FROME’S fourth Cobble Wobble has been declared a resounding success with over 1,000 people gathering to watch the hundreds of cyclists wobble their way up Catherine Hill on Sunday 16th of December.
Event organiser Andrew Denham said, “The support from local people and businesses was great. It was very successful, and we had cyclists of all abilities compete, from professional, sponsored riders to amateurs.”
Places for this year’s Cobble Wobble were in high demand with all of the 200 slots snapped up in “a matter of minutes.”
In true Cobble Wobble tradition, competitors made their way up the cobbles of Catherine Hill in all manners of fancy dress including two Elvis-inspired elves riding a tandem, a Christmas pudding, two Cobble Wobble robots, Batman and one man who braved the cold by donning only his swim shorts and a hat in a bid to raise funds for Dorothy House Hospice and Frome-based charity, Positive Action on Cancer (PAC).
Four times World Mountain Bike Champion and Red Bull sponsored cyclist, Michal Prokop, was crowned the ‘King of the Cobbles’ with a winning time of 22.966 seconds. He was closely followed by last year’s champion, Lewis Lacey, who managed to reach the top of Catherine Hill in 23.223 seconds.
Michal Prokop said, “I had no idea what to expect, it’s an extremely challenging course and the level of riding from the pros and amateurs was incredibly high. My trip to the Cobble Wobble in Frome with Red Bull has been one of the highlights of my year!”
Andrew Denham commented that professional cyclists had travelled from miles around to attend the Cobble Wobble, “Martyn Ashton competed too. He’s a Red Bull-sponsored athlete and one of his videos on YouTube has racked up around 6.5million views,” he said, “I think a highlight for me was seeing the faces of the children enjoying the event. Also, I was walking up and down Catherine Hill and hearing some of the conversations was great. People were asking a lot of questions about the different bikes used and generally showing an interest in cycling in general.
“The Cobble Wobble is simple, you start at the bottom of the hill and get to the top!”
Andrew said that plans were in the very early stages for this year’s Cobble Wobble, with hopes to move the event to a September date.
“The 2010 ‘King of the Cobbles, Chris Akrigg, has had another injury, but I’m sure he will want to try and defend his title this year.” said Andrew.
The top three riders each took home new bicycles supplied by Charge Bikes.
