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A few weekends ago I went along to the National 24hour Time Trial Championships being held on the roads of Sussex to help one of my Bec CC clubmates, James Hughes, whilst he rode in the event.

I was part of his night support crew on an 18 mile circuit making sure he had enough food and drink, help sort out mechanical issues, and anything else required. It also gave one of the other members of his support crew (Peter Hammond) a chance to get some sleep as he’d been helping out when James started his race hours earlier. There was also Russ Becket, Shaun Kennedy, Keith Butler from Bec CC helping James out, as well as my girlfriend Steph (who was only going to drop me off but decided to stay and help out in the end).

The following morning when I returned home a number of things dawned upon me and I suddenly had a new found enthusiasm for my own training and racing.

The National 24 hour Time Trial Championships is a tough event – basically how far can you cycle in 24 hours. The course seemed tough from what I saw of it – undulating in many places.

The winner, Andy Wilkinson, managed an unbelievable 540 miles (in the process beating his own national record). James, my clubmate, finished 8^th overall with 449 miles.

George Berwick is 70 years of age – he was competing in his 50^th 24 hour race!

I was speaking to another support crew member who was telling me about their rider, Ann Bath (Kingston Phoenix). Ann took up cycling when she was 50, had never really cycled that much before, joined her local club and eventually started doing shorter distance time trials eventually moving up to riding 24 hour races. Ann is 62 years of age.

I took great inspiration not only from the winners achievements but also all the other competitors who battled their way through this tough event – I’ve only mentioned 4 riders out of 96 who had entered the event.

It has now led me to think about my training a lot more and has helped me with my motivation – if someone in their 70′s can still get out there and give it a shot then why can’t I and why shouldn’t I – my longest race this year is an ironman distance triathlon with a cut-off time of 16 hours, I should be finished well within that cut-off – I’ll have a much shorter day out there than the likes of George, Ann and the other riders who were doing the race for personal achievement. Some riders had a break for a little while during the night to have some food, have a short sleep but still had to get back in the saddle to ride to the finish.

The other aspect of the race that really stood out for me was the volunteers at the race – the timekeepers, marshals, and support crews. Time-trialling is fairly spartan and doesn’t have the razzmatazz associated with an ironman distance triathlon – at the finish of a time-trial you pass a small chequered flag not a carpeted finishing chute with cheerleaders and enthusiastic supporters. There are no finishers medals, event t-shirts or goodie bags. You finish an event and just have that personal satisfaction of your effort and achievement. You hand your race number in at the race HQ after you’ve finished, get a cup of tea and wait for your result to be put on the results board.

During the night of the event I was based outside a village hall on the night circuit. The village hall was open all night to provide riders (and supporters) with a place to rest up, have some food, and in some cases have a quick sleep. Kingston Phoenix Road Club took charge of the kitchen area providing tea, coffee, food and soup for the riders, supporters, marshals and timekeepers – from what I heard no one had asked them to do this, they just got on with it. Congrats to Kingston Phoenix for doing so – I’m sure the many riders that stopped really appreciated your efforts.

During the night I spoke to quite a few people – some whom have been involved in the sport for many years. Most had given up their weekends to help out their clubmates at the event. Some, who have retired from racing, just help out at events nowadays. I spoke to Frank Cubis (Kingston Phoenix) – he is a timekeeper at many time-trials in the London South region, many I have ridden in myself, and he gives up his time – rain or shine, week in, week out – to do this. One thing that I noticed about Frank when he is the starting timekeeper at an event is his cheerful nature – always good when about to put yourself through a couple of hours of cycling pain.
I’d heard that Robin Johnson (Brighton Mitre CC) had spent many hours driving around the different circuits of the course putting direction and warning signs out. Robin also organises time trials in the Brighton region during the season – I’ve ridden a few of them over the years and they are great events and Robin is a really nice, friendly chap.

Both of these volunteers are in their 70′s now.

Without people like Robin or Frank or the many others that gave up their time over that weekend these events would not go ahead.

I’ve marshalled at many events over the years as well as working as a massage therapist or a member of a support crew. I really enjoy it because you get to see the racing from a different perspective – not only do you get to watch the event but you also see what goes into organising and running an event (the recent National 24 hour time trial championships took around 2 years to organise I believe) and more importantly you are put of a larger picture hoping to ensure that those who have entered have a great race experience – something that you expect as an athlete at the events you pay to enter.

When I race now I always try and thank the marshals as I pass (sometimes when you are putting in a lot of effort it is tough and sometimes doesn’t happen) because I know these people have given up their spare time to help out.
I find that it gives me a bit of a motivational kick up the backside concerning training and racing – you see others race, you see the effort they are putting in, you see them pushing themselves. Of the races or events we enter how many are we capable of winning ourselves? I know I’ve never entered a race that I was capable of winning or am on the start line as race favourite but that doesn’t stop me going for a personal best or giving it my all – I’m at the event for my own personal reasons.

I know that if I’m racing in an event and after I have finished the marshals and timekeepers are still out on the course in all weather conditions making sure the other competitors finish – in a way I feel I’ve got the easier end of the deal when racing which is why I will go and marshal or help out at events – I know I’ll get a different perspective on the sport and hopefully come away with some inspiration to help me with my training and racing.

As much as we celebrate the champions in our sport it sometimes important to celebrate the efforts of those that help organise the events, who give their time freely and selflessly, which in turn give the oppurtunity for these champions to be crowned in the first place.

 

Happy training

 

Rich

 

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