All Points North 2021 Race Report

Intro

All Points North 2021 is a self-supported, ultra-distance, endurance race. It’s a really unique race in that there isn’t a set route – there isn’t even a set direction! The only criteria is you must ride to each of the 10 checkpoints, which are dotted – not very evenly – around the north of England!

After my somewhat frustrating debut season in ultra-distance racing with injuries & Covid cancellations, All Points North was the event I was really hoping to get the monkey off my back in terms of completing my first ultra-distance event.

Pre-Race

After 3 difficult months rehabbing and strengthening my knee, my only goal for the 2 months prior to All Points North 2021 was just to enjoy riding in my new surroundings; the Yorkshire Dales. So going into the race I didn’t feel as physically strong as I did back in April after a really solid winter of training, however I felt much more at ease & much more comfortable on the bike – not putting myself under any pressure to perform. As such my only goal for this race was to make it to the finish line – determined not to get caught up in racing out of fear of damaging my knee again.

Prior to All Points North 2021 I was putting a lot of hours into working out the best way to tackle each of the ten checkpoints. The first thing I did was figure out both the shortest distance & also least climbing options. Whilst this was a decent starting point, it didn’t take into consideration resupply options, weather conditions, road options – as such my final route was a real compromise on distance & elevation, whilst also trying to include key resupply points.

One of the main indecisions I had was around strategy and kit. All Points North 2021 starts at 8pm on a Saturday night, meaning you’re riding through the night & then all day – so its highly likely to be 24+hours before stopping becomes an option. In my head I knew my ride was going to be longer than 48hours, so sleep had to be factored in at some point. The reason for the indecision was due to lingering concerns around my tendon damage. It had been 5 months since rupturing a tendon in my knee on the Dales Divide, I hadn’t been able to train for 3 of those months – as such I wasn’t particularly conditioned to riding big distance, especially not consecutively. I’d only done a couple of 200km’s in the 2 months prior to All Points North 2021 – so trying to gauge how I’d feel 30-40hours into the event was tricky.

All Points North Race

All Points North 2021 is organised by the team at A Different Gear in Sheffield. Their HQ was a cool place to be on the Saturday afternoon, with riders getting their bikes checked, comparing notes – just generally chilling out & fuelling up, knowing what was soon to come. It was in the courtyard, eating, I made a last minute decision to ditch my bivvy & sleeping bag – it was warm & dry, so I figured a space blanket & insulated jacket would suffice for a sleep system.

The hardest part about these events is the start. I’ve found the nerves can get a little intimidating – again I found myself with imposter syndrome, wondering if I was up to the task of riding 1000km. I think the nerves weren’t helped by Angela Walker, race organiser, reminding everyone that we would at some point be passing through a live firing range in the NY Moors & we should have checked the shooting hours. You could hear a pin drop, as one by one the riders processed this & picked their jaws up off the floor!

8pm soon rolled around & we were off; each rider on their chosen route, criss-crossing paths trying to find a way out of the concrete jungle. Once out on the road & settling into a rhythm, I found the nerves just fade away, as my mind comprehends & becomes focussed on the task at hand.

I opted to go counter clockwise, heading out to the east coast first. It was a warm, late summer evening & the pace was decent on the flat roads. It wasn’t long till the red rear flashing lights become non-existent as we all chose slightly different routes.

Each of the checkpoints on All Points North 2021 requires riders to answer a question on a brevet card & take a time stamped photo. So that was a decent excuse to get off the bike, stretch & walk about for a minute. It didn’t take long to clear CP 1 & soon found myself up in the NY moors at Runswick Bay. From there it was time to start climbing – I put on my extra layers, anticipating the ambient temperature to drop in the early hours.

I felt good as I ticked over the 200km mark – enjoying the freedom of night riding whilst the world sleeps. This would be first all-nighter since I finished uni a few years ago – I like my 8 hours sleep! I expected to have difficulties in all honesty, and sure enough around 6 am as the sun started to rise I started having hallucinations. Straight away I clocked it was due to descending – when having to pedal uphill I felt fine – but as soon as I didn’t have to do anything, felt my head nodding & my brain was imagining things running across the road. I had planned for this eventuality – The first bit of flat grass next to the roadside I curled up in my down jacket for a power nap of 20 minutes. It worked a treat! From there I was able to ride from 7am till 1am, when the lure of a hotel bed was much more appealing that Honister in the rain.

