Well today was the first event that me and the legend have attended for a VERY long time.
The legend was all prepped and ready to rock and roll. Thanks to the guys at Brompton Junction London for giving him a complete overhaul, fine tuning and race fit.
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| Fully prepped & ready to rock |
We haven't attended the Nocturne for a couple of years so I was a little nervous if i was honest but once I was on my way there I felt a lot better and knew I would be seeing all my cycling friends again which i haven't for a long time.
Was going to try and meet up with my cycling partner in crime
My Orange Brompton & Mark "King of the Hills" but with everything closed off and blocked it was going to be impossible for me to get there so I went straight to the registration desk and signed up.
As always the legend gets lots of attention, a few folks said they remembered us from the last time we attended, well we are kinda hard to miss, just saying.
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| Under wraps |
After makign sure Bumble B was all tucked away and safe I went a wondering around with Orange and Mark to check out the riders area.
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| Rapha Stand |
The guys looking abit serious starting to get their game faces on.
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| Mark "King of the Hills" & Orange Brompton |
Slowly but surely the riders area started to fill up with more riders and bikes. Many hand shakes and hellos to everyone. Started to check out each others bike to see what improvement have been made and any secret additions. Its all hush hush of what they have done.
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| More Folding bike racers |
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| Joe Browns machine |
When I checked out Joe Browns machine I thought "Damn his got a dinner plate for a chain ring on !"
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| 60 or 63 Front chain ring |
Some serious machines for the other bikes racing today with their turbos and rollers.
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| Warm up area |
As we was walking around me and Orange Brompton got interviewed by a camera crew, abit embarrassing but got to get used to the attention we get when in full Brompton race mode. Will try and look out for the footage and post it here if it made it though editing that is. Notied the camera man taking a few very close up shots of Bumble B, so glad he got cleaned up and I re aligned his strips. Cant have the legend looking back on TV now can we.
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| Ready to turn and burn |
It was time to get ready for the race, all the riders gathered together to get to the start grid. Lots of good lucks and safety talks, picked a number out of a hat which put me pretty close to the back which was fine by me, I didn't want to get in the way of the hardcore racers as I was in for the fun of it.
Short video of the start of the race and you can see what a great start I got. I was pretty surprised at how fast I managed it :D
Thanks to James Houston for filming and sending me this :D
Just as I was crossing the start/finish line when I started one rider went straight into the crash barrier and it looked pretty bad, I hope that rider was ok. I think there may have been about 2 crashed in my race but I hope the riders and bikes are ok and where able to ride on.
I have to say while we was racing there was a hell of a lot of encouragement from the crowd cheering all the riders but seemed that me and the legend got a lot more cheers at times. Even more so on the final straights as the crowd where banging on the advising boards and I actually physical feel the sound.
As always I heard, well more like felt my cycling buddies though out the race on different parts of the course cheering me and the legend on, they really do stand out as I know exactly who it is even though I probably got my head down focusing on the race.
The course I feel was more technical than any I had raced before. I noticed that on the corners I would catch up to people pretty fast just cause I took the racing line and didn't slow down on entry so then my exit was much faster. Being central London though there was some major head winds in places which was another thing to battle.
The race was 10 laps and I did about 8 laps before the race finished and riders where asked to slow down and return to the riders area. Not bad for me so I'm ok with that.
Took a little time to recover and then me, Orange and Mark headed out to where some of our LBC friends where hanging out. Found James, Alasdair, Chun-Han, Roger, Sam, Alex and Chris. Lots of hugs and hand shakes and chatted for a good while. Chun-Han had said to be before the start of the race that she had something for me. I had no idea what but I knew it would be something I'd love.
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| Awesome wooden Bee |
Awww I was really touched by this gift, the power of the Bumble B is strong with everyone that knows us it seems and that hasn't changed at all. :)
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| Orange Brompton and Bumble B |
It was a good day and enjoyed meeting everyone again. Thanks for all the encouragement, cheers and comments on BBB and my outfit.
Big thanks to
Rapha
I've always enjoyed the Nocturne and training begins for next year....
till the next ride, bee safe.....
