It’s been 3 years since I last stood on the start line of an
ultra marathon. The mentality is completely different to any other race I have
done. Very few can start fast, finish fast and ride all night for 12 hours. My
plan was simple; start steady, keep motivated and hope that come 4am I was in
contention for a podium and try to pick up the pace. The longest ride I had
done in the build up to the race was a 60 mile road ride and about 3 hours off
road. I had tried to fit in some hill intervals in the last few weeks to make
up for the lack of real time on the bike. However, 12 hours was always going to
be a big step up, especially when played out in complete darkness (8pm-8am).
