The third year of the Paul Kirk North Lincs Cyclosportive has been a resounding
success! A record number of riders took to the course this year, 290 riders this
year, the biggest number in the events history so far.

Riders keenly registered from 7am on this some what blustery morning,
anticipating the ride ahead, no one knew just how windy the ride would be.
Amongst local riders we welcomed cyclists from local areas such as Sheffield,
Barnsley and regular friends from Selby Cycling Club but riders have started to
attend from further afield as the events reputation spreads.

The course was well sign posted as it is every year, one of the main attractions
of our sportive, as well as the plentiful home made cakes!

The wind certainly started to take its toll on the riders as they headed along
Trent bank only a few miles in! By 10 riders started to arrive at the first feed
station, in it’s regular place in Market Rasen to enjoy the previously mentioned
cake and enjoy a few minutes shelter from the conditions before making there way
onwards.

Entrants then made their way on their chosen course, either the 100 mile for the
extremely brave or the 100km for the slightly less brave but courageous all the
same.

By 1pm riders were arriving back to HQ, exhausted from battling the elements for
hours.

The new results system in place assisted our excellent timekeepers in producing
the results fast, so much so that next year the intention is to roll out a near
virtual large screen results screen that will be updated every 15 minutes with
latest results. Next year we will be at capacity of 500 riders so remember to enter early as there may not be any places left on the day itself!

On a personal point of view, the sportive was started as a fund raiser that
everybody would enjoy yet would remain cheap to enter, some sportives can cost
as much as £45 to enter! Years of riding sponsored events got me to the stage
where people would run and hide as they knew I was coming with my dreaded
sponsor form (others know what I mean here). This event, with all the voluntary
effort, will raise thousands in a day and remain an enjoyable social event in
our early year calendar, bringing Lincsquad together along with other local
riders and clubs ready for the race season ahead. The only racing involved here
will be to get a place on what will be a strictly limited to 500 places event!

Until next year…….

Matt

Results

A few new bikes and lots of new faces especially in the female division meant an almost capacity entry of 59! With both defending champions Steve G and Rachel Love absent who was going to step up, throw down the gauntlet, grab the bull by the horns and at the same time stop me from using up all the usual metaphors on only the first round?

As usual the weather was playing havoc with many questioning if it was actually a real Lincsquad time trial due to the lack of rain. Jon Dixon breaking the golden rule and mentioning the “r word” just as the first rider rolled up to the line.

And what a first rider! Who better to start the series off than the clubs no.1 WAG Clair Dolby? One by one the riders lined up and waited the standard one minute as the Timekeepers Vicky, Elinor and Annie Dolby set them off and counted them back in. As ever Kev was on the start line to hold the riders as they prepared themselves for the next 9.8miles

Amongst the 59 riders 25 posted PB’s despite the blowy side wind that was as good as 90 degrees to the route so was present out and back! Personal best riders were Clair Dolby, Bill Censi, Rob Walsh, Bob Taylor, Ewan Chesman, George Coghlan, Luke Osborn, Emma Wright Phillips, Neil Barker, Matt Rigall, Bevan Jones, Vicki Stewart, Sallie Joseph, Philip Marshall, Richard Walker, Gary Horner, Andrew Bradley, Alex Bradley, Nick Stonehewer, Ruth Wilson, Pam Challen, Matthew Goodwin, Stuart Barnes, Paul Fytche aaaaaaaaaaaaaand Phil Cox!!!

Steve Clark and Jeff Chappill marshalled the crossing and despite the chance of increased rail traffic due to the ongoing work near Doncaster only a few riders got stopped.

Scunthorpe Poly rider Richard Walker setting an excellent early season time with Chris Spavin in 2nd place edging out Claude Butlers George Coghlan to 3rd. In the ladies Emma Wright Phillips chicked more than a few guys to lead the girls with Ruth Wilson second and less than 23s behind her Nicky Robinson.

Big thanks to all riders helpers and supporters for turning up. Round 2 in two weeks!

Results are below

http://www.lincsquad.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=4644.0

Whether you are an experienced multi-sport athlete or not, you can play a part in this great race.

Remember for solo entries the race is the European Quadrathlon Championships, the British Quadrathlon Championships, a World Cup Series race and a British Trophy series race ……. WOW. For the European Championships, thanks to our event sponsor Keyo Agricultural Services Ltd, Brigg we have prize money totalling 500 euro’s.

But remember this race is not just for the experienced Quadrathletes, there are plenty of first timers taking part, testing themselves over 4 disciplines, so if you feel the urge, its time to make that move, get your entry in, still 2 whole months to train!

For those that want to take part as a team we have two options;
- Corporate Team entry, for 2 to 4 work colleagues, with the winning team being awarded free entry to Brigg Sprint Triathlon in September and of course the Corporate Team Trophy;
- for teams of friends and club members who want to test themselves against others and potentially enter the race as a solo next year, the winning team will receive the Team Trophy.

More details can be found at www.lincsquad.co.uk/events/brigg-bomber/

If you have any questions or queries regarding the race please email events@lincsquad.co.uk

I am truly saddened to inform you that our friend & club mate Christian Brown passed away yesterday, Monday 18th February.

