by Gary Adnitt...

I’d been looking at this event for a number of years, heard good things about it from other club members and decided 2024 was time for me to have a go.

For those not familiar with the event, you set off from Minster on Sea in Kent at dawn (04:42) with the aim of getting to Weston Super Mare in Somerset before sunset (21.32), some 205 miles away. I mentioned it to a few club members and Martin Taylor said he’d join me, so we set about planning our ride.

I arranged a meeting with some customers in WSM the Friday before then event, so left a car and change of clothes for us both at the finish, then travelled across to Kent by train and was picked up by Martin for transfer to our hotel in Rochester, cheap and cheerful and 30 minutes drive from the start. We enjoyed a nice Turkish dinner and a couple of beers before getting our heads down for an early start.

We were up just after 03:00, tried to force some porridge down, jumped in the van and set off to the start. Riders start in groups to ease congestion on the roads, we started around 04:45.

Martin and I are both experienced at long distances, so we prepared our bikes well and focussed our minds, Martin adding sage comments like “just keep moving, no matter how bad you feel” and “this is an eating competition as much as anything else”.

Our aim was to only stop twice for food, which we achieved at 80 and 145 miles, therefore splitting the ride into three pieces, 80, 65 and 60 mile lengths. The reason for the longer first leg was because that way we’d clear London whilst we had fresh legs and before the Saturday morning traffic got too heavy. Mentally it’s also good to know each leg is less than the one before. Weather-wise we had a 10mph headwind all day, but perfect temperature and broken cloud for a sunny afternoon and evening.

Our pace was good throughout, but hitting what felt like every possible red light through London was frustrating and a killer on the clock. All the riders we encountered were sociable and able to pull a turn, we flitted from group to group, sometime rode on our own and both enjoyed the route. On the route: it was pretty direct, had 34 noted climbs, sometimes took you through busy arterial routes and towns but in the main directed us through some beautiful parts of the south of England.

One key thing I struggle with is the boredom of eating so much food for so long, I simply get fed up with it and think I’m over eating. At 190 miles I started to get the knock, the usual symptoms for me being blurred vision and lack of strength on climbs. I shouted up to Martin and had a quick break to throw all my remaining gels and sweets down me, had a quick pee whilst the sugar did it’s work and we then set off to WSM. Later I understood that Martin was also taking carb sachets in his bottles along with electrolytes whereas I was taking just electrolytes, something I’ll learn from….

We rode in to WSM at 19:20, 15hrs and 40 minutes after we started, 2hrs 10 minutes before sunset. Ultimately, we all ride at a natural pace, outside influences can affect your pace and our time is what Martin and I netted on the day. Some were quicker, some slower, some didn’t make the finish at all, but these rides are a personal challenge, we challenged and enjoyed ourselves. To celebrate we had fish and chips at the finish as we watched fellow rider’s finish. We celebrated with more food, are you kidding me!

In summary, the organisers, volunteers and support at the side of the road were fantastic. We did our own things but it’s worth a nod to the organisers, they put on a great event. The atmosphere was good and I’d recommend this event to anyone who has the legs for it.

I’ve many stories to tell about this ride, buy me a coffee and I’ll bore you to death, but joking aside if you are thinking of riding this event here are my tips:

• A third of this event is in your legs, head and stomach in equal measure.
• Have a hotel near the start and finish.
• Do it with someone of similar ability and sense of humour.
• It is a race, after all the aim is to get there before sunset, so the whole day is against the clock. But you get there when you get there, no one cares about your time, they just think you are crazy for doing it.

The organisers have four routes, Chase the Sun North, South, Ireland and Italy. I would certainly take on another route, or even do this one again.