Not only did it not rain at this year’s Bontrager 24/12, the event actually saw the kind of intense heat and dust that I’d normally associate with somewhere like the sponsor’s home of California, and probably had more than a few riders praying for just a little rain to cool them off and damp down the course a little. Kudos to Martyn Salt and his team for organising another hugely successful event at Newnham Park; the challenging eight mile course was praised by every rider I met and the race site had a friendly, positive atmosphere even in the middle of the night, when there was a DJ set-up in the woods and a jazz band providing the entertainment elsewhere. Image above: unknown rider on course at the 2008 Bontrager 24/12 almost 23 hours after the start of the race.
