Up until this week I’d never competed in an enduro race, so what better place to start than the Dawn To Dusk 24-hour. If that sounds a bit like turning up to the Olympics with a can of Red Bull and an Oxfam tracksuit then you’re not far off but - as my wise old dad always says “Ross, you are an idiot”.
The race itself goes from 7pm on Saturday until 7pm on Sunday, through some of the most challenging terrain the Welsh countryside can throw up - a perfect mixture of revving engines and nature - a sort of Mad Max meets Countryfile. Perhaps if John Craven and his mates stopped pissing about harassing badgers and got their cameras on some dirt bikes the viewing figures would go up. Now I love a bit of dirt riding but normally the sort that involves stopping now and again to take in the view and oxygen. This is hardcore no messing about stuff.
For the top riders in this race I take my hat/helmet off or I would if I didn’t think they would blast rocks at my head as they fly past. So how did I come to get caught up in this madness?
Well it all started when myself and my daft mate Billy decided to brush up our skills at Simon Pavey’s Off Road School in Wales on the same site it turns out that a week later would host Britain’s most full on off-road endurance event. Billy and I were having such a good time mucking around on the bikes we decided it would be a good way of getting in 24 hours of riding without having to keep washing our kit. After a few drinks (in my case lemonade which gives me no excuse) with event organiser, “Mr. Touratech” Nick Plumb, he mentioned that in the 24-hour two man pro-elite class there were only three teams entered. So as it’s the first time they have run the 24, if we as rank amateurs entered all we had to do was finish and we would be ranked fourth in the UK as a 24-hour Pro-elite 2-man team.
So with dreams of being Pro riders in the mould of the Jamaican bob-sled team, we had a week to pull it together. We roped in a support crew of mates including the landlord of the village pub and mechanic Evan, who teaches BMW’s adventure maintenance course, the only member of our team with any clue. Bikes would need to be prepped and fitted with powerful lights, tyres, inner tubes replaced with foam mooses which I learned are squeezed in with moose lube. Moose lube still sounds to me like something you would find in a Canadian sex shop but I don’t claim to be a mechanic. The bikes would have to be in tip-top shape ready to take on a full days hammering. These would be the bikes that would carry us to fourth place glory. All we needed now was bikes. We could have used the bikes I have in my garage but as my garage is attached to my house which is in Australia we thought better of it.
Billy set about getting it all together and come the day of the race we managed to borrow bikes - which is why the race marshals were missing two bikes. If you’re thinking of taking part in such an event I would recommend more than five days to get physically fit but I bought a copy of Men’s Health magazine and hoped for the best. On the day the full implication of what we were doing kicked in, mainly when thanks to us jokingly entering the Pro Class, I had to start on the front line with a sprint start in front of the rest of the field. When the siren went off the Pros ran to their bikes and off they went. I decided to walk to my bike to save energy but when I got to it the battery was flat and kicking it nearly made me cough up a lung. I was off for what would be 24 of the most brilliant riding hours of my life. The first hour was pretty relaxed. The fast lot disappeared leaving me to try to get used to a bike I had only ridden from the pits to the start line. It looked like everything was going to be OK.
Then it got dark and the madness began with bikes tearing though the pitch black. It must have been terrifying for any locals out dogging of a Saturday night people with lights mounted on their helmets flying out of the trees like demonic coal miners raiding the ewok village. The night riding went on and on for 12 hours of pleasure and pain in equal measure, I imagine somewhat similar to being licked to death.
As the sun came up sleep deprivation set in and the rain started to bucket down, but we only had 12 hours left so on we went. The track filled up as we were joined by the 12-hour riders then the 6-hour riders. On and on the hills got harder, the ruts got deeper and by the time we crossed the finish line my arse was in bits. I felt like George Michael after a big night out. I was holding on to the bike and letting it drag me round. If you want to feel a sense of accomplishment then this is the event for you.
Crossing the line having kept a bike out there for a full day was a sweet feeling even though we had no chance in the race. But we finished and claimed our 4th place. We would have had to do double the laps for a podium finish, but then again, I think the guys in our class may have done it before.
Ross Noble
Much respect to you guys for even finishing the 24 hour race. I got a 2nd in the 6 hour, but it feels like a shallow victory compared to the amount of effort you both put in.
I’m glad you took my advice and stayed moving while you were off the bike. Hopefully we’ll all see you back there next year. What a crazy weekend.
P.S Nice trophy, “Special Boy”