Race report – Anfield ‘100’- a newbie’s tale by Simon Higgins

The Anfield 100 was held in appalling conditions (rain varying from light to torrential throughout, although little wind) on Bank Holiday Monday, 30^th May. Duff, Hannah Sammut, John Cosgrove and I set off at 4.10 a.m. from Duff’s house for Race HQ, Shawbury Village Hall in darkest Shropshire, arriving just in time for the tentative spots of rain that had fallen up until then to work themselves up into a steady downpour. Here, we met Hannah Macdonald and Claudia, who had stayed in a nearby hotel overnight, which might have been a better preparation. Duff was to act as team driver, masseuse and general dogsbody, chasing around the course with bottles and cryptic shouted advice, and as he drove off to perform these duties, I picked up Hannah Mac’s bike, which had been leaning on the car. I don’t know how much it weighed, but it was heavy. Very heavy.

We rode to the start and exchanged the usual gallows humour about our collective lunacy in deciding to spend a Bank Holiday Monday morning riding 100 miles of A-roads in the pouring rain. Duff took a few commemorative photos, most of which were inevitably rain-smeared.

Of the Century riders, Hannah S was off first, followed by Hannah Mac and Claudia. Characteristically, Hannah Mac remarked that she hoped I wouldn’t depress her by overtaking her too early. ‘No chance!’, I replied (prophetically as it turned out); ‘You’ll never see me again!’.

Then it was my turn. Conscious of the fact that I usually take a long time to get going, I made more of an effort than usual at first, and was heartened to pass four riders in succession before the first roundabout without feeling that I was trying too hard. That was about as good as it got. The rain and cold (8 ˚C? At the end of May?) began to take their toll from about 15 miles; if Cozzy hadn’t lent me a thermal T-shirt before the start, I doubt I’d have finished at all (so thanks Cozzy – it’s been washed, don’t worry).

The course takes the riders North East up the A53, then the A41 up to Prees Heath, and then back again before a little foray further East on the A53 to near Market Drayton. Then it’s back to Shawford, before starting four laps of a loop through Cotwall to Crudgington, and back up the A442 to the now-familiar A53 returning to Shawford.

By the time I started the four laps of loop, I was ready to give up. I was so cold that I could neither change gear (except very clumsily with my palm), nor even, as it turned out, extract a bottle from the carrier without dropping it on the road (I stopped to pick it up). As for locating a snack from my back pocket and opening it… no chance! It sounds ridiculous as I type this, here in the warmth of my office, but it is true. In all, I stopped three times to eat or answer a call of Nature. Still, I was a source of amusement to some – one overtaking rider smiled to see me tear at a Mule Bar wrapper with my teeth while cursing loudly in the pouring rain. Talking to myself was at least some motivation; during the third loop, as I asked myself (out loud) what the flying fandango I was doing here, another overtaking rider with skinsuit and disc wheel was also able to share a good laugh.

That Mule Bar was a life saver– once I finally managed to eat that, I felt a bit better, and with the marshals saying ‘Come on; only one more lap!’, I livened up a little on the final circuit. It wasn’t enough for me to break 5 hours, but I only missed it by a whisker.

I was privileged to be lapped by eventual winner Andy Basson, just as someone stood in the middle of the A442 shouting ‘You’re 3 minutes up on the course record!’ He eventually did 3:41:07, which is amazing considering the conditions. Several other riders, including former multiple winner Andy Wilkinson, gave up in the cold and wet. I see from a scan of the time trialling forum website that one rider (Rhydian Evans) was knocked off by a car that failed to stop, and nevertheless finished, in some pain, in 4:49:39. Subsequently he discovered that he had a broken shoulder. This is clearly a race for hard cases.

The results for the Century riders were recorded as follows: Hannah Macdonald (on her butcher boy’s special; God knows what she’ll do on a carbon bike) 4:57:34, Simon Higgins 5:02:35, Colin Hayes 5:03:23, Hannah Sammut (nursing a virus and a severe case of super-opus medicus) 5:10:32, Mike Armstrong 5:13:24, Claudia Witzig 5:17:28. However, again on the time trialling forum, there is a post saying that Colin Hayes was mixed up with another rider, and actually did 4:19:25 for 13^th place! John Cosgrove did 4:41:25.

Thanks should be recorded to all who helped, particularly Duff, and all the marshals – not a job to relish, standing on a roundabout in the rain for 6 hours. There was even one guy who stood under a bush in the pouring rain on the loneliest part of the course, clapping every passing rider. Thanks also to the ladies serving tea and a wonderful selection of cream cakes afterwards.

I am slowly proceeding from ‘Never again!’ to ‘Next year, I’ll….’.