Alex Takes on Torq In Your Sleep 2017
The day before the Race
I travelled up on the Saturday afternoon ready to sign in. The course was already taped out for practice and the Torq bus was parked up and the stalls ready. I decided not to ride the course as I didn’t want to tire myself out at all considering what was ahead the next day! Instead I headed back to the hotel and fuelled up ready for Sunday.
Before the Race on the day
In the morning my Dad and I got the bike ready for the day by setting up the lights, checking the tyre pressures and oiling the chain. I then organised a bag full of food and a second drink bottle ready to pick up throughout the race. At 11am there was a race briefing telling us what to expect from the day ahead. All that was left was to wait on the start line until I could begin the most conservative first lap ever!
The Race
The start of the race was pretty hectic as there was a mixture of solo riders in with team riders who could afford to sprint off once the lead out quad bike peeled away. It took a lot of will power not to try to keep up with them! I began the race by riding in sets of three laps before having a quick stop. Each lap was 8 miles long and incorporated some good climbs and descents making it fun and not boring at all. Which was essential considering the amount of time we were going to spend riding it!
I rode for 6 hours, two sets of three laps, before the real pain began to set in. I then had to stop every lap to make sure I kept going. I maintained a relatively consistent lap time as the day went on during my final three laps.
The best thing about the race was the support that the other riders gave me as a solo rider. They were polite when asking to overtake and encouraging which made riding easier as I began to get more tired. The light went quickly and it was soon dark in the forestry sections. Luckily the temperature was quite high so it was still comfortable to ride.
I really enjoyed riding in the night as it adds another dimension to the descents … or makes them sketchier, either way you look at it, it is fun! The DJ and strobe lights mid-way around was awesome too and provided a much needed boost. I had one crash on my last lap due to a lack of concentration but apart from that I came away in one piece.
I finished after 9 laps and 9.5 hours of riding as my upper body couldn’t take any more; this secured me 3rd place. I thoroughly enjoyed this style of race and will definitely be back to hit the magic 12 hours. Roll on next year!
Big thanks to Tredz Bikes, Giant Swansea, Trinity Coaching, Body Matters Sports Therapy and MTB Batteries for your support.
