Four faces of fixed gear in Bristol
Tagged: Trackdropouts
Sunday spin
Just a few photos from a casual Sunday in Bristol. Myself & Ed headed down to Chew Valley Lake to watch the Mike Rutty Memorial Race, organised by VC Bristol. The race was 7 laps of the lake, and our pals Mark, Kieran, Gav & Charles were racing so we were there to shout from the roadside.
We met a couple of friends at the lake & took a slow pedal around it, the opposite direction to the race, taking in each lap from a different view point.
Ed & his massive saddle bag supplied the refreshments as we stood in the rain, good times indeed.
Waiting roadside in the rain for the pack to come by. The VC Bristol marshals did a great job at the race.
Bristol’s Upfest is on at the moment so once we were home we took a wander to see some of the latest pieces of art around the streets of Bedminster.
Our day ended with a standard chill out in Bristol as well as a meet up with Dene from (iL) Soigneur who hooked me up with this awesome stealth musette bag ready for my trip to San Francisco later this week. Check the website for the whole range of bags including custom options! And expect some content from the USA later in the week.
What a difference a day makes
Or so I thought.
Yesterday Tim went riding in the rain. I had many excuses why I wasn’t riding, but it was mainly because I’m lazy.
When I saw the weather today I had no excuse. The BSCC Inter Club TT is this Wednesday so I needed to get my legs moving again.
I set off in dry warm weather, perfect riding conditions for a few miles after work. I’m currently running a 64 gear inch due to a mismatch of parts so a fairly relaxed ride was the plan.
Cruising about in the dry was such a change, until after about 52 minutes and 54 seconds of this, the rain came back!! At this point I’d covered just over 20 miles and was feeling hungry, with TDO Tuesday tomorrow and the BSCC Inter Club TT on Wednesday, I decided to head home. Slightly wet, but thankfully not cold.
SixClix – Bob
SixClix. A new regular, but most probably erratic feature. Six photos of a bicycle. Here is the first. #SixClix
Bob.
A night of two races
Last night was the second round of the Bristol South CC classic league, a series of time trials.
It was to be an evening of two races. Race one was getting to the TT in time. Last week for me and Tim this didn’t happen, Christian managed to arrive moments before the last rider was off and within seconds of getting there was off racing.
To cut a long, boring and slightly stressful story short, me and Christian both made the TT in good time, Tim was off playing polo.
This weeks race was over a 5.2 mile course, the UC115. I was riding my Dolan Track Champion with a 88 gear inch and Christian his Giant TCR with a choice of gear inches.
We were both pretty pleased with our results, 6th and 7th of 23 riders. Christian took nearly a minute out of his time from last week. My slightly optimistic time of 12 minutes wasn’t reached, but at 12.21 with a terrible start I was happy.
The results can be seen here .
The winner PJ, had a more eventful evening, you can read about that here. He then provided 6 of us with a train back home, it felt good to fly along in a group after the solo excitement of the TT.
The First TT of 2012
Just under three weeks ago I had my first 10 mile TT of this year. Which was also only my third 10 mile TT ever. It was the Frome 10, organised by the Frome and District Wheelers
It was the day after the Red Bull Hill Chasers, yes I’ve taken a while to finally write this blog post…
I had built up to the race by not riding my bike for the previous three weeks and decided bed at 3am followed by a 7am alarm would be suitable prep.
I’m not sure who was more surprised, me or PJ that I turned up.
I was a little bit nervous, there were a total of five roundabouts, plenty of scope for getting lost. I drove the course, missing off the last roundabout because I got lost.
The actual race was really good and reminded me why time trials are so appealing. No messing about, just ride as hard as you can, until something bad happens, or you finish the course.
I thought I had set a new pb, but later on realised I was 15 seconds off my best time. I think this is acceptable given my zero prep and lack of sleep.
Not long till TT season comes into full swing or something. Pretty exciting, if I remember to send off my entry forms.
There are no photos, what a let down…
Red Bull Hill Chasers 2012 Full Details!!
The following is taken from the latest press release for the Red Bull Hill Chasers 2012…
RED BULL HILL CHASERS 2012
Britain’s Dual Up Hill Bike Challenge Returns to Park Street, Bristol on 18th February !
Park Street, in the heart of Bristol, will play host to Red Bull Hill Chasers where 32 cyclists will come together in an attempt to settle the fierce debate of which bike discipline is best uphill.
Red Bull Hill Chasers will see 16 elite and 16 amateur cyclists from BMX, mountain bike, road cycling and fixed-gear compete in a series of gruelling head-to-head knockout rounds on the unforgiving incline. Riders will be paired randomly giving amateur riders the chance to compete against the elite. Look out for some big name competitors!
A knockout format will halve the field until just two riders remain for the ultimate showdown. This year, the course has been shortened and pinch points added to make the race equal amongst all disciplines. A qualifying round will be held on Hill Street, just off Great George Street, between 8.30am and 11:00am on 18th February.
In 2011, the final of the Red Bull Hill Chasers event in Bristol was truly awesome. Charge Bikes team rider Chris Metcalfe eventually won the knock-out competition in front of a huge crowd. In all, 16 national and international pro cyclists, including Red Bull Athlete Danny MacAskill, competed head-to-head in drag races against top local cyclists from five different disciplines; road, fixed, BMX, cyclocross and mountain bike.
After the race Metcalfe said, “The crowd is so close to you as you ride up the hill that they really spur you on and it’s great that relative unknowns can ride against some of the best riders in the world, all right in the centre of Bristol!”
For your chance to compete against the elite as one of the 16 amateur riders go to www.redbull.co.uk/hillchasers and register for your place in the qualifier.
DATE
Saturday, February 18th, 2012
TIME
7.00 pm start
LOCATION
Park Street, Bristol
THE PRIZE
Supplied by Charge Bikes:
1st – Gold Bike Frame
2nd – Silver Bike Frame
3rd – Bronze Bike Frame
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
For your chance to compete against some of the top cyclists in the world and become Red Bull Hill Chasers 2012 Champion, please register for the qualifier by completing the application form here: www.redbull.co.uk/hillchasers
The qualifier is open to all and will be held on Hill Street which runs parallel with Park Street, just off Great George Street, from 8.30am – 11am on Saturday 18th February. Come ready to ride!
We will be in touch shortly after the qualifier by text to let you know if you have qualified for Red Bull Hill Chasers. Entry closes on 15th February 2012.
For more information on format and rules go to: www.redbull.co.uk/hillchasers
Check out the video from last years event: http://www.redbull.co.uk/cs/Satellite/en_UK/Video/Red-Bull-Hill-Chasers-The-highlights-021242960421785
Facebook Event Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/152985878148428/
Red Bull Hill Chasers 2012
Yes it’s back…
18-02-12 probably
Qualification Rounds
More info to follow…
Taunton CX
Instead of going out and getting ‘wasted’ this Saturday night 10/12/11 a few of us decided to head to Taunton to watch Kieran race in the latest round of the South West Cyclo Cross Series. It was a night race starting at 7.30pm and with a lot of the course not being lit particularly well it looked to be an exciting hour of racing. We were gutted to hear Kieran had forgotten the CowBell BUT! It was ok as there’s an app for that… It was freezing cold but an enjoyable watch especially with early 90′s ‘hits’ being blasted from the tannoy. Kieran had a little crashy moment which meant he just slipped outside the top 20 with a 21st, a great result though and only one of three riders on single speed! If you get a chance it’s worth heading to a CX race as the format of laps around a relatively small circuit means multiply viewing opportunities throughout the hour of racing. Oh and I took a few dodgy pics.
