Chicken Skin Handbags
News Team Contact Us Links Extras
Merida Builth Wells 100k
Pete and Mick entered the Merida Builth Wells marathon. This time the guys opted for the 75km instead of the 100km.
The boys arrived on the Saturday at around 7pm after listening to some of Live8 on the radio. The tent was pitched in the quickest time possible and then it was out on the town for the usual 4 pints and a takeaway. This is such a nice little town it would be rude not to enjoy the towny pubs. One year there has been word that the nightclub will be tried out and the guys will only enter the 50km.
Sunday morning arrived after a good rainfall overnight. The rain proved to be a problem later in the day when all riders entered the singletrack in the Forest. The boys did the usual messing around with the bikes and after Pete had fixed the same puncture twice they lined up on the start line.
The course started in the usual manner with the steady climb out of the village. Pete was showing good strength which later pulled him away from Mick. The route seemed very much the same as usual apart from the new section in the woods. The hope was that the MD ground would be missed out on the 75k. Well that was the hope anyway.
The ride pasted by without any problems. Both went off track at some point only to turn around and rejoin in the same place. The main area missed was in the fire road sections half-way around the course. This meant that the elite riders passed Pete and Mick twice.
Everything was going well and it seemed the guys were heading for good times. However, strangly or not, the 75k mark on the bike computers seemed to come and pass. Both thought that over the next hill there would be a great downhill to the finish line. But hills came and passed, came and passed until the clocks were measuring 80k. It seemed the boys were familiar with the last bit of the course as being the finish to the 100k. It was strange though cause they remember it being quite a bit further. After being dragged screaming through another 7k the guys reached the finish. The route totalled 87k!! Not what they had paid for.
This year seemed a tough course although the weekend was enjoyed by all. Have a gander at what Michael Wilkins from Merida had to say about it all.
Michael Wilkens from Merida reports...
"Almost 1,100 riders made it to the birthplace of the ‘100’ series to tackle one of the hardest and longest courses Merida have ever had. The Saturday started in familiar manner with lots of people enjoying the relaxed atmosphere around the event village and the camp ground. More than 40 riders then headed out for the Pedro’s Spin to get a gentle warm up for the challenge of things to come on Sunday. Unfortunately, and to our surprise, the rain decided to have a brief but rather heavy appearance over Saturday night which turned some of newly added forest trails and singletrack sections into harder work then they usually are. Come Sunday morning, the sun returned and made for some perfect cycling weather, but due to the sudden weather change the ride turned into a real challenge with the last rider coming back to the event village at around 8.15pm. But don’t worry as we will address the length and the difficulty of the course for next year.
Results
From starting at 10:00 Pete came in at 15:11 (5hrs 11mins) and Mick came in at 15:42 (5hrs 42mins). Take a look at the official results by clicking on the Adobe Results or if you prefer the excel version click on Excel Results
News Team Contact Us Links Extras