WORDS GREG MELIA
BACKGROUND What? The Mersey Roads 24 hour time trial Where? The course is in Shropshire, based around Prees Heath When? Annually, on the penultimate weekend in July How? You can enter at www.ctt.org.uk, up to four weeks before the event Anything else I should know? This is a CTT time trial and not an Audax, so you need to be part of a CTT-affiliated club to enter, and the event is run by CTT rules – you can see these on their website. Not sure you could do that? Why not volunteer to marshal the event? They can always use helpers, and you’ll get to learn your tactics first-hand for your next year’s attempt. Search “Mersey roads 24 hour” on Facebook, or find the organiser’s email at https://www. cyclingtimetrials.org.uk/race-details/20237
An Audax grandee was recently heard to describe the Mersey Roads 24 hour Time Trial as “the easiest four points in the calendar”, thanks to its relatively flat Shropshire-based course, and the regular café opportunities. Audaxer Greg Melia would beg to differ. Here’s his account of a truly testing speed ride.
Arrivéewinter/spring2020
you`re not going fast enough 12
BEFORE AUDAX UK was created, there was only one way to qualify for ParisBrest-Paris in the UK – ride 600km in a 24 hour time trial. Audaxing and the 24 hour TT have a long history together. There is now only one regular 24 in the country, the Mersey Roads event, but numerous Audaxers have won it, from John Warnock to Jasmijn Muller to Stuart Birnie. Even if you don’t win, you can still get Audax points for riding – one per 100 km. Coming here to just plug round it would be a waste though. You really want to race it to get the full experience. And there’s a prize, the Dave Lewis trophy for the Audaxer with the longest distance each year.
The 2019 field was said to be the strongest ever. Up to five national records were predicted to fall between Saturday 20 July and Sunday 21 July. There was also the usual Audax contingent: Steve Abraham was making up the Arctic Aircon team, George Berwick was doing his sixtieth event, on the back of a tandem with Philip Jurczyk, and a good couple of dozen other AUK names graced the start-sheet. Included in those, and back after a break of several years, there was me. I was sick to the stomach. My first attempt in 2011 had been a happy-golucky affair where I’d made all the mistakes. My 2013 return saw me grab the low-hanging fruit and harvest the
Photo: kimroy-photography.co.uk
If everything seems under control…
Focus… concentration is essential to racing a 24. Greg Melia in action
easy gains, and my resulting PB of 442 miles would be seriously hard to beat. This year would be my third attempt. This would be the big one. But did I really want to put myself through all this just to fail? I’d thrown the kitchen sink at it this time, and invested enough resources that a slow ride wasn’t an option, but it hung over me like Damocles’ sharpened chainring, ready to puncture my ego with a reminder of advancing age that no new go-faster kit could hide. The Mersey Roads runs on a series of road loops in Shropshire, each around 20 miles long. You start at lunchtime and ride down to Prees Heath where you’re put on a quiet lanes evening circuit to sit out the rush hour. Night sees you riding
