(South American 24 hour Cycling Championships 2005)
by Arthur Puckrin
I had brought the English weather with me said Mr Andonie as unusually for Mexico it was damp and cold and indeed remained so all week. I stayed in the sports village with the Mexican volley-ball team. Mexico may be a poor country but their sports facilities are a revelation. There were 50 tennis courts all in excellent and new condition and within half a mile of the sports village are three stadia for cycling a velodrome and the others for Baseball and American Football. The accommodation was basic, but cheap, cheerful and acceptable.
Sure enough after two days my bike did arrive and I decided that I would either have to ride in the rain or not at all. I quite fancied my chances if the weather remained the same, I could not see the warm-blooded South Americans enjoying 24 hours in the damp, wet and cold conditions. Although I had been training throughout the English winter I was not looking forward to it myself, it looked like being a long and cold 24 hours.
My bike was virtually unridden. I had taken it from its winter quarters, had it cleaned and serviced and had taken it out for a ride a week before I travelled to Mexico. Whilst stationary at a roundabout waiting for oncoming traffic to clear I was hurled to the ground, my rear wheel smashed in three places. I looked round. I had been hit by a car. I was pleased to notice that such was the force of the collision that the front of the car had fallen off. I had lost a lot of skin and had a few bruises but apart from feeling sore for a few days I seemed to be OK. The bike needed a rear wheel and other repairs but fortunately I managed to get it mobile in time to travel.
Race day dawned, dark, grey and wet. Should I wear my wet weather gear? However, about lunchtime the sun came out. We were off about twenty minutes late at 12.20pm with the adrenalin flowing. I made a good start, not quick enough because there was a group of five ahead of me including representatives of teams of ten (in addition to the individual race there was also a team relay race). I could beat all these guys, I told myself and burst past them.
I was averaging 20 mph for the first 60 miles and although the pace gradually dropped I was still in the lead and feeling comfortable at 100 miles reached in 5 hours and 23 minutes.
It was now extremely hot and I began to feel the pace. I would ride easily for a while and then I would recover, so I thought. Then a strange thing happened. My legs were not strong enough to turn the pedals. Somehow I got to the end of the lap and got off the bike, I now felt really unwell. I decided I would have to lie down which I did. I had something to eat but still felt unwell. After travelling all this distance it seemed I was not going to complete the course. After two and a half hours I had more to eat and decided I felt better. There was plenty of time, the race continued for another 15 hours. I decided I would try to ride a few miles and see how I felt. It was now dark, I was in last place but at least I was moving.
After a while I decided that I did not feel too bad. It was cooler and my speed increased. I looked at my speedo 20 mph I must be feeling a lot better. Who had the bright idea of completing a 24 hour ride, I asked myself. There was a shout from my support crew. It was half way and I was in second place 25 miles behind the leader no. 58. I had seen no 58 and knew he was tiring.
I told myself that we would all go through a bad patch at some stage during the 24 hours and I had had mine. It was now 2 am, much cooler, I was spinning round at 20mph feeling good and counting down the laps to the leader. The hours passed by slowly, fatigue mounted but I was gaining, lapping the leader every few laps. I knew that eventually I would reach him.
I had asked my support crew to keep me notified about the time passing. They shouted out the time at each hour. It seemed a long way 11 hours, 10 hours, 9 hours. Eventually at 4 am I noticed that no. 58 had stopped for food. At last I had him. I had closed to about 15 miles but now I could reach him much quicker. I was asked to stop for food but I was not stopping now, I would not stop until I had a good lead.
Eventually at about 5 am I had him. I was in the lead. I would build up a lead of about 10 miles before I dared to stop as I knew he might be revitalised once it became daylight and he realised there was not much further to go. There were not many riders on the track now, I had a clear run. I must stop at some stage or risk running out of fuel. I noticed that no.58 had started again but he was only riding slowly, so I had a short stop for soup, coffee, jam sandwiches and then away. I had only lost two laps and soon made them up again and indeed increased my lead.
There was no one else I could see who was keeping up with me so I could see no dangers from further down the field. Eventually I could see light in the sky, daylight was coming but there were still seven hours of the race to go. It seemed to be lasting forever this race but the end would surely come at some time. I rode on. I was drinking a great deal and my fast pick up was working smoothly except on one occasion when I dropped the drinking bottle but I was pouring fluid down my throat and I seemed to be OK although I did not eat very much, just a few bananas, jam sandwiches, soup and bread. Cold drinks went down a treat.
I did have two coffee stops late on when it was clear I had a good lead, just to break up the time a little bit, so I did lose a few laps towards the end. As the sun rose it became very hot again but the end was near now. When I looked at the times afterwards I was surprised to see that my lap times had been very consistent throughout the 24 hours. No. 58, I discovered was Jesus Sigala, a 40 year old from Santa Catarina. We rode together for the last few laps and eventually time was called and we crossed the line for the last time.
I had been beaten only by four of the ten teams of ten relay riders. After the race, although I had not slept for 36 hours I found it impossible to sleep or eat. I just lay on the bed. Later on I did find the energy to pack my bike and the next day it was back to the real world.
Thanks to Mary my support crew who kept me fed and watered throughout the 24 hours, to Paul Godley who repaired my bike after the accident and to Jorge Andonie and his team who organised a superb race and an excellent event.
Results.
Men
| 01 | Arthur Puckrin | Great Britain | 592kms | |||
| 02 | Jesus Sigala | Santa Catarina | 540kms | |||
| 03 | Alejandro Sigala | Santa Catarina | ||||
| 04 | Carlos Alberto | Monterrey | ||||
| 05 | Juan Gaona | Guadelupe |
Ladies
| 01 | Silvia Andonie | Mexico | 330kms | |||
| 02 | Juana Xapata | Guadelupe | 269kms |