Battle on the Beach/UK Fat Bike Championships
by Patrick Joscelyne
Congratulations to George Budd and Fiona Wilson for winning the inaugural Surly UK Fat Bike Championships at the Battle on the Beach.
George Budd (#28) leading the pack across the sand.
Surly and their UK Distributor, Ison sponsored the UK Fat Bike Championships and reported to us that. organiser, Matt Page, from acycling.com put on a spectacular event under difficult conditions. 40 feet of sand dune had been washed away by the recent storms and ground saturation levels meant that last minute course changes were essential if riders were not to be submerged in tunnels and lifeguards required. Some swimming was possible on each lap if you were unlucky enough to lose your balance in ‘the Puddle of Doom’ but all contestants appeared to be very happy with the course and venue.
George Budd, riding for Salsa Cycles on his Beargrease, won the Men’s category ahead of Dan Treby (Brotherton Cycles) and Julian Rider (Swinnerton Cycles). George also placed an amazing 6th Overall in the general classification only 4.32mins behind flying Open Class Winner, Stefan Vreugdenhill.
Fiona Wilson (WMB), who only demo’d a Surly Moonlander the day before the event to check out the same bike she had arranged to borrow from EDS Bikes of Snainton, went on to win the female category ahead of Jane Underwood (EDS Bikes) and Judy McNeil (beerbabe.co.uk).
Congratulations to them all but especially George and Fiona for putting Salsa and Surly on the top step of the podium.
Huge thanks must also go to Matt and Nia Page as well as everybody who helped make Battle on the Beach and the Surly UK Fat Bike Championships a spectacular event. Let’s hope next year is even more exciting.
Surly Bikes ran demos during the weekend and would like to thank everybody who took a bike out and stopped by to talk Fat. If you are interested in a (UK) demo on a Surly Fat Bike (or semi Fat Bike) please contact your nearest Surly Stockist or Ison to arrange a ride.
All photos: Anthony Pease Photography.
Was that the only fatbike at the “UK Fat-bike Championships” ?.Looked like the rest were skinnies ?
One picture does not tell the entire story. The fat-bike field was mixed together with the open class.