There has always been the distinction between a ‘Long 24’ where laps started within the time limit count and a ‘Short 24’ where laps completed within the time limit count. This is a small but very important difference. The 24hrs of Finale are a law unto themselves and seem to have invented the ‘Very Long 24’ format, where the race finishes after the winner crosses the line after 24 hours, which lead to me having to do a surprise extra lap after I thought that I had finished the 2014 European Championships.
My longest 24hr race to date has been the 2010 World Championships at 25h16m, this was a Long format race and I started my last lap at 23h49m. My shortest 24hr has been the 2013 European Championships at 23h15m, which was a Short format event, with only 45 minutes to go I could not complete another lap.
This year’s National Championships, Relentless at Fort William, will be held on the final weekend of October, the 29th and 30th. The final weekend of October is of course the day when the clocks go back an hour. Rather than make us race for 24 hours, as is traditional at a 24hr race, No Fuss have decided that we should instead stick with racing from midday on Saturday to midday on Sunday, which is 25 hours.
But of course 25 hours simply isn’t enough, this race will also be in the ‘Long’ format. This does mean that anyone who is a bit tired and slow when they start a new lap after 24 hours and 59 minutes could well find themselves doing a 27 hour race… Who could possibly be daft enough to do such a thing?
I got my entry in yesterday. The entry list for the solo category reads like a who’s who of British endurance racing. It’s a big list, full of current and former British and European Champions and a fair few age-group World Champions and Elite World Championship medalists.
I have therefore entered the Singlespeed category. This should get me away from all of the fast guys and then I can just ride to…....bugger, there’s the World Champ. I wonder how may times he can lap me in 27 hours?
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