The loneliness of the long-distance rider

The Pennine Challenge Duathlon is a little-known event, but its scale is out of all proportion to its profile. With 29 miles of running, 100 miles of mountain biking and then another 29 miles of running to finish off, it’s a real epic. This year saw the third running of the event, and going in to it only one person had ever actually finished it. Andrew Boyd was the winner and sole finisher in 2007. I’d been the last to quit, so 2008 represented a score to settle.

Never mind competing, marshalling was challenging enough

Left to right: The two finishers – Carl on the left, Patrick on the right

These were brake pads once

Photos: Ali Silver

The day started quite well. The first 29 mile run took about 5:15 with a few light rain showers towards the end but nothing too bad. The time was quite a bit quicker than last year and I was also feeling a lot less knackered when I transitioned to my bike.

I’d been running with another duathlete, Tony, which was good for a bit of company. I rode off from the transition at a moderate pace expecting him to catch up soon, but he made a few navigation errors and I didn’t see him again. I rode on alone for the next 40 miles in increasingly heavy rain. Events like this rely on volunteer effort to man the checkpoints, and often the volunteers are the wives and girlfriends of the competitors. This must have been particularly dull for Ali (Mrs Silver), as only me and Patrick Schalbetter ever reached her checkpoint. Patrick had caught me up by this point.

The 100 mile MTB leg comprises two 50 mile laps, and by the start of the second lap it was starting to get dark. I tried turning my HID light on but nothing happened other than some random flashing lights on the controller. I think some water (there was plenty about) had got in during the first lap. This was going to make riding the second lap, almost entirely during the night, a bit trickier.

Determined not to pull out earlier than I did last year I managed to bodge my head torch onto my helmet using some emergency cable ties that I had in my bag. This at least allowed me to ride, if not at the sort of pace that I’d like to. Adding to the problems were my rapidly wearing brakes. The Pennines have a particularly abrasive mud and it wore through the braking material and the backing plates of my nearly-new pads by the end of the first lap, before going on to make inroads into the actual pistons. Up ahead somewhere, Patrick was experiencing brake issues too – his front brake had packed up completely, and he paused to switch the remnants of the front pads into the back to get some semblance of a brake.

I plodded on round the second lap at a greatly reduced speed. Riding at night in heavy rain, fog, high winds with very limited braking and only a head torch isn’t much fun particularly on some of the more technical trails. Dawn was a welcome sight, along with some drier weather.

The final “run” started at about 5:30am. I felt good for the first six or so miles, running most of the downhill sections. But things got progressively, and quite quickly, harder. The final 20-odd miles turned into a zombie-like struggle, with the navigation become more and more difficult. I eventually made it back to the start/finish in Glossop in just under 34 hours.

I just about managed to hobble over to Patrick to congratulate him on his win before falling asleep in the van. He seems keen to do it again in an attempt to get round in under 30 hours…

Results

• 1 Patrick Schalbetter 30.35
• 2 Carl Silver 33.52
• James Owen DNF
• Jon Taylor DNF
• Justin Woodward DNF
• Anthony Gerundini DNF

Six starters and a 67% drop-out rate tell you all you really need to know about the Pennine Challenge Duathlon. If you still want to know more, or if you’ve gone completely crackers and fancy a go in 2009, head to www.ambitionevents.com.