Smashing weekend and company, I might be walking with a pronounced limit but that is more than offset by so many warm memories.
Tricky to not miss anything but got to include:
- Heathy + megaphone + Jenga = pure win
- singing off my eyebrows and eyelashes lighting a cigar on the Friday night BBQ.
- the unrelenting friendliness and good humour.
- so many familiar faces, so many new faces.
- talking of number of laps is for the try hards, taking a lead from Sinnett, it's all about the years supply of shower gel.
- the four man Bear Neccessities team rapidly reduced to chaos by a combination of logistical challenges and Mark 'The Cat' Sinnett using up another of his 9 lives. Lesser teams would have been knocked off there stride but a combination of stoicism and ad hoc half lap tactics (sticking it to The Man, obviously) saw us to 15 laps completed in the 24 hours. Very proud, Mark, Gav and Pete are top team mates.
- Dorian Ruddock turning up with some pumpkin ravioli and ciabatta.
- the initial mile and a half run never seemed to end.
- Superstrong finishing the run in 3rd and first lap in about 10th. In a grey wool suit.
- the super sticky first lap; after weeks of dry weather the heavy rain had left a blu tack like top half inch and then solid ground, slick as a moist vole. First short descent in the woods was carnage, I didn't see anyone even walk down without ending up on their arse. I knew my skills on my feet would come into pay one day and this was proof that it's all about the long game.
- the sweet, sweet fireroad.
- the DJ Hoffmeister soundclash attended by one person. If only my copy of 'Mr Loverman' had not skipped.......
- for me it was a tale of four bikes, my own and then GravyMonster's 2Me2U 'double U brake and anyone can ride it' special, Neil's RollerCam'd Hamdale for a couple of night excursions and then Mark's BoTY winning TiMega (with it's crash twisted bars). Splendid variety.
- possibly the toughest MM course since 2005 with 450m of climbing per 10.3 mile lap but descents with little payoff (either loose stones and covered with a layer of greasy mud or super rutted - my guns looked pretty good by the end of the latter though)
- riding a night lap in a bear suit, hood up. Pretty sweaty on the climbs.
- Tad putting in a terrific solo effort in far from pleasant conditions. Gus also attended.
- the homemade cake from The Guvnor's mum.
- being told to "move over" by a "women's podium rider" halfway through the first lap. My suggestion that if she'd run/ridden a bit faster initially she won't have been behind me appeared to fall on deaf ears.
- the stadium announcer suggesting that people should visit the Fibrax tent as "it's better than that foreign muck". Surely went down well at the Magura stand
- world class heckling.
I think that's most things, will try to sort through a few photos that Vinia took tomorrow.