Dear All,
I am overwhelmed with the response and would like to thank everyone for their feedback on the two events. However, it would be wrong to take the credit. It was fellow helpers and riders that allowed the event to happen.
I would like to thank the following:
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Michelle McGuirk, Debbie Deane, Clare Abiss, Bob and
Carol Green for looking after food and drink needs.
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Lynne Yeates, Graham Kelly and
John Hamilton (AUK) as controllers.
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George Barker and
Jane Herrin for car park marshalling.
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Steve Smith as web-master.
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Lynne Yeates, Leslie Brown, Natalie Jewell and
Clare Abiss for providing extra-cakes.
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Dave Pountney and
Dan Howard (Kidderminster CTC) for help at closing down GHQ.
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Dave Pountney as my AUK mentor and the inspiration behind the Kidderminster Killer.
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Lisa Spurgeon. My long suffering wife and helper on the day.
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John Hamilton and
Steve Snook of AudaxUK for approving the course and AAA profile respectively.
I would like to
thank all riders for providing a real sense of camaraderie yesterday - an essential element for completing both of these challenging rides. Many of the riders were audax virgins and could easily be identified by the 'rabbit in the headlights' appearance at the beginning of the day. I sincerely hope that many of you will be back to ride further Beacon RCC and AUK events in the future.
Results:-
I have yet to process the results for AudaxUK but will do so in the next few days. The provisional results of the validated rides will be published on the AUK website during the coming days
http://www.aukweb.net/results/detail/this/events/. Once AUK have approved the validation then your cards will be returned. Many seasoned audaxers will know that the results are used for the varying forms of competitions such as Altitude Awards and the varying forms of distance awards. However, most will also know that audaxes are not races and riders are not ranked in order of completion.
Rides of Note:-
Top prize should go to Peter Johnson, one of the Derby Mercury gang. For many, the Kidderminster Killer was sufficient to finish them off but this was only part of Peter's day out having left Derby at 3am in order to ride the event before riding home again later that night, forming part of a 400km 'Extended Calendar Event' audax.
For most Beacon riders, these two events were 'in at the deep end'. For a few it was their first audax ever. Most may have ridden comparative distances but never on events with Altitude Award points. Most declared that the KK was the furthest they had ridden all year. So, to complete such endurance events is an achievement that is well deserved.
Even 'flat roads Alan Weaver' was overheard to say that he may have enjoyed the ride.
Robin Mainwaring (Cheltenham CC) returned off the KK at 17.38 whilst Phil Richards (ind) returned off the Clee at 14.35. The fastest ever completion on the old KK was in 8h45m by David Hatton in 2007!
Stats:
- The Kidderminster Killer: 67 entries, 61 starters, 58 finished, 1 incomplete Brevet Card, 3 timed out. No reported accidents. Bulk of returns between 20;00 and 21:45.
- From Clee to Heaven: 65 entries, 63 starters, 57 finished. 6 DNF (mainly due to mechanicals or by decision not undertake the furthest loop) No reported accidents. None timed-out. Bulk of returns between 15:15 and 16:45.
Future Events:
The next Beacon RCC Audax is scheduled for 16th February. The 123km Sunrise and Snowdrop Express are considerably flatter but can be challenging in February. Last year the event received 260 entries and was sold out by Christmas. So don't leave it too late for 2013. We have yet to update the webpage but details on this year's event can be found at:
http://www.beaconrcc.org.uk/audax/express/index.html
Will there be a repeat of this event?
Having taken the view, "let's see how it goes", the wonderful feedback has left me with no choice.
The date is 17th August 2013
Further feedback?
Any feedback on how next year's event is welcome. Here are some thoughts:
- Steve Smith has suggested reducing the minimum speed for the Clee audax in order to avoid the closing time dash. I agree when taking into account some of the cafe delays experienced at Rays Farm.
- Reversing the direction of the 'Rays Farm - Rays Farm loop' next year.
- Diverting the KK route away from the very poorly surfaced Jays Lane.
. OK, so I'm lying - it was the hardest, longest ride I've ever done! 
), rather than getting in the way. All good fun!