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BUCS Downhill 2016

18/4/2016

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After a 7 hour journey to Antur Stiniog in the heart of Snowdonia we pitched our tents and settled in for a mostly sleepless night of cold, rain and snow. Fortunately by the time we emerged from our tents the sun was shining and everyone was looking forward to a weekend of downhill.
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The track walk revealed a tough looking course that had many steep, rocky sections with lots of line choices which were even difficult to walk up. However, after the first practice run it was apparent that the track was a lot more fun than it looked with plenty of fast sections and some nice jumps. Throughout Saturday the live timing showed that everyone was getting faster as they became more comfortable with the track and got their lines dialled. Unfortunately, the day wasn't without fault as Will crashed and injured his thumb after “casing a jump like a B***h”, putting an end to his weekend’s riding. We finished the day with a barbecue and a few beers before heading to bed to recover for the race on Sunday.
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After a couple more practice runs on Sunday morning, it was time for the qualifiers. First to represent Bristol was Naomi, who made it down into 8th position therefore qualifying for the championships. Next up was Dan on his hardtail who completed his aim of having a clean run and even managed to be faster than several riders aboard full suspension bikes. On his run, Sam made full advantage of his new full suspension bike and got so rowdy here bent his seat back but still managed to come down in 205th. Ben and Matt both had solid runs and made it into 152nd and 199th out of the 241 that entered. Our final hope of qualifying by getting into the top 100 was Oli who had been setting consistent times in the top 50 during practice. However after crashing in his final run, Oli missed out on qualifying by a mere 3 seconds leaving him in 116th.
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With none of the guys qualifying, Naomi would have the club’s full support for her race run. A clean and smooth run meant she finished in an admirable 8th, only 40 seconds of the podium and beating one of the sponsored riders. For the men’s championships, we all gathered on “heckler’s corner” and, with the aid of old rims and Sam’s magnificent handle bar trumpet, made as much noise as we could for the fastest men.
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All in all, it was an awesome weekend with excellent riding and great weather (for Wales at least). A huge thank you to Ben for organising everything, Sam for driving and Mike for marshalling.

Photos can be found on roots and rain and on our facebook page.
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Battle on the beach 2016

26/3/2016

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The 19th of March saw the beginning of the weekend long Battle on the Beach event and an evening of camping which was not welcomed by all. Liz Fu and Duncan headed down earlier in the day in order to take part in the single lap Battle in the Dark race that evening. They completed it in the amount of time it took for Alice Earle, Adele Coupland and Martha King to drive around the campsite looking for a place to camp (near the Bianchi tent), sit in the car staying warm and then put up their tent for the evening. The rest of the evening was spent carbing up in a little Welsh pub while England won the grand slam.
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​With a 12pm start time Liz, Adele, Martha and Duncan all made their way to the beach with the 533 other riders for the running start. The race was 45km, 15km on a beach and the rest either single track or double track. The course was not as technical as feared but some big puddles and sandy hills made it challenging. Liz completed the race in a respectable 377th position and 24th out of the women also picking up a rubber duck on the way, winning herself some tyres. Martha and Adele were happy with finishing not last and crash free as it was their third time mountain biking. A big thank you to Alice for supporting us and being a photographer for the day, hope to have a bigger group there next year, an event not to be missed!
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Full results here: http://www.battleonthebeach.co.uk/results-2/
Words by Adele Coupland
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BUCS TRACK 2016

15/3/2016

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Another BUCs event and UOBCC continue to field increasing strong teams, with a full male and female squad making the trip up to the Manchester National Cycling Centre for a weekend of racing on the velodrome. 

The first event was the 
Men’s sprint with Ollie Walker-Hayes and Chris Parker giving it the beans over 200m, finishing respectably mid pack, notably the winners of this event ride completed a time close to Chris Hoy’s BUCs record showing the calibre of the field at the university champs. Next up was Poppy Thompson in the Women’s sprint doing a commendable 14sec flying 200m a result that she was keen to improve on for next year.

The Individual Pursuit was to decide this year’s bragging rights between Andrew Kirby and Ryan Witchell. With the race shortened to 3000m Ryan took the kudos beating Andrew by 1 second in 3.47. Tom “the most aero man alive” Ward from Loughborough won to gain his second gold of the championships. Beth Rolf and Alice Earle contested the pursuit for the women, both breaking training personal records with Beth marginally taking the Bristol win despite Alice’s strong finish!

Team Pursuit time was the highlight of Sunday with Bristol’s ‘best’ chance for a top placing. The women were wrongly denied entry due to technicality of not having 4 start riders – very disappointing, as the team was fired up to get some BUCs points. The Men’s team rode to a strong 6th setting a new Bristol PR in 4:47, 10seconds faster than last year and 2 seconds off a medal ride.

