Brett Bellchambers - 24hr Memoirs

Scott 24hr
2008, October, Stromlo, ACT

In what came to be somewhat of a tradition at 24hr races I was allocated a solo pit space in what would come to be known as “Single Speed Alley”, next to someone that was so legendary he went by one name; B-Rad. This was the start of a great friendship and my introduction to the Sydney Single Speed Society (SSSS). Just thinking about finishing my 1st solo 24hr still puts a smile and grimace on my face at the same time. My Dad and I were both novices, both with no idea and no expectations, just a ‘let’s plan to play it by ear’ attitude.

24hr Solo Nationals
2009, March, Majura, ACT

Who can ever forget their first time at the home of 24hr Solo Nationals in Australia. No team riders to contest with, but also no team riders to chat with, you really needed to be comfortable with long stretches of just riding on your own. I crashed at some point and bent back the 3 outside fingers on my left hand, thankfully my braking finger was still good, I was too scared to take my glove off in case my fingers swelled, and I couldn’t get it back on.

Scott 24hr,
2009, October, Stromlo, ACT

Back when the Scott was HUGE. When you turned up to Stromlo and people were camped EVERYWHERE, when the track used to cut through the camp grounds, when people would sit at their camp, have a beer and heckle the solo singlespeeders every lap. My favourite memory is of letting faster team riders past out the back of the course, only to watch them blow through a corner, wash out the front and crash, with me riding past with a friendly “When you catch back up, just say hi and I’ll let you through again!”.

Kona 24hr
2009, November, Forrest, VIC

Rain, rain and then some rain – never raced in a rain jacket before and I never have since, this would be the beginning of three 24hr solos races in Victoria they all rained.

“He doesn’t cook or clean, he’s not good boy friend material, but he can make cereal”. 18hrs of the ‘Carol Brown’ ear worm by Flight of the Concords. Even tried ‘You could be mine’ by the Gunners to get rid of it, and I hate the Gunners.

24hr Solo Nationals
2010, March, Majura, ACT

Want to know where the beard come from, this is it. B-Rad and I decided in Nov 2009 to have a beard off at the start line for March 2010. It took  me 4 months of growing and B-Rad being clean shaven in January for me to have any chance. I came away with the SS win and have never looked back.

This was my first race on a 29er, first race on tubeless tyres, man that bike was fast. Majura suits my slow technical skills, so I’m able to stay with the front bunch at the start of the race, which is why I attacked on the back climb and lead the race for 6-8 hours. It was weird, it was fun!

Broccoli and custard, it became a thing at this race. I still have the ace of B&C playing card in one of my wheels. The SSSS had worked out that custard had the right ratio of fat to protein to carbs and broccoli had all the minerals to stop you cramping and help with endurance. So, the two together – unbeatable nutrition!

24hr Solo Worlds
2010, October, Stromlo, ACT

This is when 24hr Solo exploded in Australia, quite possibly when it ‘jumped the shark’ at the same time. There were 400 solos on a lap that climbed Stromlo twice. People everywhere in Australia were doing solos to qualify and making sure that they finished within a 50% of the winners laps, it was hectic!

This was also the launching of the JEEBUS brand, my SSSS idiot mates had snuck out on course and erected many Jeebus signs to confuse many racers. They also picked a perfect spot on the course to set up camp, hook into a few beers and yell “JEEBUS!” way into the night. Who could ask for more.

Jeep 24hr
2010, November, Forrest, VIC

There was constant rain, with a massive wind storm the night before that flattened most of the marquees or just moved them to somewhere else. It rains a lot in Forest people, that’s just the way it is.

I remember accidently weeing on my own grip during the night, in the rain, whilst stopped on a fire road and looking over my shoulder for other riders. I also clearly remember getting passed by the Paul van der Ploeg freight train and him carving a 6-inch-deep rut through a corner off a fire road – BEAST!

24hr Solo Nationals
2011, March, Stromlo, ACT

This is the year that my good mate Eddie McDonald showed himself and the rest of us what he would be capable of in the future. On a course that looked FLAT, didn’t go up the Stromlo hill at all, yet had more pedalling than any singlespeeder needed, he pulled a third overall and a SS win to boot.

With about 6 hours to go I was still running about 8th and wanted to be on the 5 person podium to celebrate Eddie’s great third, I rode like a man possessed and scared a lot of people. Sometimes the legs just want to go and who’s going to hold them back, I made that podium.

