Nick Craig of Scott UK wins the Saturday night Knog Muddy Hell Cyclo-Cross in London
Report
The weekends Cyclo-Cross action was played out on both sides of the river and here is a report from Paul Burgoine on the first act in this weekend of cyclo-cross entertainment. Saturday saw the ever fresh and splendid Rollapaluza crew putting on their evening of scary cross ‘ Knog Muddy Hell’ not so much muddy though with London in the grip of the eternally promised Indian summer.
After years of competing in Rollapaluza events, I thought it was high time for me to volunteer my services. Unlike the Olympic tests events, Rollapalluza gave you a very generous expenses payment and a rather attractive T-Shirt and yet again they excelled in there speciality of putting on cycling events. I overheard someone saying “I can’t believe it”, more than one person on the bar “I only had to wait eight secondsâ€. There was also coffee provided by ‘Bean About Town’ and a ‘Grill bar’ both seeming very popular with large crowd.
Photo: Cheryl King (www.ckingimages.co.uk & http://ckingimages.wordpress.com/)
My first task was to do a bit of marshalling for the Under 12s and Under 16s races, both being taken seriously and also in good spirits with plenty of people having made the effort to get kitted out in fancy dress. After my stint at marshalling, I had the most important job of topping up the generators for the food and most importantly the beer tent which went fine apart from me not smelling too great after covering my hands in petrol but at least I didn’t burn the place down Phew….
As daylight subsided, it was time for the Go-Ride Novices Event with the Herne Hill Velodrome looking resplendent with the floodlit track centre now heaving with a large and enthusiastic crowd. From a distance you could see the bright lights of the riders snaking around in the distance under the red sky and from the track centre you got a great view of everyone going over the series of three humps called the Whoops…
Either dismounting or bunny hopping over the hurdle (gravel board) then it was over the bridge that seemed to of got higher since last year and over the table top (large hump) that some brave riders jumped and others tackled with trepidation, The course also compromised of a sand pit and a wall; as in a wall of death type of thing.
While the Cyclo-Cross was going on, there was plenty of competition going on next to the beer tent on the specially set up ‘Mountain Bike Rollers’. The final event of the evening was the Senior Men’s Race and the race was visibly faster than the previous events, but the level of fancy dress was down except for a banana and possibly the star of the whole evening ‘ Mr Blobby’ who generated a whole new level of excitement.
As the main protagonists sped off around the course, the crowd were eagerly awaiting the appearance of ‘Blobby’ and when he came into view everyone was focused on him, he proceeded to fly over the Whoops, and to mass cheers he bunny hopped the hurdle which was a sight to behold.
Photo: Antony Edmonds (http://aephotos.co.uk/muddyhell2011)
At the Sharpe end of the race, a group of five riders had gone clear of the field including the eventual winner Nick Craig (Scott) with Chris Metcalfe (Charge Bikes) in second place and Stephen Adams (Sigma Sport Specialized) in third and although these riders were cheered on around the circuit, the loudest cheers were reserved for Mr Blobby (Blobby RC). The crowd were running across from one viewing point to another just to catch a glimpse of the inflatable superstar.
Photo Album from Dave Hayward
A thought goes out to the rider that was carrying around ET … he managed to eject poor ET from his basket on several occasions, but every time took great care to wrap him in his blanket and make sure he was safely in his basket again! Nick Craig said after the race that he eventually managed to gain 30 seconds on his fellow breakaway members but till then the three of them were having a good old ‘ding dong’. Nick said he couldn’t believe how dusty the course was for the time of year and he spoke of the fantastic crowds and atmosphere and congratulated everyone involved in the event and vowed to return next year. Nick also thanked rival Jody Crawford for going to a wedding so making life a bit easier for everyone!
Basically, this was yet another fantastic event from Paul (Winston) Churchill and Casper Hughes and the whole Rollapaluza and Knog teams but everyone who raced and attended the event should give themselves a pat on the back.
PHOTOS
Photographer, Cheryl King says “Great event, very dry and dusty course with Mr Blobby of Blobby RC getting the largest cheers of the evening as got air over the tabletop jump and cleared the planks and won the best costume award of the evening – very deservedly so. Nick Craig won the race itself!
