[Closed] Hit the North - The show's over love, go home.

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If anybody else has some picture stick them on here.

great morning chaps!
i'll upload a few photos later, all taken at the most boring marshal point in the world.

gutted - snapped chain on first bit of singletrack about 3 minutes into the race. fixed it by the time the rest of the riders had passed and then it popped again a few minutes later. so i gave up.

i was probably going to win it this year as well!

great event though - well done to the organisers & marshalls. found my way to the slippery corner of death to get my heckle on, which was probably more fun than racing if i'm honest!

I didn't realise the coppers were dicking about on go carts.

Interested to know how the cyclocross bike faired compared to the MTBs

Interested to know how the cyclocross bike faired compared to the MTBs

the crossers were all skinny whippets and the MTBers were all a bit lardy so it would be a pretty unfair comparison!

you guys are idiots for putting this on...

the very best type of idiot 🙂

it was awesome! Nice one!

gutted about puncturing, but had loads of fun racing through the field and the post race bacon rolls were good too 🙂

Great event. I enjoyed it and I was just a marshall. Although I think I had the best marshall point (no.3) at the bottom of that very muddy decent with the magnetic tree at the bottom just before the 500m of nice flat.

[b]"Come on keep smiling!"[/b]

DS

DS, got some "swag" in the car for you.

also, it's good to finally put a few more faces to names on here.
none of my close friends are as enthusiastic about biking as me (if at all), but it makes me feel like such a weirdo just walking up to people at races or whatever and introducing myself so i seem to just wallow in anonymity most of the time...
plus i am so unfit and stuff that i always think better of entering races- maybe i need to change that soon.

Early
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Later
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Cheers guys, had lots of fun. Thanks also to Mr Oxley for picking me out of the ditch 🙂

Post race party tonight if anybody fancies a pint. WAGS invited too.

8:30, Church Inn, Prestwich.

Casual, no cleats.

ace race put on by ace people. CX bike was the right choice without a doubt although new brake blocks got destroyed in 2hrs :-/

Thanks guys 🙂

Results are [url= http://www.ukresults.net/2010/hitnorth.html ]here[/url]

Good to see you all, shout at you all and give you all a good blow! My voice it a bit Barry White now.

Thanks to those who actually said who they are. It always helps to get a name.

That's me out I only ever wear cleats!

Some great pics there. Not everyone appeared to be smiling. I see the forecasted freeze didn't quite happen then!

Everybody seemed to have fun. Well, muddy and tiring fun. The boy and I were filming and hopefully the end product should be online next week. Got some good crash footage! Well done HTN boys.
Mr Sparkle, rolling marshal.

Turned off the motorway as designated by the sat nav, around the big roundabout,wuith more lights than Blackpool, back down the motorway,the oposite way then on a bridge the sat nav pings to say the location is on the rhs,sadly i forgot to bring any abseiling gear.

So then back up to the next junction and back the way we had come, stopped and asked people the direction of the park,it seems as if Aliens had invaded, as nobody knew the park, or any bike race.

The area looked like a post thatcher derelict environment,thankfully she went many years ago,but her legacy remains.

Whens the next one,i will borrow my mates climbing gear then.

Ooops. We did send you a map and have one on our website.

Did you get there eventually?

Ace day all round. I know which puddle Jase keeps his secret brick stash in now too. 😕

Well done all the winners of all the cats and especially well done to the organisers for a great, great course and a smoothly run event.

great day - cheers all!

I pulled out with 5 minutes to go on my fifth lap. My bike had picked up half the mud on the field!

I'll be back in summer though - already looking forward to it

enjoy the beers folks - they're more than deserved

😀

Harry, being a man i just relied on the sat nav,

whens the next one happening.

Looks good from the pictures.

Really enjoyed it
Thanks guys
Will be back next year

TimK - Member
ace race put on by ace people. CX bike was the right choice without a doubt although new brake blocks got destroyed in 2hrs :-/

Thanks guys

Results are here

whoop! 2nd from bottom...that's 1 better than expected. i was 4th last year so as you can see consistency isn't my strongest trait.

[url=

manchester mountain bikers movie (plenty of crashes!)[/url]

Anyone want to unpack a trailer full of event gear, give me a shout

Nice muddy fields!

The best in Manchester 😉

Peachos, 1:35 and 2:00 are comedy gold!

