RAT’S ALL FOLKS! The woman holding her shoes and the man in the suit stared blankly. It was 4.32 on a Saturday morning and they’d just returned to their central London Travelodge from a big night out. Their glassy-eyed incomprehension was understandable – they’d been met in reception by three men in Lycra. The Rat Race Road Trip was about to start… PICTURES: TOM SIMPSON
WORDS: ROB SPEDDING
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“Oi! You’re going the wrong way!” Maybe 440 miles proved too much…
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London to Edinburgh – the very hard way
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o doubt Team Sky head honcho Sir Dave Brailsford will empathise with me: it’s 2am, I’ve only just got to sleep in my sumptuous Travelodge bed and the room is filled with the banshee scream of a siren and a flashing red light. As I leap out of bed my concern isn’t for myself but my charges – three-quarters of Team Specialized Cycling Plus (TSCP) will have also been rudely awoken. They’re due to start riding the first of two consecutive 220-mile stages from London to Edinburgh in less than three hours’ time. If there is a fire I need them out and safe. More importantly, I need them to get their Specialized bikes out and in one piece... Just as I’m pulling my trousers on the alarm goes quiet and the flashing stops. Next morning we find that a drunken guest – not one of us – was having a crafty fag in their room. Proof that even if it doesn’t kill, smoking can really piss you off… Curiously, though, when Alan Murchison, Hayden Groves and Ken Ferguson appear in the lobby at 4.30am all three of them seem less annoyed than me about the unscheduled alarm call. (Admittedly it’s hard to tell with Alan and Hayden – they’re chefs and aren’t they always pissed off?) Perhaps the adrenaline has kicked in, maybe they’re just excited about meeting up with the fourth member of the team, Andrew Deaner, maybe it’s because unlike me they haven’t got to drive a van almost 1000 miles this weekend. Or perhaps, as Alan says later, the Rat Race Road Trip really is “a race for madmen…” and they’re the maddest of them all. Either way, they look like they’re ready to roll. Half an hour later we have a full complement of riders lining up in the early morning light beneath Tower Bridge. Andrew – wisely – decided to sleep at home and, I’m guessing, he wasn’t woken
by a fire alarm. It’s actually the first time that all four members of the team have been together in the same place. In one way it’s like the moment Team Sky first lined up as a fully-formed racing unit. In all others it isn’t. It’s early, so the ‘banter’ isn’t firing on all cylinders yet – but Ken is keen to get some final words of wisdom from his teammates. “Keep pedalling north until someone tells you to stop” is Alan’s sage advice. And after ‘dibbing in’ for the first time – each rider had electronic tags that registered progress at feed stations – that’s just what they do.
WITH A LITTLE BIT OF LUCK
For those of you who haven’t been following Team Specialized Cycling Plus, it’s worth a recap. And Ken Ferguson is your man for that: “It was a bit like a version of My Fair Lady, a social experiment with me as a cycling Eliza Dolittle being educated in the ways of the serious road cyclist. Coach Ben Wilson (www.personalbestcycling.co.uk) and Cycling Plus editor Rob Spedding were the Professor Henry Higginses. As well as me, regular cyclists from the team consisted of pretty-much-pro duathlete and Michelin-starred chef Alan Murchison, another top chef Hayden
Groves who just happens to be an ex-bike racer, and Andrew Deaner, a consultant cardiologist and an experienced audax and long distance cyclist.” As the two-day Expert event – 220 miles a day, not much sleep – unfolded, ‘social experiment’ felt like a fitting description. At times it felt like Big Brother on the road as bonds were formed, rivalries developed and nudity was common – well, it was every time Alan changed into yet another brand new bit of Specialized kit at the roadside pit stops. Fortunately there was, as far I know, no late night fondling… Nocturnal couplings were, no doubt, on the menu in some of the surprisingly busy bars and clubs that were spilling out as the Road Trip headed north through London in the not-that-early hours of Saturday morning. In the main the bleary-eyed revellers were unmoved by groups of cyclists spinning past the still open drinking dens. Well, unmoved by most groups of cyclists – the 10 lads from Pork Train Vélo Club had opted for a garish pink and green kit and, as a result, drew some admiring ‘heckles’ from the party crowd. For TSCP the early miles passed without incident – save for a frisson of excitement for Spurs fans Andrew and Hayden as they passed White Hart Lane, and again for Hayden as the route went
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IT FELT LIKE BIG BROTHER AS BONDS WERE FORMED AND RIVALRIES DEVELOPED through his hometown of Broxbourne and he was joined by his dad for a few miles. Surprisingly quickly the event crossed into Cambridgeshire and headed towards Huntingdon. After their initial early miles of togetherness TSCP had sensibly agreed on a strategy that split the CP team of four into two as the day progressed. Ken and Andrew opted for the strong and steady approach, while competitive chefs Alan and Hayden hooked up with Ben and Marcus, two landscape architects, to form an effective, and fast, group of four.
