StrathPuffer 24 - 10 Laps, 24 Hours & A Gravel Bike Gamble

Can Ben complete a 24 Hours MTB challenge… On aG gravel bike?

Ben Turner
By Ben Turner

04/02/25

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When Voom messages you and says, “Hey, we have a space, do you want to do the StrathPuffer 24 MTB in five days?” You don’t think. You just say:

 

YES. ABSOLUTELY.

 

Then you think!

 

Cue panic buying fat mountain bike tyres, spares, and anything that might help you survive 24 hours of ice, snow, and relentless terrain on a gravel bike—because taking my full-suspension Enduro would’ve been overkill, and my trusty Genesis Vagabond felt like the right call. Bold? Maybe. Stupid? Possibly. But I was committed!

 

A solo rider heads towards an freezing cold sunrise at Strathpuffer 24 race

 

 

With the car packed to the brim and Ernie curled up in the passenger seat, I set off on the 10-hour drive to the Scottish Highlands, ready to see what all the fuss was about. I had long known about the StrathPuffer event, but never did I think I would be doing it in 2025!


By the time I arrived at registration, it was a brisk -11°C, there was a solid 12 inches of snow everywhere, and the roads were lethal. Good thing I’d stopped on the M6 to grab some snow socks for the car.

 

Adventure Coach Ben Turner stands wrapped up in clothes with his gravel bike before the Strathpuffer MTB event

 

 

Unlike what you might expect, the first night wasn’t miserable. My accommodation? The car. By design. Everyone had set up their camps either in the bottom car park or anywhere up the long (very long) hill that kicks off every lap of the race. To my surprise, the snow socks worked brilliantly, getting me about halfway up the hill into a spot surrounded by other ‘Puffers.’


Get the fire lit and a brew on, and you can weather any storm… add in my dog Ernie as a hot water bottle, and suddenly, the back of the car felt like a 5-star beach resort. It was late, oppressively cold, and pitch black, but we were warm, well-fed, and ready for whatever lay ahead.

 

A gravel bike beside a camp fire in a snowy amping area before the start of the Strath Puffer 24 Mountain Bike Event

 

 

StrathPuffer kicks off with a Le Mans-style start—a lung-burning sprint to your bike before launching straight into the first hill climb, lined with supporters, campers, and vans blasting music. The energy was unreal. This wasn’t just a race—it was an experience, a community, a shared madness that people come back to year after year.


And me? I wasn’t here to compete. I was here to complete. My goal was simple: 10 laps. Roughly 125km. If I could do that in 24 hours, I’d call it a success.

 

 

Riders follow snowy single track mtb routes during Scottish MTB event

 

 

With daylight on my side, I wanted to crank out as many laps as possible before nightfall. The course was brutal—snow-packed climbs, slick descents, and rutted-out sections that swallowed wheels whole. At times the grip was non-existent. Every lap was a lesson in patience and bike handling.

 

A gravel rider descends a steep snowy mtb track during strathpuffer 24

 

"Every lap was a lesson in patience and bike handling."

 

A few mechanical issues early on had me stopping to fix things, but once sorted, I found my rhythm. Lap, eat, quick walk for Ernie, check the bike, repeat.

 

I leaned heavily on my VOOM stash for fuelling throughout the whole adventure, with their Sparta Fuel enhancing my savoury meals (video to follow very soon on that!) and Pocket Rockets as a pick-me-up with each lap. When everything feels cold and your body starts shutting down, those little boosts make all the difference.

 

"I leaned heavily on my VOOM stash... Those little boosts make all the difference"


As I neared the end of each lap, I could hear music thumping through the forest—the sound system set up along the course lifting everyone’s spirits, dragging tired bodies back to life. I rolled into the checkpoint, dipped my timing chip, and was immediately met with an emphatic reaction from the commentator: "and here he is, still going... on a GRAVEL BIKE!"

 

 

By the sound of the crowd, it was clear—this was not normal. Apparently, there aren’t many people who’ve tackled the Puffer on a gravel bike. If I wasn’t fully aware of that before, I was now.

 

“And here he is, still going… on a GRAVEL BIKE!”

 

Alan, the commentator, was instrumental in keeping spirits high, his energy and enthusiasm relentless. Whatever was fuelling him for the entire 24 hours is something I need! Maybe gravel bikes really are the way forward? Now that’s a controversial statement.

 

 


After a long, hard day, came the night shift.

 

 

Freezing cold Scottlish landscape in late afternoon during strathpuffer mountain bike event

 

This is where StrathPuffer breaks people. Sleep deprivation kicks in, the cold feels colder, and the endless loops start messing with your head. Snow-covered bushes and trees legitimately became sheep and spectators in my peripheral vision.

 

By Lap 6, fatigue had set in. Concentration slipped. I came off a couple of times, my humour disappeared, and every time my tyres lost traction in the snow, my patience wore thinner. There was always a spike in morale when finishing a lap, but then you hit the silent shift deep into the woods—alone with your legs, thoughts, and fatigue.

I needed sleep.


At 2 AM, I crawled into my car for a brief reset, just enough to keep me from losing my head. Waking up in the cold and dark, knowing you need to get back out there and ride, is tough. I dragged myself onto the bike, hands numb despite multiple layers. Sometimes, you just couldn’t get warm. But then… the sun started to rise.


And it was breath-taking.

 

The sky turned deep red. The snow glowed pink. The mountains stretched endlessly into the distance, and in the woods, there was absolute silence except for the rhythmic crunch of snow under my tyres. If you stopped, you were engulfed in stillness—the pack of riders was completely spaced out by this point, and much of my race was solitary.


A deep red sky over snowy landscape in the Contin Forest, Scottish highlands

 

Despite the exhaustion, the freezing cold, and the aching muscles, everything felt right. This is what we do it for. This is an adventure. With just a few hours left, I had three laps to go. No time to waste.


By 9:50 AM, I rolled across the line. 10 laps done. Goal achieved. Mission complete.


"This is what we do it for. This is an adventure."

 

One thing I noticed almost immediately—there weren’t many first-timers here. Nearly everyone I met had done StrathPuffer before… and kept coming back. I had conversations with fellow riders throughout, and they were on their 6th, 8th, and even 12th Puffer. It’s a mad atmosphere on an insanely long day in the remote Scottish North, and I loved every second of it.

 

MTB rider descending snowy trail in Scottish highlands Mountain bike area

 

Now, having finished it myself, I understand why people do it. It’s not just about the race—it’s about the community, the shared suffering, the frozen landscapes, the ridiculous challenge of it all. It’s about proving to yourself that you can push through conditions that make most people stay indoors.

 

Not to mention, a lot of people said this was the best weather they’d seen in years for it. It would certainly be a different story in the wet, cold, and mud.

 

Ben Turner pushes on in 'good' snowy conditions during Strathpeffer 24 MTB challenge

 

 

Will I go back next year?

No question about it. Now I just need to see if I can convince Team VOOM to come and get cold with me.

 

I highly recommend you give this event a go—whether solo, in pairs, or as part of a four-person team. This was a truly incredible experience and a real adventure. Come and join me in January 2026, beat the January blues, and smash some laps in the forest on two wheels. I’ll be putting together a full training and preparation strategy to enter up to two teams of four so that YOU can come and get involved too.

 

Instagram: @BenTurnerAdventure

Facebook: @BenTurnerAdventure

Youtube: @BenTurnerAdventure

Website and Coaching: The Adventure Coach

 

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