Colin writes about record breaking in the National 12 hour Championship at the weekend
This years National Championship was the Elmet CRC event on a flat'ish' course based on two circuits around Sutton on Durwent just East of York on a blustery day which provided an extra challenge to the distance I'd only ridden once before. We had a rude awakening by crowing cockerel at 3.30 so i had over an hour to ponder the event which has taken up a large proportion of my season, as the most demanding both in terms of preparation and training it is an event you only want to ride once a season to qualify for your BBAR position.
I was an early start 6.27 and it was quite cold, it took a few laps to warm up as i was not 'flat out' I kept to my schedule of 24mph for the first four hours to get into the body of the ride. I went through 100 miles in 4.12 and was sent on an extra lap of the big circuit(31m) as i has caught everybody in front before a single lap of the smaller finishing circuit (14m) where every body else had done 3 and 2. This was a little bit confusing for my helpers and put me back into the body of the field and it took them a lap or so to catch on. The wind got up and the flags outside the local cricket pavilion taunted every rider with their motion as if to say 'come on if you think you're hard enough' I took some grub which i managed to force down me, a chicken sandwich, a banana and a hot cross bun saved for later, the crucifixion motif not lost on me here as i ploughed my way on to 200 miles in 8.45 at 23mph average.
At this point i decided to be 'old skool' and i stopped for a 'sit-down' feed which not many of the riders do these days (aparently) but i was coming into a bad patch and i was glad of it, I ate some fruit and rice and a drink of flat coke (not easy and a little bit messy on the bike) i had been cramping up so the leg rub came in handy and i was off in less than 10 min. One more lap of the big circuit and it was onto the finishing circuit where once I'd worked off my cramp the day began to cool and it rained enough to wet the roads but it also seemed to calm the wind for the last two hours. I came into a bit of a 'purple patch' and was cruising along at 25-30 mph for the first time in the race, I had a ding dong battle with Paul Holdsworth (4th - 278.04)as we passed and re-passed each other i eventually gave way as i came to my finish at 6.27 in the evening and then rolled along to the next timekeeper where i was given the instruction i could cease and my support team pulled up.
For the last lap as i knew i had a PB in the bag and the Club Record fell with over half an hour to go and i was still over 22 mph (it would have been 22.5mph if I had not stopped) ahead of my target 264 and good enough for 7th place on the day and winner of my age category (45-49). Champion was two time previous winner the 'Master' Kevin Dawson 291.49 an awesome ride on such a tricky day a clear 2mph faster than I could muster. Second was C. Ruebotham with 280.25 and third Nik Bowdler on 279.61 a close run thing for the Silver and Bronze after twelve hours of racing
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