If you are keen to come to the track then look out on the club forum for regular updates on track trips. Special commendation to Alice Earle for giving her all to the team, despite numerous crashes in the run up proving that for every setback there is a come back!

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UOBCC Open 10 TT 2016

14/3/2016

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Saturday saw many riders of all ages descend upon Falfield, a bit outside out Bristol to race on the well-known U7B course. The weather was great and somewhat warm, meaning that skinsuit clad men and women would feel a bit less cold as they cut through the morning air as smoothly as they could. After a quick rekkie and set-up of the course we were ready to have riders head off, with Tom Hall, club alumnus, being pusher. Freddy Carlton had the opportunity to start the event off at 9.01 sharp as first club rider and put in a rapid time of 23 minutes and 4 seconds, putting him down as first club rider, with Hugh Brashaw coming in a close second (23 minutes 16 seconds). As the racing progressed faster and faster times flowed into race HQ via text messages, until the W word was mentioned, this belonging to Dean Robson who blasted through the course in 20 minutes 41 seconds, with Billy Oliver following him in second place with a time of 21 minutes 11 seconds. 
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Fastest UOBCC rider, Freddy Carlton out on the course.
​During the race the HQ was dead empty, but once done everyone flooded in and anxiously awaited results, and occassionally even took over the event organizer's chair.Cake was nibbled at and tea was drunk until the arrival of the timekeepers, who confirmedt the official results. After this it was a matter of handing out the prizes for each respective category, although some of the recipients had already disappeared, perhaps in search of seconds lost on U7B. All in all it was a great morning, and as event organizer I would like to thank everyone who raced, along with the marshalls Tom, Luke, Ted, Ben and Fred, and timekeepers Doug Gale and Sheila Edwards - everyone helped make the event a great success! Also a big thank you to Bike UK for providing some excellent prizes and a mechanic for last minute tune-ups on the day.
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Tour de Burrito 2016

7/3/2016

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For the third year in a row UOBCC took part in Ignit10n, a University wide charity event raising money for above and beyond, Bristol's NHS foundation charity. The donation pages are still live, so if you're feeling generous head over to https://ignit10n-2016.everydayhero.com/uk/uobcc_tour_de_burrito to help a very worthy cause.
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​Sixteen UOBCC riders lined up for the third annual Tour de Burrito. With 2500m of climbing spread out over the 200km route it was never going to be easy. The day started early, 7 am outside Park street mission burrito for photos and group sorting. Then we were off for the 80km leg to Cardiff. Despite a Watt-sapping headwind the first leg was covered quickly, allowing an appetite to be built up for the first burrito of the day. Every bit of fuel possible would be needed for the next leg, 105km to Bath taking in some serious 'lumps' on the elevation profile. At least the headwind was now a tailwind.
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Progress out of Cardiff was slow for the second group, however, they were soon out into the countryside and well on the way to their second burrito. More by luck than by judgement the steepest gradients of the day were downhill, making for some nerve-racking and brake-pad destroying descents. As the day progressed the kilometers ticked by, with some snow on the higher hills on the way back to the old Severn bridge. ​
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Once back in England the end was in sight, with only the imposing Lansdown hill standing in the way of the warmth and food of Mission Burrito Bath. At the top of this it seemed that nothing could stop us. Then, as if from nowhere, a giant fissure in the Earth opened up, causing a quadruple puncture incident in the leading group (The large crack in the road may or may not have been there before our arrival). In the fading light cold hands scrambled to fix punctures, with just enough inner tubes to go round. Then the chilly descent to Bath for a Burrito.
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Finally, it was out into the cold one last time for the victory parade along the Bristol-Bath cycle path. To celebrate, it started raining. After eight hours in the saddle the whole squad rolled into Mission Burrito Bristol for a well deserved beer and final Burrito. A massive congratulations to everyone who took part, and a huge thank you to Mission Burrito for supporting us along the way. ​
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Varsity Hill Climb 2016

28/2/2016

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For the first time in recent memory cycling joins the varsity program, with a classic hill climb up Belmont. A cold but clear morning saw a strong field from both cycling clubs.

UWECC's Baz Lewis was first off, setting a blistering pace in the chilly morning air and coming in at 03:28, a very tough time to beat. As the day progressed UWECC and UOBCC riders continued to put in good times, but none were good enough to knock Baz out of the hotseat, despite the huge efforts evident from the gurns across the line.
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Third degree gurns
Meanwhile in the ladies standings there was an incredibly close battle, with Josie Rawes (UOBCC) narrowly beating Hannah Thorne (UWECC) with times of 04:50 and 04:52 respectively, fantastic rides from both.