I spy 2 of the 4 Bog Trotters entered in the 2nd shot. Nezbo 78 far left of shot and Jo (illegible) in blue 1/3 from left :}

Should be a lot cleaner next year or in the summer, between me and Pook there can't be any mud left in the park!

Thanks organisers and marshalls all, top day out.

some more (pretty rubbish) photos [url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/79421908@N00/sets/72157623474078686/ ]here.[/url]

I bet that you were sick of the sight of your Marshal Point Number.

well done to all concerned, a brilliant day out, muddy, wet and lots of falls, perfect!

it was one of the more exciting parts of that area, the number.

Plenty of candidates there for A&A on Friday though xherbivorex!

Well done lads - superb fun, a great course and really well organised.

All the mud you can eat or carry home, a black-eye from an over enthusiastic Ed-O and a very respectable 136th for team Spanner. 🙂

To the bloke on the crosser in the picture above the tricycling plod:
Ms Spanner (marshalling near the ruptured ferret) says you can have your inner tube back, but you'll have to mend it yourself.

Nice to see everyone again - seemed to be mostly returnees from the previous two HTN races. Shows your doing something right.

Stunning day thrashing about in the gloop.Thanks to those stupid enough to keep putting these on.No thanks to Mr Richards/Oxley for the "words of encouragement" 😀
Just looked at results....20th...how???WTF!!(bit 'appy)Its only me 4th ride this year!!-more beer methinks.

Ms Spanner (marshalling near the ruptured ferret

Yep, she picked that one specially - she likes to see people suffer.

She could have stood pretty much anywhere on the course to see me suffer! Could someone please be kind enough to tell me where the results are available. Ta.

Have a look at TimK's post on the previous page - results there.

Marvelous. Cheers.

(where it says results [u]here[/u] 🙄 )

rusty spanner- the chap in the SLF shirt then?

That's me! 😀

Was hoping for a prize for best dressed fat lad and received an extra Uncle Joe's Mint Ball at the end - bonus!

ah cool, i was chatting to you afterwards with miketually a bit- nice to meet you fella!

And you - might just see you up at Lee Quarry for the Brownbacks series - after my result here I'm hoping Mr Brailsford will be keeping an eye on me........... 🙂

Aah, right. You used to work with my bro. Names and face, faces and names!

Great ride/race, cheers guys

Rusty Spanner - OOOPS. Sorry! Was that when you fell on my shovel?

great event again lads, cheers for putting obvious amounts of effort into organising it all.

Thats me being assaulted by marshal Brant...

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I had just lobbed a load of mud at him in return for the above mentioned "words of encouragemant" after an off.

Cheers to Ed-O for the push start again!

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Pretty much sums up the vibe of our spot.

Sorting through pictures. Should have some up of the usual suspects a bit later, and the rest on Monday.

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unfortunately, sums up the vibe of my spot 🙁

Pretty much sums up the vibe of our spot.

A few up of you lot on my flickr. The rest on Monday at [url= http://qwertyphoto.com ]http://qwertyphoto.com[/url]

[url= http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4374112256_503689f1a4_o.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4071/4374112256_503689f1a4_o.jp g"/> [/img][/url]

C'mon, most of those were take by your daughter weren't they!! 🙂

those pics remind me why i packed up racing a long time ago!

no disrespect to anyone who rode or organised the event intended but i only get so much time free to ride and i prefer to enjoy it in a fun way rather than an 'ill look back on this and smile' way.

well done all!

First flat on the opening lap, while in top 25. BAck to car, rummaged through spares and found a 26" road tube.

Second flat on third lap.

Retired and went to offer my support to thise still riding.

Apart from the carries (which have ruined my back) and The Somme, the course was really good, and prob better than last year.

I'll come back next year with full set of functioning inner tubes.

That looks a lot like riding around a muddy field.. each to their own !

Whatever...

3 races, 3 sell outs. So we must be doing something right.

We are probably doing it again in July but with camping, beer tent and live bands. If you don't like riding round muddy fields stay in and watch Ant and Dec, if you want to do something stupid and have a laugh keep you eyes peeled on here and www.hitthenorth.net

It has been a long day.

Nighty night,

Harry the Spider.

Cheers guys,

I had a great time today and even surprised myself by finishing in the top half!

Big thanks to Ed-O - Your jovial encouragement was just what was needed to keep me going (and the push around the corner was greatly appreciated), and gave me the enthusiasm to throw myself down the mud bank each lap!