Kona 24hr,
2011, May, Patterson, NSW

The Pill Wizard and B-Rad had spent a lot of time wandering around the side of quite a large and steep hill, looking for ways to connect cattle tracks with fire roads. The end result was a long relentless climb and a long relentless downhill. But a classic loop none the less.

At one point tere was an b-line and a JEEBUS line, I’m not sure I saw anyone take the JEEBUS Line, I didn’t even attempt it myself. The boys had got creative and taped off a line across the top of the dam in the last part of the course, cheeky buggers.

Scott 24hr
2011, October, Stromlo, ACT

This year I was looked after by my wife and my mum and the two kids, they also looked after another solo lady and we had loads of fun. There is something simple about riding around in circles all day and night, just a fresh water bottle, some gels and a bit of a feed now and then, nothing to it.

The 40+ male solo class rider is the hardest rider to pass on course. I’d try talking to them and then asking to get past, then I start suggesting places to pass, then I’d just point out we were both solos and just make a pass. Then later I became one as well.

Garmin 24hr
2011, November, Redesdale, VIC

This was a new spot in Victoria for the race, with a guarantee of no rain. I want my money back. It rained, the mud was black and I double punctured on the first lap. My chain stretched that much that I needed to remove a whole link out of the chain at about midnight for the EBB to have any effect on tightening the chain.

That year some loose units constructed a massive dome/rave inspired tent up on the hill out of transition. They played plenty of bass heavy rock and kept me others entertained all night. They also played Cook and Moore in the morning, I was in tears laughing, not 100% sure it was small people appropriate though.

24hr Solo Nationals
2012, April, Majura, ACT

After a year at Stromlo it was good to return to Majura. Majura is fast and flowy, the climbs are many and short and the descents don’t require the ability to hold on for dear life and turn off your brain and hope you make it down.

Singlespeeders are dumb, all of us, and are immune to the feedback that the body gives us when things aren’t right and in pain. My good mate Deon literally rode himself into a major shin injury in this race chasing me for 24hrs. It made for a legendary race and a legendary recovery period for him.

Kona 24hr
2012, May, Patterson, NSW

This race I fitted my lowest gear ever, a 32:21 that still hurt on that climb. I had a set of brake pads that squealed like a howling banshee on the 20 minute descent, ouch.

It was also maybe someone’s first time at a 24hr race, as I heard complaining about the noise coming from Single Speed Alley. You should know better than to camp near there and hope to get a good quite night’s sleep. Especially when there are also female Single Speeders about.

24hr Solo Nationals
2013, March, Stromlo, ACT

I remember having a bet with my wife earlier in the year about fitting into a pair of jeans she was going to throw out, I won and the idea of Podium Pants was born. Sometimes in a 24hr you need a vision to keep going, getting on the podium, in those jeans was mine.

There is a camaraderie in 24hr solos, everyone wants everyone else to succeed even at your own personal cost sometimes. I remember leaving a multitool on a table to help someone with a broken chain, they fixed that issue and passed me for 4th that year, and I was excited for them!

17.24hr Solo Worlds (WEMBO)
2013, October, Stromlo, ACT

I really remember the finish of this race, of finishing after the 24hrs, of really soaking up the atmosphere and giving my dad a great hug after the finish line, another goal ticked off.

Jet Black 24hr
2013, December, Mt Annan, NSW

With the absence of the Green Lantern, I for once didn’t have to beat a multiple National and World Champion and came away with the overall win. I think I also swore I’d never race at Mt Annan again, but more about that next year.

I dropped my chain on the start loop, about 150m from transition, and ran my bike back to swap for the spare bike, my support was elsewhere at the time, but the lady in the pit next door had my bike ready to go, thanks, and I re-joined the race in DFL and worked my way through the conga line slowly on the first lap.

Kona 24hr
2014, April, Hidden Vale, QLD

We arrived in Queensland for a 24hr race at Easter and a holiday at the theme parks on the Gold Coast. On the morning of the race, everything that could go wrong did go wrong with the pickup of the camper van and we arrived at the race venue a half hour before the start. I built my bike up and made it to the start line with 30 seconds to spare.

I occasionally look after myself during the witching hours from 10pm to 4am, the wife gets a sleep, I just need water bottles to collect and some food to be fine. I remember a conversation with a fellow competitor and another supporting wife, he must have been a bit annoyed with something, she suggested I was going OK looking after myself and that he to might be doing the same thing without a change in attitude.

