(Caveat I haven’t had much sleep so times, places, order of events and names might not quite be in the right place or order, apologies, but hopefully the insight into this challenge still comes though.)
Ant and Bruce are undertaking, what I think will turn out of be, the biggest challenge of their lives, which is no mean feat given their racing pedigree. I’ve had the privilege of spending the last day of planning with them, seeing them off, running the first leg of the BG and cycling with them for a day.
The day before was all about checking the weather, checking the kit and final planning with the support crew, at this stage a skeleton crew of one van for each stage, a band of pacers for the Bob Graham and a few support riders for the JOGLE.
It was quite strange preparing myself for a 4 or so hour night run in hills, something that is relatively simple, but you still need to think through what you are carrying, and in this case for whom, while next to me Ant and Bruce are planning for 5 or 6 days. As the house filled with support drivers, pacers and family we all watched their piece on Cumbria News and ate huge amounts of pasta and then left for Keswick.
The weather was perfect and the leg went to plan, although Ant’s knees were sore and the taper had left both of them quite heavy legged. At Threlkeld I passed them over to their new group of pacers and drove South for work, jealous and sad I couldn’t go on for at least one more leg in perfect conditions.
Logistics of meeting them for the bike leg changed hourly as we watched them track South and realised the original schedule had been optimistic. Shuttling cars was ruled out, but trains don’t run 23:00 to 06:00, which on the original plan meant I could cycle Preston to Lancaster and just get the last train home. I had a chat with Jim (the first of many) to check if they could drive me to a station if it got tight which they agreed. By Friday afternoon it was looking like I was more likely to be on the first train out of Stafford with a wait, so Hilary Roundsley agreed to take some warm clothes for me as she was meeting the boys at the feed stop.
After a convoluted journey and delayed journey North, I met a friend Mike Steel at Lancaster. He’d cycled North from Preston some hours before and was itching to head North as far as possible to meet them. Another call to Jim and they were still enjoying the generous hospitality of The Kings Arms in Burton-in-Kendal, so I was wanting to go a little more steadily given I had to get to Lancaster and I’d only managed an hour on the bike the previous weekend before my back had gone into painful spasms. We settled on Carnforth and stopped to refuel in Tesco just before it closed at 10pm. At this point the peloton snook past us and Jake peeled off to pick us up.
We found them a couple of hundred metres later though, things weren’t looking good, 4 people were around the bike with Ant directing a seat adjustment. He was suffering and had switched to a suspension seatpost in Kendal, however the new saddle position was crippling him. We spent a bit of time saying hello to the Kendal posse and staying out of the way as it seemed a complicated thing to adjust. Once on our way we headed towards Lancaster but had to stop again almost immediately, Ant was in agony which another adjustment didn’t help. Having parachuted in I stayed out of the way but things weren’t looking good for the challenge, Ant was crying to himself and in this state he was realising he wouldn’t make Lands End. We hit a pot hole which caused screams from both of them and may have resulted in the deflating rear tire we stopped to change shortly afterwards.
We met the support vehicles again and switched to another saddle, which saw 5 people turning the van upside looking for tools, tape measures and missing bits of the new seat post. With Jim and Aitch staying in Kendal to take some well earned rest, Jane and Dave (who’d given up their Scottish Holiday to stay on and support South of the Border) weren’t familiar with what was where in the van and although we worked well as a team this stop took a age.
Finally we got some momentum and waved goodbye to Mike as he peeled off to go home in Preston, slowly the Kendal supporters dwindled until there was just me and the boys. At this stage I kicked myself for not uploading the route into my GPS, I’d been busy trying to work out how to meet them, it hadn’t even occurred to the me the micronav of towns would be a problem and as we came out of Preston on some good quality tarmac I realised the A6 feeds straight onto the motorway. The internal routing software in my unit gave some very unconvincing directions so I hung onto the door of the support vehicle with a very groggy Jane trying to make sense of the road map before catching up the boys again, just in time to make the turn onto the A49.
At this stage the boys were in a world of pain, it was dark, the supporters were gone, the warm pub a distance memory and sleep deprivation kicking in. Ant had shutdown, so I concentrated on keeping Bruce awake and keeping them moving. Somewhere near Charnock Richard we saw another cyclist who turned out to be David, our first random of the ride. He’d heard about the challenge and ridden out from St Helen’s to meet them, this was the start of the turning point. Heads came up slightly and we made good time through Standish and into Wigan. David’s local knowledge was put to good use to avoid the sleep window falling in the nightclub district of Wigan, so we stopped in a residential street and proceeded to chuck the contents of the van out trying to clear enough space for them to sleep. Unfortunately for David his long ride out would have to be lonely back as well, as this was to be a long sleep stop (not that I’d realised this when I curled up in the footwell of the side door).
