we haven't 🙁

We have, maybe you are not in, best give Pat a call

on the list of entrants on the site

not wanted – move along

Yup, only this week mind after emailing. Seems many may have got eaten by spam filters. Do you want it forwarding? greg dot hodgson at ntlworld dot com.

ENDURA SLEEPLESS IN THE SADDLE
Catton Park, 7th & 8th August 2010

Timetable of Events:

Friday 6th August
5pm Course open for inspection – Please note that course marshals and first aid team are
not in place until Sat morning. IMPORTANT: THE ROAD CLOSURE IS NOT IN EFFECT UNTIL SATURDAY MORNING SO IF YOU WISH TO INSPECT THE COURSE YOU MUST DISMOUNT & CHECK BOTH WAYS BEFORE CROSSING THE ROAD.
5pm – 9pm Registration open. IMPORTANT: CHECK ALL YOUR DETAILS ARE CORRECT AT REGISTRATION, INCLUDING YOUR NAME, TEAM NAME & CATEGORIES.

11.30pm – 7am Quiet time on the campsite.

Saturday 7th August
8am – 11.30am Registration open.
9am Course open for inspection.
1pm Rider briefing – everyone to attend please!
1.45pm Riders in place for the Le Mans start. First riders’ bikes will be along the start/finish straight.
2pm The 2010 ENDURA Sleepless in the Saddle begins!!!
8.20pm Sun-set. All riders must have lights on their bike from this point.
11.30pm – 7am Quiet time on the campsite. No generators, loud hailers, fireworks, loud music, excessive heckling & so on during this time. Please be considerate to other competitors & abide by the quiet time as there will people nearby by in need of sleep!

Sunday 8th August
6.40am Sun rise – only 7 ½ hours to go!
2pm Race finishes. All riders must finish the lap they are on at 2pm to be included in the results.
3.20pm approx Prize presentation for all categories. Please stay to congratulate everyone – you will all deserve a round of applause.
Directions:
How to get Catton Park – Catton Park lies just off the A513 close to Alrewas, near Tamworth & Lichfield.

It is best to approach from the A38 between Lichfield and Burton-on-Trent. Leave the A38, taking the A513 signposted for Alrewas & Tamworth. Head towards Tamworth on the A513. After approx 1.5 miles you will go under a railway bridge. Take the left turn immediately after the bridge. The race arena will be on the right hand side after about 1 mile.

For those of you embracing the modern technologies of route planners, GPS units & the like, the postcode of Catton Park is DE12 8LN.
CARAVANS & LARGER VEHICLES PLEASE NOTE THE BRIDGE AT WALTON ON TRENT IS 2.2 m WIDE. YOU WILL NEED TO APPROACH FROM A38 AT ALREWAS.
Camping:

All camping is free and available from 3pm Thursday all the way through until Sunday night inclusive.

There will be an area set aside for Soloists’ camping close to the course. There will be a solo tent provided with a few tables and chairs. IMPORTANT – No camping stoves or cooking/heating devices with naked flame are to be used inside this tent.

Unfortunately there are no electricity hook-ups, so please come prepared with alternatives such as generators for power, or gas for cooking.

Well behaved dogs are welcome to bring along responsible owners. Please note, you must clean up after your dog.

There will be the usual facilities including shower blocks and toilet blocks with flushing toilets. If you are particularly muddy please wipe off the worst of the muck before getting into the showers to stop them from clogging up & becoming unusable for anyone else.

Please remember a few simple rules when pitching your camp:
o DO NOT CAMP IN OR OBSTRUCT EMERGENCY ROUTES/FIRE LANES or on ROADS
o Leave 4 metres between tents (you can park cars in between though)
o Do enjoy yourselves, but please abide by the quiet time
o Barbecues are welcome – but NO digging fire pits or open fires please.
o Please be careful with glass and bottles

RUBBISH:
We would like to thank you in advance for keeping the grounds of Catton Hall tidy. There will be bins and skips around the site, please use them. Bin bags will be available. Leaving the campsite clean and tidy will enhance the image of mountain biking and give you an enormous sense of well being.

PLEASE ENSURE THAT YOUR PITCH IS FREE OF LITTER AND RUBBISH WHEN YOU LEAVE.

