The Dirty Tools at the Mont 24 Hr

Three tools and two juniors took on the mont 24 hr. La feuille Van Velo and le bandit comprised the dirty tools with one lap Tom and Henry sharing the fourth spot. The last few 24 hrs taken on were as a team of six, but improved fitness saw us take on the challenge of a four and riding thru the night.

A dusty Sparrow hill was the venue and as has been the custom le bandit again provided his caravan as a welcome base amongst the other 2500 competitors.

This years race strated an hour late to allow for a memorial ride for James williamson who had died a few days earlier only 26,


So La feuille lined up at 1 for the start. where he managed a sub hour lap. One lap Tom took over for his one lap, before a sore ankle saw his early retirement. the track was very dusty but the afternoon proceeded well without mishap and all returning respectable times of just over the hour, and no transitions missed.

As the lights were strapped on and the temperatures dropped saw the first little mishap. Van velo suffered a pinch flat and then a pump that didn't want to work 3 k's from home. He eventually found someone willing to give him a tube and he was on his way again, with maybe 10 to 15 minutes lost. Henry put in night lap, but the other nine (three each) were shared by the three tools and no more mishaps. It was a nice mild night and the dust settled a bit.

In the morning we continued with consistent times, got another lap out of henry (his third), finishing at about 12:20. So it ended up 6 laps for Van velo and la feuille, 5 for le bandit, 3 for henry and 1 for one lap Tom, 21 in all, which was 52 out of 185 teams in the open 4's. We were all pleased with our fitness holding up as well as it did, with our last laps only a few minutes slower than our first. Fortunately Van velo found some photos for the blog. Well done