Rollapaluza a hit in Bristol

Rollapaluza's Bonfire Night excursion to Bristol was a big success with a large crowd of West Country cyclists turning up to try their luck on the rollers, or simply catch the action and soak up the atmosphere. 

Over 70 riders pre-registered for the competition, sponsored by Iron Horse, at Bristol's Mud Dock Cafe including top roadies, trackies and mountain bikers. Amongst the big names giving it a go were pro roadie, Simon Richardson (Plowman Craven), track racer Andy Magnier, four cross rider (and Mud Dock mechanic) Duncan Ferris, and singlespeed record holder Matt Carr. 

Cut off time in the qualifiers was a rapid 22.32 seconds which whittled the field down to the top 16 men and 4 women - who then raced of against each other: with the fastest taking on the 16th fastest until only two riders were left. Progress through the heats didn't always go to the faster qualifier and it was noticeable that technique rather than pure strength played a big part in posting a fast time.

Duncan Ferris was the fastest qualifier with a sub 20sec time for the 500m sprint, only the 10th rider out of over 7000 Rollapaluza competitors to do so. In fact he did it again during the races proper with a time of 19.75 seconds making him the fifth fastest rider of all time on the Rollapaluza rollers – a smidgeon behind Olympic hero Chris Hoy who posted a 19.44.

At the end of a hectic night's racing the men's final came down to a shootout between Duncan Ferris and Marcus Mumford, but this time the distance was uppped to 1km. Ferris blasted away from the start at a blistering pace and stormed into an early lead, but Mumford's steady style served him well over the longer haul as Ferris faded in the final 300 metres.

The women's competition went to form with fastest qualifier Sarah Barber dominant throughout. Both winners bagged an Iron Horse Transit singlespeed bike courtesy of the evening's sponsors Iron Horse

Male:

1st. Marcus Mumford

2nd. Duncan Ferris

3rd. Andy Magnier

4th. Greg Pittam

Female:

1st.  Sarah Barber

2nd. Nicky Russell

3rd. Fi Spotswood

4th. Karen Hathaway

Full results and competitor pictures