63 incredible 24hr rides

Went out to support Dave Pemberton in the National 24 HR Time Trial this weekend which was a fabulous event organised each year by Mersey RC on a lumpy course that straddles the Cheshire / Shropshire county boundaries. I was up and out at 4 am to do the last support stint till 1:45 pm when Dave would finish his 24hr ride!

It had been windy but dry Saturday afternoon but very wet early hours of the morning making conditions more treacherous with pot holes on the course being covered by pebbles. Luckily as daylight came so did the dry weather but by mid morning the wind picked up again and made the last 4 or 5 hours increasingly tough for riders to maintain their pace. But it was great to see the smiles and high spirits on the riders as the passed and I cheered them on even after a long wet night.

But the winning times for men and women were just incredible with Lynne Biddulph (Born to Bike – Bridgtown Cycles) covering 412.45 miles and Michael Broadworth (Artic Tacx RT) an amazing 537.35miles. That’s more than most of us do in a month, and these guys did it in just 24hrs 😦

Michael was amazing to watch and so low and flat on the bike, even after 14 hrs racing when I first saw him, quiet incredible.

One other amazing chap was George Berwick (Edinburgh RC) who was riding his 47th 24. Not sure how old he was but they only host one or two 24hr TT’s each year so he was no spring chicken.

Thanks Dave for asking for my help, it was a great event to be part of and to see 63 riders complete their own incredible rides and feats of amazing endurance, stamina and mental strength.

Below is a copy of a post put on the TT forum about Michaels winning ride and new course record.

“A couple of notes on Mike’s performance…

It was his first ’24’ so unknown territory

He scheduled for around 519 so was way out!

He smiled all the way to 16 hours through wind, rain, cold, darkness etc. etc.

He rode most of the second half the way most of us mortals ride a ’10’

He rode the final few miles of the finishing circuit harder than I would have believed possible – outrageous!

Wilko was not only marshalling the course for most of the night and next morning, he was cheering Mike on to his course record and was delightful in the HQ afterwards, visiting Mike while he was ‘having a moment’…

Those who were lucky enough to witness this event will not forget it in a VERY long time – we’re just left wondering – what on earth could he have done on a float day…and night 🙂

I’m off to bed – Lord knows how the main man must be feeling…”

Full results http://www.cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/event/787