WHITE VAN MAN
From the relative comfort of the van it was, I’ll be honest, all a little bit disappointing – everything was running along smoothly with no dramas. Basically, TSCP seemed to be having a jolly good time of it. For the photographer and myself the only interaction we could have with the team was at the pit stops. We’d look for signs of fatigue, tension, tiffs… But on day one there was nothing. Okay, Alan and Hayden were even competitive when it came to who would be first to get their nuts out – they’d both packed savoury snacks for refuelling – and Andrew and Ken were constantly talking about the coffee and tea I kept forgetting to buy them, but other than that…
As it was, all four riders eventually rolled into York Racecourse in incredibly good spirits. Alan, Hayden plus Ben and Marcus finished at around 7pm. Ken and Andrew arrived an hour or so later. Obviously, Michelin-starred Murch headed straight for a gourmet meal – un grand niché saucisses sur un lit d’oignons enveloppé dans du pain blanc prime. That’s a dirty great hotdog from the catering van to you and me. To get into the true spirit of the Rat Race Road Trip – and to save CP money – the team would have opted to pitch a tent at the event campsite. For some reason budgets and sleeping bags didn’t seem to interest TSCP, so after a fire alarm-free night in a hotel bed Andrew and Ken were up and at ’em at 4am for day two. Alan and Hayden opted for an extra hour in bed and a later start, confident that they’d reel in other riders. Incredibly Andrew and Ken’s legs still appeared to be working, as did those of 20-something medical student Johnny who they’d picked up on the final stretch into York. Poor old Johnny – if he thought he’d be getting an easy ride he hadn’t counted on hooking up with top cardiologist Andrew. “When I discovered he was taking his fourth-year exams I spent several hours giving him tutorials and tests
on endocrinology,” said Andrew – maybe even with an evil laugh – later. Like all good event organisers the Rat Race crew had planned the second half of the route so that it was tougher than the first. Obviously the geography helped, and as the route headed across the A1 and from North Yorkshire into County Durham the terrain went from undulating to lumpy to hilly to bloody hell. The views were nice, though. As the halfway point of day two at Morpeth Castle approached, gradients started nudging the seriously leg-burning 15-20 per cent level. Taking photos on the climbs, Tom didn’t have to ask a single rider to fake a ‘pain face’. And only one was tempted to change onto the big ring for posing purposes. As stem approached testicles Alan wished he hadn’t…
MURCHISON MARCHES ON
Whether it was his near miss with the chain/stem/gentleman’s area interaction, or another incident out on the road – it was an incident out on the road, that we don’t talk about, okay? – something changed the dynamic of TSCP’s lead group during the final half of day two. New riding partners Ben and Marcus managed to get lost – adding an extra 20 miles to the planned 220, chapeau! – and the chefs split up. Tom and I watched as Murchison went into TT mode and started chasing down everybody in front of him. Impressive. Bit scary too! Just after we’d passed the Welcome To Scotland sign, Tom and I also found Ken looking rather sorry for himself and, seemingly, taking a picture of an empty field on his phone. Ken, who’d been brilliantly cheerful the whole time, said he was fine and waved us on, but when he hit the final pit stop 30 miles from home he revealed that one of his Achilles tendons had simply given up. He’d told CYCLING PLUS | Summer 2013 | 203
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“I’M FINISHING EVEN IF I HAVE TO DRAG MY BROKEN BODY ACROSS THE LINE!” Andrew and Johnny – both of whom were still in surprisingly high spirits – to pedal on, and that he was really struggling. Did he want to stop? “Are you joking? I’m finishing even if I have to drag my broken body across the line!”
