The 7th Annual Dulwich Footpath Hillclimb....
Jul 26, 2021 7:41:55 GMT
Nigel Wood, LibbyGordon, and 2 more like this
Post by David Joss Buckley on Jul 26, 2021 7:41:55 GMT
... And the Mysterious Invisible Bike.
Well, despite the naysayers and doommongers, the rain stopped, the path dried and the sun shone. A gallant crew of about 35 competitors turned out, rode over and went up, supported, marshalled and timed by a splendid bunch of what these days we call racemakers.
Hurling themselves at the hill were nippers who were possibly just an uncomfortable foot on the bladders of their gravid mothers the first time we ran this event. Hurling themselves impressively, too (viz: Finn Jones 2.28.00) At the other end of the scale, were the OldSoaks Salts, Messrs Brassington and Hindley. The later staggering off with the prize (bike-clips, no expense paid) for the Worst Kit. Imagine, if you can, designing a cycling jersey after a hefty supper of cheese, half a lick of LSD and a quick browse of the Dulux paint catalogue (circa 1980) and what Master Mark was wearing was pretty much what would emerge from the fervid depths of your imagination. He also won a very nice Lanterne Rouge, the traditional award for the slowest time (2.19.8) Meanwhile Little Smiler Gordon rocked up Fancily Dressed as Skeleton Woman. Not yet a Marvel character but it's only a matter of time (talking of which: 2.03.00) Rider 12 was Sara Barman - I say rider but on being questioned where her bike was declared it to to be invisible and ran up the hill instead. Respectable time, too: 2.09.00. She won the Wackiest Bike award: bikes don't come wackier than non-existent. Next year, we'll make it all a foot race and dispose of the bikes altogether.
Back in the real world Eddie Davies's record of 0.49.6 was threatened by Art Tye, who came within 3 secs of nabbing the medal. He was still Fastest Man (0.52.6) and pocketed a magnficent 30 Bike Tokens (or GBP as they're sometimes known. Why? What else is there to spend money on?) Seet Teoh - a club member for all of fourteen days - went up under the minute, thus becoming Fastest Newbie. Kathryn Innes was Fastest Woman (1.55.7) and son Stanley Innes showed his chops on the balance bike. The Roulson-Booth nexus pulled off an impressive double in the Super Masters with 2.03.3 and 1.27.5 and one Charles Codrington tore the sleeves off his best club jersey in some sort of macho display of disregard for the "Sleeveless Jerseys Are An Abomination Worn Only By Those Who Insist On Swimming Before Cycling Then Running" dictum. Still, the skies had cleared by then so he was probably thinking "sun's out - guns out." At his age they were probably flintlocks - didn't stop him claiming the Vet 50+ prize (1.16.5) though. Joe Lawrence (1.09.4) was Fastest Vet 40+ and two fathers traumatlsed their respective infants in the Babyseat + Child contest.
And finally to the pub... where the contenders, racemakers and a fair few non-combatants enjoyed a drink in the area Libby had reserved. Prizes were awarded and everyone got a bag of sweeties and a club pen. When I departed the summer party was already in full steamy swing under the massive canvas cover in the garden of the Wood House, looking like Billy Smart's Circus via Hieronymous Bosch.
All the times can be found here redirect.viglink.com/?key=71fe2139a887ad501313cd8cce3053c5&subId=557127&u=https%3A//www.raceclocker.com/b94b2cfd
And here are some splendid photos by club media maven Terry Wilson:
redirect.viglink.com/?key=71fe2139a887ad501313cd8cce3053c5&subId=557127&u=https%3A//www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/%23B11G4TcsmGUiokl
Well, despite the naysayers and doommongers, the rain stopped, the path dried and the sun shone. A gallant crew of about 35 competitors turned out, rode over and went up, supported, marshalled and timed by a splendid bunch of what these days we call racemakers.
Hurling themselves at the hill were nippers who were possibly just an uncomfortable foot on the bladders of their gravid mothers the first time we ran this event. Hurling themselves impressively, too (viz: Finn Jones 2.28.00) At the other end of the scale, were the Old
Back in the real world Eddie Davies's record of 0.49.6 was threatened by Art Tye, who came within 3 secs of nabbing the medal. He was still Fastest Man (0.52.6) and pocketed a magnficent 30 Bike Tokens (or GBP as they're sometimes known. Why? What else is there to spend money on?) Seet Teoh - a club member for all of fourteen days - went up under the minute, thus becoming Fastest Newbie. Kathryn Innes was Fastest Woman (1.55.7) and son Stanley Innes showed his chops on the balance bike. The Roulson-Booth nexus pulled off an impressive double in the Super Masters with 2.03.3 and 1.27.5 and one Charles Codrington tore the sleeves off his best club jersey in some sort of macho display of disregard for the "Sleeveless Jerseys Are An Abomination Worn Only By Those Who Insist On Swimming Before Cycling Then Running" dictum. Still, the skies had cleared by then so he was probably thinking "sun's out - guns out." At his age they were probably flintlocks - didn't stop him claiming the Vet 50+ prize (1.16.5) though. Joe Lawrence (1.09.4) was Fastest Vet 40+ and two fathers traumatlsed their respective infants in the Babyseat + Child contest.
And finally to the pub... where the contenders, racemakers and a fair few non-combatants enjoyed a drink in the area Libby had reserved. Prizes were awarded and everyone got a bag of sweeties and a club pen. When I departed the summer party was already in full steamy swing under the massive canvas cover in the garden of the Wood House, looking like Billy Smart's Circus via Hieronymous Bosch.
All the times can be found here redirect.viglink.com/?key=71fe2139a887ad501313cd8cce3053c5&subId=557127&u=https%3A//www.raceclocker.com/b94b2cfd
And here are some splendid photos by club media maven Terry Wilson:
redirect.viglink.com/?key=71fe2139a887ad501313cd8cce3053c5&subId=557127&u=https%3A//www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/%23B11G4TcsmGUiokl
in fairness Mark did give me the trouser clips 
