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The forty has come and gone and we can successfully say that the BKB has left a mark in cycling history. With part timers creepyfriendly and the darkness swooping two of the top five places on those goofey uno rigidos. Many were incognito as they raced vicariously through what has become Kenwood racing while others broke out their saturdays best in hopes of a PR or was it a PBR?
Elaborate version soon...
Departure on Wednesday the 29th of August; across the pond in search of ink and glory. Madison to Newark to Edinburgh to Inverness. Manchester Trev was kind enough to offer a lift the thirty miles from Inverness to Aviemore. Upon arrival it was to Trev's to build the bike. I was tickled pink to find the ferrous in fine condition. Then it was off to the Arlodgie guest house to get my room. Layed low, got some food and a pint. Friday brought a solid 12 hour sleep to rid me of the journey. A trip to Bothy bikes and a solid four to five hour ride led by Dj Birtch. Much of the ride was spent trying to figure out how to get back to Bothy. Gravel roads leading to who knows where and endless singletrack flowing through the mountains. The night held much of the same, food and a few pints. Saturday it was up semi early to register and hit the trails once again. This time i rode with the likes of Thom Parsons, Sam from singular, and the one and only Jacquie Phelan. we had a local along so we had a set route. Later that night was the 08 decider. It consisted of a five hundred meter roller race, a shot of bad whiskey, and an irish jig. Curtis Inglis (thanks!) took home the vote so next year were headed to Napa, Ca. I kept it calm that night and got up early for the 9:30 start on Sunday. I chatted with TBrown about the race and soon enough we were riding the seven miles to the course. Temps were around 50 and i was shivering pretty bad. Brian from Trek Europe offered up his jacket. After a half hour at the finish we headed to the start to get the show on the road. The le mans start was about a quarter mile and coming into the bikes is was myself and Sveinung Bjørekøy, last years champ. On the bikes and there was a screaming downhill. I pulled behind Sveinung and drafted. we hit a climb and i went to the lead. It was a few hundred meters of flat road then we started climbing the fire road. About a mile in we took a sharp turn up some crazy singletrack. Rocky rooty and slick. I hammered the pedals and heard behind what sounded like dismounts. I got to the top and looked back to see a small gap. I kept the hammer on through the singletrack, came to a sharp off camber left and dove in. I slid out on the wet roots and bailed as my bike tumbled over. On my feet to a cx mount when i hear some rubbing, look down and see what appears to be my front wheel rubbing on the fork. I try to ride it out but the wheel will barely spin. Five seconds later TBrown and Carl Decker come screaming by. I offer a good luck in return for sympathy. The walk back reflection went from rage to sorrow to content. There was nothing I could do. That's just racing. Sometimes there isn't anything you can do. I had several wheel offers on the way back which I declined. My race for first was over. I figured it selfish to rob someone else of the beautiful course. A few stragglers offered some help in the stomp true of the wheel. Rudimentary but enough to get me back to the finish. In the end, Adam Craig took the prize with Carl in second, Travis third, Garreth fourth and Sveinung fifth. it would've taken a lot to beat Adam, but i would've enjoyed destroying myself trying. Instead I just destroyed my wheel. BKB crewers Otree and the Vitch also represented, doing rounds of laps and beers. Next year we'll be out in full force.
