink preparation and hand-ups, mechanical assistance, encouragement and anything else their rider may need. My own support crew was small but made up of 2 experienced friends; Jim, who had local knowledge of the race circuits, and had previously ridden and supported others in 24Hr TTs, and my mate Roffey, who had experience of supporting a club mate at a 12Hr TT. I’d be in steady hands with these boys. Jim had offered up accommodation at his place for the Friday night before the race and I booked up a hotel room in Wrexham for the Sunday night – post race.

Crewe Clarion Wheeler’s John Gallagher, had offered to look after me in some form when passing by their Prees Heath base, from which they would be supporting 3 of their own riders in the race. Any support from the Clarion here would likely take the form of encouragement and if I found myself needing something, then they would help me.

The race would be a valuable experience for me and would provide a lot of learning. This would be my first race where other people would be directly investing their time in me and helping me to achieve something, and I was excited to have Jim & Roffey as my team.

Message from Jim 2nd June 2024

“I’ve given you all the advice l can and in that regard there’s little more to be said. However, l urge you to treat this 24 in the same way as a CTC 240 in 24 or a Diagonale. You aren’t riding to win or make an impression; you’re riding for the experience and for yourself, so prepare and treat it as such. Look at it as a long day in the saddle…..be comfortable and prepare a list of foods you need and want…”

Training

I can’t really describe the cycling I’d completed ahead of the Mersey Roads as “training”. My cycling volume had been low in 2024 relative to my normal amount and almost all riding had been of low intensity / base / zone 2. I’d very much enjoyed riding with the boys on a Sunday to the café and I’d also enjoyed my commutes into the office. Zwift increased its subscription price to £18.99/month in June and that was enough for me to step away from the platform for a while and instead I got hold of some rollers. What a different experience they were! Concentration was key to staying upright.

From May onwards I set myself a ride time goal of 8hrs/week – a number I thought achievable with the other demands on me and also one that might provide me some benefit towards the race. Consistency was key and I’d largely been able to hit the hours goal I’d set myself throughout the 12 weeks leading up to the event. My cycling time was made up of work commutes, weekend rides with friends, rollers sessions and early morning laps of a local route of mine. I had some anxieties around the amount of training preparation the race demands (i.e. a lot) and my actual amount (i.e. not very much), but I knew this would be the case going into it and I just had to be at peace with what I’d been able to do.

Bikes

My TT bike was configured with the race bike fit that I’d had in 2022, and riding for an hour in that position had my shoulders and neck protesting. This was a function of me not being suitably adapted to the bike’s position, especially not for 24 hours, so with this knowledge it was easy to choose my Japanese steel Kalavinka Super Exhibition bike to ride for the race. I had fitted up my Kalavinka with aero bars to allow me the option of a more aerodynamic position and all riding I did from May onwards was on that bike and in the aero position as much as possible. I say “aero” but my position wasn’t one of the professionals, but it was one that I stood a chance of being able to hold for the duration, unlike that of my TT bike. I used the 77mm front and 86mm deep TT wheels in the Kalavinka.

Targets

My primary target was simple and that was to start and finish the race. A lot can happen before you even get to the start line, and once there the race is tough, and you have to finish it to get a result. So finishing the race was my main goal.

The Veteran’s Time Trial Association (VTTA) Standard distance for a 45 year old male was 359.72 miles, so here was my first distance target.

During the 1970s, prior to an Audax Super Randonneur Series being the qualification to be able to ride Paris-Brest-Paris, one had to achieve at least 375 miles in a 24 hour TT. So, this felt like another target.

Finally, my unspoken target was 400 miles, and I think this went back to a conversation I’d had with Jim a couple of years ago where a 400 was something that I could potentially aspire to.

Packed Up & Ready to Go

Throughout the week leading up to the race I was taking it easy and only commuted once into the office and had a couple of very short spins on the bike. Most of my non-work time was spent gathering kit and supplies for the race. I had separate storage boxes which I had packed clothing, foods, kit and medicinals into along with plenty of bottled water and anything else I could think of that may come in handy.

Roffey and I got all of the kit packed up into my car and we left for Jim’s on the Friday afternoon, the day before the race start. We spent a lovely evening at Jim’s house chatting about what lay ahead and planning the spots where the boys would locate themselves on the different course sections throughout the race.

