Took all the family down to the sea side last Sunday to watch the madness that is the beach race. The weather man predicted a sunny day so we dressed accordingly so got totally soaked by the horizontal rain blowing off the sea.
I've competed at Weston six times and can honestly say its the biggest hit of adrenalin your body can handle, right from the moment you jostle for position at parc ferme to the log jam at the first dune you simply turn into a mad man. This feeling came back as we walked past all the riders getting ready to go and I really wanted to be in there with them.
We walked up the far end of the beach to find loads of people getting in for free, which is a bit annoying when you've just spent £50 to get in! but soon enough we could hear the roar of 500+ bikes charging up the mile long straight and then the leaders came past us and over the first dune making it look easy. After about ten went through the carnage began and the less skilled riders began the usual chaos. One guy got stuck halfway up and tried everything to get out but just got deeper and deeper up to the seat until it had calmed down and three Marshall's dug him out. The lad got his bike started and to the cheers of hundreds of fans he got over the dune but then fell off on the way down, Muppet!
It then went very quiet and rumour got back there had been a pile up at the start and it was red flagged. We waited two hours for the restart but realised it must have been bad as the race was cancelled. This is when all hell let loose with people demanding a refund and almost starting a riot, pretty shameful really when some riders were at deaths door but that's the great British public for you.
Turns out the crash was really bad and this could spell the end for the beach race due to bloody Health and Safety. This would be a shame as its an awesome event and I'd like to think I could compete again some day ,that's if road racing doesn't bankrupt me first!
