Cross ash Hilly

Never have I been happier to watch a race, instead volunteering to be the time keeper. This year’s event was positively warm with a nice tailwind on the back section so everyone was blown up the big hills. Thanks to Dennis Beard for doing the first and last turn. There’s something sadistic about Dennis, as he really enjoys watching the suffering on the last junction. Paul Fallon who rode out and marshalled the junction at Aber, and once again to Earl who pushed off and did the sag wagon, more about that to come….

Being slightly mean and so there was a chance everyone would get back in the same 15 minutes I set everyone off at 2 minute intervals. First back was Paul Sharpe, who had made a point of telling me hills weren’t his bag. I think you had a good ride, especially as you did not know the course. Favourite for the event was “Turbo Will”. He lost no time in tracking “The Destroyer” down only being 15-20 seconds behind him at Aber. That was where it all went wrong, in his excitement managed to tug on the brakes a little too hard, locking his rear tub. It only took a second, but he managed to go through to have a blow out, Game Over! Thanks to Earl he had a lift service almost immediately. Once back at the finish Earl gave a status report. Harwood was well ahead on time, but the last hill found his weaknesses, which “The Destroyer” took full advantage of winning the event (and a Pot) which gave him one of the biggest cheesy smiles I think I have ever seen. Dave finished fast but admitted that last 5 miles were hell. Our own Wobbly Bob was gutted when he found out he’d missed Paul Sharpe by 4 seconds, and knew exactly where it was lost. Nothing worse than farmer types holding you up on downhills with an indicator on, with Bob not knowing what they were going to do.

Earl’s second outing of the day was to find Martin Green, who turned up almost immediately, so was a false alarm. Martin had ridden to Burnham-on-sea the day before just to try their pie and chips and a couple of beers before returning over Cheddar Gorge, so was forgiven for being a little tired. Last but not least was “Touring Tony”. He had a momentary forgetful spell, forgetting to turn left at Rockfield. This took him into Monmouth, then up to Buckholt. At this point we got the phone call. Oh how the mobile has modernised the world. In years gone by we would have been waiting for hours for his safe return. Instead we just despatched transport to retrieve him. I’m not going to say anyone laughed at his predicament, but it has been logged in the entertainment awards booklet.

Rider of the Day was “The Destroyer”