Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

It was bloody close, but I'm sure the cyclist was speeding and used walkways/pavement to get to the finish line in that time. Over 4 miles he was only about a minute behind me and I'd been moving down the outside of traffic for virtually the whole route at 30mph. I'd last spotted him in my mirrors half a mile from the start and he was way behind me by then. Shame his helmet cam packed up just after the start cos I'd be interested to see how he managed it, whereas my speedo never rose above 32mph.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Every time that classic Top Gear "race" comes on Dave where the three of them and the Stig cross London in the same sort of test I moan on about Hamster using a bicycle instead of a powered two wheeler. They obviously wanted it to be a bit closer than the whitewash it would have been (and yes, I know they're all rigged).

Kudos Lozzo.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

And in a not so shocking twist it appears the win has been given to the bloody cyclist, because he arrived at the finish line first while I was still stowing kit in the boxes about 30 yards away in a bike parking bay. The fact he wasn't dressed for a 'meeting' has been overlooked (jeans tucked into socks and wearing trainers), but I should have realised it would be biased his way when I saw the challenge was being arranged by the local council's Cycling Development Officer.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Apparently cyclists don't have to obey speed limits only powered vehicles!

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Ha.

Well done for winning

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Official Council response:

1st Bicycle (Graham) 10 mins 46 sec

2nd Motorcycle (Laurie) 11 mins 26 sec

3rd Car (Nigel) 14 mins 45 sec

4th Bus (Tom) 27 mins 38 sec


"Hi Laurie,

Thank you for registering your concerns over the official result. I can understand the comments you have raised however as Graham was wearing a shirt/tie, plain trousers and closed plain shoes this did meet the criteria of being “dressed appropriately for a standard meeting”. The effort you went to of being suited and booted is greatly appreciated and I do accept that this aspect of the competition will need to be more clearly defined for next year.

I feel it is worthwhile mentioning that although Mark was not riding as an official competitor he did achieve a faster time (9 mins 54 secs) this therefore indicates that should you forgo the clothing aspect of the challenge it is possible to commute along this route in a quicker time by motorcycle compared to that of a bicycle.

Kind regards,"


So I was 2nd by 45 seconds, but it took me a good 92 seconds to change and pack kit in the boxes.

Worth mentioning that Mark is a friend of mine who was riding his KTM 990 Superduke in jeans, boots and leather jacket. He arrived at the bike park at exactly the same time as me but didn't need to change or stow kit away.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

So in other words, you got screwed by biast judges....

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Yep. The event was run by the Cycling Development Officer. I should have known I was never going to win when I found that out.

Re: Bow before me, mere mortals
 

Shame it wasn't raining, that would have evened it up a bit.