Bristol BikeFest 2010

It seems crazy that this year's Bristol BikeFest 12hr race was a month ago now, there's been so much going on all summer. Better late than never though, here's a quick run-down of how the AQR team got on...

Bristol provided a gorgeous sunny weekend for the race and the usual fast and fun Ashton Court singletrack - with a slightly shorter lap this year. With Iain, Kirsty, Matt and myself making up the AQR mixed-4, things kicked off at 9am with the mass dash & start. Unfortunately not all went to plan from the off with Iain suffering a snapped chain and 2 punctures on his first lap! Not to be deterred we pushed on through, blasting out lap times well around 25 minutes - making for great racing and eager overtaking required!


Despite more punctures (Iain's had his annual allowance now!) we started to move up the rankings from the low teens early on. With some storming laps during the afternoon as things got even dustier, James came in from his last lap with 8 minutes to spare, completing the team's 27 laps for 7th place.

Perhaps not the position we'd hoped for after last year's podium, but a great comeback and truly enjoyable event that really put the fast and furious into xc racing!

Bristol BikeFest 2009

Bristol BikeFest 2009 was the first event of the year for the A Quick Release holidays team (with guest rider Adam Titley) to get together after a few months of individual racing and proved to be a fantastic event. The just over 6 mile lap of had a great mix of swoopy singletrack, rocky descents and a couple of decent climbs too, the Cotic Soda loving every section. Despite the morning's wet conditions, mud clearance was a non-issue and racing was fast and furious from the off, only getting quicker as the afternoon and trails dried out.

Almost 12hrs and 19 laps later and AQR finished 3rd in the Mixed Open category, still grinning and another race under the Soda's tyres.