Christian was involved in a serious cycling accident 6 days ago and was airlifted to Hull Royal Infirmary in a critical condition, unfortunately he never recovered.

I’m sure like myself you will have many fantastic memories of our time with Christian, his strength, his determination, his will to succeed, which will stay with me forever, he will be greatly missed by us all.

Our thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to Christian’s family, girlfriend and many friends.

Farewell my friend, Rest in Peace

What started out as a group MTB ride in Laughton forest soon became the now infamous Beastdodger! The initial route utilised the many firebreaks and tracks within the woods to make a sweet 2km run 1, 10km bike and 1km run 2 all centred around a single transition area.

The non intimidating nature of the event and the “entry fee” of bring a cake for the post race debrief not only brought out the athletes but more importantly the bakers!

In late 2011 when the event was run for the first time there were only two deep water areas however recent rainfall, a high water table and thawing snow has made the last few events practically amphibious.

Once again the appeal for help setting up the event was responded to and with a map of the course drawn in the snow and photographed using a mobile phone (yes really!) the two working parties consisting of Andrew L and Emma W-P in one team and Gary H and Megoodself attached direction arrows and barrier tape to various trees on the route.

By 9.30 Sunday morning Team Dobbers had set up race control and a dozen runners and riders were about readyish. Half the field were first time ‘Dodgers and half of those were ladies meaning there would be a 1st 2nd and 3rd scrap for both male and female races. Further “races within the race” would become apparent later where trash-talk would either become fact or empty promises!

Club stalwart Steve Dolby started off the race and with the initial route being uphill the pack soon thinned out. By the time the runners entered the woods the top 3 men were Mark Clements, Andrew Lawson and Mark York. Thirty metres behind I lost time as the muddy conditions overcame the elastic laces on my trainers and dragged one off. I turned around and grabbed it out of the ooze and ran to a solid bit to stick it back on. The combination of mud, snow and wet sock meant my foot slid back in as easy as it had been pulled out. Meanwhile behind Rachel Love had seen the incident and enjoyed the moment for a second…until the swamp monster dragged both her trainers off as well!

If I’d had seen it even I would have been surprised at the speed of the payback!

As the runners entered transition to grab their bikes Andrew lead but with a fast bike change Mark C was right with him. Yorkie remained third followed by myself, Rachel, Emma, Daniel, Craig, Gary H, Mark and Kerry and Steve C. Only approx 4 minutes separated the first and last runners which could easily have been bridged with a good bike leg.

The recce and set up the previous day highlighted reversing the course made it (in my opinion) harder. The usual opening 5/10min ride through the trees before the climb up to the Ditch Chicane was now replaced with a longer hard uphill slog with only Heartbreak hill (now a downhill) to catch your breath! With very little respite until riders got back onto the main track and headed to Creasys Turn its made for a testing ride right up until the very last part.

The ladies race was now between Emma and Rachel. After a brief pause along the route Rachel decided to follow Emma for the duration of the bike route rather than risk a wrong turn hoping she had a stronger run at the end. Meanwhile possibly due to a little local knowledge and perhaps more willingness/confidence to throw myself through the deep puddles I passed Yorkie as his gears protested at the sudden onslaught of mud and water. On the ride back along the other side of the woods it wasn’t until navigated through the barrier tape after the Ditch Chicane I caught Andrew L. By the time we had negotiated the Bus stop section and made our way back onto the gravel track I was in front and heading for the sandy track into the trees.

The climb into transition is the final pain as tired legs are then expected to finish the last run lap. Usually the run starts with a downhill start which automatically gets the legs turning over. However once again the reverse route meant the first half of the 1km final lap is uphill. With Mark C chasing I made it to the top of the hill still in front and only had to negotiate the narrow downhill track through the woods and a short sprint to the finish. I still expected Mark to attack and I definitely wouldn’t have been able to respond if he did.

Andrew L kept Mark York at bay for 3rd and 4th respectively as Gary Horner(5th) rode a strong bike section to earn bragging rights from Craig Rhodes (8th). Its going to be fun following yet another Lincsquad inner battle in future races! Meanwhile in the ladies race Emma and Rachel both arrived at transition neck and neck but Rachels tactic of relying on a faster run 2 leg proved savvy as she lead Emma home in the end but only by 27seconds after an hour and a quarter of racing! Despite admitting afterwards that during the ride she felt like stopping (and lets be honest we’ve ALL been on rides like that!) Kerry Padley didnt stop and ran with hubby Mark (9th) doing the final lap again accompanying her. BeastDodger busted – well done guys.

Despite coming into transition in 10th place a navigational error by Steve C on the run course saw him lose a place to Daniel Walker to take the 10th and 11th places.

As per usual following a bout of BeastDodging coffee was drunk and cake devoured which is easily justified with tales of hard efforts, deep puddles and near misses!

Superb work as always by Team Dobbers. A big thanks to Shona for the marshalling, Torin, Mark and Kerry, Mark and Daniel for the the post race clear up – its a big help!

cHINCHilla