As expected, I didn’t sleep particularly well on the Friday night, but I enjoyed lying down and closing my eyes as I knew it would be a while before I could do that once again. Breakfast was a large helping of porridge with sultanas, toast, fruit and coffee. We chatted together some more and got showered and before long we were completely packed up and ready to go. Leaving Jim’s around 10:45 we drove up to the race HQ in Farndon via one of the main legs of the course (Battlefield to Prees Heath) and we could already see teams of supporters setting up their support camps. I was nervous and excited.

At the HQ

We arrived at the race HQ with an hour and a half until my off time of 13:47. Plenty of time for me to get kitted up and sorted out. As soon as we entered the car park Jim was seeing people he knew – seasoned audaxers, time trialists and RRA record holders and quickly after parking up he was off chatting to them all. Roffey and me went to sign in and collect my numbers then went about getting my bike and kit readied. There was a notice next to the signing in location which said that there would be no Sunday morning riding on the Quina Brook circuit, which meant more laps of the hillier Battlefield to Prees Heath night circuit.

It all went rather quickly and I realised that I hadn’t had any lunch. So I started eating some bread rolls and some flapjack to ensure I was starting the race with something in my stomach.

Getting readied to our left was Stuart Day from Crewe Clarion Wheelers and to our right was Adam Wild from GS Metro, both very friendly and chatty and it was nice to speak with them ahead of the race. Adam had been predicted to win by Spindata and by some margin.

I thought I had brought everything I needed with me, but in my preparations I had forgotten charging leads for my small lights and other small items of clothing etc. If I was honest with myself, I wasn’t as focused as I needed to be on the Friday as I was working from the home office and then quickly afterwards, getting everything slung into the car so that we could hit the road. Toileted and in my kit with numbers on I was now ready to take a gentle spin towards the start line.

I arrived at the start line with 3 mins in hand and just caught the end of Amy Hudson (rider #48 & Amy Cycling Adventures) filming a piece for her social media stuff. Brief hellos with her, with Peter Bishop of the 24Hr Fellowship, with John Gallagher from Crewe Clarion and with Edwin Hargreaves (chief timekeeper) and then I was being counted down. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… GO!

Start Line to Prees Heath

I started off easy for the first couple of left turns but once on the main road I opened up to cruising speeds and tried to stay on it. The road was a “heavy road” meaning it wasn’t a great road surface and was pitted and pot-holed in several places. For the rises in the road I ensured my cadence was kept >90rpm so as not to work the leg muscles excessively in the early parts of the race. I was overly excited and had to have a word with myself to keep a lid on things and just ease back a touch, but it was great to finally be riding.

Prees Heath – Battlefield + Wem

Jim and Roffey came past me in the car towards the southern end of the section and told me they would be at Harmer Hill for hand-ups. This would be fine as I had bottles and gels with me until then. There was some nice downhill and also some uphill on this section and again my concentration went to my cadence for the ups. It was nice to be riding the roads I’d been looking at on the map during my preparations. Faster riders were passing me and that was no problem for me… I was in awe of the speed and solidity in the way some of them passed me, one of them being Michael Hutchinson (who has won in excess of 50x National TT titles).

As I passed the boys at Harmer Hill I shouted that I would get a hand up when I next passed them, which wouldn’t be long. It was all getting rather congested with traffic approaching the roundabout beyond Albrighton, cars were overtaking riders and then having to wait behind other riders further up the course and with riders going up and down this section of road it was impacting both lanes of the road. On my way back up towards Wem, passing the boys I was handed up a bottle and an ice cream cone full of rice pudding – an ingenious technique passed on from Jim, and a lovely thing to eat on the bike.

We should have done 2x laps of this section, but after one lap and approaching the B5063 turn off the southern stretch of the A49 to start my second leg out to Wem, I was directed by the Marshal to head straight on up towards Prees Heath. I presumed this was due to the congestion, but couldn’t be sure. I had to give the boys a quick call and tell them I’d been directed up to Prees Heath so they could adjust their support location. Riding north on the A49 the road was undulating with some drags on it but it was good to be making progress. There were several support crews dotted around lay-bys, business entrances and patches of grass but the ones that struck me most were positioned on the drag up past the village of Prees itself. It was Adam Wild’s crew and they were shouting out my name, ringing cowbells and giving great encouragement. What a lift!

Arriving at Prees Heath roundabout the support crews were out en-masse here, I was directed straight on at the roundabout which meant I’d be going into the Quina Brook circuit next, so after shouting out my number to the Marshals on the roundabout I gave the boys another quick call to let them know but they had found out from a Marshal (I presume) and were already on the move.

