Norfolk 360 Ultra (2024)

The Norfolk 360 is an ultra-cycling race with road and off-road sections based in Norfolk, running for the first time in 2024. It was run by All Pace Races and is the brainchild of event organiser Tom Levy. The event provides the unique concept of having a central base where 4 loops of Norfolk start/finish with riders heading North, South, West and then East, covering 360 miles over the weekend if all loops are completed. Riders have the option of how many loops they want to complete and have 36 hours to do as much of the route as they want.

This concept provides a very assessable event for people new to ultra-cycling as you are never far from base and can easily cut the distance short if needed, as well as not having to worry about sleeping outside or getting hotels as the base is set in a village hall where riders can sleep and keep kit.

Coming out of a bout of food poisoning and some fatigue I knew the weekend was going to be pushing my body but I didn’t want to not try. I had been looking forward to the event, plus the weather seemed to have just turned and was looking like it would be a lovely Spring weekend for it. The format of the event gave me the confidence to still give it a go and see how much my body had to give.

As a caveat to my experience with the ride and this write up I don’t come from an experienced gravel or mountain bike background and was attempting the event with very limited skills off-road. Due to my Autism I also have slow processing speed, which delays my reaction times (I often ride straight over pot holes as don’t have time to process and get around them!), which is not very helpful on any slightly technical sections! There were quite a few sections where I walked but that I am sure most other riders would have been able to ride confidently

North Loop - 112 miles

Taking in some of Norfolk’s best gravel routes the North loop included the Bure Valley Path, Marriot’s Way and some of Holkham estate.

I set off at 7:56am, nerves and doubts had really started to set in and I had struggled to compose myself before the event but once I was riding I got into my zone and just tried to think of it as any other ride. If my body wasn’t up to it I could just stop after Loop 1 and have a lovely ride anyway.

Trying to ignore my unusually high heart rate which made me nervous, probably not helping the situation, I tried to get in a rhythm and not be effected by other riders passing or passing others, just going at my steady state.

This section was relatively fast, the gravel sections mainly easy riding and I was able to ride the vast majority of it. Due to the lovely weather and now being lunchtime Saturday the area around the coast was quite busy with walkers, but I didn’t have a problem and people were very nice with letting me pass.

Finishing the first loop around 4:30pm I arrived back as base to have some food, quickly do some recharging, packed some warmer clothes for the night and set off again after about 30mins, feeling much better than anticipated at this stage.

South Loop - 95 miles

Heading out towards Thetford the South loop went through the small town of Diss before reaching Thetford forest and turning back towards base.

At the time of setting out there was quite a strong head wind towards Thetford slowing the pace down, a few off road sections before Diss and then mainly road until I reached my nemesis … the sand!

The route around Thetford was hard, for me, very hard. After a few tumbles, one resulting in a slight gear issue the rest of the ride, I decided I didn’t have the bike skills for this and played it safe and walked. I was worried with how much time I was loosing by walking for so many miles, by this point it was completly dark and this was the lowest point in my ride. Every so often I would see some lights approaching behind me and a rider would overtake me on a section that wasn’t as deep. But I needed to do my own thing and carried on with my walking. Mentally this was the hardest section, one where the voices in my head telling me to stop tried to take control. I struggled with a meltdown at one stage and had to stop to try and recover and talk myself into keep going. Looking back I am so happy I managed to keep plodding on and recovered from my downward spiral, it is a moment I will remember in the future, there will always be lows on these kind of rides but they don’t last forever. To be an ultra-cyclist you are always going to have challenges and be tested to your limits, would it be much of an Ultra if it was easy?

I was relieved when I reached Thetford and tarmac! I had lost a lot of time and my timings were now out the window but I just had to readjust and keep going knowing that most of the way back would be in my comfort zone, the road! Annoyingly the wind had now died down so missed out on the being pushed back with tail wind! The roads were lovely and quiet, at one point an owl swooped in front of me, an amazing sight!

I arrived back at base around 2:45am on Sunday, I had hoped to have finished the loop hours ago and then be heading back out soon and was starting to worry about my average speed with the walking. I decided to eat something and then try and get a bit of sleep anyway. I lied down and rested for about 90mins but was too anxious at this point to sleep, although I think just having a rest must have done me good.

West Loop - 95 miles

Setting off shortly before 5am I was wrapped up warm and trying to just keep on the move. After the last section I was hoping this would be an easier ride. I watched a lovely, peaceful sunrise, reminding me of why I love riding at this time of day!

I was starting to feel my power drop now and my energy reserves depleted. It was a lovely quiet ride for most of the morning, seeing much fewer riders around now as we were quite spaced out but I did see one rider who overtook me which was lovely to have a brief chat. There were ample opportunities to stop for refueling on the whole ride, even on the loops that were ridden during the night there were 24hr McDonalds open on route so you were never too far away from being able to get some food.

Late morning the spring sunshine was really warming me up, unfortunetly I then realised I hadn’t thought through my many layers and had nowhere to put all my clothes if I took them off. I went out in a short sleeve jersey, a long sleeve thermal base layer, 2 long sleeve winter jerseys, a fleece jacket and my shake dry. The only one I had room to take off was the shake dry. I got very hot!!

I managed to get back to base with about 20mins before cut-off to go out on the final loop. There was a 5 hour cut off for setting off on a loop before the end of your 36hour ride window. I knew that 5 hours would be a struggle given the time it took to do the last 2 loops. I also had started to get cramp in my calf and was starting to worry, maybe with the amount of walking I had done or not replenishing salt enough had caused it but I didn’t want to cause myself injury now by pushing it. I decided to end on a high and finish there. It was a hard decision and one that I’ve reflected on a lot after but I think considering my condition before the ride it was probably the sensible one. Maybe with another few hours of time to spare it would have been a different decision but with how challenging I had found the terrain I knew it would be a slow slog and I wouldn’t make the 36 hour time frame.

East Loop - 56 miles

The final loop would have been a shorter loop, but challenging still with about 1km of walking on the beach in Lowestoft included in the route. There were 4 people who managed to complete this loop! A lot of respect to them!

Summary

A lovely event that was very supportive and well organized. Tom was always at hand to answer any questions and give moral support, along with the event volunteers. There was a diversion at the start of two of the loops due to flooding on a track and Tom went out of his way to make sure everyone understood. The race provides a real challenge in a safe environment, allowing riders to really push their limits regardless of experience levels and the route really showcased some of Norfolk’s most picturesque scenery.

My personal reflections on my performance in the event remain mixed. This was a challenging route for me and I was not going into the weekend in my best form. It would have been amazing to have finished Loop 3 slightly earlier and in better condition to have given Loop 4 a go and to be one of the few that finished the entire route. I was still women’s winner and I am happy I did manage to complete 300 miles of the route, things I can reflect positively on. There were lots of learnings from the event which I can take with me and use in the future, my nutrition is still very poor, I am very unorganised and still faff way more than necessary, I had a panic in the sections where I didn’t have the bike skills to ride and should have kept walking straight away rather than stopping to panic.

I managed to learn some valuable lessons whilst enjoying some of Norfolk’s finest roads/paths and meeting some lovely people, an amazing weekend I won’t be forgetting any time soon!

More information on the event can be found on the event website.