With various members of Team JMC regularly entering endurance MTB events I thought it was about time to get in on the action, so in early 2015 decided to enter Bristol Bikefest (as a pair with a non JMC colleague). After the long drive down from sunny Yorkshire Friday on afternoon we eventually got to Bristol and made camp for the evening (with some pre-ride fuelling!)

For the seasoned pro’s of Bristol Bikefest they are well aware of the several mile hike for the Le Mans style start (run to your bike then ride) and being my first event decided a cosy position near the back would be my best bet. And then we were off!!! I can only imagine it would be like running for the tube on a Monday morning at the front and glad I didn’t have that to contend with.

On the first lap their seemed to be a lot of queuing at certain points around the 10KM course (well there was if you weren’t at the front) but that give us the opportunity to take in our surroundings and spot the passing places for the following laps.

After the mayhem of the first laps we started to get into a riding rhythm and made, what we thought, was steady progress and considering this was our first attempt at an endurance event I don’t think we did that badly. We lasted just over 8 and half hours, didn’t finish last in the pairs category and didn’t finish last overall!

After the race had finished it was time to enjoy a few much needed, well-earned beers (obviously to help with rehydration) and to reflect and discuss our strategy for next year!