Georges 12 hour

Now den, Just like to give an account of my 12 hour in 2007.....

In reply to the question "What do you think about?"

For me I was continually thinking of how I was feeling, when to eat/drink, checking times against others, checking overall time as well as what Carlos said, all sorts.

0430 Woke up, crap nights sleep.

The B&B made us a pack up for Breakfast, I asked if they could leave Muesli out, Barstewards, no muesli, oh well tuck in then pack up.

Maybe not, it looked like fried spam sandwiches, so breakfast consisted of 750ml of energy drink, 4 energy bars and a deluxe fruit scone from Asda.

Skinsuit on, a good rubbing of Vaseline (let it soak in).

In the car then head to Invergordon, B&B was in Tain.

Start After faffing about getting the tyres sorted I headed over to the start, Carlos was No 38, 4 minutes in front of me, I was 42. Hold on, I'm sure Carlos is behind me, oh well he's got more sense than to get to the start late.

My turn, I asked the timekeeper, he said Carlos arrived with 5 seconds to spare! Close call Carlos, then again you have 12 hrs ahead of you.

Anyway, I was off 2x500ml bottles on the bike with an energy bar up the leg, worked last year. My feeding was planned out, top up every 2 hrs, I think Carlos was every 3hrs with his bigger 750ml bottles.

Hours 1-3 As with Carlos, no problems, I wore my armwarmers as it said 9 degrees on my £4.99 Aldi speedo. Avg spd was around 22.5 - 23.0 Had to get painkillers as back starting to twinge, feel the difference. 2 every 4 hrs.

4-5 hours Still feeling strong, but the road out to Bonar Bridge was a bit of a slog.

Mind games, If I'm struggling remember everybody else is struggling.

100miles in exactly 4hr 30min.

Hours 6-7 Heading out to Portmahomack, this was another slog, I work out its the Headwind. Got fed at the turn by Anna's Auntie and Uncle, threw both bottles out but only got 1back, sh"t..

Oh well it'll last until Nigg, On the way back I was Avg 23-25, still feeling strong, niggles in back were being held at bay by Paracetamol. Got to the roundabout straight to Nigg, Marshal indicates Right, oh, never mind, Anna will work out I am not coming down the road and come and feed me. Look at the bottle 1/4 left. Start to worry, still feeling strong but need to have a drink.

Anna said they were waiting, one of our members went up to the roundabout and asked if I had come through, "We don't know" was the reply.

Meanwhile No drink. no food. I was first up the road. no other cars. I start to worry, I slow down after turning at Ardulie roundabout. I know whats going to happen, and it did, I was running on Fat, 14-15mph

By the time they realised where I was, I was pintled, Kath was handing me a bag, but I had to pull over. I lost my footing and fell over on the grass. Blah blah blah, Got on the bike again headed into Invergordon, was Sick about 15 times, then got put on to the finishing circuit by another marshal, still being sick, eased up, still being sick.

Pulled over to where Anna had parked, What a disappointment, I was drained, I was so miffed at being sent down the road to Ardullie. While my feed was at Nigg. Slept in the car for 1hr - 1hr 30, got back on the bike and got a puncture, swapped wheels carried on going.

Finished it, thank God.

I know that I could have carried on at the pace I was going if I had been fed and watered, My estimate was around about 260 mark, 3rd got 261 buggeration, Next year eh.

At HQ Mr J Macmillan shouts me over, oh by the way, since you were sent down the wrong way, you don't qualify for a finishing distance. Hit a man while he is down, never mind, at least we learned something,

Don't trust Marshals.

My maximum distance this year before the 12 hour was 84 miles. My weekly mileage has been 60-130 miles a week.

Its all about pacing yourself.

George

Note from Carlos

George had a tough old time of it, He is right about the marshals, they are human and sometimes they make mistakes…

He is also right about pacing yourself, you have to get it right. One observer reckoned George looked like he was riding a 50tt instead of a 12 hour, so perhaps he set off too fast.

He was unlucky with loosing his helpers, but the organiser later confirmed that George had covered 210.96 miles. Not bad considering his problems on the day and his lack of specific training for the distance.

Well done George, better luck next time.