That afternoon was spent flitting in and out of the Pennines, ticking off CPs on my way north up to Kielder. I had realised by this point that the CPs were very strategically located at either the top or bottom of a very steep climb!

The checkpoint at Upper Coquetdale perfectly epitomised this – a long drag up to Kielder Forrest, then a 10km climb to the checkpoint itself up a singletrack lane – just when you thought you were topping out, nope, just a bit more. And to add further insult, the checkpoint itself was down a short, mega steep hill – meaning you immediately had to ride back up it. Unnecessary really! Same story at Runswick bay. At the time I was cursing, but now I look back and laugh. I know if I ever visit Runswick bay again, I’ll have a story to tell!

From Kielder it was a long cruise back down to Carlisle through the Scottish Borders – a part of the UK I’m very fond of, its remote but beautiful – shame I was riding it in the dark & the rain. This was the only point of the race I found myself really struggling; not having slept properly in 38hours & having been riding for 28 of those hours. My knee was giving me warning signs too. But as is a very popular saying in the world of ultra-distance ‘don’t scratch at night’. I pushed on, having made the decision to take a hotel bed in Carlisle. Honister in the wet & dark, on a body that was starting to say no didn’t appeal. I slept around 5 hours till first light & with time to mull over a shitty hotel instant coffee, I decided I would continue on – the comfort of a bed had allowed thoughts of scratching into my head, nervous about my knee once again. But I knew in my head if I scratched again that would be 2 out of 2 scratches in 2021. With my next race not till 2022, it’d be on my mind all winter. I pushed on.

Once I got a good feed & the first few km’s under my belt, I started feeling good again – the weather had dried up & the scenery of the Lake District inspiring me too. I quickly found myself falling into that ‘endless perfect circles’ routine, in the words of Ian Walker. Getting past the hard part is the hardest part of long-distance riding; I find once everything is fatigued, that’s when spinning for hours on end just comes so much more naturally – all very counterintuitive, but I can only speak from my experience & It’s hard to explain!

Honister was another awkward CP, a 10km out and back from Keswick, with the 25% climb, before heading down to Arnside & then up into the Dales – my home roads. My plan up to this point had revolved around stopping a lot to stretch & ensure my knee was never under too much pressure. Each resupply point I was taking double time to stretch, walk & keep myself in good condition. As I said to myself before starting, my only goal was to complete, so keeping disciplined was important for me. Not seeing riders for hours on end meant it was really easy not to get caught up in individual races.

At 800km in Kirby Lonsdale, my final resupply point, curiosity got the better of me & I checked the tracker for the first time – and sure enough, I saw riders in front of me. ‘I’m 800km in & my knee feels strong, I live & train on these roads, if I’m going to get involved in races, now’s a good time’ I thought. My strategy had paid dividends & I felt strong. Dent station, the coal road, Malham moor can be pretty intimidating climbs – but knew them like the back of my hand. The narrow roads, lined with dry stone walls & rolling views put me at ease; I felt at home.

I put the hammer down & chased the dots I’d seen ahead of me. A rider I met at Dent Station didn’t seem too impressed with the gradients! I was pushing hard for the final 150km, just to see where I’d end up. Last checkpoint done on Malham, it was onto the home straight – well, over 100km, but still. My route choice for the final push back to Sheffield was terrible – when I planned it, I must’ve been trying to avoid busy roads – however that meant a lot of unnecessary undulation. I found myself cooking on the final 80km, the muggy late summer heat was unpleasant, I had to stop for a cold bottle of coke to ease the suffering.

With the finish line ever so close, it was getting to the point where I just wanted it over. Yet with each km, the finish line felt like it was just moving further away; each incline feeling harder & harder. After 50hours & 36 minutes I rolled into HQ as the 6th rider to complete All Points North 2021. Pressing end ride, having completed my first ultra was such a relief!

Tucking into some food that wasn’t processed carbohydrate, I found out the winner had won in a time of 46hours 26minutes – 30 seconds ahead of the second placed rider. It’s crazy that nearly 1000km of racing can be won by such a small margin!  

Charlotte Thompson’s ride was just as impressive. We were following the checkpoints in the same order & often found ourselves crossing paths for the first 600km or so. We had discussed strategies to get through the second night the previous afternoon, so to see her still looking strong the next morning around Honister was hugely uplifting!

