2009-10-31 Sat - Halloween Cyclo Cross "Muddy Hell"

Oliver it alone please!

Not a first timer, I'm afraid.

first/third, it's all gravy.

well done you. I wouldn't have ridden that in the dark, with a million other riders buzzing about, it would have been like some kind of off-road commuters peloton.

I am planning some more interesting obstacles for next year, maybe some land mines and bear traps

Oliver it alone please!

i was tempted by that one but managed to resist.

please show more restraint in future

Oliver it alone please!

Of course you immediately have to Clive in, as well.

first/third, it's all gravy.

well done you. I wouldn't have ridden that in the dark, with a million other riders buzzing about, it would have been like some kind of off-road commuters peloton.

I am planning some more interesting obstacles for next year, maybe some land mines and bear traps

I think you should put a bonfire in the centre of the new berm!

first/third, it's all gravy.

well done you. I wouldn't have ridden that in the dark, with a million other riders buzzing about, it would have been like some kind of off-road commuters peloton.

I am planning some more interesting obstacles for next year, maybe some land mines and bear traps

The two worst things for me were the very steep drop immediately after the start and the slippery ground early on in the back in the darkness where I was unable to work out what type of surface I was on. On my practice lap I fell on the gravel before the drop (right in front of JC and other on lookers) and then very shortly after the drop. I am afraid that I ran down the steep incline and did not dare ride it. My technical skills simply were not there and the darkness compounded by the effect of two falls made me very wary. On my second lap, the fast riders lapping me at speed added to this and I was very thankful that my battery died when it did.

I suspect that if I rode it a few times in daylight, I might be better placed in future. I need to improve my bike handling and overcome crippling fear.

Then again, I might be more use as a marshall next year.

Clive, you were a star.....well done for taking it on.

You were in a terrifyingly fast race, Clive--you would have felt more at ease in the Go Race. Don't blame yourself too much--you'd simply entered the wrong race for getting into it. Even one lap under those conditions is an achievement.

Great night, especially good to catch up with people I hadnt seen since the summer at HH. It was well hard to count all the numbers properly because of costumes obscuring numbers and stuff. So @ nomoreknees, it was because of that, I expect, that we were shouting 'mummy' as you passed, as it was with supeman, pumpkin 1 and pumpkin 2, etc, not because of your performance, you probably deserve a prize for wearing a costume! And @ Nhatt, I think you were only 1 of a small handful riding fixed, so Id say you did pretty well there.
Need more of this..mixing bike racing with drinking and fun, like they do in other countries. Well done all.

Fixed?!?!

I'll have you know that I have the world's only single-speed coaster-brake cyclo-cross bike!

And it sucked on the bumps.

Well done and respect to all who entered, it was a great night, Clive I was marshalling up at the highest point and had a marvelous view, near enough the complete course and I only saw racers giving it there all, well done that man. Oh and Mrs O served a lovely sausage with a nice smile it was nice to see her again.
Amazing to see someone running a couple of laps with bike on shoulder, some with what looked like no lights at all, and others obviously slowing down with each lap but still digging deep and pushing on, well done, it looked quite a tough course.

Big thanks and high 5 for the team who pulled this together its was much appreciated by all, a lot of work was put into getting this together and no doubt putting HH back to normal. Well done you all.

Marshalling was pretty fun. I enjoyed it.
Great event - looking forward to a next one.

Just want to say thanks for putting on such a great event, i fell off so many times but still really enjoyed it.

@TTtom,

Hi Tom, for me anything after my first lap was a bonus really so I'm chuffed whatever.
My costume turned into my demise when I got wrapped around my own seat tube and had to rip the crotch out of my tights.

Thanks to you and all the lap counters, that couldn't have been an easy Job at all.

Cheers,
Thomas

Hey, all I was doing was shouting out the numbers as you all went past along with JSS, It was the other guys doing the hard work, JC, etc, ie trying to write down and log them, all! It was an eye opener for me to see how much work other people do, for free, to to make these events happen. I'll never complain again about the commissaires and their 'dodgy' decisions.
Mind you, they probably arnt usually as pissed as I was last night..... :-?

nice one everyone! thanks to winston - good meeting you there. I thought you were gonna tell me to f-off from the track with that stupid camera there and then LOL... Some of my pics are on Flickr. I got there late, so I missed a lot of the early racing.

BTW if anone wants a full-res version of themselves to print out, just PM me here or on Flickr.

Love love love love loved it!!
Its a shame that its only gonna happen once a year because racing off-road in the dark in fancy dress is something i could NEVER get sick of!!

great report from the chief comm and Londoncyclesport editor John:

http://www.londoncyclesport.com/Results/All_Results/Rollapaluza_Halloween_Night_Cross.html

so who was it that purchased kitchen briquettes for the BBQ? ratboys face when i told him the reason they couldn't get the bbq going was because they are meant for gas fired grills was a real picture. :-)
(the bockwurst were lovely btw)

Jos:

so who was it that purchased kitchen briquettes for the BBQ? ratboys face when i told him the reason they couldn't get the bbq going was because they are meant for gas fired grills was a real picture. :-)
(the bockwurst were lovely btw)

Me, I was a chef for ten years and did not know this!...they weren't briquettes or lava rocks, it was actual wood charcoal.

whoa!

even more photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/londoncyclesport/sets/72157622582770399/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/londoncyclesport/sets/72157622582862135/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/londoncyclesport/sets/72157622710291248/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/londoncyclesport/sets/72157622716268858/

Did I say how excellent I thought the costumes were? people made some serious efforts, and the results gave us a lot of laughs, just brilliant.

The pumpkins were lovely too.

was baffled who this one might be: a suicide bomber, Chernobyl worker, electrician or someone else

Ghost Buster