It’s that Time of Year Again……Strathpuffer Time

Posted on Jan 17, 2024  Print This Post

This year the Strathpuffer 24 came round again very quickly and with a hectic festive period for all followed by a hectic return to work we could have maybe done with another week to get organised, but it is what it is so over the 13th and 14th of January we were back in Contin forest!

New Team Line-up

This years Strathpuffer squad was Luca, Alec and Neil (myself). With Scott all too glad to drop down to the role of backup rider we were joined by newcomer Michiel but we were all still tasked with the usual goal of “just keep someone on a bike for 24hrs”!

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Sounds easy doesn’t it, but anyone who has been to the Strathpuffer never mind taken part in it will know that’s not the case.

With 149 solos, 59 pairs, 86 quads and 3 schools meaning the 12.5km track was going to be busy with over 600 riders (thankfully not as the same time).

Training

Was a bit more sporadic this time with Alec and Neil getting out fairly regularly together and Luca and Michiel joining in when possible but the 4 of us never actually made it out together. However, fitness levels on average were pretty good so we were optimistic.

Base Camp

Just keeps getting better as with a camper van, the improved gazebo bike workshop and the usual tent we had the best setup we have ever had and it really helped.

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The Bikes

We had three new bikes this time around with Alec buying Scott’s Cannondale bike, Michiel on his Giant full suspension bike, Luca on his own hand built hard tail and Neil on his new Vitus full suspension bike there we far less technical issues.

Tyres

This year everyone had ice tyres and remembered to take them too and off course we didn’t need them! The weather was mild but as Neil’s were already fitted he did the first lap to test the conditions. However they just slipped and scraped their way over the rocky parts of the track so they were quickly changed to mud tyres after the 1st lap.

Record Number of Laps (for us anyway)

This year “The Pscyclepath” team managed 18 laps which placed us 61st out of 86. Not too bad for four older guys just looking to motivate ourselves to not over indulge over the festive period. This is the most laps we have ever done and after 9 attempts we have finally managed to keep someone on a bike for 24hrs. Who knows what we can achieve next year with a bit more planning and strategy.

The Track

Was the slightly different (but i can’t say where as I was too busy breathing heavily and holding on). However courtesy of Michiel and his Garmin watch/app we all got the clearest view we have ever had of it.

There you have it, 12.5km of everything. Really slow climbing or rocky parts (blue), faster fire roads (green), fast and smooth paths (yellow/orange) and fast and flowing downhill bits (red). There was even a wedding on track at 2pm on Saturday, congratulation to Tracy and Steve.

Thanks

To Luca for entering the team again, to Luca, Alec & Michiel for the shared use of numerous tools and equipment over the weekend and to Digital Downhill for the purchased photo in this post.

Never Again, Until Next Time?

That was on one of the T shirts a few years back and it’s absolutely right. Yes at the time lots of folk (including me) say that’s it I’m not doing this again. However with our “best Strathpuffer ever” in 2024 it was only 24hrs before we all agreed to do it again. So the cycle starts all over again!

See you there in 2025.

More Information

For more information on the Strathpuffer see https://strathpuffer.co.uk/ and for their 2024 charities see RNLI and Outfit Moray.

For more information on Bloxwich Group, Bloxwich Truck & Container, Bloxwich Stamping and Bloxwich Trading please call us on +44(0) 1543 435 160