Getting going was slow for all or us after (3 hours?) sleep. The total stop seemed much longer. We got going and found a 24hr Tesco to download in, unfortunately this was opposite the turn we were supposed to be taking onto the A573. I missed it completely, still quite spaced from 3 hours hours in a foot well getting cold and no sleep. Traffic had also picked up considerably and our riding style of the night before was no longer appropriate, so we picked our way gingerly down the A49 until Warrington, where we got back on track.
Jim and Aitch were now back and sorting the van with Dave and Jane and also coordinating with the Claytons who’d been out since 01:00 looking for us on the A573, they finally picked us up on a beautiful morning about 06:30 on the A50 and the injection of new people started to pick up the pace, shortly afterwards we also picked up Si Enderby on a classic morning for cycling and another burst of energy from the boys, the totally absorbing pain of the night before now forgotten.
Next to come was Mags, a paddler they’d met on the DW. She’d been out waiting at 3am on her road bike, thankfully spotted by Si who’d told he the new time. She’d then punctured and come back out on her MTB sporting a great tee-shirt. This cemented the new mindset and the only way was up with Si and I pushing Mags AR style up the hills to us together.
Ant and Bruce are undertaking, what I think will turn out of be, the biggest challenge of their lives, which is no mean feat given their racing pedigree. I’ve had the privilege of spending the last day of planning with them, seeing them off, running the first leg of the BG and cycling with them for a day.
The day before was all about checking the weather, checking the kit and final planning with the support crew, at this stage a skeleton crew of one van for each stage, a band of pacers for the Bob Graham and a few support riders for the JOGLE.
It was quite strange preparing myself for a 4 or so hour night run in hills, something that is relatively simple, but you still need to think through what you are carrying, and in this case for whom, while next to me Ant and Bruce are planning for 5 or 6 days. As the house filled with support drivers, pacers and family we all watched their piece on Cumbria News and ate huge amounts of pasta and then left for Keswick.
The weather was perfect and the leg went to plan, although Ant’s knees were sore and the taper had left both of them quite heavy legged. At Threlkeld I passed them over to their new group of pacers and drove South for work, jealous and sad I couldn’t go on for at least one more leg in perfect conditions.
Logistics of meeting them for the bike leg changed hourly as we watched them track South and realised the original schedule had been optimistic. Shuttling cars was ruled out, but trains don’t run 23:00 to 06:00, which on the original plan meant I could cycle Preston to Lancaster and just get the last train home. I had a chat with Jim (the first of many) to check if they could drive me to a station if it got tight which they agreed. By Friday afternoon it was looking like I was more likely to be on the first train out of Stafford with a wait, so Hilary Roundsley agreed to take some warm clothes for me as she was meeting the boys at the feed stop.
After a convoluted journey and delayed journey North, I met a friend Mike Steel at Lancaster. He’d cycled North from Preston some hours before and was itching to head North as far as possible to meet them. Another call to Jim and they were still enjoying the generous hospitality of The Kings Arms in Burton-in-Kendal, so I was wanting to go a little more steadily given I had to get to Lancaster and I’d only managed an hour on the bike the previous weekend before my back had gone into painful spasms. We settled on Carnforth and stopped to refuel in Tesco just before it closed at 10pm. At this point the peloton snook past us and Jake peeled off to pick us up.
We found them a couple of hundred metres later though, things weren’t looking good, 4 people were around the bike with Ant directing a seat adjustment. He was suffering and had switched to a suspension seatpost in Kendal, however the new saddle position was crippling him. We spent a bit of time saying hello to the Kendal posse and staying out of the way as it seemed a complicated thing to adjust. Once on our way we headed towards Lancaster but had to stop again almost immediately, Ant was in agony which another adjustment didn’t help. Having parachuted in I stayed out of the way but things weren’t looking good for the challenge, Ant was crying to himself and in this state he was realising he wouldn’t make Lands End. We hit a pot hole which caused screams from both of them and may have resulted in the deflating rear tire we stopped to change shortly afterwards.
We met the support vehicles again and switched to another saddle, which saw 5 people turning the van upside looking for tools, tape measures and missing bits of the new seat post. With Jim and Aitch staying in Kendal to take some well earned rest, Jane and Dave (who’d given up their Scottish Holiday to stay on and support South of the Border) weren’t familiar with what was where in the van and although we worked well as a team this stop took a age.
Finally we got some momentum and waved goodbye to Mike as he peeled off to go home in Preston, slowly the Kendal supporters dwindled until there was just me and the boys. At this stage I kicked myself for not uploading the route into my GPS, I’d been busy trying to work out how to meet them, it hadn’t even occurred to the me the micronav of towns would be a problem and as we came out of Preston on some good quality tarmac I realised the A6 feeds straight onto the motorway. The internal routing software in my unit gave some very unconvincing directions so I hung onto the door of the support vehicle with a very groggy Jane trying to make sense of the road map before catching up the boys again, just in time to make the turn onto the A49.
