Hacksaws Challenge

The Hacksaws Challenge proved to be a horrifyingly brilliant Halloween success; and Steve gets the plaudits for organising another mental, lung-destroying death sprint; the kind that scares and amazes the gentle folk of Bristol and Bath. About 40 riders put their legs and bikes on the line, assembling at Cafe Gusto for the now traditional running Le Mans start, followed by a mad dash through the weekend revellers clogging the bridge, out of town and onto the A4, the preferred route for pretty much everyone.

Gear choice ranged from a lowly 56” – for the youngest competitor Jake, a backward-circling, skid-comp chasing legend in the making – to a savage 82” – for the nearly oldest competitor (me). Jake won a saddle, and props for giving his Dad a wheel to suck. There were girls in attendance, which was cool, it’s all about the demographic, but their attitude to racing may have been compromised by a stated aim of ‘stopping at tescos for fags and beer on the way out of town’; but as we all know, it’s not the winning, it’s the lift home that counts. Proper fancy dress though.

Not quite sure what the Saturday evening drivers made of the fright-night peloton, wending its merry way towards Jane Austen land along the dual carriageway, but the startled looks from cars were telling. That might have had something to do with G-Bitch’s “Frank-N-Furter meets Thor Hushovd” outfit, a genuinely erotic, lycra-adjusting sight.

The charge back from Bath meant tired legs, and the potential for more carnage on the run-in to Bristol. Jamesy and Dan dutifully obliged, with an epic tussle for second place, followed by a pedestrian-maiming stack (the best kind, second only to the running over of small children on the railway path) that allowed Adam to sneak through and grab 2nd place on the line. I won, but that may have something to do with the fiercely expensive low-pro kick ass tt rig I turned up on, but the less said about that the better. It’s about the taking part, as well as the massive box of treats on offer (and the lift to the finish).
Respect to everyone; it was a bit of a killer ride, 25 miles, with some fairly unpleasant hills. Anyone who did it in less than 1hr 17 was averaging over 20mph, which is fairly obscene. The prizes were awesome from the generous and lovely people at Charge Bikes; and the White Duck t-shirts were particularly brilliant– thanks Josh and Bex. I’m off to play with my brand new, shiny and massive multitool.

flickr group photos…

full (and correct) results….