Why Is a Crew Important in Ultra-Cycling?

I am so very grateful for my crew.

Every single one of them.

Whether they have supported me for one race or covered thousands of miles by my side, I have an unquestionable confidence that I am surrounded by people who continuously give above and beyond, day and night.

You might think life just passes me by, or that I pass by life on two wheels, but the older I get, the more I find myself reflecting on things.

One day recently, during a training run, I rode a section of the Donegal Ultra.

A race in my backyard, all 555 kilometres are breathtaking as well as being full of Donegal’s toughest challenges.

Recently I stopped outside a pub called the Rusty Nail in Clonmany, on the approach to one of the steepest climbs in Ireland, Mamore.

The final section ramps up to 23%. It’s short but severe and because of that severity it gets every rider’s attention.

You may wonder what significance the Rusty Nail might have.

Each race leaves a lesson

Well…

It anchors me to a rather painful, and embarrassing, memory.

The Rusty Nail marks the spot where, in 2016, during the inaugural Donegal Ultra, I took a wrong turn.

I turned left when I should have gone straight.

You might wonder how that could happen.

Where was the crew?

And therein lies the lesson, a lesson I have carried with me into every race since then.

I was five hours into the race. I had been putting the hammer down and had gained significant time. I was feeling fast, the legs were working and my mind was focused.

The crew and I stopped for a bike change in preparation for the steep slopes of Mamore.

I took off quickly while the crew loaded the time-trial bike into the car.

One wrong decision

Because I was in an almighty hurry, I turned left at the Rusty Nail out of familiarity – in my normal training run I would always turn left and under pressure my mind followed the default.

My crew stayed on route and went straight.

For a moment, we lost sight of one another and that moment became the most critical moment of the race.

To cut a long story short, I lost 59 minutes.

To be fair, I wanted to quit right then and there.

But my crew wouldn’t let me. We had a race to race.

We battled on for the rest of the race and eventually closed the gap to just a few minutes, finishing third overall.

It taught me just how important a crew really is.

Ultra-cycling is a team sport

Ultra-cycling might look like an individual sport.

But the longer the race, the more that illusion disappears.

Your crew keeps you on the right track (literally!)

They manage the bikes, make sure you eat and drink, and watch for the things you can’t see when you’re deep into the race.

They motivate you when you’re struggling and protect you in the nighttime hours or when things go wrong.

And they know you well enough to recognise when to intervene as fatigue starts to cloud judgement.

The crew becomes more and more central to the race as the miles, the days and the nights accumulate.

The crew become more important the longer the race

The Donegal Ultra is a long race by many people’s standards, but it is relatively short compared with something like the 3000-mile Race Across America.

In a shorter ultra, a rider can carry more of the responsibility themselves.

But as the miles, days and nights accumulate, fatigue, sleep deprivation, weather and decision fatigue change the equation.

The crew and rider share responsibility for every decision.

The longer the race, the more important that relationship – and the communication that supports it – becomes.

Someone recently reminded me of an old African proverb:

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

On that day at the Rusty Nail, I couldn’t help but reflect on it.

These races are far.

Very far.

And when we go together, we look out for one another.

Alone, I may be fast, but if you’re not careful, speed can disconnect you from what, and who, is important.

On that day in 2016, I allowed the urgency of speed to disconnect me.

Suddenly I was alone and in the wrong race.

That’s a costly mistake.

A lesson to carry with you

Perhaps that’s true of life too.

You can be moving quickly, completely focused on what’s ahead, and suddenly realise you’ve lost sight of the people around you.

Sometimes you take a wrong turn and find yourself on a completely different path.

Sometimes you simply get so far ahead that you’ve lost connection with the people who are there to help or accompany you.

The answer isn’t necessarily to stop.

Sometimes you just need to pause, sit up and look around.

Life is a road that I hope is a long one.

And I know I’d much rather journey it with people who have my back, my sides and my front, day and night.

So every time I feel the urgency of speed or action, I think:

Don’t turn left at the Rusty Nail.

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If you’re considering an ultra-cycling coach, we should chat. Email me at joe@barrultra.com