Thetford Dusk Til Dawn 2008

I entered my first ever race as part of a team of 3, we named ourselves "TROG Team Excuse".  There wasn't much of a write up, but the night was a total wash out that turned the ground into a bike dissolving paste.

The 3 of us took 1 lap at a time, me being the 3rd to go out but the conditions were so bad that over the 12 hours the others managed 3 laps each and as the last to go out I only managed to fit in 2.5 laps (my last was abandoned due to the conditions)...

---
Despite the mud and rain I had a great night; I'm knackered now and slightly disappointed that all the training only led to 2 competitive laps (I abandoned lap 3 out of fear of damaging both myself and my bike), but still it was a good laugh and I'm looking forward to next year already

Things that helped make the conditions more bearable were, having;

• a cook on site
• kit for her to cook with
• shelter for her to cook under
• dry sleeping/changing compartments
• a 30ft x 10ft gazebo for us to shelter under!
• a smaller shelter for bikes to be stored under
• a selfless through-the-night bike cleaner
• not just 1, but 2 generators to power things from
• at least 8 plug sockets for charging batteries!
• a kettle
• more lights than you can shake Blackpool seafront at!
• a good bunch of people to have a laugh with

...all in a prime spot by the start/finish straight and donated/provided out the of the kindness of people's hearts, all made a very tough experience much much much more bearable. Especially as it is in contrast with many other teams who were based in little 2 man tents with no electricity and only tea-lights for company!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/joolzed/2918929806/