Sunday September 27th 2020 - What time is it? 3.30am time to get up!!
Although I can often be found riding trails on bikes in the early hours of the morning even this was a tad early for me. A 5.30am planned departure from Hicks Lodge in Leicester meant that an early ride to be able to get up, get brekkie and drive to meeting point was in order. With the fabulous support riders raring and ready to go that certainly helped to motivate me to get up and not be late to the first part of what proved to be an epic day.
Hicks Lodge Trail Centre No1
Feeling fairly fresh and ready to go even with the early start, the trails started off at Hicks Lodge in Leicester. A nice little blue grade trail to warm up the legs.
The weather was being kind, although very cold and fresh there was no need for waterproofs thank goodness. Complete darkness in the early hours meant we had to use headtorches and lights on the bikes to navigate the trail. The route at Hicks is a very rideable 5.5 mile affair and Jonny, Mark, Fiona and I found ourselves chattering our way around and enjoying the trail. After finishing this section and back to the van to top up fuel and drinks the group felt good and ready to take on the first road section of the ride.
Hicks to Cannock
The first of all the road sections, Hicks to
Cannock Chase was a mere 25miles. Starting off in darkness felt a little strange and something that I have personally never done on a road ride. I have ridden in dark or early hours but only ever on trails off road, so this felt a bit weird. The early light did however make an appearance and I was grateful to be able to see and start to enjoy my cycling surroundings.
The section between Hicks and Cannock is fairy flat, with only 922ft of elevation nothing too taxing on the legs to start the day.
As I recognised my surroundings when we neared the trail centre at Cannock Chase I felt ok, no major fatigue but perhaps in need of a food top up but otherwise ready to go both mentally and in the bike legs too.
Cannock Chase - Trail Centre No 2
Cannock is one of my favourite places to ride. Living within an hours drive its also one of the most frequent centres that both Mark and I ride together. I like the trails at Cannock and we ride various routes that also run off piste there too.
So safe to say that I am familiar with the place and having Cannock as one of the 5 centres to ride on this challenge was a no brainer for me. Arriving at Cannock put a smile on my face as I knew exactly what was in store and how much I enjoy riding it. After some kit switching and van faff we were all suited and booted ready to roll off road. Mark joining us on all of the planned off road sections meant that he was able to get some riding in too, not just driving the van and mastering the tetris of what was a mass of bikes and bags in the back of the van - (Mark you are a Legend - Thank You)
The FTD - Follow the dog trail at cannock is approx 7miles long and features wooded trails, boardwalks, single-track, open paths, black run features and more.
As I had decided to try and ride all of the challenge on my CX bike I know that the trail is heaps of fun on a rigid cyclocross bike and I was looking forward to this.
Jonny on his Giant Revolt Gravel bike also seemed to be having heaps of fun hooning around on a new ride for him. Jonny (or JC as he is more commonly known) is more used to the big rig downhill bikes being an ex world cup downhill racer so the gravel bike was a million miles away from his normal off road ride. He needed no encouragement to ride it fast along with Mark they both appeared to be having a great time.
Fiona was a new MTBer who had borrowed a bike for the challenge and seemed to be embracing the off road trails at Cannock. She did really well and seemed to enjoy it, adapting to trails she had never ridden before. Good work Fiona.
The Biggest Road Section - Cannock To Eastridge
After the Cannock off road, I was buzzing. The trails are the part that I was looking forward to the most and so far both centres had delivered their usual dose of fun.
What came next however was the part that was sticking in my mind as the hardest section of the ride. The Road section from Cannock to Eastridge was 52 miles long with an elevation of 3238ft. I knew that I would feel better once this chunk of mileage was out the way and I was also conscious that I needed to try and enjoy the section and get the best from it rather than treating it like a chore. This was undoubtedly made easier following the wheels of JC and Fiona, two very experienced road riders that I was so glad to have in support of my ride. Not sure that it would have been possible without them - thank you both.
I would like to say that the 52 mile road section flew by, however it did not.
Although I seemed to be doing ok along the route, I had tried really hard to keep fuelling and taking on fluids so I did not to get hungry or dehydrated.
With only 5miles left to Eastridge Trail Centre arrival I then found myself feeling completely empty and luckily this was spotted by Fiona, she rescued me with the supply of a Rice Krispie Bar - I practically inhaled that thing when she gave it to me and I took 5 minutes to gather myself and grab a drink etc. Once I had had my Rice Krispie melt down moment I was good to go again. Still not feeling 100% but a damn sight better than I was before.
We climbed the very bumpy narrow road lane to finish at Eastridge where we were greeted by the sight of Bright Yellow Van along with Mark and Matt cheering us up the hill.
Although I had struggled on the last part of that ride section I also knew that I could take some time to re fuel and rest a little. I was also spurred on by the fact that the biggest road section was now behind us.
Eastridge (Beastridge) Trail Centre No 3
Now me and the beastridge trail have some history. I have ridden here multiple times with mixed reviews. Eastridge is a very natural trail and has a bit of a rawness about it. Well known for its gnarly runs that many a downhiller will come here to ride, but Eastridge also features a red graded trail centre route.