The Rules:

The rules for the Endura Sleepless in The Saddle are based on the widely accepted rules that have been used at 24hour mountain bike races for many years in both the UK and the USA.

1. Teams
Teams are made up of four riders in the sport & expert categories, five in the mixed category & two in the pairs category. Once racing begins there can be no change to the team line up. The order in which the riders go out on course may change, but team members cannot be substituted. Solo racers, obviously, must race on their own for the 24hours.

2. Swapping Spares
Once a rider is on course normal mountain bike racing rules apply. This means that you are not allowed any outside technical assistance – riders must be self sufficient. Support from other racers is allowed provided that they are “on course” at the same time. This includes swapping spares, tools & even bike parts. Food & drink can be handed up to riders by anyone at any point on the course. Before riders get on course they can swap bikes and parts as much as they have to as long as the correct number board is kept with the right rider.

2a. Bike Specification
Acceptable bikes:
o 26” wheels – good (proper wheels)
o 29” wheels – fine (if that’s your bag)
o 69er’s – ok (if you’re confused & can’t make up your mind)
o offroad unicycles (if you’re a mental)
This is still a mountain bike race & we ask you to enter in the spirit of the event & compete on what we deem to be a suitable bike. So, no drop bars, cyclo-cross bikes or tandems please.

3. Race in One Direction
Once on course & out of the Start/Finish area, racers must follow the course in the racing direction; a mechanical problem 100 yards from the start must be fixed on course. Once riders have left the arena they cannot return. In the case of major mechanicals the rider must still complete the full lap (no course cutting), so a well maintained bike and a good tool kit are a must. If you are not racing then you cannot ride on the course while the race is on.

A well set up bike is essential. Just ask anyone from last year who ran miles with a broken bike on their shoulder!…

4. Cheating
Cheating will not be tolerated. Substituting unregistered riders, racing outside your normal category, cutting through the tapes, having outside assistance, short-cuts and any other cheating will result in instant disqualification for the whole team – so don't even think about it… we mean it, Grrrrr! Riders must race within the course tape. Where it has not been possible or practical to erect course tape, then they must stick to the obvious trail.

5. The Baton
The Endura baton must be carried by the 'on course' rider at all times. Losing the baton will incur a time penalty, with the incoming rider forced to wait five minutes before being given a new baton to hand over. You must also have your race number on your bike while racing.

5a. Electronic Timing System
The very clever people at FR Systems are doing our timing. The system revolves around some transponder chips that everyone has to wear on their ankle.

As you pass through the timing tent, you will walk over some mats and the system will detect your racing chip and credit you with that lap and time. The clock then starts on the next lap, whoever might be doing it. If you are doing another lap, just carry on. If another rider is doing the next lap, hand the baton over to them. Their lap time will stop when they pass through the timing tent.
PLEASE RETURN YOUR TMING CHIP TO REGISTRATION AFTER YOU COMPLETE YOUR LAST LAP. Or post back to – FR Systems , Unit 30 Blythe Park Business Base, Cresswell Lane, Blythe Bridge, Staffs ST11 9RD

6. Minimum Laps
Every rider in the sport & mixed categories must complete a minimum of two laps during the course of the event. Riders in the Expert categories must each complete a minimum of four laps. There is no maximum number of laps. If each team member does not race the minimum, then the team's score will not count. If you have a rider who is uncomfortable racing at night, then they needn't race in the dark as long as someone else from the team does and as long as everyone on the team does their two laps. There must be a racer from your team on course at all times. Pretending to have had an eight hour night lap isn't in the spirit of the race (and you'll miss the best bit too…)

7. Lights
Being a 24 hour race, it's going to get dark and all racers who are on course between sunset and sunrise must have two working lights, a main light & a back up. Bear in mind too, that it's no longer mid-Summer and there's less daylight than in June – the sun sets at around 9pm and doesn't rise until 6am. That's nine hours of darkness – it's unlikely that your lights will last that long, making it essential to carry a backup light.

The main light must be at least 10 Watts and have enough power to last the lap. Please check up on your lights before the event and make sure they're fully charged. Though there will be 240V sockets available for charging on site, many batteries take a day to charge fully from empty…

A backup light is needed for on-trail repair or in case the main light fails. This can be a head torch, torch or a second light (though it needs to run on separate batteries to the main light).

