My first ever 24hr and for me this was one of the events I wanted to win the most, my motivation through training has been the thought of taking home this title so I was going to fight for this one even though I didn’t know what to expect from such a long event. When I saw the jersey in registration it gave me goose bumps, every lap I could see it and every lap I wanted it that bit more.
The course was relentless you know a course is tough when you start looking forward to the long fire road climbs as it s a bit of a break! But the views were amazing and where it was so hot it was bone dry a rarity for Scotland!
I started with an air of caution but kept in touch with the leader. The temperature was nearing 30c during the day so I planned on making my moves nearer the night I had confidence in my night skills and my lights are always reliable so had to play it cool for the first 12hrs ready to bust some moves in the moonlight.
Had a puncture at 10pm but it wasn’t a problem, I lost a couple of minutes and that was my slowest lap. Then I started to do some work and put in 4 swift laps to take the lead and then dawn arrived and I entered a whole new world of pain. From then on it was a case of getting your head down and just keep pedalling and it started to get hot again which becomes a chore because your fluid intake has to be high. Every lap I took on food and then swapped my raptor 6 which seemed to be so important because of the sun.
Then, finally it was time to stop pedalling and my feet were so grateful, time for a lie down in the shade and rest with a great big fat smile knowing that I had achieved what I set out to do and that was bring home the jersey.
Rickie has now qualified for the 24 hour mtb Solo World Championships in Australia !!
Watch Out Australia here she comes……
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