Bontrager Twentyfour12

Racebike - seemed like a good idea at the time...

As a teenager obsessed with mountain bikes growing up in rural Australia my exposure to the wider world of mountain biking was for some time almost entirely through magazines, predominantly British ones. Names like Newnham Park therefore carry for me more than a hint of glory, now faded much like those old pages of Mountain Biker International. I'd never been to the Bontrager 24/12 before though had heard good things. So I was glad things worked in order to make it down this year. In so far as I have such things pertaining to racing, I had 24/12 in mind as something of a goal for this season, racing with Steve as a pair in the 12 hour race. Team racer Grant Taylor and friend from Velo Club Moulin Dean Taylor (unrelated in most respects) were facing off against us.

Due to motorway blockages and other annoyances Grant and I ended up travelling down together, and I was glad for the company. Plus I could get in some early heckling and try to undermine his confidence. When we arrived a little after nine we were glad to see Steve and Lorraine had already snagged us a nice little area adjacent to the course. Quickly threw up the easy up and settled in for a few quiet ones before sleep. We heard loud music just up the way, thought we should investigate. Of course it was the Trek 69er boys, which immediately meant any hope of starting with a clear head had been dashed.

Bikes at the ready

We were treated to what felt like a pleasant spring day, which given recent conditions was considered pretty good despite this being midsummer. The plan was to start off doing double laps and see how it went from there, with the underlying assumption Steve would probably need to pick up some of my considerable slack somwhere along the way. I was on a rigid Swift SS with the ultra fancy new Reynolds carbon rimmed Dugast tubular shod wheels. Steve was on the Pegasus with a suspension fork and Maxxis Crossmarksrunning tubeless.

As ever, Mr Webb got us off to a flying start, coming in around top 15 overall and I think second in our category after his two laps. I was feeling pretty good on my first lap and was getting along strongly on the second when the inevitable happened on one of the fast descents and I punctured. Thankfully it went down slowly and I could continue riding a little, but eventually went completely flat. I was prepared for this eventuality by way of a sealing CO2 cannister. Unfortunately unloading this only resulted in the valve extender coming apart and blowing off with sealant spraying everywhere... I wasn't prepared to sacrifice a £300 rim and €100 tyre to carry on, so I walked enough of the course until I was close to camp, went and grabbed another front wheel and off I went. The course was good fun (though perhaps not the most singlespeed friendly) and the whole venue and organisation was top notch.

An unwelcome grind after the road climb - Photo thanks to Raluca

I finished the lap but was feeling quite dejected by the end of it - the wind had left my sails a bit as well as my tyres. Steve of course was still up for it though and cranked out three solid laps in a row. Off I went again and by the end of the first lap I was already feeling a bit flat, I stopped for a bit of a breather and something to eat, it was a struggle to make myself go back out again, I really wasn't on great form. Nevertheless I headed out for one more, though it wasn't a quick one. I knew when I got back I didn't really want to go out again - after all we do this for fun and I wasn't having any... Steve got a couple more in then retired for some barbeque and beer at about 9pm. In retrospect you think 'only' three hours to go, but at the time there was just no way. It's been a busy season and just a fun race hanging out with friends and yelling at those still riding was perhaps what we needed.