Andrews holds off Smit to win Reverse Beef Island race!
Big guns!
Some serious big guns came ready to race, including Gareth ‘G-Unit’ Thomas who came out of partial retirement and was clearly pumped to the max and ready to lock horns with the MTB crew once again. Matt ‘Silver Fox’ Crossman rose at 3am to make the crossing from VG to Tortola just to have a scuffle with the ‘BVI boys’ and also on show was current general standing leader and undefeated rider this year, Justin ‘Kiwi Warrior’ Smit,
However, the big news was the arrival of BVI’s cycling glamour boy Orano ’Frames’ Andrews (so called as he has well over 100 bike frames hanging in his bike shed/house). With ‘Frames’ showing his face this would mean a huge showdown and one that everyone had been waiting for so long would finally take place!! No more ducking and a diving…it’s a gloves off, no rules, no holds barred, full contact head to head featuring the two MTB Club heavyweights.
The course
The course itself is a mirror image of the first race of the season, following the same route but in reverse order. One could be fooled into thinking this is an easy ride, but the terrain to be negotiated throws up surprise after surprise year on year, ready to catch the unwary rider and toss them to the side on a mangled heap of metal and body. The key to this race is to keep it fast, watch your lines and don’t burn out.
The Race
With so many riders packed at the start line emotions began to run high as riders jostled for a better place on the line, elbows jabbed and stares pierced as the countdown to the start moved closer. Then a silence fell as each rider spent the last few seconds with their own personal thoughts, a silence then broken with the bellow of the claxon hailing the start, jolting riders into action as muscle fibers twitched into life forcing down on the crank, causing wheels to spin, spewing gravel in their wake.
Into an early lead sprang Iain ‘Sky’ Walker, determined to make a good showing in this race having suffered DNF’s in his last 3 efforts on the course due to mechanicals and punctures. On his back wheel were the other main contenders, ‘Dangerous’ Dave Pettigrew, Orano ‘Frames’ Andrews, Matt ‘Silver Fox’ Crossman, Justin ‘Kiwi Warrior’ Smit and Gareth ‘G-Unit’ Thomas. This was to prove to be the breakaway group a la tete de la course as they pushed onwards.
Just behind, the main pelaton were establishing themselves consisting of Liam ‘New Kid on The’ Bloc, Caroline ‘Iron Lady’ Pettigrew, Statius ‘Vicious’ Taliam, Laurent ‘Loz’ Keeble, John ‘Hot’ Ayres and, every granny’s favourite, Aussie Pin up Shane Donovan.
The final group drafting the pelaton was made up of Dara Smith, Rusty ‘Nails’ Burns, Jim ‘Iron Horse, Cullimore, Mike ‘Jedi’ Masters, who was sporting a new face wig, MTB newbie Elliott Doucy and the legend himself Tom Merrigan.
Back with the lead pack, SkyWalker was upping the ante but keeping well in touch were the rest of the pack, with screen hard man ‘G-Unit’ Thomas sledging Walker as they negotiated the tight trails of Beef. Preferring to keep schtum were the big hitters Smit and Andrews, maintaining focus on and keeping in touch with the wheels in front, with Pettigrew and Crossman an ever present shadow.
With the first half lap completed at a blistering pace it was clear that it was going to be hard to tear this group apart, yet on the exit of the second salt flat a defining moment came as the terrain switched from packed salt to loose sand, this is not Walkers favoured surface, as he discovered earlier in the year during the Anegada race. Sure enough the man with the gluts of steel stacked it and ate sand, leaving the door wide open for the remaining lead group to steam on past, hardly lifting a head in acknowledgement of Walkers plight.
Breaking moment
It was Thomas and Smit who took full advantage, switching to afterburners as they headed up the old airport road developing a small lead over Silver Fox Crossman. The surprise was that Andrews was not with the breakaway, but having chosen to race on slick tyres rather than nobblies the cycling guru was left to skate around on the sand like Torvil and Dean, losing vital time and distance over his rivals. We’ve seen plenty of schoolboy errors over the season, but this was up with the best of them. The question was would the cycling star be able to pull it back?
Moving into the second lap of the three lap race the groups had separated. The main group had split into two with Smit, Thomas, Crossman and Andrews leading with Dave Pettigrew and Walker left to consider their position. Pettigrew opted to draught Walker for the entire second lap, and despite Walkers attempts he was unable to shake his general standings podium rival.
Unsportsmanlike behaviour
Pettigrew was no doubt buoyed on by his wife’s shouts of support as she passed in the opposite direction. Although this was admirable of Iron Lady, the content of the calls has been called into question as shouts of ‘F*** do him Dave’ and ‘Waste that mo’ could be interpreted as un-sportsman like. An internal BVI MTB Committee enquiry has been set up as a consequence.
Back with the main pack, Iron Lady Pettigrew was pushing her rivals to the max in an attempt to break their will and capitulate, a tactic that has worked so well for her in the past. Yet on this occasion the field was well and truly keeping tabs and an 8 rider battle was developing nicely with little time and distance separating the rivals.
With the main pelaton still bunched up like a gaggle of lemmings and pressing well into the second lap, the pressure from other riders was starting to make an impact leading to small errors in judgement which can have big consequences as Aussie Pin up Shane Donovan was to discover. Whilst entering a short wooded section, Donovan misjudged a small rise and dip which resulted in the hapless poster boy being catapulted over his handlebars into the dirt and leaves, leaving him sprawled over the forest floor like a total loser. John ‘Hot’ Ayres, who was nipping at Donovan’s heels moments before, showed bucket loads of compassion as he sped on by laughing like a deranged madman in the face of the crestfallen antipodean, kicking more dirt in his general direction to add insult to injury.
Andrews’ aggression
Switching back to the lead pack, the race lead had switched, and what a switch. Andrews had decided he’d had enough playing around and had well and truly floored the gas as he caught and passed both Thomas and undefeated Smit.
It was now coming to race close and the clash of the titans between Smit and Andrews was all but decided. Heading back up the airport straight for the final time Andrews pulled ahead of Smit, developing a now unassailable 40 second gap. For the first time this season these two goliaths had met in combat and Andrews emerged victorious, but only by a small margin, which will encourage Smit for the final race of the season on Peter Island.
Smit will no doubt be looking for revenge.
Taking the final podium position was Thomas, and what a great ride from him on his return after so long. The big man had clearly not been resting on his laurels over the last year and will always be a force majeure on the circuit.
Results
1.) Orano Andrews, 56 mins 15 secs, 2.)Justin Smit, 56 mins 58 secs, 3.) Gareth Thomas, 57 mins 52 secs, 4.) Iain Walker 59 mins 18 secs, 5.) Matt Crossman, 59 mins 25 secs, 6. Dave Pettigrew, 1 hr 2 mins 10 secs, 7.) Liam Bloc, 1 hr 3 mins, 8.) Caroline Pettigrew, 1 hr 3 mins 20 secs, 9.) Statius Taliam, 1 hr 4 mins 35 secs, 10.) Laurent Keeble, 1 hr 8 mins 46 secs.
There was also some great racing from the future of BVI MTB with the youth categories. A fantastic turnout on the day and each category negotiated a super tough course to really show what they were made of.
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