Saturday was like bonus summer time, the sun was out and the trails were bone dry. Thanks to some hard graft earlier in the week BBMS + Moron were in A1 condition so the prospect of riding them and eating four different types of cake meant we were all on a real high.

You know the format by now; ride, time, write up time, eat cake, tease whoever you’re faster than, eat cake, try and put off whoever you’re slower than, eat more cake,  pose for a photo. It’s pretty simple.

There were quite a few mini battles going on between riders, Big Bird, Jim and Stacey had each proclaimed that the other two stood no chance. Pre race trash talk is always funny, especially when it goes too far; Jim had stupidly declared  ”…I’ll sell my bloody bike if Stace’ beats me!”,  less than 2 seconds stood between him and Stacey by the end of the day – so Jim was either very confident or bloody stupid! Bird took the overall honours though, riding real fast and smooth all day.

Times were really close all day, with BBMS + Moron being basically a one line trail there was always going to be little to separate the riders. That said, getting a clean run is flipping hard, and continuing to push on when you know you’ve made a mistake was even harder. There were definitely a few field splitting sections though; 90 degree flat left, the section immediately after the log drop and contention corner. Each had to be cleaned if a personal best was to be had.

[Rob] Lewis set some fast times right from the start, keen to make his mark despite only having an hour to do so, then Simon Bartlett surprised a few people by taking 0.3 seconds out of the current fastest with his first timed run! Chris Smith was on form (as always) but suffering a little after an over the bars the day before (he’s started making excuses before he starts). Speaking of which I was suffering from my usual stomach paralysis, so was unable to eat any cake all day long! All four of us were posting 54 second times, so finding something to separate us was causing a lot of head scratching (Chris seemed to think that wheelieing would help, though i reckon he just needed to PEDAL!).

A special mention should be given to Daniel who put in his first ever timed run at a TickerTape! Daniel is the most naturally talented rider I’ve ever seen, and definitely one for the future!

Charles Mountford was enjoying his first TickerTape, and rode with some real determination despite a spectacular over the bars. A few other TickerTape first timers showed up too, keen to watch and get involved (two have joined since!), making the day a winner!

Keith from Transition came along too, scoping out the trails with his brother.  Transition gave out some awesome prizes again, this time both being given for “Giving it Beans!” to Jim and Charles.

Check out the times below; fastest was captured with Gordons headcam. Next TickerTape is Sunday 25th/09/2009 11:00 – 15:00, Spoons + Moron. Good Times!

A shiny new bike….wonder if it’ll make an appearance at tomorrows TickerTape?

Chris Smith/Corsair bikes.End of Summer edit ,September 09 from chris smith on Vimeo.

This is Sam and Jim rebuilding the log drop on BBMS. Well Sam’s the only one working because Jim is distracted by the sound of roaring Lions (or is that Syd’ pooping?).
BBMS is pretty frickin’ lush now, it’s been raked to within an inch of its life, has loads of nice new markings and has seen some little but important additions…
We had another 20 elbows all getting their grease on; Sam, Marjory, Jim, Stacey, Neil, Ian, Gordon, Theo and Syd’ all worked wonders this evening.
Moron and Spoons received the royal treatment too, meaning that the Allotment is tip top and ready to ride.
Thanks guys!

This is Gordon (or TickTock to his friends)
Come TickerTape or wobble he’ll be there either taking part or cheering everyone on
Gordon turns up to every dig day too, eager to help and full of beans
So thank you Gordon, you really do help the club tick

Only a few days left until prize giving at Live2Ride on Saturday, so if your category details are wrong or missing please let us know so that we can correct them.

Prizes will be given for the winner and runner up of each category, contact Live2Ride for full details.

http://www.live2ride.co.uk/

Thanks to Chris, Darren, Garry, Gordon, Jim, Mark, Neil, Sam and Simon. Twenty greasy elbows have left BBMS looking as good as new, and spoons well on the way.

More of the same tomorrow, 17:15 at the allotment.