Page 30 - MERCIAN Eagle 2020

WO2 Slucock (RAWO) cranking out the miles
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call of duty to set up the mess. It will be a superb facility for us to use going forward.
WO2 Buckley, despite begging the RSM WO1 Muir to stay in the role for another twelve months, handed over PMC to WO2 Massey whilst COVID-19 was in full effect. Events have still managed to take place. In the summer the Officers’ mess and Sgts’ mess battled it out in a Cricket match that defied the odds as the Sgt’s mess, dressed in Battalion PT kit, set about one of the greatest upsets in recent sporting history. The bowling attacks of Sgt Strong and
Sgt Eley claimed wicket after wicket of the Officers mess team including 2Lt Arnold on the first ball of the innings. WO2 Street and Brookes then picked off the middle order before WO2 Massey and Sgt Barton took
Cycling Team
Cpl Devlin
During the COVID-19 pandemic the opportunities for sporting competition have been few and far between and for the
1 MERCIAN cycling team there has been no exception. However, with a desire to compete in a team event and the means to do so with the recent boom in popularity of virtual cycling platforms, we decided
to enter the Red Bull Timelaps 2020 competition, an event open to any cycling team across the UK.
The world’s longest one-day
cycling challenge, Red Bull Timelaps took place across Saturday 24th - Sunday 25th October with the event involving hundreds of riders taking full advantage of the clocks going back, racing for a total of 25 hours with the overall standings of the teams determined by the accumulated total mileage.
The 1 MERCIAN team consisted of four riders: Cpl Salt; LCpl Harris-Antonsen; WO2 Slucock; and Cpl Devlin. As part
of the rules, only one rider was able to contribute to the mileage covered at any time, requiring the team and its participants to demonstrate a mixture of strategic nous, endurance and determination.
It would be a lie to suggest that the team were fully prepared and aware of how we would cope with the tough repeated race style efforts, or to suggest that we had an idea of how we would stack up against every other team, but it was these unknown factors that made the event that much more exciting and challenging for the team.
As it happens, the team started off strong and within the first six hours of the event
we were placed in the top twenty teams! Cautiously optimistic, we knew there was much yet to be done but we now had an idea of where we could be placed if we stayed strong and consistent. We powered through the hours on the bikes staying within the 20-30 position bracket until
the small hours where the accumulated strain on legs and lungs started to take the
out the tail enders leaving the Officers on an embarrassing score of 99. Fearing the onslaught that was coming, the Officers mess requested that each participant was limited to score 30 runs. This didn’t matter as the Sgts mess team hit the hundred whilst only losing a few wickets. WO2 Brookes is still angry at being run out by WO2 Massey but six months later he is finally getting over it. A great event enjoyed by both messes with a football match happening later in the year being organised by Sgt Saunders.
As with all events in 2020 the mess had to become more technologically aware with mess meetings taking place over Zoom. Mess members with objections were a rare occasion as none of them knew how to
use the ‘raise hand’ function. With social events off the calendar the main changes will be the renaming of the mess bars. The Scruffs bar will be renamed the Herrick bar; a campaign which is close to all
mess members hearts and something our generation can leave behind for the future. With the functions bar renamed after L/Sgt Baskeyfield VC.
Each member, whether posted in or promoted into the mess, is made to feel welcome and a part of the team. For those on Senior qualifying courses in Brecon, Warminster, Bovington etc keep pushing on; the rewards of promotion are worth it and with the COVID pandemic end in sight things will get even better in 2021!
THE MERCIAN EAGLE
Red Bull Team Race
wind out of our efforts. Despite a buddy- buddy system to keep morale up and
more coffee and energy gel consumption than was probably sensible (but absolutely necessary), we slipped down the rankings in those hours to just outside 30th position.
A bit despondent at our form slipping,
we picked each other up as the sun started to rise again and - with a few hours left to finish the challenge - we found untapped reserves, stopped the slide down the ranks and held the position with a finish that seemed just as strong as our start but took every last bit of what we had left in the tank.
The end results for the team? Four sore sets of ‘sit bones’, legs that shook of their own accord and some much-needed sleep, but also a very respectable 34th position out of a total of 211 teams with a collective distance of 618 miles. We walked away from the event a team proud of its efforts with medals and socks in the post!