National 24 Hour Championship Report

Report from Jon Fairclough, who rode the event.

Google AI has a quite a good summary of the event “The Mersey Roads 24-hour time trial is a challenging event where cyclists ride non-stop against the clock for 24 hours, with the winner being the rider who completes the furthest distance. The event is organized by the Mersey Roads Cycling Club and has a long history, dating back to 1937. It is a significant event in UK cycling, with a mythic status within the sport.” Not bad for a machine, but it does not know that only the outstanding riders out to win will ride non-stop. Mere mortals, like me, stop for a drink and something to eat every few hours while they gird themselves up to go again.

This year’s event was organised and promoted by the Manchester DC on behalf of CTT Liverpool District. Tim Smith led the team that made the event possible. Many thanks to them, and particularly to the timekeepers, who produced the provisional results within an hour of the last rider finishing, which in my experience is a record for a time event.

The weather forecast was cool, dry, and light winds and so it proved, excellent conditions for riding long distances. The 55 solo riders and 1 tandem set off at from 1pm to 2pm on Saturday from the HQ in Farndon on the initial 17 mile leg to Prees Heath. The roundabout there is the hub of the event with supporters and officials watching the riders go by, shouting encouragement, ringing bells, and handing out food and drink.

There was a last minute change to the course because of emergency road works in the Wem section of the course, so that was cut, leaving two main loops: the sporty 28 mile Prees Heath to Battlefield and back section along the A49 and the quieter and flatter 13 mile  Prees Heath to Quina Brook circuit to the west. The road surfaces were quite good, with only a few painted potholes to avoid. You needed good lights to see them in the dark, though. The riders first did the Battlefield section, then the Quina Brook circuit, then Battlefield during the night and then back to the Quina Brook circuit just after dawn. The Quina Brook circuit is too bendy to ride safely at speed in the dark.

Late morning, the riders were directed to ride to Wrexham, 13 miles, to cycle the 8 mile finishing circuit. There is a pub quiz question “which famous cycling event finishes in an Industrial Estate in Wrexham?” Now you know the answer. The supporters and officials migrated to the sides of the road around the industrial estate where the riders cycled until their time ran out. The road has mix of road surfaces, from very good to very poor, making it hard to keep a steady speed. Riders are very tired at this point and struggle to accelerate after having to slow down.

Forty solo riders and the one tandem completed the event. They all deserve a medal. In first place was Lee Williams, Wessex Group, Age Adjusted Distance 536.37 miles. He is the VTTA Open Champion and winner of the Jim Painter cup for the overall winner on AAD. In second and third place were Doug Hart, Yorkshire Group, 519.71 miles and Paul Watts, East Midlands Group, 518.43 miles. In fourth place was Brian Hygate, Wessex Group, aged 87, 492.58 miles. I do not usually mention 5^th place in my reports but this time I will make an exception: it was me from Scotland Group with an AAD of 492.11 miles!

Here is Lee Williams’ story of the event:

“2025 national 24hr TT! Having come 2nd twice on this race it was my dream to take the win. Also this being my first season as a VTTA member I thought I might have challenged for the VTTA win but thought that would have been unlikely as I wouldn’t have any age adjustment being 40! When the start sheet came out and I saw Alex Royle was racing so I knew I was going to have to be on top form. Spindata predicted Alex to win and myself 2nd with 18 miles apart. When Jon Schubert a previous 24hr champion offered to give up his weekend to be part of my support crew I bit his hand off. 

My team was my mother sorting nutrition and helping with handups, my uncle who would help with mechanics plus hand ups and last but not least my gorgeous 13 year old daughter who has got hand ups down to a fine art and even made me protein bars for the race.

I was hoping I could match last year’s ride of 521 miles and tried to execute a similar ride. This had been discussed with my coach Billy from FTP Coaching who got me to the start line feeling the best I have for a long time! Although I knew not to go out too hard I also knew I had to push from the off as Alex was going to push me all the way. I wasn’t wrong. Although I kept the lead from the off there was a time mid race where there was just two minutes between us. I had one patch through the night where I felt I was fading I pulled into my team, sat down for 2-3 minutes and reset myself. By the time the sun came up in the morning I was on comp record pace but I wasn’t sure if I could sustain it. I had also put time into Alex and was about 12 miles up on the road. My team were giving me stats but I still didn’t take any of it for granted. Anything can happen at any time in the 24 and there was still around 8 hours of racing left! 

When we got to the finishing circuit, I didn’t have much left in the tank but kept pushing as hard as I could! I finished on 536 miles which was 19 miles ahead of 2nd. My actual down time was just  12 minutes. The only thing that didn’t go to plan was my rear mech battery came up with low battery after about 18hrs and 15,894 gear changes,  but Jon changed that in seconds! I really was pushed all the way. I can’t thank the organisers, Manchester bicycle club and all the marshalls enough for giving up their time and all the shout outs on course. The 24hr community really is special not like any other event on the calendar! “

In the Female competition Naomi de Pennington, Midlands group, 471.07 miles, was in first place and is the Female Champion. In second place was Emma Dixon, London & Home Counties 381.81 miles. Naomi’s story to follow…

The Group winners were Wessex with the trio of Lee Williams, Brian Hygate and Chris Hopkinson having a combined age adjusted distance of 1518.60 miles.

Three national age records were set by Doug Hart, Brian Hygate and myself. Late last year I had looked at my age adjusted target in my VTTA profile and compared it with the National Record for my age. My target, which was age adjusted from a past performance, showed I should be able to beat the national record. All I had to do was to ride another 24 hour six years after saying I would never do it again!

Again, well done to all the riders and thanks to Tim Smith and all the officials. Special thanks to John Taylor of the 24 hour Fellowship who wrote the book “The 24 hour Story” that was provided to every rider.

See the event results detail in the following news item and in the event results area of the website