TAKE THE HIGH ROAD
Ken also made a startling confession at that last stop: he’d spent the last 40 miles reciting his extensive repertoire of Scottish folk songs… Tom and I felt it was definitely wise to back away and let him head on to Edinburgh, Andy Stewart ringing in his ears. It wasn’t just Ken suffering – after getting separated from Alan, Hayden had had a big off after hitting a pothole and arrived at the final stop, at the village of Cranshaw, a little the worse for wear with some impressive road rash. A momentary lack of concentration as tiredness kicked in was the culprit, but as Hayden later admitted, the jolt of adrenaline from the off was what he needed to push him through the final 30 miles. As they hit the sting in the tale of the Rat Race Road Trip, many other riders would have no doubt loved some of Hayden’s adrenaline. Save the best ’til last is an old adage but even from a diesel van ‘the best’ – a short, sharp 18 per cent climb 420 miles into the ride – seemed like an unnecessary act of cruelty from organiser Jim Mee and his route planners. “I was laughing out loud, screaming ‘come on, you f*****!’ all the way up that one,” Alan later admitted.
Once that climb had been conquered it was, in effect, downhill all the way into Edinburgh and Holyrood Park. Incredibly, all four members of Team Specialized Cycling Plus made it home in (pretty much) one piece. Hard and fast Alan was first home: “It was as tough as hell, but I loved the fact the hardest riding was in the last 80 miles. Genius!” Andrew, who’d taken it steadily and, seemingly, all in his stride was the second TSCP man across the line. “The whole two days were far better than I feared,” he later said. “It was actually a great relief to complete the ride, but I felt strong. Now I can look forward to 29 July when I set off from London to Edinburgh and back again! Where did I lose that screw in my head?” “What can you say about a cycle event that leaves London, and two days, 20,000ft of climbing and 440 miles later ends in Edinburgh? One word: epic!” said third man in Hayden. “It’s definitely an event to pencil into your 2014 calendar if you want a crazy challenge.” And Ken? Despite his Achilles he did ‘drag’ his broken body across the line. “The Road Trip tested me to the limit, but it was an amazing adventure,” he said. “The buzz of finishing will take at least a week to come down from. I was given a flyer for next year’s Road Race with my medal, but you know what? I think I’ll wait and see…” TEAM SPECIALIZED CYCLING PLUS WAS SPONSORED AND SUPPLIED BY SPECIALIZED UK AND SUPPORTED BY GARMIN, SCIENCE IN SPORT AND CATEYE. FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE RAT RACE ROAD TRIP VISIT WWW.RATRACEROADTRIP.COM
FUEL FOR RATS Team Specialized Cycling Plus received top nutrition advice from Dr James Morton, the senior sports nutritionist for their nutrition supplier Science in Sport www.scienceinsport.com. His advice can work for you too on your big rides… “Any form of ultra-endurance exercise, like the Rat Race Road Trip, relies on a balance of carbohydrate and fat to fuel the energy demands associated with prolonged riding. Additionally, depending on the ride pace, fitness levels and temperatures, sweat losses can be considerable. The main challenges facing the team were to ensure adequate carbohydrate availability both before and during each day of riding, as well ensuring adequate fluid intake so that excessive dehydration did not occur. “I advised them to consume a high carbohydrate diet for the two days prior to the start of the event as well as ensuring a relatively high carbohydrate content in the pre-race breakfast. For topping up carbohydrates during the ride we recommended an intake of around 60g per hour in the form of SiS Go Isotonic gels, SiS Go Energy bars and fluids, like SiS Go Electrolyte. Where appropriate, I also advised riders to take advantage of solid foods that were high in carbohydrate and low in fat and fibre. Finally, the standard recommendations for fluid intake was at least 500ml of an electrolyte-containing drink per hour and if they needed more, their thirst would let them know.”
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