Well, the food log didn't last long did it ?
The rest of the week was pretty much the same anyway, lots of bread, fruit, yoghurt, chips and chocolate soya milk.
Sleepless in the Saddle 24 hour mountain bike race at Catton Park, Derbyshire.
My 3rd and final 24 hour solo this year.
Only two weeks after the last one, but I felt like I had just about recovered.
Less climbing than the other two, so better suited to me. I thought I was in with a realistic chance of a top quarter finish.
I stocked up on Torq energy gels and Clif Shot Bloks and decided I was going to make a serious attempt at riding right through the night, even though my support crew had made other arrangements for the weekend and I was on my own.
2pm Saturday and we were off with a short run of about 400m.
I was about 3/4 of the way down the field by the time we got to the bikes.
The course was very dry and dusty, I was lapping in about 52 minutes at best, with a short break after most laps.
There was a heavy rain shower in the evening. Riding through the woods, I ended up pushing the worst sections, even then I had to stop a couple of times to clear the mud from around the chainstays so the wheel would would go round. Other people were poking the mud out from their derailleurs trying to get their gears working again. I rode past on my Rohloff.
I rode more or less non-stop until about 10pm.
Despite my determination to ride through the night, I knew by then I wasn't going to do it, so I stopped for about 1:40
Off again for another few laps, then another break of about 1:20.
With a few shorter breaks and water bottle changes, I ended up stationary for over 5 hours altogether. Not ideal for a 24 hour race, but no matter how hard I try, my determination just seems to fade away when I'm cold, wet, tired and exhausted.
As always, I felt better once the sun was up and tried to make up time. I'd done something to my left Achilles tendon though and it was getting worse, making it painful to pedal.
If the maximum Ibuprofen dosage for children over 12 is 2 tablets per 4 hour hours, then two every lap for an adult hooligan is probably still well within the safety margin.
The rules are that you have to finish the lap you're on at 2pm to avoid a DNF.
By 1:30pm there were riders lurking in the woods so they could cross the line at 2:01. It was tempting to join them, but I was still disappointed with myself for giving up overnight, so I rode on past.
A quick bottle change, two gels and some shot bloks in my pockets and I was off out for my last lap at 23:48.
The support I get through wearing my Vegan Cyclists kit is fantastic.
Every time I rode through the arena there would be people in their pit areas or in the team changeover area shouting "Go Vegan" at me.
All round the course there would be random spectators and other riders shouting "Go Vegan" as I rode past.
19 laps, 238km in 24:50.
17th solo male. The results aren't up yet, but the solo number went to over 100, so it looks like I was top 20% overall, don't know about the veteran class.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104755121http://connect.garmin.com/activity/104756012edit;
The results are up17th/94 solo male
4th veteran. Only 20 minutes behind 3rd