It was a great day all round and we were very lucky with the weather. Felt sorry for the Sunday guys having a shortened day. Seems like the BBF team had no option and in fairness it was probably a good call given the potential for camp site chaos

It was a really cool and chilled atmosphere and passing is no where near the issue you would fear it could be with that level of singletrack. Almost everyone is polite when passing or being passed.

The start was a bit of a farce though in fairness I doubt it matters to any great extent

Anyone know where the official photos can / will be found

Neil – sorry about your break in. Glad nowt was taken. You at Salisbury this weekend?

Graham, what ratio were you using?

Great event I loved it!

I won’t mention the team, but did anyone else see the guy sprinting the run at the start then when he got to the bike someone else from his team rode off to do the first lap! 🙁 Is that in the rules?

Was it just me, or were the Torq riders SO polite after the comments made at last years Oktoberfest. Good show anyway, it didn’t go unnoticed

Andrew I saw that as I was standing with you and it definitely wasn’t in the spirit of things….

Also my mate had a nice bike taken off his roof rack on the Sat night. Cable cutters through the 1/2inch cable lock. Still if you leave a nice bike on a roof overnight at bristol you might expect it to go.

Anyway apart from these niggles it was a bit of a classic bikefest in the sun. Loved my laps and the atmosphere at our bike down the bottom straight was excellent.

Name and shame!

Graham, what ratio were you using?

4.1m.
I rode everything except the hairpin right hander at the bottom of the long cobblestone climb.
I rode it the first lap, but had to take it so wide to avoid stalling, that I realised it would be quicker to dismount, push about 10m round the steepest, shortest, inside line, then remount.
I pushed a short section of the other stony climb up the side of the field once as well, after spinning on loose stones and stalling.

Sorry I’m being thick, 4.1m?

EDIT: Got it, you are using metric.

MarkyC – Member

Name and shame!

If it was the same team I heard about then they might be seen plucking stringed instruments in their shop. One of their teams in the Old Gits cat came in a mere 44s ahead of the next team!

Hello,

I was the runner of the stringed instrument playing cyclists pair who tried a different tactic to cover up our fading fitness!! It didn’t work that well; no great result but my team mate did have a slightly easier first lap. I had a read over the info on the website and couldn’t find anything that said you counldn’t so we thought we’d give it a try to make the most of the shakey start procedure!

Didn’t want to offend anyone just an attempt to make the most of what we had!! 😕

I’m fairly sure the rules don’t specifically state you can’t ride a motorbike, but come on do you really think that kind of tactic is in the spirit of things? In a word, pathetic.

I assume you ran up to the transition area then?
” Riders need to change over in the ‘transition area’ after passing the Time-Lapse timing station, which will be clearly marked. Simply enter the area after your lap, touch your team mates arm and off you go. Riders can come and go freely from this area at any time.”

Not bothering with a hand over in the transition area seemed a popular tactic. Apparently “I can see my team mate” was sufficient to start riding. May pack binoculars for next time.

You get a choice of where to put your bike at the start which gives you a trade-off: you can leave it further away, and possibly avoid the snarl, but have to do more running, or put it closer but get stuck behind more riders.

Kudos to Adam for ‘fessing up, but as Pedalhead says, not really in the spirit of things.

Got it, you are using metric.

It’s the best way. Would anyone who insists on quoting ratios otherwise know how a 50×28 belt compares to a 32×18 chain ? 😛
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/why-does-no-one-use-gear-inches-or-metres-development

Kudos to Adam for ‘fessing up, but as Pedalhead says, not really in the spirit of things.

And it kind of puts the soloists at an immediate disadvantage too.

Or it would if they were racing against teams.

The slightly sad thing about teams that bend the rules in Bikefest: you know they’re probably doing it in the hope of winning a generic medal and a wire bead tyre.

Does anyone know the website for the photo’s of last weekend’s Bristol Bikefest please?

Didn’t even work out as well as a wire bead tyre, just sore legs and the realisation that we’re not as quick as we want to be 🙁

Great event though…

Adam_Buckland, Im glad you confessed. I and a couple of our team saw you do it and felt it really was not in the spirit of the event.

Some teams ride their guts out to end up a few seconds ahead after 12 hours, so any form of cheating / bending the rules is well out of order. I stand no chance of winning anything with my 35 min laps, but even I felt cheated by that tactic.

Lets hope your confession shows anyone else who may be tempted that they will be spotted.

Thanks for being honest in the end.

Well TBH I would only be bothered if that person who cheated was on the podium – I was in the 12hr solo and I was just glad to finish intact 😉

I dream of the day I win a generic medal and a wire bead tyre.

It’s Friday and my legs still ache.

Yep I know how you feel, I manged to swim on Wednesday but I was almost asleep at my desk on Thursday.

For some reason that race **** me up good and proper.

Yep Graham, I must admit to still feeling a little tired today. The training plan has been a bit of a chore this week and I have 8 hours MTB riding to do this weekend! 🙁 Roll on tapering!