'98, That was I believe the year that I also started the Crackpot. I bailed out at the same railway station as the organiser.
It was also the year I rode Calais-Brindisi (which is another write-up), finishing a couple of weeks before the Crackpot.
Shawn suggested I should ride his Hellfire 600 perm over the intervening weekend, which I did (in horrendous weather, having to wade thigh-deep, shouldering the bike, at one point).
When I started the Crackpot I found that I had only one speed. All ability to raise my pace, such as to follow a wheel, had gone (it took a few months to get that back). But I finished, giving me 42 points for three consecutive events.