Rob Crayton Images
Joolze Dymond Images
Event Report: Bontrager Twentyfour 12
Newnham Park 26-27 July 2008
Images: Rob Crayton and Joolze Dymond
Report by Joolze Dymond
Blog your experiences of the event here on Everyday Cycling Community!
The Bontrager Twentyfour12 is an endurance mountain bike event aimed at encouraging both novices and more experienced mountain bikers to come along and take part in a huge festival of mountain bike racing over 12 or 24 hours. Now in its third year, the event has quickly established itself as one of the friendliest and most relaxed enduro events in the UK. Beset with some pretty awful weather for its first 2 outings, fingers were crossed that it would be third time lucky!
This year the event was situated at one of the UK's best loved courses, Newnham Park, Plymouth, a real pedigree mountain bike venue with miles of classic singletrack, stunning scenery, a few leg stretching climbs, plus a few cooling river crossings which came in handy as the weekend was baked in glorious hot sunshine. The event had something for everyone, from the complete novice right through to the experienced enduro rider.
The main 12 and 24 hour races started at midday on Saturday, with hundreds of riders surging forward to get stuck in, led out by two recently crowned National XC champions, Jenny Copnall and Debbie Burton. The 12 hour race finished at midnight with the 24 hour one continuing onto Midday on Sunday. New for this year was the introduction of the 'Torchbearer 12' - as one 12-hour race finished then another one began to the dulcet tones of a jazz singer, bringing fresh riders into the race to 'face the music'.
The course itself utilised the best of Newnham Park, eight miles of sinuous singletrack, combined with some stiff climbs, topped off with some classic descents and at least one refreshing river crossing if you were brave enough! As riders flew into the transition area, the beaming smiles on their faces were enough to tell you it was fun out there!
It was interesting to have so many races within a race going on throughout the 24 hours and there were lots of familiar faces, as Elite XC riders rubbed shoulders with complete novices as they all fought out their own individual battles.
The 12 hr Mixed Pairs category boasted a few big names and looked like it was going to be a well contested race, with World Cup rider Kate Potter, teaming up with hubby Ian, to take on competition from Ireland in the form of Ryan Sherlock and Mel Spath. The XCRacer/Certini pairing of Maddie Horton and Phil Morris were keen to make their mark too! These three teams all clocked up a huge 20 laps, as the eight mile course just flowed so quickly, it was a delight to finally ride dry and dusty trails after a pretty damp summer thus far! Over the opening couple of hours the three contesting teams had mere minutes separating them, and still they kept pushing on. It was the Torq/Kona pairing of Sherlock and Spath that had the edge and took victory with a 24 min advantage. The Potter duo took second with Horton and Morris taking third just eight mins later.
Torq/Kona were also triumphant in the Men's 12 hr Pairs as Matt Loake and Phil Coad managed to hold off the Donut Appreciation Society (!) pairing of Adi Scott and Anthony White. Sam and Rob (Rob Koppenhol and Sam Whittlesea) took third.
Liz Scallia teamed up with Nadine Spearing for the 12 hr Women's Pairs and romped to victory with an impressive two lap advantage. Nadine was left at the start of the race, unsure if she was actually going to end up riding solo, as Liz was held up on the M5, where an accident earlier in the morning caused the motorway to close stopping quite a few competitors to get to Plymouth in time to start the race. However after a few hours Nadine was grateful to hand over to her team mate and even more relieved at midnight when they came home with the win. Torq rider Lydia Gould teamed up with Jackie Roberts of beyond Mountain Bikes to take second after a tough battle with Debbie Burton and Linda Broom, who took third.
Ruth Owen-Evans riding her first (and probably her last!) 12 hr had a ding-dong battle with Sara Randle, with the former 24hr Twentyfour/12 Solo champion pushing the Salsa rider all the way. Owen-Evans eventually held on and took the win with a clear lap advantage whist Randle was delighted to be able to finish and celebrated with a donated can of champagne. Alyson Bexfield just nudged ahead of a gutted Sinead McLaren to take third. Veteran 12hr Solo Woman winner Sally Daw did a cracking 14 laps and would have won the younger category too boot!
Yet another Torq rider was locked in mortal combat as the Men's 12h Solo race was fought out between James Lister and Matt Page. Lister started at his usual frantic pace, leaving Page riding more conservatively, slowly picking his way round the field. Eventually the steam train of Lister started to run out of puff leaving the consistent Page to snatch victory in the last few laps. Lister had to be content with second place, less than six minutes adrift. Mike Tomlinson picked up third place.
