29th March 2017
Gorilla Marketing & Events was responsible for the design and build of the Buxton Water MTB trials course at this year’s Prudential RideLondon, where three world records were set by Saltrock ambassador and top UK trials and stunt rider Andrei Burton. Burton broke the Guinness World Records for the highest vertical drop on a bicycle onto a target, the highest bicycle side hop and the most bicycle wheelie hops in 30 seconds.
The structures that played host to the world records were designed and built by Gorilla for the event’s main sponsor Buxton Water and consisted of three structures that replicated the famous spa town’s Georgian Crescent, its railway viaduct and Solomon’s Temple that overlooks the town from a nearby hilltop.
Gorilla’s MD, Andy Gregorek, explained, “The site was at Green Park which meant that access for build and de-rig were quite tight; we had just 6 hours in which to get our trucks in to unload. We overcame this by utilising the containers as part of the structures and having pre-fabricated sections ready to be installed as soon as we were on site. To give some idea of scale, the viaduct was 18m long, 4m wide and 4m high, all steadied with 8t of ballast.”
The stunt area was used by 10 riders from around the world including the Chinese and Brazilian national champions and the nine-time world champion Kenny Belaey.
The MTB Trials course was just one of two projects delivered on the day. The second was the cyclist turnaround structure created for the 2015 event which reversed the flow of cyclists by 180 degrees on Waterloo Bridge for Prudential RideLondon FreeCycle.
“With an install time starting at 07:25 and completion required by 09:00, there was less time for the build than we had last year, so meticulous planning was required. After the event finished at 16:00, the structures were removed, the site cleared and the road reopened to traffic within 35 minutes.” concluded Gregorek.