Quina Brook Circuit

The boys passed me as I was heading south on the B5476 towards Tilstock, they asked how I was doing and told me they would find a place further down the road to locate themselves. Not long after I passed them and they had found a decent location on a slight rise in the road and on a right hand curve which junctioned with Station Rd (road to Prees village). I made a stop on my first lap as I just wanted a couple of minutes off the bike. I’d ridden for 5 hours and stopped for what I thought was only a couple of minutes. The tops of my knees were feeling the higher cadence I’d been pushing and the boys got some Deep Heat rubbed into them, which helped. They had made camp in a good location.

The circuit itself was good, I really enjoyed the laps. It was fast and varied but the road surface wasn’t ideal in many places. The nice thing about this section was that there were some “S” bends and curves in the road which were fun to negotiate, especially at speed. The sun was getting lower in the sky and night time was on the way which made the atmosphere of this section rather nice.

On one of the later laps (lap #4) Jim had shouted that I should change to my night lights, but I still felt it wasn’t dark enough yet, so I continued on round for another lap. Upon passing a support crew further round the circuit on the A49 someone had shouted “rear light”, which made me turn around and check my light. It had stopped! This was a brand new light which was supposed to have 24hrs battery life on blink setting, and it had only managed around 8hrs which was frustrating. I turned on my back-up rear light immediately and then next time round I stopped with the boys, and put my bigger night riding front light on and also got kitted up with a night jacket. This stop was all very faffy. My number needed pinning on my night jacket, none of us could find my knee warmers anywhere (turns out they were at home) and I also took on more food. We weren’t organised very well here and I lost time because of it. I got moving eventually and carried on with the circuit. After 5.5laps when I arrived next at the Prees Heath roundabout I was directed to encircle and head down towards Battlefield again. It was the start of ~12hrs of the night circuit.

The Night Section

After experiencing a lovely setting sun and being directed into the A49 again it was time to put in a shift on the night circuit from Prees Heath to Battlefield roundabout and back again. I managed to complete 7x laps of the night circuit from 22:11 to 10:56 the following day. It was a tough circuit with a number of reasonably significant rises in the road… increasing in difficulty with direct proportion to my tiredness levels. Heading south I was on my way down towards where the boys had positioned themselves. They had passed me on my first run south and had said they would be in Hadnall on the northbound side of the road.

As I came into Hadnall I was struck by the street lighting, which had a purple hue to it as opposed to the normal yellow glow of street lamps. A little further down toward the roundabout at Battlefield there were Marshals and a few supporters. To my surprise I could make out the voice of Michael Broadwith and also that of Andy Wilkinson, both former winners of the event and long distance TT big hitters. I got a lift when receiving their encouragement. Super. I had a short stop with the boys on the way back up northbound to Prees Heath.

Heading north the things I found myself looking forward to were the encouragements of Adam Wild’s crew in Prees (every time it was a lift) and to see what was happening at Prees Heath Roundabout. To my surprise there didn’t appear to be much action at Prees Heath roundabout every time I passed. I did see Mike Broadwith and Christina Murray up at the roundabout along with the Crewe Clarion Wheelers camp. I always shouted my race number out to the Marshals at both ends of the circuit.

I had begun to grow tired of carb drinks and gels, but the ice cream cones filled with rice pudding were still going down well. Jim mixed up my drinks to be Coke with water, which really was a welcome break. The coke tended to stabilise the stomach a little and provided a different taste for a while. The laps continued on and I kept looking forward to the same things but the desire to stop for a few moments was strong. Every time I stopped with the boys it didn’t feel for very long, but the post race analysis would reveal a different story. The stopped time for toilet breaks was also getting longer and I wasn’t sure if this was just tiredness or something else, but in this game time is miles…

Approaching 04:30 I could sense that the sky was lifting in colour and that the day would not be far away and it is typically around this time that I have my bad patches on longer rides and this one was no different. Feeling a little sick and tired I had to stop with the boys and get some solid food down me. The boys had grown very cold in the dead of the night and when I saw them they were wrapped up in blankets but they still helped me get most of a Pot Noodle down which was actually pretty good, followed by a little coffee to pile on top of the Pro Plus tablets I had been taking periodically.

