Ladies of Balerno take on the Strathpuffer 2018

“Freezing temperatures. 17 hours of darkness. Miles upon miles of gruelling terrain. A brutal mix of ice, wind, hail, mud and snow, and maybe, just maybe, a glorious Scottish winter sunrise”.

Strathpuffer 2018 living up to expectations

The Strathpuffer. It sounded like the epitome of a type 2 fun event, (with a possibility of veering dangerously close to type 3). I wasn’t disappointed.

The Ladies of Balerno, (Caroline, Rachel, Laura and Tamsin) the 'before' picture

The Ladies of Balerno formed a crack team, with weekly team training rides in the Pentlands we went out in all conditions. On good weather weeks we met loads of other riders, on bad weather weeks not a soul (the Storm Caroline week was a definite ‘highlight’).

One from many LoB training rides in questionable weather

The original goal on signing up was to get on the podium, however since the summer our bodies did not always play ball. Between us we were plagues by: Back injury, nerve damage, concussion, norovirus and colds that just wouldn’t quit. By the time we got to the start to simply stick the course for 24 hours would be a victory, anything more would be a bonus.

Conditions deteriorate on the journey north 

 After a last minute bike-still-in-workshop panic, we left Edinburgh around midday and started our drive North. There was heaps of snow by the side of the A9 and occasional snow flurries giving us a taster of what was to come.

Race registration 

Arriving later than planned at the Puffer course the site was a snow-covered confusion of vehicles trying to find their ideal spot. The fire road up the course was way too icy to drive up without snow chains. Instead we found our pitch on the low road about 300m from transition.

Arriving on site in a blizzard on Friday afternoon

Once the van was parked we set about making a camp, including some serious snow shovelling to clear the tent area. Getting tour 100kg generator out of the van and safely sited, was actually was much easier than anticipated. 

How much kit do 4 ladies need for 1 race... A lot!

Back at the hostel we did our final bit of carb loading and caught an early night. The morning came all too quickly and with the car reading -8°C we set off to continue prerace prep. Russell set up a mechanic crew area, Tamsin got ready for lap 1 and Laura and I worked out how get the genny going (huge thanks to Stevie for the giant genny loan, it was a godsend).

Saturday morning driving to the course, yep that's ice in the car

Soon we heading down to transition for race briefing at the start. New snow had fallen overnight it was going to be a challenging course. Happily all the team were equipped with ice spike tyres we were going to need them!

Waiting for Tamsin at the start

Tamsin (aka The Snow Plow), was volunteered for the first lap, requiring a running start to the bike. Battling through the queues and snow Tamsin put in a great first lap transitioning to Caroline. Before I knew it was my turn standing in transition waiting. Caroline appeared on the final descent with a mighty woop. Russell pulled off my down jacket we switched over the dibber and I set off.

The course looked completely different from our practice weekend. Charging through the snow on the climb was tough, but I overtook plenty of people. The crews parked all the way along the climb were full of support, cheers and good tunes.

Tamsin The-Snow-Plow returning from lap 1

Soon I was on the single track, I was worried I’d be holding people up, but there were places to overtake, I even overtook a few people! The slab looked a bit sketchy covered in ice so I opted for running/slipping down the side. Soon onto the ‘new’ bits of the course. It was a bit rooty, summer sessions at Glentress with coach Laura had been time well spent. The extra sections made the course feel quite a bit longer, eventually I returned to transition. Then I was back to camp to write my time on the white board 1:12 – not too bad.

Beautiful weather, plowing through that snow was Tough work

Pretty soon the sun set and 17 hours of darkness followed. By my second lap the snow was compacted and the course running faster and icier, I was grateful of my ice tyres (thanks Tamsin!), we moved from 4^th team to 3rd and running well.

LoB base camp 

Waiting in transition for my third lap, Caroline came piling in “I’ve overtaken a Fandango, I think we’re in second”. Now to try and keep the lead, I had a few crashes on this lap trying to keep a good pace. Not the best. I was worried I might have lost our second place. Back at camp Alison arrived to help Russell with crew duties, she handed me a toasted bagel and tomato soup before I tried to get my head down for a couple of hours sleep.

Whiteboard of lap times

Far too soon it was time to get on with my fourth lap, 2:30am is not my favourite time to be riding. Happily I discovered we were still in second position with healthy lead over the Fandangos (but no chance of catching the Oban girls in 1^st). The smoke from all the fires was getting to my lungs and I was coughing like a smoker. I did a pretty slow lap at 1:20, but at this hour just keeping on moving is what counts. Back to camp I forced down some food and collapsed into a camp chair.

That 4am feeling (photo: caroline)

 Now strategic maths began, we definitely hadtime to get a 5^th lap each, but would we have enough time for one person to get a 6^th lap in, would we need to to keep our placing and was anybody keen enough to do it? 

Excitingly my final lap took in the sunrise. I set off in the dark, but with every pedal the sky got brighter. This was good because both my lights were about to die.

The mood on the course had shifted, the end was in sight. I passed the event photographer somewhere on the fire road “are you loving it” he shouted at me “YES” I replied, surprised to find this was actually true! The sunrise at the top of the climb was incredible, a splash of red across the sky interrupted by tiny puffy clouds. Spectacular. I passed another rider stopped to take a photo.

Sunrise lap (Other laps: not this smiley)

Coming down the final descent I was trying to pick up my speed. One mis-timed corner I wiped out and landed on my helmet putting a wee dent in it. Nothing could stop me now though scrambled back on and got to transition in a reasonable time, passed over to Laura.

We were fairly comfortably in second, nobody was required to do a sixth lap. This was a big relief for everyone. After getting changed and a cheeky cup of tea, we all headed to transition to wait for Laura to return. Just before she came in, Cat came careering in, completing her 15^th lap and confirming her win in the female solo category what an effort!

Laura finishes the final LoB lap

 With Laura back and big grins all round we finished second in the female quads. Way better that we thought we could achieve 24 hour earlier. The Ladies of Balerno are capable of more than they think they are! Camped packed away we headed over to the marquee for prize giving.

On the podium :-D

The snow was coming down hard as we drove home making it quite an ‘exciting’ journey. But that’s a story for another day…

Driving home 'exciting'

Immediately after my final lap I think I muttered ‘never-again’. But as the pain subsided and the win set in, maybe, just maybe, we’ll be back who knows?

Trophy !

Finally having Russell and Alison to crew for us probably made the difference between us coming third and second. I can’t thank them enough for giving up their weekends to help keep 4 dishevelled ladies on their bikes.

When your crew makes team medals!
(a genuine Rusty Nutz product!)