John c (mud-spec camoflaged summer season)

I'll come back next year with full set of functioning inner tubes.

Nah, come back in the summer, it might be even muddier and even more fun! 😀
What bike were you riding OMITN?
The 'cross boys & girls were hellishly fast and seemed to have less problems with the mud than the MTB'ers.

Slowrider and Spoon - It wasn't just a muddy field. There were muddy uphill bits, muddy downhill bits, muddy singletrack and even muddy asphalt. These people know how to vary things. 😀
Honestly, it was actually quite fun at the time 🙂 The course was well thought out with some really funny downhill bits to counteract the purgatory of the uphill slog. TBH I quite liked all of it.

tthew: Give your Ed a call early in the morning - he's just left the pub, pissed as a fart and would really, really appreciate an early morning wake up call.

Ed-O: don't worry - you were trying to help me up at the time! Ta for the push.

Harry - I loved it last year & was really looking forward to this year but ended with a bad cold from Thursday so missed it. However you've got me down as finishing 18th, so I thought I better let you known as someone will be a bit fed up at me taking their glory.

Rich

Sorry, but that looks about as much fun as sticking nettles down your undercrackers.

Just spotted Tom got 4th. First MTB as well.

well done matey

Andrew, that was absolutely brilliant mate. 2 hours of pure grit and determination. Loved it! Put a 1.5" tyre on the back of the Yeti and that solved any mud plugging problems - Designed in Colorado, tweaked in Manchester... Looked a bit mad though.

Thought the course was much better than last year. Either that or I'm getting fitter. Sure I only did 3 laps last time and managed 5 this year. Banter out on the course was ace. Twinklydave clipped wheels with me twice. Was about to gesticulate when I realised who it was - we'd rode the start of the Mary Townley Loop together last year, so frustration turned to laughter. Then some mannerless t in a Leisure Lakes top ploughed into me as I waited for a rider who was down where Brant was marshalling. So rude, but as he failed to apologise everyone took the p...

Thanks to all the marshalls too for you words of encouragement, smiles etc

Think the club (Manchester Mountainbikers) had about 15 riders and everyone had a blast (except Peachey :-)). Pretty sure we'll all be back in the summer mate for the next one. Already looking forward to it...

Excellent event! I Did the original 12hr Hit the north solo and the mud definately brought back memories!
To Ed-o I was one of the Hope crossers that you informed was getting beat by "the old chap" riding for hope - He's 62 and came 15th!!!
I've got 23 years to catch him! (if it works like that!)
See you all in the summer.

Dickie, at this race we decided to take a more holistic approach to the results based not only on the number of laps but also your karma and where you sit in the World. So, to come 18th without actually being there you must have set up an orphanage or found a cure for the clap. Well done.

The truth is that the information given to the guy who was entering the results into the computer was a little sketchy. The top 4 was correct, the rest is a little random. HtN isn’t really about whether you were 78th or 87th though, it is about having a laugh and telling everybody how heroic you are.

Fantastic. No rain or wind and it wasnt too cold. I might be tempted to enter the Summer event 🙂

Glad you enjoyed it George. HtN wouldn't be the same without very tall men on very big 6" travel bikes mixing it skinny chaps on tiny little crossers.

I noticed that the Manchester Mountain Bikers posed for a team photo at the end. Can somebody post it on here so that we can steal it and put it on our website?

Were you there Hora? You should have come over and said hello. I would have given you a Mint Ball.

I arrived after the start and heckled a couple of riders that I knew ("stop trailing your brakes/your holding everyone up" etc) 😆

Porridge was nice 🙂

Harry_the_Spider - where were you? Will do next time 😉

Ooops, looks like I misinterpreted the sign on sheet slightly. "Luckily" Dickie didn't show and calamity and confusion was averted. Sorry Rich.
You can have 18th tho' as I wasn't very happy with it anyway 😀
Rich.

Hora, I was trying to look official (but actually looked like a burglar in a high-vis vest) handing out Uncle Joe's Mint Balls.

...and I was the one who looks like Pob in a British Army goretex jacket

- he's just left the pub, pissed as a fart and would really, really appreciate an early morning wake up call.

pubs are ace - of course rusty was completely sober all night. Apologise to Mrs Rusty from me if I was annoyingly p1ssed

The crossers may have won the race but the MTBers drank them under the table.

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absolute blinder, im back in summer to climb the board. just tell me when 🙂

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