Strathpuffer 24h MTB Enduro

ask Caren

Shouting down the telephone is the standard protocol here, right?

Mrs. Ecobeard has Matts number on speed dial just in case

I find that goes down really well, yeah

Even better on a video call so she can see your frothing chops, pink cheeks and pointy fingers

Anyone doing it this year? I am in a pair, camping with a team of 4 too.

Me! In the St Andrews Uni Mountaineering Club quad

Slightly bricking it about ice, Barzo/Mezcal tyre combo isn't exactly optimal for grip even when it's not frozen. Also had never ridden off road in the proper dark until like two weeks ago, seems kinda fine with front light and head torch combination, especially at the low speeds I'm certain to be descending at. Most worried about staying warm when not riding tbh 😶‍🌫️

Take a lot of fire wood and be prepared to be bloody cold regardless.

Just take all the clothes you own and get changed at every switch you do would be my advice

Enjoy the fire road climb, the party really gets going as the night (all 17hrs of it) goes on...Only one longer descent and its fun, nice soft wind bushes to catch you.

Nice one, good luck.

I did it last year as part of a quad (very wet, very muddy, relatively 'mild') and making the off-bike time as comfortable as possible is absolutely key- how will your pit be set-up? We had a gazebo for food and hanging out, and a fishing shelter/semi open tent thing for sleeping.

We got a camper the last time we done it and it’s now the only way I would do it again, which I think I’d like to do in 2026

Noted

But you already knew that 😉

I packed less shite when i spent five weeks in south africa

Lol

Jesus. Quite the experience. But I'd wager us quads had it easy.

All things considered, the weather was pretty good, no significant rain and it wasn't below freezing - well it snowed later on but I was asleep by then. Had a tent for sleeping in the night before and once dead, but sat in the van for warmth during the race. Changing clothes on top half immediately after stopping helped keep from getting too cold.

Did the absolute classic move of going insanely hard on the first lap and then tried to be sensible after that, I think my first lap was 45mins and then stretched gradually to an hour-ish. We did 3x ABCD at first in our quad, and then changed to ABABCDCD, was absolutely finished after my 5th lap and went to sleep, feeling sorry for our C and D guys. Not sure if that was the play, if doing it again might stick to those three hour rests between laps. Managed our goal of 20 laps though!

Hardest part was keeping eating, especially when you've only got an hour to rest the appetite just starts to not come back in time, sugar water and plain baguette saved the day I reckon, but was craving warm soup. Course was definitely a bit soupy in places and I was rather scrappy through the first rocky single-track part, but the rest was super fun even in the dark. Ancient 100mm hardtail was just fine, but a modern full squish XC bike is clearly the best bike. Given 400m of climbing each lap it is basically a w/kg test as long as you can be vaguely smooth through the technical parts.

Final #insight we were late and parked wayyy up the forestry track climb, almost at the top. Sooooo much quieter than the bottom where it was mega noisy with generators and general bustle. Less exciting atmosphere I suppose, but much more relaxing and was nice to start the single-track not redlined from the climb.

Dunno if I'm built for 24hr events but I'm glad I did it, super fun most of the time ;)

Nice one, congrats.

We finished up on 17 laps in our pair. Were on track for 20 laps at half way but that means fuck all as so much changes past midnight.

Great event, loads of learning done. Would like to come back. We were lucky as though we were in a pair we pitched up camp with two quads. So got a lot of the benefits of their setup. Saw your van every time I went up the road, seemed like a good place to be. Atmosphere is what you want when you're riding not when your trying to get some sleep.