'You've got to go through it all and get to the other side' – new record breaking 12-hour champions on the future of their niche sport
'Half day' time trials are dwindling in numbers, but those involved are as impassioned – and capable – as ever
If you were compiling a list of cycling events that could be readily marked down as 'endangered', there's a reasonable chance you'd include 12-hour time trialling in the UK. While it isn't quite in the one-event-per year bracket with its big sibling the '24', events are relatively few and far between.
Sprawling, unwieldy courses, onerous marshal requirements and limited numbers of riders up for the challenge are the most obvious issues that mean event numbers are stuck at around three per season – around half what it was 10 years ago.
However, the multiple new records that came out of last weekend's RTTC National Championships events and, perhaps more importantly the numbers of young riders present, suggest that while it might be a small scene, it's one that continues to thrive.
The provisional results – still being ratified – include competition records for both men's and women's events from the new open and female champions Jake Sargent (Team Bottrill) and Naomi De Pennington (Drag2Zero), both of whom recorded their third consecutive titles and rode to 333.54 and 291.04 miles respectively. There was also a record road bike distance of 303.72 miles from Casper Von Folsach who, impressively, was also second overall. It's the Dane's third such mark of the year, having already set new times for 25 and 100 miles.
As well as the new distances, 10 riders of the 37 finishers were under 40, and 10 were female – one of whom, Helen Stevenson, was a junior. While there's certainly room for improvement, it feels like there's enough interest from women and younger riders to suggest a future.
"I've always said that it's the best event on the calendar," new open champion Sargent told Cycling Weekly, still nursing a 12-hour weary body. "You just don't fully realise it until you've done one. You've got to go through it all and get to the other side… that's something special. That's what I've always said to people. I'd be very sad to see it go."
As with the '24' and other ultra-distance time trials, the community aspect of the '12' was key, Sargent said, made up by not just the riders but groups of helpers too.
"I'd say finishing it is half the story," he said. "It's always more of a community event I find, because everybody – with the exception of the people who do it self-supported, which I think is crazy, the dedication and organisation they must have – but everyone's usually got a little team of two or three or four helpers, and it's it's so much more of an event than some of the shorter distances.
He continued: "In the last hour of 12, when there's people in dinosaur suits on the side of the road screaming your name and cheering you on… you don't get that at the National 10. The difference is quite remarkable in how many people come out to see the last few stragglers finish."
Sargent himself is just 26, and new female champ De Pennington said she was encouraged by the numbers of younger riders taking part.
"We're definitely starting to see some younger people riding the 12. Obviously, I discount myself from that because I'm 49. But there's a few younger women who seem to be getting going with it, which I think is really encouraging."
The smaller size of the field was to be expected to some degree, said De Pennington, who only realised she'd beaten the record after the event when she transposed the kilometres she'd ridden (her favoured metric) to miles.
"Even 10 years ago 12-hour events were accustomed to similar numbers of finishers, except perhaps in the Nationals. But she did allude to the difficulty in finding sufficient marshals, particularly for an event of such duration.
"You know, it's always a struggle for any time trials now to find marshals," she said. "It's the same with our local 10, and people only have to hang out for 25 minutes. So [the 12] requires a lot of people to give up a hell of a lot of their time."
Chair of Cycling Time Trials Tim Smith ostensibly rescued last year's National 24hr Championships from extinction when he took on the organisation. Both the 24-hour and the 'half-day', as it is often called, offer unique challenges, he told Cycling Weekly. In his estimation the '12' would continue to thrive.
"I think the 12-hour is in a really good place at the moment," he said. "Last weekend was a great demonstration of that, with records being set and some really impressive performances across the events. It shows that there is still a real appetite for ultra-distance time trialling and, importantly, that riders are continuing to see what they can achieve over the longer distances.
"I’m very positive about the future of ultra events," he continued. "There’s something quite unique about the challenge of riding for 12 or 24 hours, and I think we’ll continue to see riders pushing the boundaries of what is possible. From the CTT’s perspective, we want to support that and make sure there is a strong platform for these events to develop."