As the tail end of the field approached UOBCC's hopes for the top step on the podium lay on Andrew 'PA' Kirby's shoulders. However, he could not quite live up to his hill climb form from October, settling for second with a respectable time of 03:33. The podium was rounded out by Ben Alexander (UOBCC), with a time of 03:48, just enough to keep Sam Holder (UOBCC) and Hugh Brashaw (UOBCC) at bay.
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1st Baz Lewis (UWECC)
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2nd Andrew Kirby (UOBCC)
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3rd Ben Alexander (UOBCC)
All that remains to be said is chapeau to Baz Lewis, leader from start to finish, congratulations to UOBCC for the overall win and varsity point, and a big thank you to everyone that helped out (Thomas Farrugia for organising, Richard Spink and Dan Morris for timing and Ryan Witchell as pusher-offer)

​Words by Fred Cook
Full Results
File Size: 197 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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Oktoberfest 2015

11/10/2015

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As the roadies were putting in their 3-4 minute power blasts up Belmont for the open hill climb, the mountain bikers were taking on an entirely different beast a short distance away in Ashton Court. Oktoberfest is an endurance event, with riders in teams or solo taking on the 4 or 8 hour event - how many times can you go around the (slightly extended) singletrack course perched on the hill side of Ashton Court in the given time? Words by Tim Robinson:

This was my 3rd Oktoberfest and as a final year student my last chance to have a crack at the solo podium after narrowly missing out a few times in the past. 

I didn't have the grit to attempt the 8-hour so opted for the more manageable 4hr Solo Men's event. The start line was a mix of serious leg shaving types, and less-serous baggy short types (although I have learnt from past attempts not to write off this sort of man). The Le Mans start running up the hill was exciting as ever and I made it into the singletrack woods on the back end of the main group and then ground it out for the rest of the afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised to find I was 2nd after 6 laps. The leader was 15 minutes ahead so I pushed hard on the last lap to ensure I kept 3rd position at bay.

I did 7 Laps in 3hrs 31minutes and had to make the decision that I couldn't squeeze out one more as my last lap was 32 minutes despite burying myself, so no chance of knocking 3 more minutes off it. A great afternoon racing and I have to recommend it for future years, definitely an easy enough a course that purist roadies could give it a good crack. There is also a home advantage of having the course on our doorsteps to practice on.
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Open Hill Climb 2015

11/10/2015

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Round-up

The second annual UOBCC open hill climb had perhaps the finest field yet, thank you to everyone who turned up to cheer and compete!

First rider off was UOBCC's own Andrew Kirby, setting a very strong opening time of 3:20 dead, a tough benchmark but there were many quality riders still to come. It didn't take long before Thomas Weir (Swansea University CC) earned the top spot. The bench mark was raised once again halfway through the event by Isaac Mundy (Oxford University CC), with a seemingly unbeatable 3:12.1.

However with many strong riders stacked at the end of the start list it was far from a foregone conclusion. The next person to come close was UOBCC alumni Will Bourne (now riding for Clay Cross RT), just 0.7 seconds off the mark and with only a few riders left. The final person to trouble Isaac's time in the hot seat was local big name on Strava Richard Spink (T1 Diabetes.info), coming in just 0.8 seconds behind the winner and having to settle for third place. A very tight podium grouping, fantastic rides from all!

Meanwhile the women's podium was decided early, with another UOBCC alumni, Kate Mactear taking a commanding lead with a time of 4:22.8 and holding it to the end. Joanne Jago (Performance Cycles) and Josie Rawes (UOBCC) rounded out the women's podium. Fastest junior time was Ceri Middleton (Climb On Bikes RT) with a 3:24.0, also earning himself a top 10. Not far behind was the fastest veteran Adrian Lawson coming in at 3:25.8 (just outside the top 10).

Finally a huge thank you to Thomas Farrugia for organising the whole event, Ben Alexander for taking photos, the time keepers Ian and Bridget Boon and all of the marshals that kept the event running smoothly. See you all next year!

Prizes

​Position
Name
Club
Time
Prize
1st Overall
Isaac Mundy
Oxford University CC
03:12.1
£30
2nd Overall
Will Bourne
Clay Cross RT
03:12.8
£20
3rd Overall
Richard Spink
T1 Diabetes.info
03:12.9
£15
1st Woman
Kate Mactear
University of Bristol CC
04:22.8
£20
2nd Woman
Joanne Jago
Performance Cycles
04:29.7
£10
1st Junior
Ceri Middleton
Climb On Bikes RT
03:23.6
£10
1st Vet
Adrian Lawson
Ride 24/7
03:25.8
£15
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BUCS Downhill 2015

29/4/2015

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BUCS Downhill 2015 was a roaring success. Forgoing last years final field-motorway section, this years course was a steep and rough affair, with an even steeper final section, which made for a great atmosphere and lots of noise. After a long slog up the M6 and a warm up ride at Glentress on Friday, Saturday saw UOBCC’s downhill contingent get to grips with the track during practice. 