I was now bored of the night circuit and longed to get back onto the Quina Brook circuit for some speed and variety, but that was a no-go due to roadworks planned on the Sunday morning. The encouragement from others remained all night through and was really uplifting every time. It was a pleasure to have the sun come up and it was an obvious signal that progress was being made, although it had been cold on the bike passing though some of the dips in the road where early morning mist had appeared, it hadn’t been cold enough to warrant adding layers. More traffic started to appear on the roads and I was looking forward to getting off the night circuit.

Around 08:20, I stopped and got changed into my skin suit. It was nice to have fresh clothes on and I knew I would feel fast in my skin suit (even if I actually wasn’t). Jim had told me that he thought I’d have another circuit and a half to do and that I was not to stop the next time I passed them, as I had more than enough drink/food with me and I’d need to keep making progress. I agreed.

However, on the final time of passing the boys northbound at Hadnall, I had to extend a lot to the left to reach the bottle that was being handed up to me, this shifted my balance and unfortunately led me up a low curb where the drop of my handlebars made contact with a wooden post and then my speed sent me leftwards to a sign post which I crashed right into. It was a shock. I had to quickly assess the damage to myself and the bike… fortunately none, other than a bruised wrist, bruised thighs and chest and a few cuts. Bike was fine after Roffey re-aligned my aero bars. I had a moment to compose myself and then set off again. That was a lucky escape.

Moving to the Finishing Circuit

As I approached Prees Heath roundabout for the last time a number of support teams were almost all packed up and some had already headed off to the finishing circuit. I recall John Gallagher holding a can of coke out for me to grab, but I declined to take it, not wanting the gas or the litter to deal with. Very kind of John though. Heading off to the finishing circuit the road surface was terrible and the road had a fair amount of uphill throughout. I was slowing quite a bit in this section and the road surface was getting to me. The desire to get to the finishing circuit was enormous and finally after around 14 miles I got onto it.

The boys had positioned themselves just past Time Keeper #1 (TK#1) and as soon as I saw them I pulled in for a brief stop, took on new bottles and more gels. I had 32 miles left to get to 400 miles and I had around 2 hours left until my time was up. So, I knew I had 4 laps (8.18 miles per lap) at 16s to do and then to get past TK#1 again to get the 400 miles. The race was certainly on and I had to get the job done. My arse and neck were now in agony and holding my head up with my grip on the aero bars was really challenging. I could put the saddle discomfort to one side but the neck difficulty was something else and I had previous with this kind of muscle agony (see PBP 2019). I had to choose when to use the aero bars and I saved this for the windiest parts of the course which seemed to be in between TK#2 and TK#3 up and down the dual carriageway of the most northerly part of the circuit. At other times I would be on the drops, the hoods or in extreme cases the elbow pads. I was ignoring the pain in my legs and just pushing as hard as I could.

The next time I passed the boys I could see that Jim’s wife Rose, had joined the support team. This was so nice and I could see her giving it welly with her support for me, as were Jim & Roffey. The laps continued and I saw Mike Broadwith and Christina Murray in between TK#1 and TK#2 offering encouragement for all and support for Michael Hutchinson. Adam Wild’s crew were also positioned around there too. Also along this piece of the circuit I saw members from Crewe Clarion dressed up as dancers and koala bears playing kazoos!

The finishing circuit was uninspiring, but varied. Overall, it seemed very windy and made me glad that I had my skin suit on. On my last lap I could see Jim, Rose and Roffey all going crazy shouting me on to keep going and get as far as I could. This was emotional and I loved seeing their encouragement for me. I continued to push as much as I could. I passed TK#1 for the 4th time indicating to me that I’d made the 400 mile mark… I kept pushing on as far as I could and got to TK#2 a minute or so before 13:47 (my start time) and so I had to keep pushing to TK#3 to ensure my 24 hours had elapsed.

As soon as I shouted my number at TK#3 I was told I could finish, and with utter relief I pulled into the lay-by just beyond the time keeper. Roffey was already there with a chair set out for me which I gladly sunk into. I took my helmet off and sweat immediately started pouring into my eyes. Roffey got me a couple of cold sponges and I wiped my face with them which was extremely refreshing. The satisfaction of finishing was immense and Roffey reported that my Garmin had 652.44Km on it (405.49 miles). I knew this would come down a bit because I had to ride on further past my 24 hours to TK#3 to be able to stop, but the realisation that I’d ridden over 400 miles was beginning to sink in. Jim and Rose arrived shortly after and were very pleased for me and full of hugs and handshakes. I was so very pleased with what I’d been able to do.

