Friday afternoon was a bit of a rushed affair. I didn't get out of work til late and I still had to get some spare parts for the bike, pack my stuff and design and print a custom t-shirt for Carl (Official Groupy for team Bob's B*tch*s) and I hate rushing!!
I was hoping to get those water bottles delivered by Friday morning (to hand out at the event) but that didn't happen. Through one reason or another, my supplier failed to deliver. Gutted!! I'm sure they would have helped generate some more interest in what I'm doing and hopefully would have helped me raise some more money for charity. Can't have everything I suppose :(
After getting all my kit together (nearly forgetting several key items, including my BIKE!!) and then passing our team captain on the wrong services we eventually arrived at the SSMM in convoy. Getting a good camping spot we were set up and drinking a cool can of Carlsberg/Fosters in no time. The t-shirts I designed for our team looked fantastic (printing cost: £20 each) so we wore them pretty much all weekend to help advertise my site.
Friday night was a blast from what I can remember!! We (Myself, Dave and groupy Carl) invited the rest of our team and partners to our "Cycle 4 Charity Towers" garden party (we had beer, bbq, balloons, music and lighting - what more do you want?). I managed to fall off Carls stupid mountain board and smashed my knee in good and proper (still hurting today - Tuesday) but in revenge we tied Carl to a rope and dragged him down the field, in his sleeping bag!!
40 cans of larger, umpteen beefburgers, sausages, spare ribs and pork chops later, I think everyone was in bed by 4am... yup 4 A M (not really ideal considering the race was less than 12 hours away)
7 am, Capt' Bob was knocking on Cycle 4 Charity towers doors, as if I was getting up at that god unearthly time. He was quickly sworn at and we went back to sleep rising at 9 am to a tasty cooked breakfast thanks to Carl!!
The weather was perfect if not a bit too hot but at least it wasn't raining (as it did during the early hours of the morning). After signing on for the race we spent most of the morning walking around the main arena checking out the competition and looking at the different sponsors of the event and what they had on offer (freebies!!!).
After a high carb dinner, 2 pm, a tense and nervous Rob "Capt' Bob" Windmill took the challenge of doing the first lap (including an 800 meter run to get his bike from the transition area), Adrian "Mr Fluffy" Bragger raced second, me third and David "Daniel-Son" Daniels forth.
I didn't know what to expect. This was an international event with riders from all over the world, in the peak of fitness, living, breathing and sleeping mountain biking (and getting paid for it) and then there was me... I didn't do too bad though :)
1600+ riders, 300+ teams, 1 well planned 7.2 mile, 300+m elevation track!!
We were briefed to do 2 laps each to qualify. We done that. I managed to ride my first lap none stop and didn't get off once. The terrain was hard bumpy grass track, bar the downhill and technical sections which were gravel and mud. The grass made it incredibly hard to ride on and made the hills push you even more, I came back absolutely knackered. My second lap (at night) was much more fun though and if it wasn't for my fog lamp battery falling out after every jump I'm sure my lap would have been pretty dam fast.
I think none of us expected the course to be that taxing... using that as a lame excuse the beers were cracked open for another night of fun...
There were teams from all the big makes (Giant, Kona, Specialized etc...) and hats off to them, they rode hard!! Some people rode on mountain unicycles (an unbelievable sight) and some people rode the whole 24 hrs on their own none stop, solo!! MAD!!!
I was happy to just turn up, have a go and enjoy the atmosphere and socialise (drink)
Some more piccies:
Oh sh!t it's my go
Dave "like a whippet" Daniels
I DID IT!!!
Capt' Bob poses for the camera
as does Adrian!!
My bum hurts!!!
Always the joker!!
Check out the shirts!!
Carl showing off on his stupid mountain board!!Sunday morning came but I didn't feel I could do anymore (a hangover and aches everywhere didn't help sway my decision). Adrian managed another 2 laps as did Rob.
Total laps for team Bob's B*tch*s = 12
Total laps for winning team (Giant) = 46
For the official timings check here
We were placed 242 out of approx 300 teams. Not bad considering it was our first race...
We had a brilliant weekend though and that's what it's all about!!
Total laps for team Bob's B*tch*s = 12
Total laps for winning team (Giant) = 46
For the official timings check here
We were placed 242 out of approx 300 teams. Not bad considering it was our first race...
We had a brilliant weekend though and that's what it's all about!!
I'm working on a slide-show and page for all the photos/movies taken over the weekend (theres quite a few). I'll be adding a "media" page on my site soon where you can download this and other media taken in the lead up to Vietnam.
Hasta pronto mi amigos
Total fundraising to date: £3442.00
Miles Rode Today: 0
Miles Rode Since