Cattle trucks and coaches were the order of the day, and luckily the sunshine held out, meaning practice was fast and dry. The track, a ribbon of trail weaving through various bands of forested conifers, had only a sparse handful of jumps and fire-road crossings to punctuate the relentless onslaught of steep rooted sections and rutted corners. The final descent began with several very steep turns, which dropped riders into a tricky off camber root section, before a final few berms and jumps and a short sprint into the finish area. It was on these steep turns that, even during the last few runs of Saturday practice, spectators began to gather in order to heckle and watch riders come flying down the hill. After a long day’s riding we were all refuelled with a nourishing BBQ, washed down with some of Eric’s exquisite home-brews.

Sunday morning saw a few hours to squeeze in a few more practice runs, and get used to the slightly wetter conditions created by the morning dew. As race runs drew near, a big band of cloud was gathering, but luckily we were let off with just a light drizzle. After some carnage ahead of the Bristol riders in the girls field, Naomi and Louisa were told they would get to have another shot at an uninterrupted run after men’s qualification. Lawrence was the only Bristol rider to qualify, with a blistering time of 3:44, which he then bettered by a good 6 seconds in his race run, to take home 19th place. At a race where the top 10 riders are also riding professionally on the world cup circuit, this is an incredible achievement, so congratulations go to him. Also worthy of note was Elky who was on an absolutely blistering run, but crashed due to forgetting to constrain his airtime to normal people standards on the second to last jump, overshooting the landing by about 3 bike lengths, before getting back on the bike and crossing the line in 4:21, taking home 116th place. The time cut off to qualify was 4:15. Naomi and Louisa also took home some metal, winning bronze in the women’s team category. Some great results all round, and clearly confirmation that cake-racing is an effective training format.

After the dust had settles and we had collected our winnings, it was time to break camp, drive off into the sunset up the Tweed valley, and (eventually) back south.

A great weekend was had by all, the track was an absolute riot and the company even better. Thanks to everyone who drove, cooked, helped organise, and made the weekend such a blast!

Words Nat Aaronson


Some extra videos from the weekend: Unofficial Race Report on pinkbike and a short one from Sam.
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BUCS 10 TT 2015

29/4/2015

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Man. Alone with himself. Time Trialling is a lonely, sole pursuit of glory. One must aspire to those famous words: “Every superior human being will instinctively aspire after a secret citadel where he is set free from the crowd, the man, the majority.” Once away from the safety of the start, testing is a battle between oneself and the clock, an exploration of new depths of the pain that it is possible to endure. 

With that in mind, on Saturday 11th April, 5 of UOBCC’s finest testers headed to Oxfordshire for the BUCS 10 mile TT championship. Having had a pessimistic course preview mid-week from Sam, a feeling of trepidation was prominent in the contingent. The conditions on paper, however, looked good: 9km out east and 7 back, with a strong westerly wind bringing hope. 

Confusion amongst the timekeepers up on arrival reported that the course record had already been broken by the time we arrived: someone, and not Ryan’s eternal man crush in the form of Edmund ‘Bradberg-Watts’ Bradbury had gone below 19 minutes. 

Of course it was not to be, and we soon went to concentrate on out own tasks in hand. Andrew, with an earlier start time than the rest of us, left the HQ to ride over to the start, we went about warming up. Steadily, we followed him, and rediscovered him far too quickly; he managed to take turn around at the wrong roundabout. Becca “Heart-rate” Stubbs and Tom “I’ll give it a go” Harrington, both riding their debut time trials, soon followed, set free from the starting gate like lions in the Colosseum. Onward they went, navigating the course somewhat more successfully, and powered on their respective ways.

The wind was picking up all the time, and sure enough, by the time the start time rolled around for Chris “Colour Scheming? Never heard of it” Brasnett, everyone was flying along the course. Ryan “mega-watts” Witchell started his determined chase 4 minutes later, tearing up the road. Andrew “Navigation” Kirby was given a second chance several minutes later, and shot off, resplendent in his new aero guise.

Everyone gave it their all, leaving nothing out on course. The tailwind out was taken full advantage of, before the pain and suffering of the headwind on the way back took its cause. We reconvened at the HQ, all immensely pleased with ourselves. Highest placed was Ryan, with a highly respectable 21:23. Andrew out performed all expectations, and stood in disbelief at his time: 21:51. Chris post man-flu, put in a pleasing enough 24:08. Tom put in a sterling effort to get 24:43 in his first ever TT, whilst Becca arrived back after 26:33 in hers.

UOBCC continue their upward trend in time trialling prowess, and things now look ahead to the forthcoming 3-up and the 25, as well as to the further future. Thanks goes to Ryan for organising, and of course to all those who helped with transport on the day!



Words Christopher Brasnett.
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