Team Trailbase @ Sleepless in the Saddle 2010

Trailbase HQ @ Sleepless

Earlier in the year on a sunday morning ride what started out as harmless banter somehow evolved into four unsuspecting stooges signing up for this years Sleepless in the Saddle 24 hour mountain bike race. Cue the inaugural Team Trailbase: Myself (Dave Olinski), Gez 'now I'm angry' Wall, Campbel '0% APR' Fletcher, and Mark 'no pressure, I'm not racing' Denton (Mark actually stepped in at the last minute to replace Craig who in a moment of clarity realised the reality of the insaneness and feigned 'I'm a little too busy now'). And so after months of hard training (not) we arrived at Catton Park ready to do battle.

Gez racing through the pack in stealth camo mode

Gez volunteered (read: was forced) to get us underway in the Le Mans style 800m, before grabbing his trusty steed and doing a sterling first lap. At app. 8 miles per lap we were lapping around the 40min mark initially, dropping to around 45mins when the sun (and at times our morale) went down. I'd dragged the missus (Jo) along to be our support crew and with her keeping a diligent eye on our lap times things ran pretty well with transitions (passing the baton) going sweet. We decided to go with the strategy of doing single laps (rider 1 out on the course does 1 lap then passes the baton to rider 2 etc) which meant with a team of 4 you got about 2 hours before you had to go out again. While this sounds like a long time it is amazing how quickly that time goes and it just doesn't feel like you can ever relax.

Crossing the line to finish my final lap (23.04 hours of racing!)

Racing through the night was interesting to say the least, but a great experience and powered by a deadly but effective cocktail of energy gels, baked potatoes, beans etc somehow we made it through in one piece. To go out on your first daylight lap of the morning and see the sun coming up with the mist hanging over the trees was truly a memorable experience and a massive morale boost. All we had to do now was keep it going until 2pm that afternoon and then it'd be job done.

But fate had one cruel trick to play. By now we'd made it almost 24 hours without a single puncture or mechanical between us, a fact which Gez naively voiced out loud just before going out on his final lap. The gods of fate heard these boastful words and leapt into action providing him with a puncture and a broken pump just a mile out from finishing his lap. After torrent of expletives he uttered his infamous catch phrase 'now I'm angry!', turned green, ripped open his shirt and ran the bike in the last mile (note: some facts may have been modestly embellished). A trooper to the end. After which yours truly, Mark and Cam all gave it our all to get 1 more lap a piece in before the cut off, with Mark delivering a stunning lap considering several hours earlier he had declared he was a broken man.

Cam bringing it home

And so it was over. When all was said and done we finished 24th out of 78 in our category. Not bad for the teams first outing. Bleary eyed Trailbase HQ was dismantled and we began the redbull fuelled drive home. It had been a great, if somewhat surreal at times, weekend. The team performed superbly, Jo's support was a life saver, and I was grateful to have had such a good bunch of mates with which to endure the insanity that is 24 hour mountain bike racing.

Bring on the next one!