24hr Solo Worlds (WEMBO)
2014, October, Fort William, Scotland

The organisers were amazing, very calm, very relaxed and very Scottish. The volunteers on course had fires during the night to keep them warm and the organiser drove around on a 4-wheeler with drams of whiskey to make sure they were warm on the inside as well. It was great catching up with the Aussies that had made it over and with all the internationals I’d met the year before in Canberra.

My lasting memory is of my good friend Pete ‘suicide’ Selkrig, pulling some suicidal move he’d mapped out the day before by cutting out the inside of a down hill switch back on the first lap, getting it wrong and landing on his head. Then riding for another 18 hours before the pain go too much and he finally had to withdraw. Hard or silly?

24hr Solo Nationals
2014, December, Mt Annan, NSW

Sometimes it’s hard to tell just how deep you’ve dug into your reserves during a 24hr race until you back it up with another race soon afterwards, and so it was with Mt Annan. After 24hrs at Fort William on a rigid singlespeed, I figured another 24hr at Mt Annan would be fine on same said bike. I had conveniently forgotten what I had said about Mt Annan only 1 year earlier.

Some time in the morning the muscle in my arms that keeps your body up from the bike just ‘went’, I was riding behind my seat on the down hills so that I’d fall on my seat when my arms failed. At one point I was riding on a fire trail having a drink when I ended up on the ground, not being able to get up, I had to be lifted onto my bike. I’d literally ‘ridden myself into the ground’. Lesson learnt, racing a rigid singlespeed at back to back 24hrs, can be a step too far.

Hot Rocks 24hr
2015, May, Townsville, QLD

My good mate Owen from Ride Mechanic said come to Townsville, it’ll be fun, a guy that used to be in Canberra is putting on a 24hr, it beautiful and warm up here. So I went to the furthest north I’ve ever been in Australia. To a place that was a novelty barometer in my grandparent’s house to meet awesome people and race at Hot Rocks.

I rode around all night with my zip still  undone, wondering if it was ever going to cool down. I heard stories of people that had made the trip down from Cairns, freezing during the night, and not being able to be warm, those crazy kids from FNQ.

24hr Solo Worlds (WEMBO)
2015, October, California, USA

If you ever want to feel like you are welcomed by a community, this was that race. Weaverville was most welcoming, the town had banners over the road, the shop windows were full of welcomes, and the kids got a day off school so we could set up and utilise the space around the NFL field, proper bleaches and all.

The town was so American, it looked American, it smelt American, it felt American. The presentation dinner was a huge Mexican fest put on by the local school, Mr English put away a lot of Mexican that night!

24hr Solo Nationals
2016, October, Stromlo, ACT

Six months after the ‘incident’. It’s the last Scott 24hr put on by CORC. It’s also the first 24hr for my 12-year-old son riding in a team with his mates. It’s also 24hr Solo Nationals at Stromlo, how could I not turn up and give it ago.

I was very keen to do my last lap with my son, for a while I didn’t think it was going to happen, it just didn’t look like it was going to line up. Then I got the news his mate was out on a flyer and he’d be back in with 5 mins to go. So, I got my last lap with my son. I still had good legs on the climb, but he dropped me like a stone on the descent. Then I came around a corner near the finish and he was waiting for “We have to cross the line together, c’mon hurry up”, he’d waited for me.

24hr Solo Nationals
2017, October, Majura, ACT

All the stars were lining up for me to do this race, back in Majura, where it all started to go well for me back in 2010, camping at the winery where we camped for my first ever 24hr experience in 2007. Mum and Dad could come up from Tassie for the school holidays to support, it felt like the right time for closure on this 24hr beast.

The singlespeed was the biggest class making up 16 out at 60 entries, basically a quarter. I loved that all my idiot SS mates had come from all over the country to line up and race and help me celebrate my final 24hr solo. I felt the love and I loved it.

As a bonus it went way better than I could ever have hoped for. I put that down to the massive support I received throughout the day from all the local crew here in Canberra. My INDR mates had tunes, growlers and a Korean BBQ going at the top of Winery Hill for quite a few hours during the night. Then as another added bonus I did my last ever 24hr lap with my son again, it didn’t hurt, it was just fun, we chatted and laughed at me, then we crossed the finish line and it was DONE!

Words: Brett Bellchambers   Photos: Russ Baker and Helen Li