Back to HQ

We said our goodbyes to Jim and Rose at TK#3, I was extremely grateful to Rose for her hospitality and to Jim for his time investment in me and his passion for long distance riding and racing – lots of which he had poured into me. It was just great to have him with me on my first 24 Hr TT.

Roffey and me drove back to HQ and it was so nice to be moving in a car rather than pedaling. I got myself changed and freshened up a little bit at the car and then we made our way inside to the HQ. I chatted with Adam Wild and his crew, thanking them for their support on the course and congratulating Adam on what was looking like a new competition record ride. I also chatted with Mike Broadwith, Michael Hutchinson, the Crewe Clarion Wheelers riders, Peter Bishop and a couple of other folks. We were all waiting for the provisional distances to be posted, which seemed to be taking an age. Finally, the results were ready and in rider number order they were posted up on the boards one at a time.

🏁 403.31 Miles

I’d done it! I’d made it over the 400 mile mark and I was so very pleased with what I had achieved. I exceeded all of my targets that I had ahead of the race, I had placed 12th out of 40 finishers and also placed 3rd in my VTTA Category (Veteran Open 45-49yr old male). A new competition record had been set by Adam Wild – an incredible 546.36 miles.

Going back to my “training” for this event… I really hadn’t done much in all honesty and to get such a result with a low training base came as a pleasing surprise to me, especially with the course change providing more hills than previous editions. Peter Bishop asked me at the HQ if I would be back in 2025, and I was hazy with my response. In the aftermath of the event my body ached all over and the thought of another was just too much to bear.

However, as I’ve processed the event in the week following the haze has cleared and now I know that I would do another. The learning I wanted from riding this event was now obvious to me… I could train more, I could weigh less, I could stop less and be so much more efficient with my stops, I could be more organised with my kit, I could plan my food intakes better, all of these areas of improvement were clear to me in the days after the event and I will take these forward into another attempt.

Afterwards

Once results had been posted Roffey and me headed off to the hotel as we were both exhausted. After checking in we decided to walk a short way into Wrexham, and grab a bite of food in a pub. I ate the food and had a couple of sips of beer, but I was falling asleep at the table so we needed to move back to the hotel quickly.

We were asleep by 19:30. A reasonably restful night was had and then we were up early for brekkers and then off on the road for home.

People I need to Thank…

• Thank you to the Mersey Roads Club for putting on the event, everything was very well organised.
• Thank you to all of the timekeepers, volunteers and marshals for their recording, encouragements and excellent directions on course.
• Thank you to Peter Bishop of the 24 hour Fellowship for his correspondence, words of advice and for encouragements.
• Thank you to John Gallagher and the Crewe Clarion Wheelers for their encouragement and support.
• Thank you to all the supporters for providing encouragement out on the course.
• Thank you to my family for giving me the freedom to follow the cycling activities I choose to.
• Thank you to Roffey for giving up his weekend and providing his support for me.
• Thank you to Rose for hosting us so warmly the day before the race and for providing great encouragement on the finishing circuit.
• Final thank you is to Jim, for all of his advice over the years, his honest feedback, his hospitality before the race, his time supporting me during the race, his “Helpers Perspective” write up below, and his friendship.

The National 24Hr TT; A Helpers Perspective – by Jim Churton

Herein lies a ‘Helpers’ perspective. Very different from that of the 24hr aspirant, but one does not work without the other.

I received a telephone call from Andy telling me he’d decided to ride the 2024 24hr TT Championship. It didn’t need a MENSA IQ to ascertain what was coming next. I promised him some years ago that I would assist him in his endeavours, so it was an emphatic “yes, of course, glad to”. Nevertheless, I knew precisely what it meant. A weekend with no sleep, dashing about like a demented Dervish, making mental calculations quicker than a NASA computer and being at the beckon-call from the man on the bike.
It isn’t my favourite way to spend a weekend, but a promise is a promise. There would be plenty of time to utter, “Never again!”

