Battle on the Beach

[Steve Hanks]

Who got in then? *puts hand up*

[BruceMackie]

in

[BruceMackie]

Another glorious weekend for Battle on the Beach. Matt Page seems to get all the luck with weather and events which is why it seemed like a good idea to organise the first round of the National Youth Circuit Series for British cycling on the same day. Obviously there's a slight flaw in my plan but I seemed to get away with it and Cal stayed behind and signed all the papers on the day, so at least BC'll get stuff with 'Mackie' signed on the form.

Raceday (in Wales) went down to the start with Simon, Russ & Dutch rider, Pim de Ward 30 mins early only to find we were miles from even getting on the beach. Some judicious pushing and shoving got us all a touch closer before Pim's team mates and eventual race winners, came and extracted him and dragged him down the front. In the chaos Russ escaped to the front too but Simon and I were stuck at the back. When the horn blew there was still plenty of time to remove leggings, take gel etc etc so by the time we pedalled through the start line soft sand, dodging the various upturned riders, the head of the race couldn't even be seen. There's an often quoted concept of a rider only having a certain number of matches to burn in a race and needing to conserve and make careful use that resource, well that was out the window, it was more a case of opening the box and chuck a lighted match into it and hope for the best. With 800 riders in the event that meant quite a bit of overtaking was needed whilst there was an opportunity, so I nailed it. Must have been going OK to have posted 11th fastest time on Strava for the 1st half of the beach. Hoped I'd pick up some riders along the way to share the load but it was solo all the way up the beach, briefly seeing Chris and Kevin somewhere along the way. By chance hit Russ's wheel coming off the beach and at least got to sit in on him for a chance to recover before pressing on again. The rest is a bit of a blur, shouting at people to for echelons and getting a great tow from one the Gateway riders, Richard Bowen I think, on the last lap. A race long battle with Grant Johnson finally went in my favour on the final lap so I got on the podium. There is some kind of pattern here, 5th first year, 4th last year, 3rd this year. Hopefully I'll get gridded for next year so I'll stand a chance of keeping the pattern going, though if Pim turns up again the top spot won't be available.

Meanwhile back at Hog Hill everything went according to plan so I got away with it.

[StevenDrew]

Great job, Bruce. Congrats!

[Chris Clague]

We also started on the road miles from the beach - was surprised when word came through from Russ that you were so far back. They actually made the start narrower which seemed a poor idea to me.

With my current fitness levels my expectations weren't high but I wasn't expecting to get overtaken by Hugo (my son) at the start of the first race we've done together. After what seemed like ages I actually got on my bike and passed him again just as Bruce blurred by - I jumped on the wheel and held on for about 1k, picking Kev up on the way. Huge tailwind on the beach was a bit of a leveller for the MTBs, and we were all spinning out - I could have used another 3-4 gears. I towed an MTB as far as I could then told him he was on his own, but Bruce was long gone by then. Somewhere in the midst of this I'd passed Stan as he started in front, then he passed me again as we hit the soft sand at the end of the beach. I hit a large bump in the field though and my seat dislodged itself and was about 45 degrees in the air. Rode the field standing up (which may actually have helped) then stopped to fix, and failed. Twice. Many minutes later I found myself amongst the gentlemen racers and fancy dress outfits fighting for a hotly contested 700th place. And back behind my son again. Places were so hotly contested in fact that fists were being thrown at riders who didn't want to queue in an orderly manner as we walked slowly down the single track.

Race over so time for fun, I slogged slowly back to the car and blasted half a can of GT85 at the problem, reassembled the bike and headed back to the beach. I passed two guys in fat suits early on and couldn't have been that far off dead last. Then one of the lead groups came along and I jumped on - we were bloody flying! Ace.

Caught Hugo again and he was locked in battle with another U16 rider - I offered my services as domestique which was repeatedly and impolitely declined so I left him to it. Trails still very busy but once we'd passed the last lap cutoff and weren't being lapped by the fast guys any more I could have some fun. For the last lap and a half nobody overtook me and I had a blast.

Weather was perfect, event brilliant. Everyone with an MTB or CX bike should do this at least once.

[TamalaMcgee]

Sounds great guys. 2 very different reports!

"Hotly contested 700th place", "Fat Suits" hahahahahaha

Awesome to podium from so far back Bruce.

[Steve Hanks]

I won't repeat Bruce's & Chris's reports only to congratulate Bruce and commiserate Chris! 67th Vet in a field of 282 for me.

If you want to get a slight sense of the occasion: https://vimeo.com/210332420

And althought the caera doesn't show it this is 25mph on an MTB and the one and only time Bruce was behind me:

Battleonthebeach2017



Amazing race which as Bruce/Chris says is one of the only times in your life you'll enjoy fast through & off echelons with CX & MTB mixed in such a stunning vista.

[TamalaMcgee]

Worth doing for that photo alone, that's a corker.

[BruceMackie]

How about a nice video:

https://vimeo.com/210332420

[NealMackintosh]

Wow that looks ace, might have to give it a go next year.

[Chris Clague]

Wow that looks ace, might have to give it a go next year.

As I just emailed to SD - this race has your name written all over it.

Stan - I'm surprised it's as low as 25mph tbh with a tailwind and groups. I could have easily used another couple of gears. And you *have* to get a copy of that pic and stick it on your wall.

[Steve Hanks]

Yeah, it needs to go in the mancave in front of the turbo setup for winter motivation. Zoom in and have a look at my gears - 34T wasn't big enough, I'm investing in a 36 Oval for next year.