All of the races I’ve done so far have a defined start and end point. Most of them have a fixed route from A to B, but sometimes you get to choose your own path for parts of it. That makes Damn 24h a very different format for me. First of all, while there’s a start point at Twotone in Amsterdam, there’s really no end. The idea is to go back and forth between the start point in Amsterdam and Bikes and Records in Rotterdam, riding as many kilometers as you can, in 24 hours. This means that routing is entirely up to you. But! To make things fun, every time you start riding from one of those two locations, you get a random waypoint you have to get to, which makes building routes before the event a fun exercise, since you don’t know where you’re supposed to pass through before you start.

The rules are also much more relaxed compared to other ultras. It basically boils down to no drafting other riders, or enlisting other people to pull you. Drafting random road users is fine. Support is allowed, and the locations in Amsterdam and Rotterdam offered basic food and drinks. You can go home halfway and sleep if you want! One of the organizers even jokingly (?) said at the start: “any performance enhancing drugs are allowed if you’re to make it to 800km”. This promised to be a lot of fun!

The Strategy

Not knowing where the waypoints would be, routing beforehand would be interesting. I did my best to stalk the Strava rides from the previous edition, to have an idea of how far and wide the choice of checkpoints could go. Since this is a race of who covers the most distance, and not who gets from A to B the fastest, my thinking was to find the longest reasonable routes between Amsterdam and Rotterdam, passing close to the towns that I thought would be the most likely to have waypoints, but avoiding built-up areas so I could just fly by as fast as possible.

As usual, I also chose to travel relatively heavy, bringing all of my food with me, to minimize time stopped gathering supplies. I did compromise on bringing only two water bottles instead of four, to keep the weight a bit more manageable, and hopefully save a couple of watts too.

The Start

Ultras tend to attract an interesting mix of bikes, but this was something else. About half of them looked to be fixed-gear bikes, and the setups ranged from extremely lightweight to full-on bikepacking mode. The same with the riders: top riders from the previous edition, and people that hadn’t ridden more than 100km at once in their lives.

We lined up for a quick introduction of the event, the few rules, and the reveal of the first waypoint we’d all have to ride to: a statue called De Maatjes in Katwijk. Then the organizers had us leave our bikes at a nearby park, so we’d run to them once the race started, Le Mans style. Having worn road shoes, it would be more of a brisk walk than a run for me.

Waypoint 1: De Maatjes, Katwijk

Being new to the format, I started the race making mistakes already: I left my bike computer on the bike, instead of bringing it with me so I could have it on and with my route selected. Instead, I had to do that on the go, after having followed somebody that looked like they knew where they were going, which is not where I was supposed to go. Some time was lost waiting for traffic lights I had planned on avoiding, but thankfully I knew the area enough to route me back to my preferred route.

Back on track, I passed a few riders on the most obvious part of the route, before taking a turn towards Spaarndam for the extra kilometers. The wind was less than favorable before I turned back South and things started to speed up. I was averaging around 40km/h while going through the dunes, sometimes cruising at 50km/h when the tailwind really hit right.

At these speeds, it didn’t take long for me to reach De Maatjes. While I was taking the required selfie to prove I’d been there, Lauri also arrives. I didn’t know the route he had taken and thus how fast he’d been riding, but the previous winner hot on your heels made me a bit nervous, so I just stomp on the pedals to make my way to Rotterdam.

After a fast and uneventful ride to Rotterdam, I reach Bikes and Records and meet Roghandey, the first one to make it, already preparing to leave. I had spoken to him at the start and we talked routes a bit, so I suspected he had taken the most direct one, which should be some 20km shorter than mine. Somebody to keep an eye on, but no reason to panic just yet.

Waypoint 2: Disneyland Aalsmeer

Quick refill of water bottles, a friendly chat with the spectators at the checkpoint, and I get my next waypoint: Disneyland Aalsmeer. Google Maps doesn’t know it by that name, so I search for it by address and it’s the most non-descript bit of village, so I have no idea what to expect. Luckily one of my routes passed close enough to Aalsmeer, so I just pick it and off I go.

On the one hand, it was a fast route with almost no intersections to worry about. On the other, now I had to go against all that amazing tailwind on my way South for almost 120km. I did not think about that while planning, and I actually wouldn’t think about it until I was in Amsterdam, so I couldn’t correct it. Still averaging over 30km/h though, so not all is lost.

My ride North was a little bit less amazing for other reasons as well. The weather that promised to by dry throughout had a change of mind, so I had to stop and wear my rain gear. It was still pretty warm, so it felt like I was in a sous-vide bath inside my rain jacket. I was also on the opposite side of the Aalsmeerderdijk, where the opportunities for crossing were far apart, and I missed the most convenient one because apparently I can’t read maps. That led to a few more unplanned kilometers riding back South, with some gravel thrown in for extra fun.

I meet another rider already coming South, towards the same waypoint, and I started to wonder how much time I wasted. I try my best to keep low on the aerobars and power to the pedals. It’s already dark, so even the ride into Amsterdam isn’t terrible.