This grade is the same as other trail centres red but in my opinion is made harder at eastridge due to the type of terrain and location.
Having ridden at Beastridge on both CX and MTB, Full suss and Hardtail, I felt that I had a pretty good idea of this trail and how it behaves at certain points.
However I had decided that I wanted to show that Cross really is Boss and ride the whole of the challenge on my trusty Brava CX bike. In the back of my head perhaps a voice saying 'urrmmm that's a tad silly' but i ignored that voice and cracked on anyway.
So with a 5 strong team on this leg of the ride, Mark, Matt, JC, Fiona and I all headed up the hill ready for some trails. The Krispie bar kicked in and I felt my legs come back to me, a that was a relief. I found myself steadily spinning up the off road hills and actually feeling ok too.
Once you get to the top you are greeted with a flat jagged rock surface that feeds you into the hill descent. This is the part where I knew I had to be careful not to ride to hard and keep myself light on the bike so I did not rip or tear my narrow cx tyres. Once over the top sections the trail starts to descend down the fluffy mud banks and along the way a drop into a corner that I previously haven't ridden on my cx bike, Until today. :)
Rode comfortably into the corner and found myself picking my way down the drop and wooping at the bottom because I had finally ridden it on my cross bike - Get In!! I was stoked.
JC, Mark and Matt were absolutely ripping up the trails ahead of us and frequent laughter and shouts of encouragement could be heard throughout the woods.
Fiona braved a lot of the trail at Eastridge and for a new MTB rider she aced some tough sections of the Beastridge trail - Nice one Fiona!!
Finishing on a high once again after riding the trails and also feeling good knowing that only smaller road sections now followed.
Crack on through the hills - Eastridge to Hopton
Its only 21 miles after all, that's what I was trying to tell my mind when we saddled up ready for the next road section to trail centre no 4.
We were well into the late afternoon and the ride to Hopton was hilly but so so beautiful.
The scenes and backdrops that we rode through were absolutely stunning and the pictures really dont do it justice. I am always grateful when a section of a ride is like this as it makes me think and appreciate the surroundings and not consider the pain in my legs or lungs whilst trying to ride. We arrived in the village of Hopton with darkness looming.
Hopton Woods - Trail Centre No 4
Hopton is another one of those trails that has a certain natural rawness about it. Perhaps not as rocky as Eastridge but certainly full of natural features and riding.
The trail was 7 miles long and although we arrived with a small pocket of daylight we attached our head torches and lights on our bikes ready for the trail ahead.
I have never ridden Hopton in the dark, or on the back of over 100 miles under my legs and I felt that both of those factors made this trail section feel a lot longer than the 7 miles that it is.
My head torch kept cutting out in places too and this did not help as it meant that I had to conserve the battery for the really gnarly sections of the trail. A tough ride that was felt by us all.
Crawling back to the van at the start of the trail and it was then that I realised that I had nearly done this challenge. Set out to raise funds but also in the memory of my brother Nigel who I had hoped would be looking on and proud of my riding these daft miles.
Flying to Mortimer
The last part of the road section I was joined by Fiona again who really helped me through the last part I have to say. She has a habit of singing on the hills and she also chats too, I was so grateful of the distraction that she gave me whilst chatting along the last 11 miles of road section to Mortimer Forest.
The ride for Nigel's memory was nearly complete and as we rode to Mortimer forest we spoke of the times when I was young and my brother Nigel used to dress me up as Lena Lovich one of his pop faves. This is a memory I will never forget - Thanks Nige! Although it was dark by this stage I started to recognise the final climb towards the forest car park and thankfully felt that the 11 miles had been ridden quite quickly and the finish line was now within grasp.
Mortimer Forest - Trail Centre No5
Thankfully the small trail at Mortimer was less than a mile and I was in not fit state to argue for anymore. Spurred on by my riding buddies Mark and Fiona who joined me for the final section of off road trail I knew that I could complete this challenge and be proud of that too.
A small trail loop around the woods later and we were back at the van - a welcome sight.
In a heap on the floor and grateful to be able to have ridden the ride and to have completed. Finish time 10:30pm
It was done!!!
What an Epic Ride 5 Trails Centres in 24hrs (approx 15 actual) 137 miles total on and off road mileage
The ride was a toughie completed along the way i had an amazing support crew (i know how frikken cool to have a support crew) Jonny Cheetham, Fiona Jolly, Matt Tenpenny and of course Mark Pratley without them the challenge would not have been possible at all so thank you from the bottom of my Heart. The Myton Hospices - The ride managed to raise a whopping £1514 - A massive thanks you to all that donated to such a worthy cause, the ride stemmed from my brother having received care at the hospice during his last few weeks and i am hoping that we did Nigel proud and also helping towards other families and loved ones. Thank You to all that donated from the bottom of my Heart means a lot
For now until the next time.....
