About Kit
(Click on the photo for more)
Started riding mountain bikes back in the late eighties, but purely recreationally, and generally alone. Finally managed to convince my good friend Mark to join me, and riding began to be a little more sociable, as we were joined by Andy and Tony, then Malcolm, Gideon, Dan and later, Mike.
First Race: 2006, Helley Hansen Adventure Series, entered as a team of three with Malcolm and Dan. Competition consisted of cross country running, off road riding, kayaking and mystery discipline, we achieved a remarkable 4th place.
Suitably enthused we carried on entering a variety of events on a casual team basis.
Best Result: 2007, Cheddar Bikefest, Dan, Mike and I won whilst competing as a team of three, the category was for fours, but we were a man down and decided to press on anyway.
Currently competing as part of Team Wildside, entering a variety of events, from cross country cycling, on and off road duathlons, the occasional adventure race, and 24 hour endurance mountain bike races.
2011 Events:
Saturday 5th February - Asics Off Road Series - Tuffman - duathlon
8km cross country run, 13km MTB, 4km cross country run
Finished 27th overall, 4th in category, total time: 2hr 4min 5 sec
8km run 39:57, 13km ride 56:01, 4km run 23:39
Sunday 20th February - QX Off Road duathlon
5km cross country run, 18km MTB, 5km cross country run
Finished 6th overall, 1st in category, total time: 2hrs 6min 44sec
5km run 31:34, 9km ride lap (1) 28:06, 9km ride lap (2) 27:53, 5km run 39:11
Sunday 27th February - Tunbridge Wells Half Marathon
374th position 1hr 36min 44sec
Sunday 13th March - Southern Rough Ride - Epic 36 miles
4hrs 3min
Sunday 20th March - Kingswood Off Road Duathlon - 3k run, 14k ride, 3k run
7th position, Run 14:56 Ride 56:32 Total 1:12:39
Sunday 15th May - Castle 100 mile road ride
Total time 6:18 (Riding Wildside's Specialized Roubaix 56cm test bike)
Saturday 4th June - Hellrider - XC 5km run loop, 8km cycle loop
4th in category, riding as part of a three man team along with Stuart and Luis
completed 21 laps in 8hr 18min
Saturday 2nd-5th July - BHF London to Paris Off Road Ride - Bushy Park to Versaille, three days on mixed terrain.
Sunday 17th July - Tour de France Etape - Issoire to St Flour 203km road sportive.
Saturday 20th August - Brighton Big Dog - 6hr MTB enduro
Entered as one of a team of three, along with Mike and Stu. We completed 8 laps, and finished fourth.
Sunday 11th September - Circuit of Kent 130km road sportive.
Completed in a time of 4:29:47, earning a gold category.
Saturday 19th November - Asics Off Road Series - Iceman - duathlon - Frimley Forest
10km cross country run, 18km MTB, 5km cross country run
Finished 86th overall, 12th in category, total time: 2hr 30min 11 sec
10km run 57:40, 18km ride 54:30, 5km run 33:44
Saturday 3rd December - Asics Off Road Series - Mudman - duathlon - Camberly
8km cross country run, 16km MTB, 8km cross country run
Finished 50th overall, 9th in category, total time: 2hr 27min 16 sec
8km run 41:28, 16km ride 54:01, 8km run 47:52
2012 Events
Saturday 21st January - Asics Off Road Series - Wildman - duathlon - Hankley Common
10km cross country run, 18km MTB, 5km cross country run
Sunday 4th March - Puncheur sportive
65 miles Finished in 4:12:38, gaining silver placement
With the Wildside shop ride postponed due to the adverse conditions it was decided that the rare snow was too good a oppotunity to be missed, and an off-road ride on our local trails at Bedgebury was a good idea. Myself, Kit, Malc and Mike completed a shortened lap of our single-track route with plenty of slips, slides and merriment. The trails were pretty much deserted funnily enough, and there were only a few tyre tracks in the snow so most people obviously thought it was a daft idea! The snow was mostly at about 4″ deep on the fireroads and less on the single-track, meaning that the technical parts were actually a lot easier to ride.
The majority of the loop was ridable, although continually caught me out, just as I thought I had mastered snow riding, a hidden root or frozen undulation sent the front of the bike in a different direction to the rear! This didn’t seem to bother Kit who adopted the “hit things harder and it will be ok” mentality as he was off, completing the black section in a style I would have been happy with in the dry! He definitely won our continued standing up/sitting down whilst climbing debate today, as traction was certainly an issue!
It was indeed a very good ride !