Been roped in to take the place of a friend on the Strathpuffer ("The Puffer") - a 24 hour endurance mountain bike race. I'm in a team of 4 so I'm looking at 6 hours of riding mostly in the dark of the Highland winter (17 hours of the 24 are dark). It's apparently the only 24hr winter race in the world.

I've not exactly had a lot of time to prepare as it starts on Saturday 6th Jan (1 week). On the plus side, the organisation has already been done - I just need to focus on my performance.

Oh dear

Oh Shiite

Heh. That sounds awfully like:

'Are you doing anything in particular next weekend?'
'Nah, not that I know of.'
'Right, you won't mind...'

Best of luck with that one, and remember the *red* catseyes are sheep (aka the provisional wing of the tourist board).

Good luck Mrs.

Thanks guys.

No - it wasn't even that direct - imagine that conversation taking place between the wives...

I can't quite believe I've agreed to do it - but after this last year or so, I believe I can take on anything.

.....and win!

Good luck MRS.

FTFY

good on you! in approximatley 18 months that will be a great story! in the short term...... wel.....good luck

Good luck MRS

Did the course today - hard work (especially on the upper body) and more "technical" in places than I was expecting - steep, bare rock, descents which will be interesting if it's icy. Went at a reasonable pace though so I won't make a complete arse of myself (for once) - though, the great thing abou being roped in at the last minute is that it's perfectly ok to be crap

Hope you have a decent set of lights and enough batteries to get you through. Sounds like madness to me, my off roading only extends to getting to my garage

I noticed that the twice SOLO winner of the event (did 144 solo miles!) uses the same lights as I do for my commute so that's a good start. I've ordered an extra light though and, after today, I'm glad I did. Colleague broke ribs last year and just talking to the bike shop guy, he injured himself enough to be off the bike for 2 months - both at the same spot. Since I'm doing this for "fun" I'll be going carefully

Probably you don't want to be talking to that bike shop guy - he sounds dangerous!

Yup - wasn't really the "positive mental attitude" I was looking for. Will need to clear that from my mind next time I approach that drop.

Brake pads certainly take a hammering - as did my arms and shoulders

My mate keeps trying to talk me into this, every year i dodge it! No stranger to dark/racing/ lengthy routes but something about this makes me say no.
Best of luck with this, get spare batteries for your lights and pack plenty clothes changes and food.

It's pretty extreme - not least because of the ice that's likely. It's snowing hard here right now. The overnight forecast ( too far out to be accurate mind) is 1c for Sat night.

Because I commute so much, I have plenty of clothes to wear (even if I might be picked out as a roadie...) and my AyUp lights have 6 hours on full beam (which I won't use on the fire road climb) - I've ordered a 600 lumen lid light which has 4 hour life but only 4 hours to recharge too - I should be able to keep it topped up. Whether I'll manage my full 6 hours in the 24 I don't know. One of our team is still in Oz right now so he'll be set up for th night riding! (the lengths our team have gone to....)

great' hell Richard. I'm still deciding whether to join the weight loss thread for the third year in a row having failed miserably the last two and you come up with this! You are Iron Man. Chuck Norris has nothing on you mate. Good luck

Glad if it's spurring you into action.

Looking out the window at the snow "falling" almost horizontally - mmm, lovely. Need to get out into the garage to do a bit of fettling of the MTB. Looks like I need to keep the winter tyres on it for today's practice.

Went out today with a couple of my team mates. Fortunately I'd say we are reasonably evenly matched over a lap. Horrible conditions - a few inches of wet snow over much of the course including the seemingly endless fire road drag which was heavy going. Also impossible to see what you are cycling into - came off once as my Ice Spikers have no grip on the rocks. In fact, Spikers were entirely the wrong tyre to be on in the conditions as there was no real "ice" to speak of and they're heavy and slippery in the places you most need grip. There's definitely something about the course where you are seemingly climbing far more than descending - mostly because they are grinding climbs followed by short, sharp, technical drops. There's a glorious section at the end of the lap down through the trees on a sweeping path. There's also incredible amounts of mud and water.

Meeting tonight to talk strategy (nothing more sophisticated than how many laps each we will start with)

I'm kinda looking forward to it and a little bit in awe of it...

Prob better on mud tyres in slushy snow. Maybe 1.8's with a wide spaced big knobbly tread.