Despite stiff competition, including Keith Bontrager himself, Colin Smith took the honours in the Vets 12hr Solo, the only Vet to rack up 14 laps. While just 5 minutes separated the next three finishers.
It looked like holidays certainly helped the winners of the 12hr Open Mixed team, as the 4 riders, James Dymond, Iain Collins, Jon Roberts and Kirsty Eastwood, all riding for AQuickRelease.com made short work of their race racking up 19 laps giving them a two-lap advantage over Bigfoot Buddies, with Team Recycled picking up third spot.
Fielding a substitute from Torq, in the shape of Matt Hart, after a team member was unable to make the race, team Yeti/Goldtec, managed to keep hold of the lead in the Men's 12h Team and take the win despite being chased all the way by the folk from Southforkracing.co.uk.
Third spot was another close shave with The Riding DJ's of Red Mutha, in association with Simon Turner, who took turns spinning the discs with spinning their legs. Despite their best efforts, they couldn't quite pip Expresso Grupetto boys to the post. A mere 78 secs separated them.
In the Open 12h Female category it was the girls for Southampton Uni who managed to hold off the strong challenge from the newbies of the Trek Fitness Challenge, the pull of a champagne finish enough to keep them going out for a final lap.
Celebrations quickly got underway, as the 12 hour riders cruised home to warm clothes and bottles of beer. Meanwhile the remaining 24 hr riders continued on their journey into he night and were soon joined by a fresh input of riders as the 'Torchbearers' 12 hr races got underway. Now the riders were not only serenaded by the DJ's out in the forest but now a jazz singer crooned gentle love songs as the riders sailed past. Another surreal but delightful touch that you'll find at enduro events, making you either question your sanity or your taste in music!
With a stonking 26 laps under their belts, the girls of the London Phoenix Chix team took the win in the Open Female race, and were keen to spread the message of how much fun the event is and just wished they had more girlies out their to contend with.
The Open Men's category had no such problems with a rash of teams keen to get on the podium. A competitive race soon unfolded between the two front runners: XCRacer.com & The 69er Collective. Now if team manager Andy of the 69ers could actually count his team may have been even closer, but fielding just 4 men in a 5 men team may have been their downfall, that and the fact they were all riding singlespeed, oh and one of their team was suffering from food poisoning, so all in all not quite a level playing field! However they did well to score a massive 39 laps, but it wasn't enough to unseat the Xcracer team, who picked up the win with a 40 min advantage.
They do say that only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, but in the Open Mixed team it was the Mad Cows who braved the hot sun and clocked up a barking (or should that be mooing?) 33 laps to take the win with the Soft Pedaling team cruising their way into second spot ahead of Team Sophie.
The 2 Keith's (Evans and Jones) made short work of the Men's 24 hr Pairs certainly showing they were 'Back on Track' taking the win with a cool 36 laps, four laps clear of rivals from Southampton and Bath Universities Steven Birch and Tom Blackmore. While team Hairy & Tubby (Ben Johnson & Sam Hunt) held off the other Southampton Uni team to take third.
Heather Wilson and Neil Halcrow made yet another winning pairing as they took the win in the 24h Mixed Pairs, despite Neil's liking for a bit of a swim mid lap they managed to hold off the DRR1 pairing of Ros Fish and Sean O'Leary, racking up a clear one-lap advantage.
In the Just for Fun category the Ride On team just managed to keep one step ahead of The Police to take the win, as the Kent Police, complete with Police crocodile, which they hoped would intimidate the competition especially in the river, chased them down had to settle for second.
The toughest battle of the event had to be the 24 hr Solos, with temperatures reaching 25 degrees Celsius, the testing course was made that bit harder both with the heat and the depth and breadth of competition as each competitor was pushing hard for the finish.
James Leavesley had Iain Payne and Craig Bowles snapping eagerly at his heels the entire event, eventually he managed to eke-out an advantage, finally taking the win with 31 laps under is belt. Payne took second place just 20 minutes down while Craig did a sterling job to secure third.
Leavesley's Iron Horse team mate Josh Ibbett took another top podium spot for his team as he rode a strong race to take the win in the Torchbearer's 12h Solo, while Szabolcs Bandi & Gerald Tudor had a close battle for 2nd, with Bandi just taking the edge.
