2013 Outlaw Bike Feed/Support Thread

Bouncing Barlist · July 2013

A massive massive thank you to all those who joined us at the feedstation to support yesterday, I hope you all had a good time.

Im sure youll recognise from the feedback here and that is passed on by both OSB and other athletes on the course that the support from the pirates both at the feedstation and around other parts of the course / finish chute is really appreciated.

We'll no doubt be looking for volunteers again next year, so if youre not racing and have the time it'd be great if you could join us again, also if you know anyone who's raced and is not taking part next year please pass on your experience and encourage them to help if they can.

Once again a big thank you to all.

seren nos · July 2013

brilliant job by the feed station in 1 and 2

and of course on the run course.......

Red_dog_chris · July 2013

Slagiatt wrote (see)

Ha ha hilarious! Osb were obviously jealous of the high 5 and that's why they ordered clothes on

Ha ha ha. That was hil

M...eldy · July 2013

I suppose I am the only one to notice that the shadow looks like a witch on a broomstick ....

Tired Badger · July 2013

OMG it really does... trust you

Flat Footed · July 2013

M...eldy wrote (see)

I suppose I am the only one to notice that the shadow looks like a witch on a broomstick ....

I think the saying goes..."takes one to know one" my dear

Red_dog_chris · July 2013

Oh yeah so it does

M...eldy · July 2013

I'd love to know what the Badger edited !!!

as for you Mr Foot ... fur cough !!

IrOn Little Sister · July 2013

Slagiatt wrote (see)

M...eldy wrote (see)

I'd love to know what the Badger edited !!!

as for you Mr Foot ... fur cough !!

I think you're mistaken, there doesn't seem to be a lot of fur there!!

Rafiki · July 2013

Race report

Well, the alarm went off at 4:00 race morning and I awoke feeling a little groggy, which may have been from excess ‘carb loading’ the night before, or perhaps too much helium? Who knows? But there was no time to let these small pains get in the way, I had a long day of endurance racing ahead of me, so it was time to get on with my pre-race nutrition. A couple of aspirin and a strong black coffee later I was feeling better. I started to mingle with my fellow affletes and you could see the worries and questions going through their minds, had we done everything we could, had things been organised, where the hell was FS1 and was the whisk going to be big enough – but it was too late now; the day had come!

At exactly 5:53 and a bit it was time; we got into the cars and headed to the feedstation. I had recced the route the day before, but it all looked different now. Panic was about to set in but fortunately there was bloody big yellow signs, so we just followed them! Other people had made it there before us, but I wasn’t too worried about losing time as I was already in feedstation kit, so I left the car and got straight into it. My training had taught me nutrition was going to play a big part of the day and I was relieved to see that our support crew, Tea1 and Tea2, already had the kettle on. The coffee would soon be flowing!

Now I prefer to race at the front, so I took up position at the front of the station and got ready for a hard days bottle collecting. Fortunately I was joined by two seasoned pros, Meldy and Flat Footed. I had done the training for this, I had followed Guinness is good for you- your 20 week programme to be Iron Fit, so I knew I had the muscle endurance to last after training with heavy pint glasses for months, but wasn’t sure about the heat. All my training had been indoors! But it was too late, the cyclist were approaching fast and furious now! Luckily lots of Pirates (and Kate) has made the effort to come out, cycle passed and cheer us on, which was nice of them! But by 10:30 the sun was up, it was getting hot, we’d sung Happy Birthday once and I could feel the strength starting to go, but just then Tea2 turned up with a bacon buttie, which saw me through to the end – well that and the nice lady from the TV!

It wasn’t long before the first part of the day was over, Flat Footed had got dressed again and it was time to head back to transition and think about the next part. I must confess there was a bit of drafting going on the way back, behind Major Disaster, Meldy and Mouse, but I managed to get passed them just before transition!

Rafiki · July 2013

In transition I bumped into my training partner Flat Footed who was opting for the shower and change of kit, but I had lost too much time doing this before, so I was taking Pingu’s advice and just staying in smelly kit all day - this was an IM afterall! Now we had been on the go for 11 hours by now and fatigue was starting to set in. A change in nutrition strategy is key at this point and fortunately I was handed a Budweiser by FF. But after a couple of mouthfuls it was obvious of the rookie mistake – he’d left it in the tent all day and was roughly the same temperature as coffee. We both knew we could continue to drink this – after all it’s not a knitting club - but it might ruin our chances of seeing it through to the end, so we headed to the ‘main feedstation area’. With a couple of ice cold beers in our hands we settled down to a hard afternoon’s supporting. Once again, lots of Pirates (and Kate) ran passed cheering us on, which was nice. But then disaster struck – no, not Major Disaster, he’s too nice for that – just disaster! The bar had run out of beer! And what made it worse was the fatigue in my muscle was starting to set in as I managed to drop my previous pint into Gyraffe’s handbag (sorry again). The stress of the day was starting to tell!

Luckily, Tea1 and Tea2 came through for us again as they were sent back to the campsite to pick up three cases of Bud! The day was saved.

By 7:00, both FF and I released that it may be time to try and take on some solid nutrition as we had been on liquid carbs for several hours now, so a quick trip to the food station was required. Speed is the key to this. If you start to loiter, sleep can take over and that’s that! So after a quick lasagne and a failed attempt to get a massage off the girl in the red top, it was back out to the finish line for the final stretch of supporting.

After being on the go for almost 20 hours, there was time for one more rendition of Happy Birthday, big cheers for Nursey and all the others and hugs for Cake before the day was done and it was time to head to the bar for a wind down and some well-earned drinks!

All in all, it had been a good day, I think we managed to put on a good feed station and apart from the small incident of a car getting in the way of one of our bottles and several people mentally sacred for life by the jock strap incident, not much went wrong. I’d like to thank my fellow feed station affletes for making it all possible. Here’s to next year ….. maybe!