Lumicycle Sponsee

Rob Lee

Profile

Name: Rob Lee Age: 33 Occupation: Full-Time Professional Mountain Biker Team: Extreme Endurance Best Result: Masters 24 Hour World Solo Champion Biography I started riding in April ’93, entered my first cross-country, mountain bike race 4 weeks later and by the end of the summer I was winning Novice races. I moved rapidly through the categories and eventually raced in Elite from 1996 through to 2002. These were up-and-down years with a lot of hard graft, learning and a fair bit of suffering for my sport - I paid my dues as they say. During this time I rode for several teams including: Team Focus, adidas UK, Cannondale and the ERV Bianchi Squad.

Rob Lee World Champion (Photo Courtesy of Chipps at SingleTrack)

Somewhere along the line it became apparent that I was a better endurance rider than short cross country and gradually I shifted my focus to the longer events. I raced Mountain Mayhem in a team four times between ’99 and ’03 and in ‘02 I led a mixed team to victory at Sleepless in the Saddle (the members of that team later became Extreme Endurance) My last serious cross country season was in 2003 when I won the Silver medal in the Masters category at the New Zealand National Championships. That was in April that year and from that point onwards I started preparing for a crack at the Dusk ‘til Dawn 12 hour. Lots of people around me didn’t think I was serious when I said I was planning to win D2D Solo and ride the event only marginally slower than I would a 2 hour cross country race. It was pretty obvious to me that the major limiting factor in my plan would be finding a lighting system bright enough to allow me to ride that fast. I didn’t have the money to buy any so I approached Lumicycle, told them what I planned to do and asked if I could borrow enough lights and batteries to ride non-stop for 12 hours. I’m pretty sure they thought I was nuts! Dusk ’til Dawn 2003 was the turning point in my life as a bike racer - I rode full-tilt from the gun and led from start to finish - the evening after that race is the only time in my life when I have wept uncontrollably with joy! You’d expect this to lead into an amazing string of victories in 2004 but unfortunately that year I was plagued with health problems that, whilst never that serious, prevented me from ever getting properly fit. I fell to bits at my first Solo 24 hour - Mountain Mayhem - and finished 6th, Dusk ‘til Dawn was a truly miserable experience that left me injured and most of my results were just below par. The only saving grace that year was victory in the pairs category at Sleepless in the Saddle 24 Hour. Suffering at D2D ‘04 changed something inside me and winter training for the ‘05 reached a new level I’d never previously attained. I won things all year long in races varying in length from 1 to 24 hours. I ended the season by taking the Masters 24 Hour World Solo Title and followed that 2 weeks later by leading the team that I formed to victory in the mixed team category at Dusk ’til dawn.

Results

2006 Ÿ 13th - Strathpuffer 24 Hour - Solo (retired after leading for 10 hours due to injury) Ÿ Fastest time of the day - Salisbury Plain Challenge - 30km 2005 Ÿ Masters 24 Hour World Solo Champion Ÿ 1st - Dusk ‘til Dawn - Mixed Team Ÿ 1st - TREK 6 Hour Series Round 1 - Open Ÿ 1st - Gorrick Spring series Round 2 - Masters Ÿ 1st - Gorrick Spring series Round 3 - Masters Ÿ 1st - Gorrick Spring series Round 4 - Masters Ÿ Overall Masters Series Winner - Gorrick Spring Series Ÿ 2nd - TREK 6 Hour Series Final - Pro Ÿ 2nd - WDMBC XC Challenge Ÿ 3rd - Thetford Winter Series Round 1 - 4 Hour Open (and first Single-Speed) Ÿ 3rd - Thetford Winter Series Round 4 - 4 Hour Open Ÿ 3rd Overall Thetford Winter Series - 4 Hour Ÿ 3rd - Gill 100 - 5 Lap Open Challenge 2004 Ÿ 1st - Sleepless in the Saddle 24 Hour - Pairs 2003 Ÿ 1st - Dusk ‘til Dawn 12 Hour - Solo 2002 Ÿ 1st - Sleepless in the Saddle 24 Hour - Mixed Team