Photos from Cheryl (www.ckingimages.co.uk & http://ckingimages.wordpress.com/)
Nick Craig… winner!
Do I need to tell you who this is!
L-R: Chris Metcalfe, Nick Craig and Stephen Adams
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More Photos from Antony Edmonds (http://aephotos.co.uk/muddyhell2011)
Mr Blobby is popular!
Not sure which of the two pictiues above is the more scary!
RESULTS:
Senior male
1 Nick Craig  378
2 Chris Metcalfe CHARGE BIKES 312
3 Stephen Adams Sigma Sport – Specialized 353
4 Andy Waterman ViCiOUS VELO 371
5 Sylvain Garde La Fuga Sigma Sport 333
6 Richard Mardle Felt Colbornes RT 326
7 James Furniss Zepnat.com 377
8 Phil Glowinski VCL 370
9 Matt Spurgin Evans Cycles RT 323
10 Michael Smith Team Corley Cycles 354
Women
Pos First name Last name Team name No
1 Louise Mahe Mule Bar Girl 264
2 Claire Beaumont ViCiOUS Velo 269
3 Delia Beddis ViCiOUS Velo 270
4 Verity Appleyard Brotherton Cycles 253
5 leona kadir la fuga/sigma sport 257
Vets
Pos First name Last name Team name No
1 Mick Bell London Fire Brigade 218
2 Greg SIMCOCK Team Corley Cycles 237
3 Gary Bryant  201
4 George Higgs Crawley Wheelers 211
5 russell Jones Brixton Cycles 204
6 Konrad Manning Rapha 225
7 Andrew Powers Rollapaluza CC 228
8 Simon Scarsbrook Mosquito Bikes Racing Team 223
9 Nick Noble Cadence Racing Team 206
10 adam platts dulwich paragon 213
Novice
1 David Richardson Male Biketart 131
2 Peter Mollison Male Kingston Wheelers 164
3 William Thompson Male GB Cycles 153
4 Krisztian Borbely Male Cyclelab 142
5 Hayden Wood Male Cambridge Fixed 136
6 Paul Warner Male Team Darenth 184
7 kevin ball Male DULWICH Paragon 145
8 Pete Link Male  119
9 Jonathan Dennis Male  112
10 Kieran Ellis Male TDO Bristol 183
First Female: Eloise Lindenberg, Southern Grease Monkey
Juniors
1 Josh Parkin ARCTIC PREMIER RT 281
2 Jack Finch VC Deal 286
3 Ashley Dennis VC Jubilee 287
4 Chris McGovern Sutton CC / De Ver Cycles 284
5 James Wood Team Darenth 285
U16:
1 Henry Dawson Male Hillingdon Slipstreamers 75
2 James Madgwick Male LVYCC 76
3 james flury Male Team Darenth 84
4 Jamil Gaida Male Rapha Condor CC 80
5 Aidan Woolven Male Sutton Cycling Club 82
6 George Jary Male VC Londres 86
7 Noah Phillips Male VC Londres 87
8 Hisham Al-Ramah Male VCL 89
9 Stanley Nutter Male HHYCC 73
10 tom rook Male woolwich cc 91
11 LAURA CHEESMAN Female ppycc 78
U14:
1 Thomas Finch Male VC Deal 54
2 Anthony Anderson Male Kingston Wheelers 45
3 Georg Jensen Male LVYCC 47
4 Callum Mackie Male LVYCC 46
5 william bardsley Male HHYCC 44
6 George Finch Male VCÂ Deal 53
7 Fred Wright Male VCL 58
8 Freddie Argent Male HHYCC 41
9 Matthew McGovern Male Sutton CC / De Ver Cycles 49
10 James Ambrose-Parish Male LVYCC 48
First Girl: Georgie Hopkins
U12:
1 luke mitchie Male team darenth 22
2 nathan martin Male team darenth 23
3 Arlo Ludewick Male hhycc 4
4 Amelia Coombes Female hhycc 3
5 Felix Mackie Male LVYCC 13
6 Seth Ludewick Male hhycc 12
7 Josh Mead Male Sutton CC 17
8 Ivor Patterson Male VCL 27
9 Luke Ashwood Male Sutton CC 19
10 Oliver Dawson Male  39