Friday 27th July, 2024

Andy and his friend, Roffey, my erstwhile companion for the weekend, duly arrived at 17:40hrs at Chez Churton. Introductions made, rooms allocated, bike removed from the roof-rack and all followed up with a superb Spaghetti Bolognese, courtesy of my wife, Rosie. Cyclists’ banter, some red wine, some beer oiled the evening away.
Before eating I surveyed the contents of Andy’s car and there was the definite sign of packing “faff” with disorganisation similar to the evacuation of Dunkirk. My heart sank! However, everything Andy needed for an assault on the 24 was in situ, he hadn’t forgotten anything! Or had he?
I briefly outlined how I was going to carry out the support and empathised I wasn’t going to be dashing about. The course most definitely allowed this as it was compact and I knew the roads and area extremely well.
Not a good nights’ sleep! I was worried and concerned how best to support Andy. This wasn’t going to be easy.

Saturday 28th July, 2024 – A Day at the Races!

A condemned mans quality breakfast and we were away to the Farndon Race HQ at 10:45hrs. I recall thinking. “We’ll still be balls deep this time tomorrow.”
It was extremely beneficial for both Andy, and Roffey, that our route to Farndon traversed much of the course and I was able to point out the pros and cons of the A49, A41, Prees Heath Roundabout and the Whitchurch By-Pass. Meanwhile, over the Clywydian Hills, heavy rain clouds were gathering and the promise of showers for the opening few hours looked extremely accurate. Still, I wasn’t riding!
Upon arriving at the HQ I was amazed that most people seemed jolly and relaxed and while Andy and Roffey readied the bike et al, I took on the highly important roll of being a “Sorry Mate”. That is getting in peoples’ way and saying “Sorry mate!”
I also reacquainted myself with fellow cyclists from my past and chewed the cycling cud. Another toilet visit before Andy left his mark and the toilets declared a “no-go” area on health and safety grounds. Haz Chem labels if you please!

The boot was still in disarray and I thought I really must sort this out when we have time. It remained as such until the very last. Nevertheless, Roffey seemed to know where everything was.
Andy left the Chief Timekeeper, Edwin Hargraves, at 13:47hrs precisely and I was there to see him away as any self-respecting Supporter should do. Prior to departure, Andy introduced me to John Gallagher of the Crewe Clarion Wheelers. This was a most fortunate meeting and one which I think will be extremely positive for both of us. Both railwaymen, both cyclists. What could possibly go wrong?
With Andy up the road, Roffey and I made a slight effort to sort out the myriad of boxes containing Andy’s life-support systems for the next 24hrs. It was vital we knew where everything was located, challenging though this was.
There was little else we could do now except buy coffee and sandwiches on the Whitchurch By-Pass after which we hastened South to see where our pedaling Hercules was.

Harmer Hill

Andy was making good progress and as we passed him I advised him we would be on Harmer Hill, which was on Circuit 1. I chose this location as it was at the top of a long drag and speed being thus negated. Bottles and food contained in ice cream cones were handed up and his empty bottles replenished after being jettisoned.
Harmer Hill was a most satisfactory location overlooking Yorton, and Clive, to the East and the North Shropshire Plain to the North and Northwest. The early showers had died away and a warm evening was beckoning. I could have stayed there for the remaining 21hrs but as Andy made only two passes we were on the move and caught up with him on the Prees By-Pass. He was duly advised we would be on Circuit 2 close to Quina Brook.

Coton

Our next location was Coton, betwixt Tilstock and Quina Brook, on a grassy triangle which leads to Wem, Prees Village and Whitchurch. With a rising grade from the North it was ideal for handing up Andy’s food and drink and being advantageous for access on Circuit 2 if needs arose.
Andy was making steady progress and after a quick calculation I reasoned, even at this stage, a 400 mile target was most certainly achievable. All looked well.
We were furnished with menu instructions and water bottles charged with varying degrees of content. No complaints from the customer.
Before the blanket of night time was upon us I hastened into Wem to buy Roffey and I some fish and chips. Sadly, Wem’s final fish and chip shop closed and it was a Chinese Take-a-way. Most unsatisfactory. As Andy ploughed his lonely furrough, we wined and dined on Special Fried Rice and chips. The consequences of indigestion were soon apparent and I knew I was in for a most uncomfortable night. A self-inflicted injury.
On Andy’s final round on Circuit 2 he stopped to don some warmer clothes which would and should have included his knee warmers. These were clearly still residing in Stamford; not much use there!
At around 23:00hrs, we were informed Andy was off Circuit 2 and heading onto Circuit 3 with no return to Circuit 2 as the road was closed on Sunday morning for road marking maintenance. It was therefore essential I found the perfect spot for Andy and for us. Hadnall it was.

