Ultra-race #2

I did it again; I entered another ultra-cycling race. To say that I enjoyed BikingMan Oman would actually be entirely true. I mean obviously there were parts that I didn’t enjoy; I’d say the worst bits were the lack of sleep (and feeling guilty for any sleep that I did manage as it quickly became evident to me that to do well, you needed to not sleep) and the pain in my feet that gradually got worse as I got further into the event. Turns out wearing your cycling shoes nearly 24/7 is not to be recommended. Light and shade ☯.

"Enjoying" BikingMan Oman 🤔.

I’d say I’m a relative newbie to bike-packing; I can count on one hand the number of trips I’ve been on where I’ve had to carry all my possessions and ride from A to B unaided. It’s a cycling discipline that has totally captured my imagination though. I guess I started riding because I wanted to get out and see the world around me, and to do that off of my own steam. To be able to turn that into a journey and to explore beyond the surroundings of my hometown has opened doors for me that I never thought possible. I mean, for example, when I came back from Oman early last year I felt invigorated with the knowledge that actually there was never any reason not to fit a bike ride into my weekly schedule; I could ride through the night if I wanted to! That enthusiasm quickly disappeared when I became reacquainted with my bed and rediscovered how nice it is to eat eggs for breakfast with your boyfriend rather than ride along icy roads first thing on a bitterly cold February morning.

Not only has covering long distances both night and day by bike broadened my horizons in terms of realising what I am capable of, it has also allowed me to see more of the world. Entering BikingMan Oman was to stretch my love of exploration to a country that I never thought I would set foot in, let alone visit and then proceed to ride my bike solo around. It took me months and months to wrack up the courage to fill in the online entry form which included the section “Tell us more about your sportive background, training, achievements”. One evening after work, I tried my best to answer questions such as “your longest ride without sleeping?” and “did you ever camp in the wilderness?”. I’m ashamed to admit I completely lost my nerve by the time it came to the payment options. I pressed X at the top of the screen and went to bed. The next morning I awoke to an email from the event organiser Axel. My attempt to register had not gone unnoticed. In my embarrassment I lied and said I’d had payment issues, and then promptly signed myself up to the race.

Riding through the desert solo was tough but I feel incredibly lucky to have had the opportunity and backing from friends, family and sponsors alike, to be able to have done so.

Anyway, back to the task at hand. In 9 day’s time I will be flying to Taiwan to take part in another of the BikingMan series. This race is a little longer at 1,150km and features 20,000 meters of climbing rather than the 7,000 or so meters that featured in the Oman course. Bianchi have been incredibly generous and accommodating of my alternative race calendar and have again provided me with a bicycle for the event. The Infinito CV Disc is an incredible bike and I cannot wait to fly the Bianchi celeste flag and show it off in Taiwan.
Check it out here: https://www.bianchi.com/bike/ultegra-11sp-compact-3/

Beautiful Bianchi: the Infinito CV Disc. Photo: Ben Briffett.

Organisation, as for Oman, has been taking place alongside work. Thankfully this time round I have a job that allows me a little more time to sort myself out. Working full time and then trying to collect travel money, get your bicycle to a mechanic, sort out your travel insurance etc. is no mean feat! That is not to say that I am by any ready yet though. Jobs on the list include: actually work out what the currency is in Taiwan, order it and then collect it, put a smaller cassette on my bicycle so that I actually stand a chance of getting round and trying to devise a plan of attack for the race. I thought I was hardcore planning to only sleep for 4 hours a night when tackling BikingMan Oman but it turns out a 1000km race is generally considered to be a no-sleep time trial within the ultra-distance race community!

I have another race to take my mind off Taiwan for the time being; this weekend I will be taking part in Red Bull Time Laps with three of my Bianchi Dama teammates. This is a 25 hour relay race that takes place the night that the clocks go back and UK daylight saving time ends. At 2am when the clock goes back, the “Power Hour” begins and a different part of the course opens up. Every lap that you do of this alternative course counts for double and so tactically you want your strongest (and most awake at 2am) rider racing at this time! I have volunteered myself to ride during the night (surprisingly this wasn’t the most popular choice amongst my teammates) in the hope that this will give me some extra practice at sleep deprivation. I’m not sure that’s really how it works but it may at least give me the opportunity to see how much caffeine I can consume and still be functional.

I mean, you can sleep when you’re dead right?
(Any tips/suggestions on how to cheat the need for sleep would be very much appreciated!)

Comments

  1. If you find an answer to hacking sleep I'd love to know! On the last night of TCR I slept for 5 minutes on the side of the road, with helmet and sunglasses on, as my head was bouncing in and out of sleep. When I woke I felt incredible and thought I'd totally hacked sleep, until I looked in the mirror....

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