Full Throttle 8

y the time I get to the top of Caistor bypass.
That said, it’s half an hour in the van, so there’s
not a lot of difference.”
Guy adds to these 200 miles of road riding
every week with some extra mountain bike
sessions, often with his young labrador Nigel
in tow. His competitive nature also saw him
enlist in the 2015 Strathpuffer 24-hour
mountain bike endurance event in the
Highlands of Scotland in the middle of
January. It’s one of the top 10 toughest
mountain bike events in
the world, with snow,
sub-zero temperatures
and 17 hours of darkness
at that time of the year.
Guy finished in second
place and is finding the whole extreme
mountain bike thing addictive.
“Yep, cycling certainly clears my head,
purges the system,” he says.
“I probably race push bikes more than
motorbikes now. I did the first British Series
round at the end of January – a 24-hour race –
and that left me mentally and physically
exhausted. Twenty-four hours on a bike is
grim, but that’s what makes it so special – it’s
good for getting your head sorted out, that is!”
The 33-year-old knows more than most
about how extreme sports can punish your
body and he has set off a few airport X-ray
machines in his time thanks to the various
“I probably race push bikes
more than motorbikes now”
plates and screws inside him.
“You get the odd beep, but it’s not bad. I
suppose I’ve spent a bit of time in hospital. I’ve
broken both thumbs, wrists, my leg, ankle,
back and ribs. That said, I don’t have any
niggles and feel 100 per cent fit – unless it’s
damp, and then I struggle a bit!”
For Guy’s next challenge, he’s going to need
to be 100 per cent fit – and then some. The
Tour Divide from Canada to New Mexico is a
serious test of endurance, self-reliance and
mental toughness,
averaging 175 miles (280
kilometres) a day for a
fortnight, encountering
all kinds of challenge
from snowstorms to bears
and a total of nearly 200,000 feet of total climb.
That’s equivalent to summiting Mount Everest
from sea level seven times.
Guy is fascinated by whether his body will
be able to withstand the challenges.
“The biggest thing is dealing with this race
mentally. You have to go there with the idea
that you can win it, but in a race like that your
body self-cannibalises and that’s what you have
to try and deal with mentally. Your body can
only process 20,000 calories in a 24-hour
period, but to do that much riding – up to 18
hours a day – it’ll burn 25,000 calories. You
won’t finish a race like this without being
broken.”
Guy took this bike to 112mph
(179 km/h) to set a new
British cycle speed record.
Check out the gearing!
Photo: Channel 4/North One
Television “Guy Martin:Speed”
With Nigel, his labrador.
“I love my dog. It’s the
first time that I’ve had
any responsibility”.
Photo Paul Bryant
FullThrottle 19