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.

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.

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.

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.

​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

​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.

​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.

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. ​

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. ​

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.

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.

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

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.

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!