“I guess the beauty of 24-hour racing for me is the mental battle. It’s not all about the legs, it’s also about the heart and mind. All riders who are willing to do something like this are strong so in the end it comes down to training and who is willing to suffer the most.”

After getting up at 2am to catch the sleeper train from Edinburgh to Fort William, I hazily feel like I might be the one who has suffered the most. My self-pity is soon put into context and barged aside when I remember that I’m only on my way to watch the 24-hour mountain bike race. I tuck my tail between my legs, wait behind some drunk clubbers to get a morning coffee from a 24-hour McDonald’s and then hop on the train up north.

I’m heading up to Fort Bill to meet Frazer Coupland, founder of No Fuss events who organise the 24-hour race. My northerly commute so far has only involved a stumble through some city streets, a crash back on a train seat and pretending a phone alarm which went off at 3am on the people-who-can’t-afford-a-cabin carriage of the sleeper train wasn’t mine.

“We’ve had incidents where participants have been so tired that they actually lose their sight”

I’ve been riding a mountain bike for quite a few years but in my exhaustion the idea of doing it on loop for 24 hours is just as baffling to me as the fact that I somehow managed to set an alarm on my phone for 3am. Peddling a bike up and down technical ascents and drops on a course which rises and falls 1000ft, in the dark, between 1 and 6am, is not overly appealing when the alternative is… well, sleep.

“We’ve had incidents where participants have been so tired that they actually lose their sight and become quite ill. It’s happened a couple of times. Stomach cramps are fairly common if people get their diets wrong too. People get so fatigued.”

The contest site is busy but subdued before kickoff. There are a few support marquees set up, a handful of tents and a small warm up area in the car park, all of which lead up to the bright orange No Fuss tent which marks the finish line of each race lap.

Most regular punters have made a beeline for some trail centre coffee and breakfast and the riders are getting ready to get set and go. There are puddles in abundance and the sky is best described as ‘dreich’ – a Scots word meaning ‘dreary’ or ‘bleak’, and primarily used in the north of the United Kingdom as that’s probably where it’s most commonly exemplified.

“The network of trails gives us huge variety. This year we’ve had a really wet period for the past few months so we’ve had to design the whole course so that when it gets raced on for 24 hours it’s not going to break up.

“Other years when it’s dryer we can use more natural bits. There’s the Witches trail, the World Cup trail, and all the other additions. We’re never stuck for presenting a new course no matter what the weather.”

“Near the end the enjoyment comes from knowing the race is almost over. I actually become so numb that riding actually feels easy and effortless”

And glad they’ll be for that. It’s no secret that the Scottish weather is a little like the current global climate – frosty, completely unpredictable and with every chance that’s it’s going to get worse the next time you shut your eyes.

Thankfully today it seems to be holding right on the edge of a downpour, so after getting a few viewpoints of the riders on course I leave them to it and get out on a bike myself.

I tackle the 6.2 mile ‘10 Under the Ben’ red track, a route based on No Fuss’ first ever event of the same name – a 10 hour mountain bike race which started a full 15 years ago – and criss-cross back and forth over the Witch’s World Championships track as I go.

I always find the most remarkable part of riding in the Nevis Range to be the stunning views in the backdrop of the world famous trails.

On the Witch’s trails I’m treated to flowing turns that bring portraits of Ben Nevis framed by pine-trees, and I end a couple of hours of riding with a technical rooty trail and a route which drops to fields and rolling hills on my right and looks out over Loch Eli and the town of Fort William ahead.

It’s slippery, it’s muddy, and everything I own is now brown, but by the time I get back to base camp I’m more envious of the riders in the Relentless 24 Hour than I was before taking to the saddle. That said, the appeal of riding on through the dark, when the views disappear and you’ve just got yourself for company still seems a little jarring.

“Near the end the enjoyment comes from knowing the race is almost over,” Matti admits. “And if I know I have done my best it’s a magical feeling. The feeling of accomplishment is out of this world. I actually become so numb that riding actually feels easy and effortless.

“I didn’t use to do any physical activity. Building up from there to where I am now is something to be proud of”

“Of course, winning gives me motivation but the main reason why I do it is to have fun, to enjoy the long ride state-of-mind and push my limits. It is important to try to keep a positive mindset. Before the start, I just decide that I will keep on moving no matter what.”

It stuns me to learn that Matti has only actually been riding bikes seriously for five years, racing for four, and that he doesn’t even come from a particularly sporting background.

“I didn’t do any kind of physical activity for years,” he says. “Just played computer games and got fat. When I was 16 I realised how bad my fitness was and decided I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life like that.

To read the rest of our March ‘Space’ issue, click here.

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