John has been keeping us up to date on the event as well as his training for the event over the past few months, telling us about a few lead up events he was getting involved in as well as a trip to Spain. John has been raising money for a local charity of his choice, Jamie's Farm, who do great work with children from challenging schools in the area. Jamie’s Farm exists to transform the lives of vulnerable children in challenging urban schools, by providing a unique combination of ‘farming, family and therapy’ through a short stay residential and follow up programme.

Even though he leads a busy working day, repairing computers and laptops in local homes and businesses, he still managed at least 6-8 hours training per week even back in the cold winter months!

See below John's account of the event and the ups and downs of the 24 hours:

Heavy rain the previous night had almost caused the race to be called off, as the river next to the site was almost at danger level, so we knew it was going to be muddy!

The race got underway at 12 noon in rain and mist which continued until 5 pm by which time sections of the course on grass and in woods were a quagmire, with some parts becoming unrideable, when the rain stopped conditions got worse as the mud started to dry and became more glutinous, sticking to the bike and making it twice the weight, clogging up gears, chain and wheels. These were some of the worst conditions I’ve ridden an event in, but it was the same for everyone.

There were 12 and 24 hour teams and solo races going on at the same time so there were a lot of riders on the track, but at midnight when the 12 hour race ended it was very quiet and lonely with only the occasional team rider passing and exchanging a few words.

Lights were on around 9pm, the track seems completely different at night and you have to concentrate harder especially on the downhill sections, luckily my second, and last, battery lasted till around 4am and the sun actually made an appearance at dawn around  4.30 am.

I didn’t have a pit helper and I must admit to feeling slightly jealous of the guys who had teams to keep them going and provide them with a clean bike every lap, but everyone did encourage and cheer you on when riding through the pit area.

The mud dried up slightly on the last few laps, which was helpful and the sun was out as I crossed the finishing line, with race sponsor Keith Bontrager there to shake the finishers hands and also to be handed a bottle of beer, a nice touch but I couldn’t drink it as I had to drive home, but it did taste good later, especially as I hadn’t had any alcohol for a week prior to the event.

It’s hard to describe how you feel during a race like this, for the first few laps its fun then everything starts to hurt and your body is telling you to stop but you keep going and just exist until the last lap when it’s fun again, why do I do it, well I love mountain biking and I love a challenge and this combines both, as well as raising a few pounds for charity.

My target of 18 laps quickly became irrelevant as it became clear I wasn’t going to achieve this due to the conditions but I did ride the whole event stopping only for food and water, to try to clean my bike and for a baked potato and short rest around 2 am, I finished in 12^th position in the over 18’s 24 hour solo category out of 44 (originally 60 entered) which was very satisfying after all the hard work I’d put into training, and also raised some money for a local charity, www.jamiesfarm.org.uk  and you can still donate here https://www.justgiving.com/J-Savage

A Big Thank You to everyone who supported me.

For more details on John's training and the lead up to the event, click here for more information and details.

John has been the local PC PAL engineer for East Bristol and Bath for a number of years now, providing the local area with a friendly computer repair service. If you would like more information or would like to speak to him, his email is [email protected] or call him on  0117 937 4852.