At this stage the boys were in a world of pain, it was dark, the supporters were gone, the warm pub a distance memory and sleep deprivation kicking in. Ant had shutdown, so I concentrated on keeping Bruce awake and keeping them moving. Somewhere near Charnock Richard we saw another cyclist who turned out to be David, our first random of the ride. He’d heard about the challenge and ridden out from St Helen’s to meet them, this was the start of the turning point. Heads came up slightly and we made good time through Standish and into Wigan. David’s local knowledge was put to good use to avoid the sleep window falling in the nightclub district of Wigan, so we stopped in a residential street and proceeded to chuck the contents of the van out trying to clear enough space for them to sleep. Unfortunately for David his long ride out would have to be lonely back as well, as this was to be a long sleep stop (not that I’d realised this when I curled up in the footwell of the side door).
Getting going was slow for all or us after (3 hours?) sleep. The total stop seemed much longer. We got going and found a 24hr Tesco to download in, unfortunately this was opposite the turn we were supposed to be taking onto the A573. I missed it completely, still quite spaced from 3 hours hours in a foot well getting cold and no sleep. Traffic had also picked up considerably and our riding style of the night before was no longer appropriate, so we picked our way gingerly down the A49 until Warrington, where we got back on track.
Jim and Aitch were now back and sorting the van with Dave and Jane and also coordinating with the Claytons who’d been out since 01:00 looking for us on the A573, they finally picked us up on a beautiful morning about 06:30 on the A50 and the injection of new people started to pick up the pace, shortly afterwards we also picked up Si Enderby on a classic morning for cycling and another burst of energy from the boys, the totally absorbing pain of the night before now forgotten.
Next to come was Mags, a paddler they’d met on the DW. She’d been out waiting at 3am on her road bike, thankfully spotted by Si who’d told he the new time. She’d then punctured and come back out on her MTB sporting a great tee-shirt. This cemented the new mindset and the only way was up with Si and I pushing Mags AR style up the hills to us together.
Ant was sat up saying how much he was enjoying himself; being out with the AR community, no bibs in sight and a common aim which wasn't to beat each other, such a different mood to the night before.
Keeping pace / providing a draft for a tandem is very challenging; downhill it is almost impossible to keep up with, but uphill it slows very fast. Staying ahead of the their wheel is almost impossible. The roads towards Stafford were ideal however, and with experienced roadies to draft off Ant and Bruce were flying.
Food was now the order of the day and regular phone calls started to the Aitch with a bacon and egg sandwich order. They’d worked with Dave and Jane to reorganise the van in Wigan so were quite way back. In the end we stopped in Newcastle-under-Lyme and I brought some heated rolls from a corner shop just as Aitch and Jim arrived with a stacks of butties from a greasy spoon identified by someone on the blog.
Refueled it was a punt through to the big stop in Stafford, however post break the boys heads went down, so a coffee and proplus order was placed. This arrived out of the window of the passing support vehicle shortly after and we picked up another random who’d been out for a 80 miler, but was inspired by the guys and stayed with them into Stafford. We picked up some more riders, but the pace was now too high for mountain bikes and after trying to push for a while, I was seizing up and had to drop him and get to the feed stop to get my shoes off. It was a party atmosphere in the with loads of people and really positive atmosphere.
I was supposed to stop here, but it was a nice day, my back wasn’t giving me any trouble and I knew I could get a train out of Wolverhampton, so I carried on. Wolverhampton was busy. Ian did a great job of shepherding the boys through the traffic, with Bruce using his London skills while Ant (and I!) closed our eyes.
Heat was now a problem and Aitch’s exhortations to keep them riding to Gloucester were a little optimistic, we had an very nice ice cream stop at a farm shop, while they fought their way through the holiday traffic behind us. Rolling hills to Kidderminster meant slow ups and hard work to keep with them on the downs, but overall the pace was good. The Claytons peeled off here and as the boys were going to be on their own I carried on with them.
Regular water bottle changes with the van weren’t enough to stave the heat off and when we picked up Chris McSweeny with lots of arm waving to keep going we pulled into the next layby for some shade and food. Again the injection of new conversation picked the spirits up and Gary joined us a short time later building momentum through Worcester. The boys were now powering the bike uphills and ‘Chris’s Hill’, after being defined as a hill, not a rise, and given high rating as it was also in the shade proved too much for the bike and rear chain snapped. Chris fixed it in lightening time while Ant and Bruce enjoyed the shade.
