Big Bike Bash, if you're not there…..

how about, just loads of kiddies prizes* and nothing but kudos and cheers/beers for the winning adults, that'd be more in keeping with the fun/non-competitive ethos?

* i'm thinking loads of little inexpensive prizes, sweets/toys etc so every kid gets a podium/cheer/round of applause/moment of glory!!

Long walk for a COLD shower!!!!!!

I used a solar shower behind our tent on the campsite – warm water! Apologies if I shocked/offended anybody 😳

The prizes did seemed a bit skewed towards event winners. I agree it would have been more in keeping with the spirit of the event to spread the prizes around abit. Maybe put everybody who competes in an event in a prize draw for the prizes, that way people who don't normally win will walk away with some things, and it would encourage more people to compete in events, even if they think they have no chance of winning.

Pants, stop moaning 🙂 The same thing happened at Are You Tough Enough, with the Mixed Pairs being combined with the Mens Pairs. You have never heard me moan about that have you?

I didn't think the lack of showers was major problem. If it meant an extra 2k going to charity that is fine by me.

My friend tanya (who is so not mrs juan so dont even go anywhere near it), wanted to say thank you too all of you who have been nice to her and make the week end enjoyable for her too…

Now if you are hot and single and like the look of her pass me your details I 'll make sure they get fowarded 😉

juan, my mrs would probably like your details..!!! she said you were very fit.

lol at fatmuhahubbard I think that is my problem only married ladies are attracted in me 😉
but it's always good for the ego 😀
BTW where you julian's friend?

A few thoughts ideas that might , or might not be useful. More things for the under 12's to do. Little ones can have an attention span of 6 minutes, so things like face painting or bouncy castle might give the parents some more 'time off' . Or go old skool and get a clown or punch and judy show. Kids seem to like watching and participating. what about one of those those springy zero G tramploine on bungees ride thing.
A relay race on the short track, with baton , might introduce some different faces to the podium , especially if its mixed teams of 3 or 4. The trackstand comp could be incorperated into a sprint , so sprint 100 meters. stop in box , trackstand for 10 secs, then sprint again and repeat. get your HR up in the zone and make it trickier ( could incorperate limbo or wheely as well) . Would require more organisers with stopwatches.

Ban Rude Boy from drinking Pure Gold. Lightweight .

Hang on a mimute: We think nothing of riding a bike all day, but complain about a short walk to a shower? Hmmmmmm

So you need to get your 6 YEAR OLD washed for bed. You're in the main arena… its already close to 10pm… need I go on..?

I didn't want to drag this one out, but have been given no choice!!

Dez, for that same reason (ours are 3 and 5) we booked a pitch in the 'proper' campsite. Yes it was an extra expense but probably quieter (apart from the woman singing Stevie Wonder quite a lot at silly o'clock), next to the kiddies playground and near the loo and shower block. I liked it that the event price was lower and those that wanted a better level of comfort paid a bit more for posh camping or chalet.

The highlight of any camping trip for my kids is that they DON'T have to wash before bed! 8)

The highlight of any camping trip for my kids is that they DON'T have to wash before bed!

Exactly! Out two came back (especially 6 yr old) looking like she had been playing in soil/dust all weekend (which she had…).

juan, yes i was Julian's mate.

camping was ace where me and julian were, gave us some down time from the kids when they were at the playground and it was nice and cool under the trees for them.

oh here is the dodgy photo i took of you racing

know that no photo of myself are dodgy, just artistic 😉

Dez, for that same reason (ours are 3 and 5) we booked a pitch in the 'proper' campsite

Which (being the first purchaser of a ticket) I didn't know existed.

can we let this lie now? (Until next year anyway!) Cos it wasn't really that big a deal you know!

Does anyone have a photo of my boy (the very blonde one) on the podium? He wants to show his mum. cheers

i didn't have a shower all weekend. ace 🙂

Wondered what the smell was

At the end there was plenty of stuff being handed out for those that stayed around for a while after the prize giving, even got the bloke to pay for the pint he had to give WCA when it was free beer 😀

And if the only complaint was the showers thats bloody good going for a first bash.

Well said Luke the Beerman!!

Yeah well said, people have to understand that the BBB is basically the extention of wca's back garden party…
Now can we have more hot single ladies next year… 😈

I've joined the forum especially to thank all those who made the weekend possible. It took me alot of nagging and coaxing to get the lads from B'ham down after I dragged them to the Dyfi which was torture with a push bike. At £40 it's an expensive weekend for me as a Student, all things considered it turned out good value for money.

Like the poster above I opted for no shower(baby wipes rule), attempting a backflip into the lake and then a nice soak in the bath at 1am monday morning once i'd dropped everyone else home.

I was so chuffed to win the women's sprint as I only got my first non motorised set of two wheels in January, crashe din february with a full thickness thigh muscle tear and this being my second 'competitive' event after the Dyfi Enduro I didn't know what to expect (thanks Matt for encouraging me to enter the Sprint)

Juan you did make me laugh with your pink gloves.

The guy pedalling around the camp site with the tag along bike saturday morning in the rain made me get out of my tent. Thank you so much to you! I was in a propper huff when I woke up and it was raining after such a long drive and then to unpack a mouldy tent. One trip to bournemouth and pitching a naff tesco tent in the dark and I had a house.

Next year:
Can we camp Monday please?
If spectators are camping they should pay more than £10!
No one was at the campsite/monitoring who was paying to be on site, not sure how you'd monitor this but i'm sure you missed out on some revenue.
——-

Also appologies to the fellow with the old school marin who I ''pipp pipped'' at on the motorway just before the M5 split. You looked like I'd made you jump out of your skin (red audi 80 estate with lots of crap in it and three bikes on the back lol!)