Waypoint 3: De Aardappelmannetjes, Zoetermeer

I finally arrive at Twotone, and meet Lauri preparing to leave already, and a couple of other riders plotting their routes. Somebody congratulates me on being in 5th place, which is definitely not where I planned on being, and gives me my next waypoint, De Aardappelmannetjes statue in Zoetermeer. I reverse the route I just used, since it passed pretty close to Zoetermeer, and off I go again.

Mistakes again, as I miss a turn inside Westerpark because it’s already so dark, and the unplanned detour also has to go around a bunch of construction work, so more time wasted.

Being 5th place didn’t sound right, so I start to suspect that they misunderstood the format of the race, so being first at a checkpoint doesn’t matter. I decide to check the tracker for the first time, and see that I’m actually 2nd place, only two kilometers behind Jorn in first place.

Just two kilometers, and I’m about to do 120km with a really nice tailwind, in a really fast route? Not second place for long! Flying down the empty roads, with cooler temperatures this time, was so much fun. A bit boring to re-do the same route, but doing it in reverse and in the dark provided enough variety.

I’m surprised to find Lauri again, on the road this time, right before turning into Zoetermeer. He was already done with his waypoint elsewhere and headed to Bikes and Records, so I didn’t think I’d see him again there.

I take my really dark and blurry selfie and fumble a bit on my way back to my route. Rotterdam at night is also a pleasure to ride, if you ignore the drunk people. I didn’t check the tracker, but I finally arrive at Bikes and Records in 1st place, with a small gap on Joorn.

Waypoint 4: Dino Experience Park, Gouda

My next waypoint is the Dino Experience Park in Gouda. I also had a pre-prepared route that was conveniently close, but I decide that spending less time into the headwind is a smart choice. I would also really like to reach Amsterdam at least twice more, so from now on it’s shorter routes both ways. I hadn’t tested it, but making a route on Strava with my phone and downloading it into my Karoo was surprisingly easy, so I didn’t even lose a lot of time doing it.

The route wasn’t half bad, and I made it to Gouda while it was still dark, so another blurry selfie. The sun started to come up just after, and with it I start to yawn a feel a bit sleepy, as is usual for me around this time of the day in every race.

The monotony is broken by a front tyre that’s squishier than usual. I think that maybe I had a puncture that sealed and I didn’t notice, and I must’ve lost some pressure. No biggie, Amsterdam is just around the corner and I can top it up. Except I keep on losing pressure, and after a couple of rim strikes I stop to inspect it. Can’t see any punctures, so I just pump it back up, pressure seems to hold, and I get back on the road. This repeats twice more, and I decide to put a tube in once I arrive in Amsterdam.

Waypoint 5: Amsterdamse Poort, Haarlem

I arrive at Twotone still in 1st place, with a 15km lead. I’m hoping that this will give me enough time to fix my tyre. Putting a tube in was easy enough, it turns out that my sealant had completely dried up, probably the reason why the tyre wasn’t holding pressure anymore. Unfortunately, it took three different pumps and a lot of swearing to re-seat the tyre, and my lead shrank to just a few kilometers by the time I was ready to leave.

With my next waypoint being the Amsterdamse Poort in Haarlem, I am again counting on the tailwind to help widen the gap, except this time with a more direct route.

After almost flying past the waypoint without noticing it, it was hammer time. I must’ve been very focused or very tired, as I don’t remember much from this segment. I only remember deciding to check on the tracker a few kilometers before Rotterdam, to see if had a safer stading already. A 3 kilometers gap transformed into about 40km, and I wonder if Joorn’s tracker stopped working, as he’d been really making me work thus far. I decide it’s the safest assumption to make, and keep on powering through until I reach Bikes and Records again.

Waypoint 6: Maeslantkering, Hoek van Holland

At Bikes and Records, I find Joorn laying on the couch. He had a minor crash, but hurt his knee and can’t continue. With my main contender now out of comission, and a safe distance away from the remaining top riders, I stick around to chat a little bit instead of immediately storming out. While I’m a bit relieved to not have to defend 1st place until the very end, it’s also a shame to see a rider that’s evenly matched scratching.

I also exchange a few words with Lauri one last time, as he’s about to leave trying to beat his previous distance of 521km. ON A FIXIE. He was averaging over 30km/h towards the end, dude’s a legend!

I get what ended up being my last waypoint: Maeslantkering. That’s out of the way, and it’ll be more than 120km if I want to make it to Amsterdam. Heading out the door, the headwind and having virtually won the race already doesn’t really inspire me to ride all that hard, so I give up on making it to Amsterdam, and instead decide to ride until my bike computer says 600km.

Having plenty of time left, I decide to take it easy and stop for a meal at the station in Delft, to speed up the incoming recovery. Since the post-race celebrations are in Rotterdam, and I was riding North, I also took the time to find a convenient train station to bring me back. I ride to the station in Leiden, and stop my tracker. The leaderboard reads 620.14km, 20h 55min of riding time, and 2h 37min of idle time. Lauri, now in 2nd place, and a few others are still riding, but I can safely say I have now won my first bike race!

Final Thoughts

This was a really fun format. Long enough preparation and strategy to matter, but not so long to make me suffer, or spend a month recovering afterwards. You can definitely count me in for next edition, trying to break 700km if training goes well. If not, at least it’ll still be tons of fun!

Links

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