Exmoor Beast this Sunday

popette

Thanks for the comments about the blog - you made my day :-)

howiejmidlands

Well what a season closing event that was.
Once again the Beast claimed me as a victim, or was it the weather.
With no riding since the Autumn Epic and copious amounts of red wine the night before i was not in the best shape to attempt taming the Beast.
I got to 25 miles and the village at the bottom of the steep steep hill, and decided that if that has taken me 3 1/2 hours, how much longer to finish? so once again, a seat in the sag wagon was bagged.
A massive well done to those that did finish, and the organisation was top drawer. I can reveal a secret that next year the event may be moved one week later in the month, and then the organisers can claim the whole of Butlins for us and increase the rider numbers to around 4000.
Will i be back next year, i think so, i must complete this event at some stage.
Thanks for the help and support Marcus

markp2

Excellent blog Karen.
Some highlights of my ride. Wind and rain were pretty awful, but at least it wasn't cold. Slogged up the Dunkey climb (got off for the cattle grid after I fell off there last year and got my leg stuck between the rails!) to be welcomed by a hissing sound followed by a wobbly stop to fix a puncture. Used up my aerosols of sealant and CO2 without getting the tyre to inflate properly. Borrowed a pump off another poor soul sitting on the verge contemplating packing it all in and managed to get it to about 50psi. Lost about 20 minutes.
Scary ride across the moor and down into Lynton. I don't frighten easily, but having been blown into the path of oncoming traffic on the A39 a number of times, I began to question the sanity of keeping going. A friend of mine (a burly Marine) was actually blown off 3 times during the ride.
Pumped the tyre up in Lynton and again on the moor near Simonsbath - at last the thing seemed to seal. Didn't bother stopping at the feed station as I had lost a lot of time and wanted to get it over with.
Better conditions from then on (or at least the roads were more sheltered) and made good time to the next checkpoint. The hill down towards Minehead was tricky with a carpet of pine needle mash on the road which had all the grip of grease. The final hillock out of Dunster was a bit unkind.
Back to Butlins just in time to claim a gold.

Overall the organisation was excellent. The decision to delay the start and restrict the distance was the correct one, given the conditions.
My only disappointment was the lack of barrels of free Exmoor Beast ale to tuck into at the finish (as in previous years)!

Philip Whiteman

All completely mad! I was wondering on Sunday how it was going.

WELL DONE TO ALL.