I was starting to hurt now and decided to make Gloucester my last stop after Andy Wilson had confirmed train times for me. As I’m racing in a couple of weeks I can’t afford to damage myself. Jonny Boy joined in somewhere North of Gloucester and banter was lifting the pace all the time. I peeled off to the station as Paul and another rider got off the train from Bristol and chased to catch the peloton up.
On the way back North torrential cold rain and thunderstorms lashed the train. Someone upstairs is also supporting the Epic Tri and if flash floods hit the Thames tomorrow Ant’s requested forecast is going to play out to a tee.
Hopefully Ant and Bruce have been through the pain and motivation barrier now on the ride but they have to do it again on the DW. The lowest and most painful point of my racing career was on the Thames upstream of Teddington. So if you’re anywhere near the course, please watch the tracker and get out on the bridges shouting and hanging signs. Also they are going to be behind the main pack of the race, so it should be possible to cycle along the towpath and shout support if you can’t get hold of a boat to paddle with them.
Keeping pace / providing a draft for a tandem is very challenging; downhill it is almost impossible to keep up with, but uphill it slows very fast. Staying ahead of the their wheel is almost impossible. The roads towards Stafford were ideal however, and with experienced roadies to draft off Ant and Bruce were flying.
Food was now the order of the day and regular phone calls started to the Aitch with a bacon and egg sandwich order. They’d worked with Dave and Jane to reorganise the van in Wigan so were quite way back. In the end we stopped in Newcastle-under-Lyme and I brought some heated rolls from a corner shop just as Aitch and Jim arrived with a stacks of butties from a greasy spoon identified by someone on the blog.
Refueled it was a punt through to the big stop in Stafford, however post break the boys heads went down, so a coffee and proplus order was placed. This arrived out of the window of the passing support vehicle shortly after and we picked up another random who’d been out for a 80 miler, but was inspired by the guys and stayed with them into Stafford. We picked up some more riders, but the pace was now too high for mountain bikes and after trying to push for a while, I was seizing up and had to drop him and get to the feed stop to get my shoes off. It was a party atmosphere in the with loads of people and really positive atmosphere.
I was supposed to stop here, but it was a nice day, my back wasn’t giving me any trouble and I knew I could get a train out of Wolverhampton, so I carried on. Wolverhampton was busy. Ian did a great job of shepherding the boys through the traffic, with Bruce using his London skills while Ant (and I!) closed our eyes.
Heat was now a problem and Aitch’s exhortations to keep them riding to Gloucester were a little optimistic, we had an very nice ice cream stop at a farm shop, while they fought their way through the holiday traffic behind us. Rolling hills to Kidderminster meant slow ups and hard work to keep with them on the downs, but overall the pace was good. The Claytons peeled off here and as the boys were going to be on their own I carried on with them.
Regular water bottle changes with the van weren’t enough to stave the heat off and when we picked up Chris McSweeny with lots of arm waving to keep going we pulled into the next layby for some shade and food. Again the injection of new conversation picked the spirits up and Gary joined us a short time later building momentum through Worcester. The boys were now powering the bike uphills and ‘Chris’s Hill’, after being defined as a hill, not a rise, and given high rating as it was also in the shade proved too much for the bike and rear chain snapped. Chris fixed it in lightening time while Ant and Bruce enjoyed the shade.
I was starting to hurt now and decided to make Gloucester my last stop after Andy Wilson had confirmed train times for me. As I’m racing in a couple of weeks I can’t afford to damage myself. Jonny Boy joined in somewhere North of Gloucester and banter was lifting the pace all the time. I peeled off to the station as Paul and another rider got off the train from Bristol and chased to catch the peloton up.
On the way back North torrential cold rain and thunderstorms lashed the train. Someone upstairs is also supporting the Epic Tri and if flash floods hit the Thames tomorrow Ant’s requested forecast is going to play out to a tee.
Hopefully Ant and Bruce have been through the pain and motivation barrier now on the ride but they have to do it again on the DW. The lowest and most painful point of my racing career was on the Thames upstream of Teddington. So if you’re anywhere near the course, please watch the tracker and get out on the bridges shouting and hanging signs. Also they are going to be behind the main pack of the race, so it should be possible to cycle along the towpath and shout support if you can’t get hold of a boat to paddle with them.
Thanks to all the people involved in supporting, it gains a momentum of its own but the effort being put in by the guys behinds the scenes, in particular Jim, Aitch, Dave and Jane can't be underestimated - they've been on the go now as long as Bruce and Ant and I bet they won't be going straight home from Land's End, following these guys is inspirational and addictive.
If you can't get out to see them, and even if you can, please sponsor them at http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/theepictri and follow their progress at http://theepictri.com/pages/live-tracking
Wish I was there, but its time for me to head North.
AndyM
AndyM
