Beastway team race 27/7/11

[Grahame]

After Marco's morning ride, it was off to Hog Hill for me to set up the course for the Beastway Team race, and series prizegiving.

4 Agreeables turned up, entered as a mixed team (ie racers from any category allowed, kind of an "open" race). I'll let them tell their own stories, but at the awards ceremony, they were placed as 1st mixed team and 1st overall, until a "stewards' enquiry" found that a rider on another team had "lost a lap" when the chip system had failed to pick him up on one pass through the finishing chicane, so his team moved from 4th to 1st overall, and a recount moved the 3rd placed team up to 2nd, relegating the Agreeables to 3rd. By this time, the other teams had absconded with "their" prize money, so John, Bill, Andrea and I will be searching behind metaphorical sofa cushions, in cracks between paving slabs, etc. to find some prize money for the Addiscombe team.

[Sylv]

Cheers Grahame – sorry we didn’t hang around – I got home starving at 22.30 which would have been midnight had we waited for the prize-giving. And I had no idea we’d won something!

Peter, Carl, Richard (not ACC) and I were part of the team. We were sent off in four waves each a minute apart, for a 45 min race. I was in wave 3 which meant lots of overtaking only a couple minutes in – good fun. Course was much more compact than usual to allow for the crew to pack it up quickly before prizes, short laps of under 7min which meant even more climbing than usual. Bone dry but very rutty following the previous week’s race held in horribly muddy conditions. Had a great blast, feeling a bit hot in my outfit, not sure yet how individual results compare as all the fast guys set off in wave 1 which meant I never saw them. But it was 3 ACC members whose times counted for the overall as Richard was pulled out in the end.

I see that Peter also finished 5th Masters in the series out of 46.

Thanks Grahame and all the ST - as you didn't go to the pub last night I'm sure there'll be a few coins left

Shame series is over – anyone want to join me for Hog Hill road race tonight?


[img]http://www.londoncyclesport.com/media/jphoto/mtb/brixton-cycles-beastway-mtb-series-11-team-race/beast9-599x400.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.londoncyclesport.com/media/jphoto/mtb/brixton-cycles-beastway-mtb-series-11-team-race/beast79-599x400.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.londoncyclesport.com/media/jphoto/mtb/brixton-cycles-beastway-mtb-series-11-team-race/beast210-599x400.jpg[/img]

[img]http://www.londoncyclesport.com/media/jphoto/mtb/brixton-cycles-beastway-mtb-series-11-team-race/beast213-599x400.jpg[/img]

[stamourp]

Wow, I wasn't aware of the prize giving drama having had to leave fairly promptly. It was a good race and a fitting conclusion to the series. I wrote a short piece on the other Beastway team thread, so won't repeat it here but thanks to Sylv, Carl and Richard for their efforts towards the team prize last night.

Thanks also Grahame - and all the Beastway team - for marshalling and running the series over the previous 11 weeks. Lots of ups and downs for me this year and sorry to slip from third last year to fifth this, but that's racing and hopefully next year I'll move two places in the other direction...!

[carl f]

2nd all the above!,absolutely fantastic eve of racing. Shame i only made two of these races over the series really nice friendly atmosphere and nice to be racing off rd for a change
Well done to Sylv for such a high placing,when he passed me he looked like he was floating over the course,he told me to jump on his wheel which i did for 10 secs before watching him ride away, and to Peter and Rich for top work. Pleased with my ov finish of 14th much more respectable than last week in the mud
More importantly who has got our 3rd place team trophy and prizes