Thoughts

It took me a while to accept I was happy with my race & overall result. In all honesty I had hoped for better at the start of the year – of the 4 races I entered, I started 2 & finished only 1. Considering the hours I’d put into training, I couldn’t shake the thought I hadn’t done myself justice. It was my first year racing ultra-distance, so in context, finishing a 1000km ultra is an achievement to be proud of.

What plays on my mind is that my ride time was 39hours 11minutes, averaging 24.5kph over 959.29km & 13,628m – whilst I’m happy with those numbers, it was the 11h23minutes of stopped time that meant I was never really going to be competitive in the race. A hotel for over 5 hours, and resupplies taking 30minutes on average, on a bike race where the clock doesn’t stop would be considered madness by most – but the reality was a sensible strategic decision. At 28 hours & 600km, rest was more important, when considering my goal of injury prevention rather than racing.

Now I look back on my goal at the start of the race, having spent 3 months out with a ruptured knee tendon, I can’t complain. As my parents reminded me afterwards, had you not taken all that rest & time off the bike, you may not have finished at all. And when are parents ever wrong?!

I’m a big believer in learning by doing – so spending 50hours out riding my bike in a self-supported race was an excellent opportunity to find out how I cope. I have a lot of positives & lessons learned to take away from my 2 experiences this year. Being new to ultra-distance, I didn’t know what my body would be capable of – that meant planning strategies & resupply was really difficult.

The two races I’ve entered this year have been 48hour races, so you don’t really get into a routine as such. But just by being involved in racing for the first time, I’ve learnt so much that will be hugely beneficial in the years to come; knowing my nutrition requirements & also what kind of pace I can maintain over different terrain is invaluable information. Nutrition was a tricky one – I’m still very much learning what works for me & what doesn’t. I did find out yoghurt is a top tier snack; refreshing, easy to digest & full of calories!

This was another opportunity to answer the question ‘what can I live without’ rather than what do I need. Having got two races under my belt now, I feel much better equipped to know what I need and what I don’t. Nutrition & race strategy will be two constantly evolving subjects, which I’ll probably write about as I learn more for myself.

Kit

I took my Ribble Endurance SL, on a Hope 20FIVE dynamo wheelset with 28mm Vittoria Rubino Pro tubeless tyres. All Points North 2021 was held in September, where the hours of daylight & night time were about even. The minimal drag increase from the front dynamo was a price I was comfortable paying for unlimited 1300l, rather than relying on battery packs & charging multiple lights.

I used a tailfin aeropack to carry the majority of my kit, as well as an Apidura frame pack & top tube pack. The aeropack is brilliant bit of kit, I like to use mine for bulky kit & kit I don’t need access to on the move; such as sleep system, repair kit & tools etc. Personally I find you need 3 hands to get to stuff in a saddle bag & fasten them back up; whereas the aeropack stays supports itself & is much easier to use with the big roll top closure. The fact it doesn’t sway or rub against the bike in anyway is a huge plus.

I ride a small frame, so optimising the space inside my frame triangle is a challenge. It doesn’t matter what size frame pack I use, I can’t get a decent sized bottle on the downtube – even with cage adapters to shift the bottle position further down. As such I can get an 850ml on the seat tube & a 600ml on the downtube. That’s about enough for 3-4 hours riding. I chose to run an additional 1.5l hydration bladder in my frame pack, where all my other food was stored. 3l of water is enough for 7-8 hours riding; meaning I could ride through the night without worrying about resupply. My preference is to ride with a frame pack for access to stuff on the move; I don’t like having food in jersey pockets – I prefer to have waterproof layers & gloves etc. there.

The top tube pack was where I kept my electronics & personal effects. As for electronics, I had a Wahoo GPS, dynamo front light & then 3 USB powered rear lights, which I could alternate between & charge via the USB dynamo output.

My set-up worked; yet it could definitely be optimised – both the races I’ve entered this year have been in the UK shoulder seasons where overnight temperatures & daylight hours have played a big part in my kit choices. With all my learnings & feeling unsatisfied with my performance this year, I’m very much motivated ahead of APN22; I’m looking forward to putting everything into practice & hopefully delivering a performance I can be proud of.