Finally it was a welcome return to winning ways for Pete Turnbull, partnered with Jonny Stenson in the Torchbearer's pairs. After over six months in Australia, Turnbull is back in the UK and keen to get back into the swing of UK racing after showing his Oz compatriots how it should be done Team Cheese (Martin Silvester and Paul Williams) obviously melted in the hot weather and the fondue pairing took second.
And so it was that the third edition of the Bontrager Twentyfour 12 was finally over and not a drop of rain had fallen - a complete revelation as there have only been a handful of 'dry' enduros over the last 3 or 4 years! It was a welcome change for both the riders and the supporters (and the photographers too!).
It was a fantastic event, in a fantastic venue made all that more special by some blistering hot sunshine, for once! As riders milled around waiting for the podiums, the buzz was what a great weekend it had been, the course rode like a dream and for some they even went out for a quick spin after the race, just for one more time as it was so much fun!
Thanks to Martyn and his hardworking crew for putting on such a refreshingly relaxed event and thanks too to Quaver Catering for keeping those ice cold slush drinks topped all day long, a real life saver!!
Lets hope that next year they can book the same venue complete with the same weather, for more fun and frolics in the park. I for one can't wait!
Selected Images
Check out the galleries for tons more images from a scorcher in Newnham Park.
Jenny Copnall at the head of the field at the start
The man himself - Keith Bontrager takes time out from being an MTB component guru to be there in person for the event
Hot sun and a few hundred hungry competitors get ready for a dig
Above left and right: Two examples of the frightening effects of 24 hour racing
Above: The Forestry Commission were on hand to add an extra dimension of 'technical challenge'
Rider's comments
Keith Bontrager 3rd 12h solo men
We ordered the weather for this one well in advance, just to make sure. The course is just superb, it has to be one of the best courses I have ridden anywhere and to be able to holda race on it, is just excellent. I was supposed to be riding in a big team with loads of press bods, then as we got closer to the event that big team got whittled down to a team of 5, then on the day a pair, then as the race got going I ended up riding solo! Maybe I should change my aftershave or something! I guess they all had something else to do at the last minute and as they hadn't paid they had no real urgency to be here. I enjoyed it, though from 12 hours in the saddle point of view it was hard. It's a course where you don't have much time to relax, you're either pushing hard on one of the flat sections or working hard over the bumpy singletrack, but there's so much singletrack here and it's so much fun. I actually like riding the same place over and over again as you can get all the lines really dialled in and there's some really nice berms out there that I wouldn't have been too brave with but 3rd time through and you get them really nailed and that's just good.
Did I do the river or the bridge? Well the first time through I rode the river but it took all the oil off my chain and my bike started shifting really badly and then I thought, well I liked splashing through it as it felt really good in the heat, so I decided to get through it by foot and that worked out fine. I got the refreshing dip in the stream each lap though I never fell and that would have been kinda good!
We got through the first two years of his event, we worked really hard on the courses, but with the bad weather we had and the fact that the courses we used then were unproved, we really suffered. However I guess when word gets out about this year's event, we'll be able to jump it up again. But to be honest the event is a good size, it's not a big circus, but there's enough people to make it competitive, you're always racing someone out there and that's good. We seem to have attracted the people with the right attitude out on the singletrack too, as there was hardly any barging. With the difference in speed and experience with the riders here you just have to be thoughtful and polite when passing and on the whole that's how people were. The worst thing in the world is to put a novice rider into the weeds, you want them to feel good about the event and the fast guys don't have to barge past and they don't, they're pretty smart about it. Next year should be good, I'm already looking forward to getting back down here, but I'm not contemplating doing solo again, no way! I'm gonna keep working on the media team and see if they'll actually come out to play!
James Leavesley Solo 24 hr winner
That was really good, I was a bit worried about the heat and I didn't have the best of starts but I just planned to hold on and get past the other guys in the race when they came in for a rest and that just seemed to work for me! It was so good to do this completely in the dry I've been riding 24s for about five years now and can only remember two races that were dry. The course here is amazing, probably the best 24hr course I've ridden, of course I'm a bit biased as I've just won, but it was fantastic. Up til about 18 hrs I was enjoying myself but after that I started to wane. I had some strong competition, but Matt (Carr) had to stop and see the medics and then Iain and Craig where riding pretty strong and kept me going, I knew if I'd eased up they'd get me so I kept pushing on. Once I got a lap up I could relax a bit. Great event, really well organised and a pleasure to attend.
