Bear Bones 200
The inaugural BB 200 has been and gone, thirty one riders set out and thirty one returned. The 1000 yard stares combined with peoples inability to sit down for more than a few minutes at a time, was all the evidence needed to know that the route had proved itself to be a tough one … a 'drop out' rate of around a third also helped press the point home.

The BB 200 route is a real mixture, it contains a little of everything. There's forest tracks, climbing, ancient roads, climbing, marshy mountain passes, climbing, quiet tarmac sections and did I mention that there's quite a bit of climbing over the 200km route? Bikes of pretty much every description lined up at the start, 26", 29", rigid, full suss' everything was represented, although I have to say 29ers made up the majority of the field. It was obvious by the amounts of gear strapped to bikes that people had very different strategies, some would be going for the 'no sleep 'til Ceulan' approach while others would be bedding down once they lost the last of the daylight.

The official Bear Bones fluffy clock was every riders opponent, it didn't matter whether you came in before the person stood next to you, what mattered was the clock. If you were able to cover the full route in less than 24 hours then you'd be awarded a black BB 200 badge … we obviously didn't order too many of these. If you slipped through the 24 hour net but kept the hammer down and could record a time of less than 28 hours, then you would have the honour of wearing a blue badge. Anyone finishing regardless of their time would be the rightfully proud owner of a green badge … even if your time was measured in days rather than hours, after all the idea is to finish what you've started.

The pedalling wounded and outright knackered started to appear around 8.00pm on the Saturday, everyone vowing to return next year and give the route a good kicking. I think it's fair to say that there's a couple of points along the route's length, that depending when you reach them, will urge you to press on or persuade you to call it a day. The first one is around 80km in and if you reach it later than you imagined you would, it's very easy to detour a few km and pick a relatively straightforward path home. The second make or break point isn't somewhere you'd bail out but it's somewhere that'll play a big part in your battle with the fluffy clock. Carnau although not officially a mountain certainly feels like one. The ascent over the top can be a difficult one even in daylight, so tackling it at night is something not to be taken lightly. Wait for morning on the far side and your chance to join the exclusive black badge club is all but gone … clear it in the dark and your chances are still very much alive.

12km per hour doesn't seem like a terrifically fast average speed but consider how fast you must be riding to make up for the bits when you're dragging your bike through bogs or pushing up unrideable inclines. 12km per hour was the average speed of Kevin Roderick and Ian Barrington and their time of 17h 28m backed the fluffy clock into a very tight corner. The pair of them went away with black badges and for the next 12 months they'll be the only members of that particular club, so well done.

Riders returned throughout the day and right on into Sunday night, with the final few returning just after 9.30pm, their mission accomplished. Each rider was fed and watered as they came down from their ride, some seemingly finding it hard to stop their legs moving in revolutions. By the end of play the BB 200 badge count stood like this - Black x 2, Blue x 5, Green x 13 and 11 DNF. If you didn't make it this year and you haven't been put off by reading the above, then keep October 13th/14th 2012 free for the next Bear Bones 200 … you can't say you haven't had fair warning!