The lake jump was amasing, so gutted I only got one go.

Also the two fellows who won the slalom race on sunday, the ultimate winner deserves a mention here. his competitor crashed, he was on target to win a set of wheels and yet he stopped to check the guy was okay. Propper sportsman.

In my humble opinion the guy who won the open sprint should have been disqualified. propper race whippet.

I couldnt actualy walk yesterday, Note to self; must not beast self around the sprint course.

Thanks so much to those that organised the event and helped out.

IF you need help next year marshalling or bossing people about i'll help 🙂

That is all for now
Simple – sat on the sofa with her new wheels. woot!
love this photo of me doing my impression of a human throwing star. awsome! well done that photographer!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2428/3851248095_e31d330127.jpg

Welcome aboard Simple. So glad you enjoyed the weekend and you enthusiasm made us smile as well.

See you next year.

all things considered it turned out good value for money.

It better be you won half the prices 😉
Glad someone acknowledge my sense of fashion

I thought the xc course was perfect. A short technical course. I liked the hairpins, loamy sections and other bits that made it not flowy.

Unless I was in the wrong place, I only saw 1 shower. This was in the gents toilet shower block. I assume the women got the same. The shower ran cold. Luckily there were also disabled toilet/showers next to the laundry which ran hot.

Simple that was me shouting on Saturday morning with the tag-along. I probably came across a little moody but I was seriously stressed 🙂

Thank you, you orgainised at least 2 events and you had exactly the right frame of mind. And you gave me the hawain flowers 😀

Hope you enjoy your prizes. All this rubbish about too few people winning prizes is cr@p. Simple won loads as she competed loads. If you dont compete you dont win. Simples.

The showers in our chalet were fine.

Well except for th unexplained one in the RudeBoy Gate incident.

Where is RudeBoy to explain his side of the story ? Is he in hiding somewhere deep in the New Forest with the Brewerytap lady ?

Being as RudeBoy is banned and cannot defent himself, we, the All Knowing, have decided to not spill the beans and simply elude to what may, or may not, have happened.
This stance also protects the other ,innocent, participants.
😛

Being as RudeBoy is banned

Not again, I really must keep up.

Does anyone have any of the podium pictures or video of the lake jumps?

Rich: You wern't grumpy.. not that I noticed I was all in my own little grump. I did win a few prizes, granted. but I entered just about everything and somehow won two events. Not bad for someone who only cycles to walk the dog or to the pub(Ha!)

Those whinging about a lack of programme.. tut. Shame on you. I found out about the event on thursday, got a group of 4 organised and got there for friday night…with a pre printed programme.. now that's organistation 😉

I was also gutted after leaving my dog at my parents to see a fair few dogs about the event site and camp site. She was howling when I left her. She knows when the mountain bike goes in the car it's going to be fun. Need to campture video of her with me as she follows me over all the jumps/through puddles/down steps.. she swims too… canine lake jump!

I have some podium pics. I think Peter_Poddy has most of them though. I also have a poor quality video of Andy braking the lake jump ramp. all coming to an internet near you soon.

Totally agree about the extra prizes for kids.

Totally agree about spreading the prizes around more riders than just the winners.

Totally agree we should have made it clearer about the proper showers being in the proper camp site.

Totally agree we should have had some idea of a schedule, we did have one but no-one brought it with them so we were working from one of the campers printed emails.

There is a photo in the Wednesday 26th Daily Echo of the kids race on page 10 if anyone is interested.

Just going through all the emails I have received. Might not be able to reply to all of them but thanks for the nice words. I don't think any of the comments or criticisms are harsh or particularly unfair and if this ever happens again we will try and address them but I think it went okay for a first time.

MASSIVE THANKS to everyone who helped. This is not just the other 5 who helped me on the committee but all those who just volunteered to help and do stuff. Our team of 20 – 30 boy scouts who were our marshalls cancelled at very short notice.

Totally agree about the extra prizes for kids.

Lydon's well chuffed with his Buff! It's something different anyway.

Podium pics will be going up tonight, ran out of time at midnight last night sorting them to upload them.
Every race & event that went on the podium will be found on my website
http://www.saundersphotography.co.uk
So far, over 2000 views & only two people have bought anything, so please don't be too tight-it is for charity 😉

Goldenwonder – Do you do a CD of all the pictures the buyer is in for a set price? I'm more acustomed to motorcycle trackdays where you pay £20 for a disc with the pictures of you on it for the day.

I don't at the moment, but I'm always open to suggestions.
If you can drop me an email or message through my website with the numbers of the pics you're interested in, I'll see what I can do.

simple out of curiousity what bike do you ride…? I mean with an engine for trackdays…

At the risk of going off topic, I have a 2004 r1

which is good for donnington and oulton park and on the roads touring france etc but I prefer my little kawasaki GPZ500s for Mallory park and Cadwell.

Hey Juan, where's this then I only want the region(links as may be a bit big):
pretty castle but where?
A mountain nearby with a beautiful village next to a river, but where?

hum south west I would say but most definitivaly next to a castle 😉
Well your taste in bike matches your taste in cycles 😉

hum south west I would say but most definitivaly next to a castle
Well your taste in bike matches your taste in cycles

Tut, so uncultured. 😆 I can't remeber where it is anymore, somewhere near Tregnac.

How do my petrol powere cycles match my marin? Must admit the Marin is grosly underpowered! Ha!

in both cases you need something more stylish 😉
like a ducati 916 or a monster and a handjob or a stifee 😉