2nd in Great Britain for 2011
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Great sections, great weather and great company.
On Sunday after the long day of shows on the Isle of wight the day before, Gary Sanderson and myself travelled to one of the best trials areas in the UK, Hook Woods in Surrey, for the British Championships. It was a great day of riding. The sections were set out really well and the atmosphere, although a little quiet and serious, was a good one. I didn’t have the best first lap of the competition and so 18 times British Champion, Ben Savage won again - Next year Ben! Unfortunately Gary hurt his hand in the Show on Saturday and ended up retiring from the competition but sure he will be back on form soon. I would like to thank Ben Savage and Matthew Holdsworth for setting out the sections and pushing to make the competition happen, and Dare2b for sponsoring the event.
Team Rider Gary Sanderson and myself travelled over to the Isle of Wight for their Cycling festival in the wee small hours of saturday morning. Fortunately, after setting up the weather stayed dry and at times even sunny for the show and the crowds were great. I had one of the most fun days of shows this year and ended the day with a little practice session. Although I didn’t measure it, I think I broke my personnel best in side-hopping over a bar. Gary performed really well, especially as it was his first time riding on the “big-rig”. The highlight of the day was bumping into a old trials star that put the Isle of Wight on the trials map - Neil Lemmon. When I had just started riding trials, Neil was at the top of the game. It was great that he turned up for the shows on his new trials bike and even had a go on the rig! We also had a few other rider’s turn up and help out in the show. So big thanks to them for coming along.
Today I have been at South Molton Junior School in Devon as part of there cycle week. Two other schools also came over for the shows and had a fantastic response. Good luck to the guys that are taking part in the race at the school tomorrow!
Sunday Saw a great event hosted by Darts Farm Shopping Village in Topsham, Devon. The morning started off with heavy rain and strong winds but as the afternoon approached the rain eased off enough at times to ride. It was a pretty tough job in the wind but was a great day anyway. Thanks to Alistair Cope for the picture!
Down in Exmouth we had amazing weather for the finish of the devon Stage of the Tour. Huge crowds of an estimated 25,000 people lined the sea front to watch some of the finest cycling athletes in the world race to the finish. We were on hand to keep the crowds entertained while they were waiting for the racers to come into the finishing straights. It was great to have people that came from right across Devon just to watch our show. Its such a great feeling when fellow riders turn up to check out our demos and get some info and tips on riding. Another amazing photo by Peter Stephenson, massive thanks for coming along and taking these epic shots. More photos will be up in the Gallery soon.
It was an early start for the Tour of Britain in Exeter. Doing shows from eight in the morning to warm the crowds up for the race. It was a great turn out and I believe the most successful leg of the Tour this year in terms of crowds. It just shows the support for cycling in the south west. Thanks to the crowds for making loads of noise so early in the morning and Mark Campbell for the photos!
After three days at Bestival on the Isle of Wight, I drove back over night to do some promotion for the Tour of Britain road race. Former British Champion, Matt Burge came down to join me for the shows and did a great job getting the crowds going and showing his impressive smooth style. Despite the strong winds and and rain showers, the shows went on and people even stood in the rain to watch!
For the 8th, 9th and 10th September we traveled over to the Isle of Wight, the home of festivals in the UK. Bestival is a huge music festival that spans 4 days and has the biggest names in the music industry. Set up by Rob da Bank, over the years it has grown and grown to the huge festival it is now. This year Andrei Burton Events teamed up with Xworks (www.wearexworks.com) to create a varied show featuring a host of action sports. Not only were there demos, but also a chance for people to get involved and have a go at the sports too. It was great to be part of such a great event and I am already looking forward to being at the show next year!
We arrived into Geneva Airport at 10.50 on Friday morning, then it was an incredible rush to get to the competition, we pulled into the car park a kilometre away from the start of the competition at 13.00! a quick change and a blast down the hill and I was there in time to start! Although I was unimpressed with the look and set up of the sections, they rode nicely. With such a crazy schedule in the lead up to the competition I was just happy to be ther in time and be able to compete. I placed 15th after having two silly 5’s. Putting me far off the pace for the finals. This puts me in 11th place overall for 2011, still the leading brit in terms of the world rankings, with James Highland and Dave Kerr in 18th and19th respectively. Fingers corssed that next year I will be able to have a better build up to the world championships!