Well that was an unmitigated success ! What a weekend! Everything we had control over went pretty much according to plan, even if the weather pixies were playing silly buggers for the duration of the race .... but it just made the course 'different' !

Friday setup went smoothly enough, with the bar being delivered and built....just needed testing ..... it's a dirty job but I nobly volunteered my services ...

Folks started turning up quite early and the camp filled up well, seemed about the right size.... a few more square feet wouldn't have hurt. I tried the beer  again just to make sure it was still ok.

A couple of rides went out in the evening, one serious-ish, the other a Dads & Lads ride to the nearest pub. A quick beer check at SSUK HQ proved the beer was still lovely.....

The barn slowly filled up as people arrived from further afield... including, the Dutch & Belgian contingent... beers were bought and consumed along with cheese, salami and the worlds hottest killer Pork Pie..... Luke Dixon was "Johnny Concrete" for about 20 seconds then turned into "Felicity Quicksand" for the next 20 mins after eating a hefty slice ... how bad can it be ? Turns out, pretty flippin bad !  Best have a beer to cool off....

Once the main party ended (we'd pretty much run out of beer) the apres party moved up field to the GT HQ .... more , much more, beer was had as the hard core drinkers partied on till nearly morning.... much to some people annoyance. Sorry :0/ 

Saturday was damp. Nay moist ! The rain started at the same time as the riders made their way to the track .... the usual bike hiding shenanigans made the start luck of the draw ... with some fast laps being put in before the deluge took it's toll of the trail making it slippery and hard to ride fast.

Well done to Steve Day and Sophie David for outstanding performances in less than optimal conditions and winning the SSUK Male and Female categories !

Back on site there was a great atmosphere as folks returned  and commenced drinking again the party was started by a brilliant bluegrass banjo band then the prize giving and raffle took place with plenty of very happy winners ! The band of the evening , Reward, came on and soon the dancefloor was HEAVING with sweaty, hoarse, inebriated singlespeeders. More cheese, salami, and Leannes fantastic hams were brought out and devoured. 

Eventually the curfew kicked in with a great rendition of 500 Miles  just as we finished the beer again. Turns out a little over half the people who attended Cannock in 2014 drank more beer than was consumed in Cannock..... some serious drinkers in the crowd , thats for sure ! 

Sunday was a sedate affair with folks packing up and saying their farewells..... 

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We could not have done it without the support of our families, friends and Club members ! Too many folks to name, I know I'll forget people cos I'm old and easily distract..... oh look ! a squirrel !

Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and the willingness of you all to support a cause very close to the clubs heart, we've raised a phenominal amount of money for the Leamington Stroke Rehabilitation Center who're helping Dave Nowik with his continued road to recovery. The Merevale Estate will be getting a suitably large cheque to say thank you for the use of their beautiful woods.

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Richard Munro has bravely volunteered running SSUK2017 in the Lake District which should be awesome !

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From Matt, Craig, Graham, Dave, Spencer and me, Martin, we thank everyone who came and made SSUK2016 a rip roaring success, we couldn't do it without you all !

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