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| I was in support monkey
role this weekend at 10 Under the Ben, a mountain
bike race around Leanachan Forest just outside
Fort William. The weather was absolutely awful
and from all accounts the course turned to
a river of mud in places!! I was looking after
Jon Ascroft and his mate Andy, and Emily Carroll
and her friend Rachel Marshall, both riding
in the pair category. I also had the occasional
glimpse of Bob "the lone ranger solo rider" Johnson.
We had a fun, if not drenched, day in weather
more suited to ducks. Sam |
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| Andy flying | Do I really look that muddy? | Emily on the timing mat |
| The aim of this competition was to ride mountain bikes round an approximately 10-mile off-road circuit as many times as possible in 10 hours. The event allows for solos, pairs, trios and quads. The overall solo winner was Greig Brown with 12 laps in 10:31 with Hannah Barnes the first solo female in 12th overall (10 laps in 10:49). Friend of the club, Paul Carmichael, was 10th overall (10 laps in 10:23) with Bob Johnson in 18th overall and 1st Vet 50 (9 laps 10:32) | ||
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| Emily overtaking all of the men | Emily & Jon | Rachel & Jon |
| In the pairs competition, Jon Ascroft and Andy Edwards completed 11 laps in 10:58 - Jon just finishing 2 minutes before the timing equipment was switched off! This frantic finish gave Jon and Andy 15th pair overall with Craig O'Donnell and Adam Spiller in 16th overall with 10 laps in 9:46 (the warmth of the hotel being more attractive than another trip round the "stream-bed" course!). Emily (soon-to-be-Hesling) Carroll and Rachel Marshall rode strongly for 71st overall with 8 laps in 9:39. | ||
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| Jon's bike minus rear derailleur | Muddy Bob | |
| In
the trios, friend of the club (and wife of
the author) Nicola Johnson managed 57th overall
with 6 laps in 7:53 assisted by her twin
sister Nats and friend Sally Todd. The leading
quad team managed 13 laps in 10:06 which
was super-fast to say the least! Bob Johnson |
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| Bob, Nicci & Jon | Craig O'Donnell nearing the finish | You have done HOW many laps? |