Bristol Bikefest 2015 Report

The 14th Bristol Bikefest sponsored by Ritchey and Heritage Volkswagen had a long stint of perfect weather leading up to it but the ‘dark cloud’ of heavy summer showers and thunderstorms loomed over the event. Even the famous ‘good weather flip flops’ of event organiser Paul Newman could not bring out the sunshine but at least they turned the forecasted biblical downpours into a gentle drizzle. Good to know that they haven’t lost their power completely. Anyway enough about the weather…

The 2015 edition of the event managed to outdo the very successful 2014 by bringing even more people into Ashton Court to measure themselves against some of the leading XC teams, pairs and solo riders in the country or to simply enjoy the perfect flow of the single track packed 10km loop. Once again the event sold out well in advance which feels like a great achievement after being one of the longest standing events of its kind.

For the first time since adding the 6h and 3h option to the event all races took part on the Saturday of the event weekend, keeping it fresh and fast out there as well as giving the 6h and 3h folks a real feeling of what the hustle and bustle of Bikefest is all about. As an extra addition we once again had the ‘Steve Worland ride singletrack hard & drink a swig of cider memorial cup 2015‘ going on which started at the rather obscure time of 11.37am and rewarded riders with a swig of local cider (and some freshly mixed tunes) half way around the lap.

As in 2014 the track was a little damp so that the first few laps required extra attention from the riders and probably slowed the lap times down just a touch. Very quickly hard packed lines were created and even though it never dried out completely, lap times and amount of mud on bikes gradually decreased throughout the day.

Racing was super close in the many categories and leaders seem to be changing hourly. But once again (and very much reflecting the spirit of the event) it was a great blend of racing of teams going for gold mixing perfectly with newcomers and the more relaxed ‘Steve Worland memorial cup‘ riders alike - fantastic to watch and even better to be part of.

Results and images

The results of the all races are on the BlackSheepTiming website and images are available on Rob Baker’s website www.robbarkerimages.com.

BIKEFEST 2015 video

As always we had our video team on site taking some great footage and create a lovely little event video. Grab yourself a cuppa and enjoy!

A big THANKS goes out to Ritchey and Heritage Volkswagen for supporting this event and to everybody for coming along to the Bikefest. Hopefully see you all in October for the 5th helping of the Halo Oktoberfest powered by Heritage Volkswagen (10th October) or if not before at the BW Bristol Belter road sportive powered by Merida Bikes (6th September) – details for all our events can be found on www.bike-fest.com.

The 2016 Bristol Bikefest will return in June 2016 with entry opening at the end of the year. Please keep your eyes on the Bikefest website and Facebook page. 

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