Unless your battery or lights fail catastrophically, you must race with at least one light on. No riding in darkness is allowed, 'cos it's well dangerous…

The guys from NiteRider Lights will be bringing their charging stations for use at the event. The charging tent will be located in the main arena and will be available free of charge to all competitors to use from 8am Saturday till 2pm Sunday. Ensure you have left enough time to charge up your batteries – this is your responsibility.

How to use the charging station
1. Enter the lighting station with all the items needed to charge your batteries (charger, charging cables and rechargeable battery).
2. Issue your lighting equipment to a member of the NiteRider team. Upon receipt of your equipment they will take down your details, and issue you with a charging number tag.
3. Keep the numbered tag in a safe place, as you will need this to reclaim your lights. Without this tag, no lights will be returned.
4. Return to the lighting station to collect your equipment. Don’t forget your tag!
5. Go racing!

Please note: All equipment must be collected by 4pm Sunday.

**REMEMBER – YOU MUST CARRY A BACK UP LIGHT DURING THE NIGHT.**

8. Quiet Time 11.30pm – 7.00am (Friday & Saturday Night)
After 11.30pm please keep the noise in the campsite down to a minimum. Believe it or not, but some riders
will be trying to get some sleep, also there will be families & children at the event too – please spare a
thought for them.

So that means no generators, loud hailers, fireworks, loud music, excessive heckling & so on during this
time.

9. Registration
All riders must sign on with registration before 11.30am on the day of the race. You will get your number and baton at this time. Any last minute team member absences or swaps must be done before 10am on Saturday. ID may be required to verify team members. If you find that a team member can't make it at the last minute, there will be somewhere to advertise on site for a new team member.

IMPORTANT – Riders must check that their details are correct & that they are entered into the correct category and sub-category when they sign on.

If you are allergic to medication or are on medication for the race, this must be written on the back of you number board.

The confirmed rider list will be posted on http://www.provelosupprtuk.com 14days before the event. Please contact us straight away if you have any queries or amendments – 01298 687331.

10. Security
No matter how friendly mountain bike races are, there will always be someone, somewhere who wants your bike as much as you do, so please look after your bike (and valuables) and don't leave them strewn around the place for possible light-fingered scum-bags to run off with. Keep an eye on your campsite as well, don't leave valuables lying around. All common sense really.

10a. Problems during the race
If you encounter any problems while actually racing – people messing with course markings, or lurking around looking shifty, simply tell the next course marshal and they'll send a race official or security to investigate.

If you have an accident involving a member of the public, you MUST tell a marshal. And you must stop racing and wait until the Course Doctor has had a chance to check out both parties for injury.

11. Start
Before the race, the starting rider (the one doing the run and the first lap) must have the baton with them.
The starting rider must lean their bike against the barriers along the start/finish straight. Remember where you have left your bike! Your teammates & supporters are not allowed inside the barriers, although they can stand by your bike on the outside of the barriers to help you find your bike again after the run.

**The rider who does the run MUST ride the first lap.**

The start will be similar in style to the start of the Le Mans race, a short run, although the distance will be a little longer – around half a mile. Expert class riders will be allowed to line up at the front of the grid (on foot) at the start in number order. Solo racers are also allowed to line up with the Expert racers, if they want to. Once the bell/horn/gun/cannon goes off, racers will run out and back into the arena, where they will collect their bike from the start/finish straight. Once under the arch riders may get on their bike & ride. On subsequent laps, the changeover will happen in the normal manner, as detailed below.

12. Handover
While rider A is out on course, rider B needs to go to the bike corral, a storage area for bikes next to the handover area, and wait on foot for his team member to arrive. Rider A will come into the arena after his/her lap and hand the baton over to rider B. Rider B will walk to his/her bike (parked neatly in the bike corral), walk onto the course before climbing aboard and riding off on the next lap. If rider A is doing a double lap, he will just be able to pass through the timing tent (to register their lap time) and continue on the next lap.
If no rider is there to hand over to (i.e., they're still asleep in the tent), then the racer on course can either elect to race another lap, or go and find them.

The fine details of this will be explained at the rider briefing on Saturday, before the race. There will be an additional briefing for solo riders.

13. Retiring.
If a rider drops out of your team, tell the start/finish marshals so they can be struck off the register. Remember that your team can't get a result unless everyone has raced a minimum of two laps. (This excludes serious injury. A hangover is not a serious injury).

