There’s nothing tougher than the Puffer!
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NOTHING can prepare you for what goes on at the Strathpuffer. The 24-hour endurance mountain bike event marked its 10th year at the weekend, and this time I’d been persuaded – against my better judgement – to enter.
Despite several visits to the woods around Strathpeffer and Contin to test out the circuit beforehand, things get a little more difficult on the day, and especially at night.
After all, 17 hours of this winter madness takes place in darkness.
To add to that, storms had brought down a huge number of trees which had to be cleared in the days running up to this year’s Puffer, while heavy snow and low temperatures in the week or two before had changed the feel of the course dramatically.
I only accepted this three days before the riding started, when I finally purchased a set of ice spiker tyres for my mountain bike. I was glad I did, because they gave me the confidence to ride the course at what I thought was a reasonable pace.
I was part of a team of four which also included Mike Dunthorne of Boots ’n’ Paddles and Donald Macpherson of paddling firm Explore Highland, based in Inverness. We called ourselves Local Loons +1, the plus-one being Emma Martin from Aberdeen.
It didn’t take us long to realise that our “reasonable pace” was a long way behind the best riders – some of whom were taking part in pairs or solo – so we aimed for doing as many laps as we could manage and trying not to finish last!
I’d volunteered to take the first lap, which begins with a Le Mans style run to the bikes before the long climb up the fire road. After a river crossing, a few twists and turns and yet more uphill, the fun stuff starts.
A bumpy, rocky section demands your concentration, where picking the right line and keeping moving is all important. The first real test comes with a short slab that drops steeply. The first time I came across this on a previous visit, I walked it; now I knew how to ride it but not covered in ice! My new tyres helped and I cleared it easily enough, pedalling round to meet Bill – a model biker in the middle of the singletrack section – before descending to another slab and then the “Bridge of Thighs”.
I struggled getting onto this narrow crossing smoothly but was happy to power up the far side. The route then becomes a blur of rocks and gorse, with memorable little obstacles such as a little dip across a burn, eventually dumping you out on an easier track for some light relief.
Round another corner and you’re climbing again, this time to a fabulous viewpoint above Loch Kinellan. On my fifth and final lap of the event at around 8.30 on Sunday morning, a group of us stopped here for a breather, and one lad said to me: “You’d call it beautiful... in different circumstances.”
He was right. The distant mountains were covered in snow, the sun was just rising and we were in the perfect place. But there was no time for soaking up the atmosphere – the lap had to be finished.
From here the route zigzags down through tightly-packed gorse before finding its way onto a nice path which you can take at some speed before cutting left to head back up to View Rock. Then, just as the going gets a bit easier, you cut left off the path onto the start of the mud.
I have to admit I didn’t enjoy this section very much! It was awkward to find a good line through it where your front wheel wasn’t going to get stuck, so despite the concern you had to keep the momentum up to get through it. There were some seriously steep drops through what soon became a quagmire and I was just glad to get to the end of it each time.
As soon as that was over there was an adrenaline-filled descent to the finish line, first on fire road then cutting down steps to accelerate down an earth path which ends with another set of steps and a tight left turn onto the final few hundred yards of fire road to the finish.
At the end of each lap, you have to clock your team in with an electronic dibber.
And in a strange sense, the biking was the easy bit! The logistics of getting everything ready for the Strathpuffer were much more complicated, and organising a team to change over laps at the right time was a constant challenge.
As first timers, we learned as we went along. Our motor home was parked way up the fire road towards Rogie Falls, so after each lap it was back up the long hill to change rider.
There was a great buzz out on the course and at the start and finish area, with marshals always encouraging throughout the day and night. Having done the first lap, I was lucky enough to get another done in full daylight while we slowly ticked off the team laps.
Once we’d done a couple of laps each, things were already getting tough, so I decided the only way to keep things going was to get out in the darkness and do two back-to-back. I consciously slowed down, aware I was already tired and it was going to be late when I would next get back to the warmth of the motor home, but this doubler should at least earn me a sleep!
The finish was fantastic at night, with coloured lights leading you down the final path and music blaring at the event HQ. But out on the course, the snow and ice had been replaced by slush and more mud, with my dreaded quagmire getting worse and worse.
Staying mentally focused was becoming more and more challenging but I was enjoying the rest of the route and the adrenaline rush at the end of each lap really spurred me on.
After my back-to-back laps I went to hose down the bike, and got chatting to another rider. I complained how hard it felt doing two in a row – until he told me he’d just ridden eight! Humble pie time...
These mountain bikers, some of whom are elite and some who are just keen and fit, are a breed apart. To keep going through the day and night, lap after lap, takes real mental and physical strength, as well as confidence in your ability and your bike.
After those two laps – my third and fourth of the event and the team’s ninth and 10th – I was glad to get back up the hill, fill myself up with pasta and hide under a duvet for as long as possible.
While I was dozing in and out of sleep on a sofa that was 2ft shorter than me, my team-mates knocked out another three laps, taking our total to 13. I finally forced myself to get up and back into cycling gear to knock out another lap before my first Strathpuffer fizzled out...
When I got going, the lights were still needed but there was a hint of daylight peeking through. This was the lap I’d been told about, the chance to ride into the morning and see the sun rise.
My riding was far from perfect as I tried to wake up properly and I bounced over the rocks rather than rolling over them! Slowly but surely I got back into the spirit and, despite thinking I would just walk the muddy section this time, I rode it better than I had during the whole event.
It made the finish that much sweeter and I knew as I powered down the last descent – getting cheers for using the steps rather than avoiding them – that my fifth and final lap was just about done.
After cleaning the bike I got back up the hill in time to send Mike off with plenty of time to do his last lap, and take the team total to 15. It kept us clear of last place and, while we may not be the best bikers here, we certainly felt part of a mountain bike event that has well earned its reputation as one of the toughest in the world.
Event details
Strathpuffer24: www.strathpuffer.co.uk
* Thanks to Donald Macpherson for his organisation and to the rest of our team Mike Dunthorne and Emma Martin, as well as Loch Ness Motorhomes, Mike’s Bikes in Aviemore, Bikes of Inverness and Highland Bikes for support and preparation. The organisers did a fantastic job of hosting the event so thanks to those involved, particularly Square Wheels in Strathpeffer, and to all the volunteers – especially the marshals who kept the spirits up throughout the weekend!
