We watched a ladies' final in the 'sumo' event

 

 

A welcome to two new faces: Sophia Walsh (aged 9) and her older brother Aaron (age 11).... the family having just moved out from the depths of London..... and dad even sporting a t-shirt with the words 'La Privavira' so that bodes well.

 

It is a 250km cycling event should you be wondering which ends in San Remo 

 

(your challenge: find out where it starts).

 

Paul Wright was coaching the younger riders on a very colour-coded corner of the tarmac, though we kicked off with a burst of mass-participation where everyone was riding the same little circuit..... designed to be different, to present a new set of challenges when you've got to follow a wheel rather than ride in comfort on your own..... so there was a bit of slalom and a circular turn inside a ring of cones.

 

Older riders were paired up and once they got used to completing laps side-by-side, the exercise changed so that the rider on the left took a 'short cut' through to the far side of the circuit, while their partner went the long way round.... and hence had to put in a big effort to catch them up.

 

The 'meeting point' was a bit sketchy at times with riders meeting up both at speed and at right-angles to each other but we avoided incidents.

 

It's a long time since I've done the 'sumo' exercise where riders are contained in a circle of cones, the circle getting smalller and smaller as numbers dwindle, riders being eliminated for putting a foot on the ground.

 

And we had an all-ladies final between Ellen McLeod and Emily Kirk.Well done.

 

The egg-and-spoon challenge caught a few out as riding one-handed was a step too far for some.... and on top of that the wind was a bit gusty and a few eggs went rolling away before we got to hand-over even.

 

 

1 Emily Kirk

2 Annabel Canning

3 Ellen McLeod

 

I don't think I've ever seen such a competitive race as the one waged by Annabel and Ellen as they were neck and neck for lap after lap. They got faster and more determined.

 

One end of the circuit was a tight corner so you just had to brake hard on the straight before hitting it, otherwise you'd splat into the wooden stockade, though a dad had been strategically placed in from of it (cheaper than those buffers you see at the foot of rugby posts).

 

I saw the two of them go bottling into the corner one time but when I glanced up again there was only Ellen coming towards me.... no Annabel at all.

 

Turns out she was hidden behind the monstrous wooden galleon thing that they've erected close to the stockade.... but thankfully with a gap where a rider can make an emergency run-off/run-through.

 

But as you'll see from the results, Annabel got back into the game.