Hadnall

We took up residence on the Northbound side of the village next to the dead centre (graveyard) of Hadnall in a lay-by. This was lit by road lights and gave us a good view of all participants in both directions. The only disadvantage was it was at the end of a downhill stretch, but in all other respects it was perfect. Seats arranged, food and drink boxes duly laid out and we settled down for the night.
The night sky was clear and with it the temperature dropped impressively. Happily, two blankets had been packed and these were extremely welcome indeed and were being used up to 08:00hrs on the Sunday morning.
We were seeing Andy at around 50 minute intervals which gave us time to rest and try and catch up with some sleep. On one occasion we evacuated our position and sought refuge in the car, in an attempt to get warm. Partial success only.
Around 01:30hrs a large Mercedes Benz drove into “our” lay-by from the Southbound side and we were interrogated by an Asian fellow asking what was happening. We explained and he left telling us he would arrange some coffees. All hope of a warming drink subsided until an hour later two more Asians (I think the formers’ sons?) appeared with 2 steaming mugs of hot coffee and some form of Eastern sweet cakes of sorts. One was dressed in traditional Pyjamas. We learned they’d been to a wedding in Bradford with only 700 guests. We thanked them for their hospitality and they promised us some more in the morning. We never saw them again but I returned the mugs and tray.
We also had another visitor at around 03:15hrs. We were entertained with a vomiting AUK rider who carried out his technicolour yawn with amazing dexterity. That said, he looked extremely distressed. He stayed with us for around 45 minutes during which time we kept him warm and seated.
Roffey and I discussed his chances of finishing and concluded “no chance.” Later that morning and on the finishing circuit in Wrexham he reappeared like a Phoenix! That took courage.
Dawn arrived very slowly as did any warmth, but by 08:30 our comfort blankets had been discarded and we were enjoying another day.
Andy was one of the very last to be directed back onto the A49 and back to Battlefield. He shouted up instructions and we prepared accordingly. Near disaster. Immediately after handing up a bottle, Andy lost control of the bike as he tried putting it into the bottle cage. Immediately he was heading for the pavement, a telegraph pole and waste paper bin. Within seconds he was on the floor no longer attached to his bike. It looked terminal.
It didn’t take long for him to be upright once more and we examined his injuries…..after checking his bike of course! His left wrist was swelling up immediately and some bruising to his thighs. He had been lucky, very lucky. He was soon back on the bike and heading North towards Whitchurch, and the finishing circuit at the Wrexham Industrial Estate.
Although Andy was well provisioned with drinks and food, I decided it would be prudent to monitor his progress and thus delayed our exit to Wrexham. All seemed well and “our man” was maintaining his tempo with no apparent after effects of his fall or indeed his time elapsed awheel.

Finishing Circuit (FC), Wrexham Industrial Estate TK1

11:47hrs we set up shop at where I estimated Andy would conclude his 24hr. Roffey and I calculated that Andy would be either just short of or just over the magic 400 mile mark. It was going to be very close indeed. Rose turned up just before Andy arrived on the FC bringing with her a fresh smile and my lift home.
I was mentally uplifted when Andy arrived. I explained to him it was a “close run thing”, but by maintaining 16’s his 400 mile aspiration was on, but no “messing about”. Now or never, do or die! We weren’t disappointed! Andy’s performance on the FC was quite superb. There was no sign of fatigue or him slowing up. He maintained his position and rotary action throughout and words of encouragement sent him on his way towards immortality.
With just minutes remaining Roffey drove off in pursuit and I joined Rose to see the finale, which sadly I missed. Another story.
Rose and I eventually caught up with Andy adjacent to Timekeeper No.3 being attended to by his mate Roffey. The efforts showed very clearly on Andy’s face; a mixture of extreme fatigue, fragility, relief and joy. 403 miles! I couldn’t be more proud!

Conclusions

Andy’s preparation was the bare minimum. To have ridden in excess of the magic 400 miles with very limited preparation and training showed the calibre of the man. One cannot ride like that without what the training manuals omit… 4 o’clock in the morning courage! Andy had it in spades.
Supporting a cyclist isn’t easy; it isn’t much fun either. It is what it is. A slog! Desperately tiring, both mentally and physically. One does it for all of the right reasons; friendship, camaraderie, loyalty, sportsmanship and I suppose a form of love.
I was so proud of Andy’s very personal achievement and very proud of witnessing it from a very personal perspective.
I’ll be out the country next year!!

Jim Churton, August 2024.