Ryan Sherlock & Mel Spath 12h Pairs Mixed
That was an awful lot of fun, the course was dry and fast and the Potters kept us on our toes, we really enjoyed it. I think for the first 7- 8 hours there was never more than a minute, minute and a half between us and it was only at the very end there was any major difference. I did two laps and Mel did one and we kept it steady, until the final 2-3 hours when we started doing one lap each. It was great - it was a mental break - you could have a break, do a quick 30 odd minute lap and then relax, instead of going out for an hour and 10.
It was an amazing course - the singletrack was incredible and after a couple of laps you knew the course and after that most of it you could stay off the brakes completely and trust your tyres and roll round the corners, it was brilliant. And then when it came to the night, you still knew the course perfectly there was never any surprises, you knew there was nothing bad after any of the corners it was just very fast! Both of us had so much fun.
Mel's doing very well, she's only been training for nine months now and she's already had a World Champs under her belt and she's winning lots of races, so she's not doing too bad for a newbie!
Neil Halcrow & Heather Wilson 24h Pairs Mixed
That was absolutely fantastic and such a great course, we both really enjoyed it. The singletrack was great and the climbing was just right, the whole course was really nice and flowing and so fast. Awesome weather. The river crossing had to be a highlight, despite the dunking I had! I really liked the main descent, you hit the bumps and the section after that was so quick, really nice I looked forward to that section each lap. It was pretty close, we had a constant battle on our hands to keep our lap advantage on the second-placed pair.
Ruth Owen-Evans 12h Solo Female
Sara kept me on my toes the whole race, I never had chance to get a decent rest at all. But it was good fun. It was a great course - very rocky, my arms are killing me now, but very enjoyable. Some of the descents were awesome, such good fun, even at 11.30pm when I was tired it was still good fun. For my first 12hr I couldn't have asked for better weather, it was really enjoyable but don't know if I'll do one again!
Matt Loake & Phil Coad 12h Pairs Male
It was good, we had a bit of a battle between Adi Scott and Anthony White, we were locked in a major tussle with them for most of the race. I felt a bit guilty as Phil kept getting us the lead and I kept losing it Adi must be quicker than Anthony cos that's who I was out against all the time, honest! Brilliant event, great course and quite local for me and about the hundredth time I've raced here. It's so different racing here in the dry, the corners come up so much quicker and I seemed to be nearly crashing on each one of them! We're quite a good team, well I think so anyway.
John & Pete Turnbull - Torchbearers Men's Pairs
It was a fantastic course, I wasn't too keen at starting at midnight, but as it was it was quite good fun really. Riding the course at night and finishing it off in the day was quite cool. Martyn put a fantastic course together. John's been complaining as everything he's ridden this year has been knee deep in mud, but I've hopefully brought some weather back from Oz. Pete's come back to prove a point I think he was really riding on the rivet, he definitely proved it! Awesome event, the best one I've done so far this year by a mile.
Josh Ibbett Torchbearer Solo Men
I'm not sure why I chose to start at midnight; I guess the other one was full up. I was too late to enter so I had to start at midnight if I wanted to race. I just decided to do the race on the whim, and team boss and coach Rob Lee thought it was a great idea. It was worth it, I won It hurt out there; on the last lap my back went, but it worth it to win. The course was one of the best ever; I really loved every minute of it despite my back hurting. That was my first 12 hr and more than likely my last!
Southampton Uni 12h Open Female
This is our first outing as a team; it's great to have so many top girls in a team. The night laps were so much fun. The river was nice to cool down but most of us went over the bridge!
Aquickrelease.com 12h Open Mixed
That was brilliant and a great course, nice and flowing and it has to be the best enduro course we've ridden in the UK. The weather makes such a difference. It was just perfect. It was a fun race and we fought hard to get the gap we did. So glad to stop at 12 and crack open a few beers, the perfect end to the perfect race.
Yeti/Goldtec 12h Open Male
We tried to keep the pace up all the way round, it was such fun on a great course. Matt was lagging a bit but he's not bad for an old-un. Brilliant course, one of the best we've ridden. Matt Hart - It was a pleasure to ride with the team, and good to be on a winning team, it was good to be motivated to ride fast as I didn't want to let the guys down. Be great to do this again as long as we can guarantee the weather!