14. Finishing
The Endura Sleepless in the Saddle officially finishes at 2 pm on Sunday afternoon. Riders still out on the course at that time will have to finish their lap before the team's lap total can be counted. Teams that do not complete this final lap will be classed as non-finishers.

The winning team will be the one that completes the most laps in the shortest time. Results will be as number of laps, plus time taken to finish after 2pm and might look like this:
1. Team A 33 laps, 24:02:00
2. Team B 33 laps, 24:15:00
3. Team C 32 laps, 24:01:00
Team A wins with 33 laps and a finish time of 2.02pm. Team B come in next with 33 laps, finishing at 2.15pm. Team third have less laps, so come in third, even though they finish at 2.01pm.

If a racer comes in before 2pm, then the next rider on the team must leave for another lap. If you've had enough by then, you must wait before the finish for the final 2pm horn/cannon/21 gun salute before finishing. Lurking before the finish is allowed provided you don't get in the way.

15. Medical and Massage
There is a fully qualified doctor, equipped to deal with most medical emergencies on hand for the whole event. In addition there are ambulances and a team of First Aid staff stationed in the main arena. All marshals will be able to summon help for you.

A team of masseurs from Star Massage will be in attendance. These guys are all volunteers and will massage competitors for a cash donation. Please turn up with clean legs and bring your own towel.

16. Day Off
We recommend that you take Monday off, sleep in, rest up and eat lots of nice food. Don't travel too far on Sunday night if you can help it. Or get a fresh driver to take you home. Vow never to race the event again. And then find that you've changed your mind by Tuesday.

17. Show Off
Don't forget to gloat to your friends that you and your team mates survived the Endura Sleepless in the Saddle and they were too much of a wuss to enter. Be unbearable about it, okay? Especially if you raced solo – you now deserve all the chocolate and beer you can consume…

General Guidelines and racing tips:

If you don't know that the Endura Sleepless in the Saddle is a 24hour endurance race, then you've really not been paying attention. If you've raced it before, you'll know roughly what to expect. If not, then here's a few pointers you might like to take onboard.

Racing –
It is a race, so please don’t be surprised or annoyed by riders wishing to pass you. We ask that anyone wanting to pass a slower rider to announce their intentions by calling ‘rider, on your left/right’, or similar polite call. Overtaking riders are asked to be polite & courteous & wait for the rider in front to move aside, please don’t barge through. We’d also like to ask the riders being overtaken to be considerate as well, please let the overtaking rider through as soon as it is safe to do so & please don’t take offence – they’re just out of breath, not grumpy! We’re all there to have fun; just some riders like to go as faster than others.

Putting in a good performance will come from more than out & out speed – good preparation, camaraderie and teamwork are all just as important.

Make sure you and your team have the same objectives for the race – are you going out to win? Are you just trying to finish? Are you just doing it for a laugh? You'll find that if one person is keen on doing well and the others are just out to finish, then friction will occur.

Food –
There will be a selection of food on sale for the whole duration of the event.

Race order –
There’s always loads of strategic planning going into who races when from each team, with some drawing up charts and times. Be prepared to improvise, as lap times will vary and there's always the chance for a puncture or mechanical to mess things up.

Clothes –
Bring ALL your cycling clothes. Anyone from last year will tell you that a new change of clothes a lap might be necessary. Don't forget plenty of warm, hanging around for a snooze kind of clothes and perhaps, just perhaps a raincoat (just in case…).

Bike –
Once out on course you have to finish under your own steam, so having a bike fall apart a mile from the start will mean along ol' walk round the course for you. Check your bike well before the race, don't try any new equipment and pack plenty of tubes, a pump and tools. Bring a selection of tyres; from (ahem) mud tyres to semi-slicks.

Prizes:
There will be prizes for the top three finishers in all categories provided that there are at least three teams competing in that category.

Results will be posted on http://www.provelosupportuk.com

Thanks:
The Endura Sleepless in the Saddle would not be possible without the efforts of a great many people. They include:
The Owners and staff at Catton Hall
All of the marshals
The masseurs from Star Massage
Endura & all of our other sponsors and supporters
And Patrick would particularly like to thank all the riders for making the event possible…

Hmmm, think that covers it