Pictures someone has posted of the course today

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/strathpuffer-the-countdown?replies=6#post-3334588

Gives some indication of what it's like

Good luck for the weekend Richard!!

I've raced Mountain Mayhem for the last few years and I have to say this makes it look quite pathetic in comparison!

Oh, and something like these could be an idea -
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/SearchResults.aspx?Search=maxxis+medusa

Thanks - I think it's quite extreme - the idea is to drive yourself totally into the ground.

I've ordered (and I hope it's going to arrive this evening - I'm cutting it fine) some Panaracer Trailrakers which everyone I know recommends for this event. Them and a large tub of MTFU

Good luck Richard and wear some armour mate.

Anybody who cares to financially back this misadventure, please head to

http://www.justgiving.com/RichardMerrell

It will help me plough through the mud at 2am on Sunday morning...

BTW - donations will be match-funded by my employer so whatever you give will be doubled.

Up at 6.45 ready for the day. Having a norming "commuting day" breakfast - latte and porridge with added banana. I'm pretty well packed for the off. Need to collect team mate. His dad (a friend and colleague) was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer the same day as Charlie's cancer was diagnosed and died 4 months later.

The weather outside sounds pretty foul. 25mph wind from NW and rain. As long as the wind stays from the west, it won't be too bad as it will broadly be a tailwind up the hill. The rain is less welcome though. 6c is better than we dare hope for though with plenty of windchill but that will keep the frost off.

More later.

Good luck Richard!!!

Thanks, Bezzer!

Well it's just gone 5am - quick post-snooze update. I've done 4 hours and at hour 16, before I went to sleep, we'd done 17 laps I think. We were knocking out the daylight laps in around 50 minutes but the extreme mud and the darkness has slowed us up. My bike was suffering from "chain suck" with all the mud on it which meant for at least half a lap I couldn't use the lowest gears or the chain would jam - very, very, frustrating to summon the energy to climb a steep incline only for the pedals to jam. Only 6 hours of riding to go from here...body hurts

Finished. We managed 23 laps in 24 hours - which doesn't mean a lot. I did 5 hours as I was the last in the rotation of our team. It was incredibly hard but I relaxed into it and enjoyed each lap more than the previous. The mud was incredible - worse I've ever seen. My wrist hurts from the battering it's received, my shoulders ache and I'm very tired but happy to have done it and "got the tshirt" (literally). The "quads" (teams of 4) were on by a team of lads all under 14! Some unbelieveably fit people there with a number of international teams.

MRS - kudos

Well done. Enjoy the ice bath, and a wee dram of the amber fluid

Thanks tim, I've had a shower and a cup of coffee to try to atay awake to a reasonable until a reasonable time.

Well done mate !

Some video and stills here that hint at what it's like

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r7VCqkIBmo&feature=g-upl&context=G2dcd3ddAUAAAAAAAAAA

Congratulations!
Interesting that all the bikes seem to be hardtails.
Would you do it again?

Generally hardtails - probably the ideal bike. some full-bouncers, some rigid forks (even one CX bike - mad or great skills) and quite a few single speeds (for reliability)

I'll be under huge pressure to do it again next year. I kinda feel I've met the challenge - it was something that I was in awe of. But, if they were desperate I would.

I guess you have a while to be railroaded into next year's event. A fantastic achievement, and a bonus if your legs still work tomorrow.

Well I don't feel too bad this morning. A bit tired and battered (swelling on my wrist has gone down) - obviously I got dehydrated more than I thought too. Not going into work until lunchtime.

Really appreciate all the support - thanks so much - you are a fantastic bunch of people.

Couple of relatively dull pics





Second one hopefully gives some idea of how cold it was sitting about in a gazebo in the Scottish Highland forests in the middle of winter!

That looks cold. I guess a nice Whisky was off the menu?

The support guys were thinking about mulled wine - but were worried they might need to take us to hospital at some point...!

Awesome effort MRS, well done.

Thanks for all your support with the Puffer donations. By the time my employers match-fund it, I'm on target to reach at least £3100 for TCT.

Added to the racing money raised last year, the total is over £10,000 with another £5,000 on top from Mrs MRS doing a fund-raising day at her school.

If you're near Argos this weekend, please sling any loose change you have in the TCT bucket

Thank you for all your support.