Liz Scallia & Nadine Spearing 12 Pairs Female
It was a really nice challenge, doing something different it was wonderful, I really enjoyed myself it was great fun. I knew the course already from the Marathon Champs, last year, so there was no chance of me going the wrong way this time. Nadine was great and extremely patient as I arrived late due to the M5 being closed for a while, so she just rode around until I arrived. I had such a good ride out there it was nice. Great course with lots of climbing which always suits me and the weather was superb.
Nadine I wasn't sure whether I was going to end up doing the whole race solo as I wasn't sure if Liz would turn up. My laps were just getting slower and slower and each time I came round I was hoping this time she'd be there, eventually she turned up and started pulling her weight! It was great fun.
Sally Daw 12h Solo Female Vet
It was brilliant - it was a great weekend, the course was fantastic the weather was brilliant, I could have only done this with the support of my husband who fixes my bike and my daughter who was with mum for the weekend and did all the work! It's so good to be able to do this in the dry, such a blessing.
Colin Smith 12h Solo Male Vet
Great race, loved every minute of it I had a bad patch after about 7 8 hours in but once I got through that I had a second wind and managed to just keep going and stay ahead. During the first 3 or 4 hours I guess it was pretty close, but I managed to get a reasonable lead but he started to come back at the end but I managed to keep out in front. This rates as one of the best 24 hr long enduro courses I've ridden, it was really good. I did the river crossing 3 times and then I got fed up of wet feet and then it was quicker to do the bridge.
Matt Page 12h Solo Male
James (Lister) always starts off fast and I can't match his pace so I just let him go off and do his own thing and the plan was to catch him up after 8 to 9 hours and it all went well. Then we were riding together for a bit, I got a bit of a gap on a descent and I didn't see him again, so everything went to plan. It was brilliant - a superb course. It's the first time I've raced here and it was just brilliant. It really helps to have a course where you have sections you really look forward to every lap, it's motivation to keep going.
WWW.Ride.co.uk - Just for fun 24hrs
It started out as fun when we entered but after the first lap we found we were in third place, so we put the beer to one side and thought right we'll have to push on here. After 6 hours we got quite serious oh and a big thanks to Trek who helped sort out our bikes. We're veterans of this event and of Mountain Mayhem. We loved this event - so well organised and the course was just brilliant, the weather was just the icing on the cake. We did the bridge every time - it's all about winning!
London Phoenix Chix 24h Open Female
It was a great course, great fun and the weather was beautiful, brilliant organisation and of course a brilliant team! Hopefully next year we'll have a few more women taking part so a bit more competition. We really need some more girls out there!
Mad Cows 24h Open Mixed
It was a lot of fun. It was dry. It was fast. It didn't rain. It couldn't have been better! Bridge or river crossing? Bridge all the way, couldn't face wet feet, Best 24 hr course we've ever ridden, brilliant event.
Trek 69ers Singlespeed team
Shaggy: I wasn't very well, a touch of food poisoning, so I only did 2 laps in the first 18 hours, so these guys all really held it together apart from Andy who can't count to 5! So our team of 5 only had 4 riders. A bit of a disadvantage and a dodgy sandwich.
Phil: Fantastic, awesome course, it's the type that just makes you go so fast, it's best to go fast on a course like that as it makes it even more fun. I was told I was doing extra laps perhaps Andy thought I counted for two, being the National Singlespeed champ; I quite enjoyed the extra laps at the end.
Woody: it was great really tough the whole way through, but it was such a good course. It didn't matter how much it was hurting you still had a massive smile when you got back it was that good.
Andy: I feel much better than when I started, it's always a good plan to start a race with a blinding hangover.
Bridge or river? Shaggy: River. Woody: River every time Phil: River Andy: Well actually my ass was in ribbons, so there was no way I was going through the river and giving myself trench bum!
XCRacer.com 29ers and Friends 24h Open Male
It was awesome, having us 5 riders gave us a bit more chance to have a bit of a breather and it was sunny so that made all the difference, nice sunset, brilliant trails, what more could you ask for. Everyone was nice. We had a few horrible moments but we all pulled through and it all worked out well.
Keith Evans and Keith Jones 24h Pairs Male
The first time we've done a 24 as a pair and it was brilliant. Loads of pain but well worth it, excellent course and great event all round. It was new territory and with hindsight we really enjoyed it! We're booked in for SITS in 2 weeks time so hopefully we'll keep the winning formula going.
How was it for you?
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