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09.06.08 NEWS UPDATE: The Kona Bristol Bike-Fest is over for another year, and what a weekend! Thanks to everybody, riders, supporters, exhibitors and sponsors who helped make the 2008 Bike-Fest one of the best yet. You can download your lap times and view your results now at: www.timelaps.co.uk Race photo's from the weekend can be viewed at www.photo-it.com BBC Photo's online: www.bbc.co.uk/bristol Kona Bristol Bikefest 2008 7 - 8th June 2008 – Ashton Court, Bristol Scorching sunshine, bone dry trails and the usual relaxed atmosphere welcomed more than 1600 riders to the Kona Bristol Bikefest 2008 when it opened its doors on Friday afternoon.  The weather in the week leading up to the event plus the great work by the Bristol Trail Group as well as Ashton Court itself managed to create once more one of the best relay races courses the UK has to offer. Fast flowing single track mixed in with short sharp climbs and technical sections kept the riders on their toes for the duration of the event and the spectators cheering for more. The 12 hour event on Saturday was, as in the years before, the main crowd puller with more than 1100 riders enjoying the event in teams of four, pairs or in the hugely popular solo categories. With twenty minutes to spare and 27 laps of the demanding Bristol course under their belt the Felt team came through as the winning male team. The ladies competitive event was won by the Team Lady Teacake who managed 20 laps. The pair winners were the Back on Track team with 24 laps.  Particularly the solo categories where filled with ‘down to the line’ racing action with Ryan Bevis from Ram Bikes (in as far as we know his first 12 hour event) securing the victory over Anthony White from Ironhorse Extreme with less than a minute lead.
The racing action was followed in typical Bristol Bikefest style with a massive party, live music and DJ tunes early into the morning - ideal preparation for Sundays’ 6 hour event. The smaller brother saw an increase in numbers of riders from 2007 with almost 500 riders getting involved. The categories on offer where the same as on Saturday – only difference was the riding time which was ‘just’ 6 hours. The weather was even sunnier and hotter making the 6 hour event a real challenge for everyone. Ice creams and cold drinks were in hot demand when the race got going at 10am. The course now perfectly ridden in offered once more the challenging backdrop for the Kona Bristol Bikefest 6 hour endurance event. The team from Numplumz Pitford Cycles secured the win in the competitive male category with the male pairs being won by ‘The Last Minuters’ and the female pairs by team ’One and a half German’. The solo category was dominated from the start by William Bjergfelt by Team Felt who already showed a strong performance in Saturday’s team event. Fi Spotwood from Ironhorse Extreme also put in a very strong ride winning the female solo.  The event village was filled with the latest the industry had to offer giving lots of interested riders the chance to test ride a new machine while still racing the event.
You can download your lap times and view the results at: www.timelaps.co.uk. Race photos from the weekend can be viewed at www.photo-it.com and you can also check out some photos the BBC crew took. Please check www.bbc.co.uk/bristol for the BBC Photo's online. Preparations for 2009 are already in the pipeline hopefully securing further camping space and (for the 1st time in the Bristol Bikefest history) showers for the riders. More on that in the next few months on www.bike-fest.com. Kona Cheddar Bikefest 27 - 28th September 2008 Broadway House Caravan park, Cheddar But there is obviously more to come in 2008 from the Bikefest team. With the Bristol Bikefest being ‘done and dusted’ now our attention turns towards the 2nd Kona Cheddar Bikefest in September 2008. More than 800 riders enjoyed the successful rebirth of the Cheddar Challenge in the form of the Kona Cheddar Bikefest in 2007 and helped to put the Kona Cheddar Bikefest firmly on the UK events map. The unique location, the demanding yet enjoyable course and the same relaxed atmosphere which you could find at the Bristol event made the Kona Cheddar Bikefest the ideal season roundup. The 2008 event will return with a reworked course and with an even bigger and better event village setup. We have managed to take the ‘super steep walking climb’ out of the course and replaced it by a switch back section – extending the course plus making it more rider friendly without taking any of the fun bits out. Besides that the event will also grow in length. In 2008 the Saturday will not be 8 hours but 10 – adding the ‘night riding element’ to the last few laps. The Sunday event will also grow from 4 to 5 hours and will get an extra 3 hour ‘Novice’ event added to the line-up. The night time trial which was run after the 8 hour event on Saturday in 2007 has moved to Friday evening (start and finish outside the bar) allowing all the keen racers and night riding enthusiasts to check out the course under race conditions with the extra challenge to ride it in complete darkness. Everybody who took part in the Kona Bristol Bikefest and is also coming back for more at the Kona Cheddar Bikefest is entitled to the Bikefest loyalty gift (worth more than £ 25). All the details on the Kona Cheddar Bikefest including downloadable entry forms can be found on the updated Bikefest website www.bike-fest.com. The Bikefest Team |
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