Guernsey Granite Man 2011

Sunday 11th September was a busy weekend of riding for me. Not only was there the Oakley Spin in the afternoon but I was also marshalling for the Guernsey Granite Man triathlon. It’s a middle distance triathlon with a 1900 metre swim, a 56 mile cycle ride and a 13.1 mile run.

My job for the competition was as a motorcycle marshal for the cycling section of the race, starting at 7am. This basically involved riding up and down the west coast of Guernsey keeping an eye on the cyclists both for their safety (the roads were open for normal traffic) and to ensure they adhered to the rules. Under the rules of the triathlon the competitors must:

Not ride in the draft of another competitor or vehicle
Receive external assistance (e.g. support vehicle)
Interfere with other competitors
Adhere to all applicable local laws

I’ve helped out on this event in previous years, with other members of the Guernsey Touring Motorcycle Club. However, this time I was the only motorcyclist on the course. This meant that much of the course was un-watched. All I could do was try to track down any groups of cyclists and act as a deterrent for anyone thinking of breaking the rules.

Overall the event went off without any major incidents. Only two cyclists were involved in accidents. One that I spoke to had crashed after manoeuvring to avoid a collision with a car. Otherwise, all competitors had cleared the cycling section within 4 hours… leaving me with enough time to get to Rousse Kiosk, home of the RideAround Sunday morning bacon rolls and coffee!

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About The Author

Adrian Ritchie

Aidy has been riding motorbikes since just after he left university in 2003. His first bike was a 1988 Suzuki GSX-R750 bought for £1000. His second bike was a Suzuki GSF600 Bandit, bought for his adventure to Norway in 2005. Two years later he sold the Bandit to Shane (for him to learn on) and upgrade to a BMW R1200GS... which was promptly trashed one month later by a SMIDSY. Having had the R1200GS repaired, Aidy has spent the next three years giving it a damn good thrashing off-road. 2011 saw the R1200GS take to the remote tracks and desert pistes of Morocco... it managed to keep up with the 650 enduro bikes that make up the rest of the group and made it back to Guernsey in (mostly) one piece. In January 2012, he traded in the R1200GS for a new R1200GS Adventure, planning to use the Pegaso 650 for off-road racing. However, the lure of smaller enduro bikes proved too strong and in April 2012 purchased a BMS G450X