Morvelo #BattleRoyale
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Every type of bike you can imagine, a heap of testosterone and a lot of elbows, it could mean only one thing, the Morvelo #BattleRoyale. The Brighton based clothing brands take on Cycle Speedway, pitched MTB, Road, BMX and folding bikes up against each other, it didn’t matter what you rode, just get yourself and some team mates to the line and do battle!
Race Everything.
Creating the ultimate bike battle.
Rules. Regulations. Restrictions. Morvélo know you like to push the boundaries and have fun, which is why we we pay them as little attention as possible when coming up with ideas for races. And so ‘Battle Royale’ was born.
‘City Cross’ allowed us to rip up the traditional race rulebook, and when 120 riders took to the Circus Street Market in central Brighton last Saturday for our no holds barred Battle Royale, we were taking it just another step further.
Morvélo’s Battle Royale is derived from Cycle Speedway, adapted to make racing fun and competitive no matter what you ride. The format’s simple; a fast and furious knockout where pairs of three-person ‘bike gangs’ fight it out over four oval laps. The team who get all their riders across the finish line first is declared victorious.
For a healthy dose of humour bike gangs wear team outfits, and when it comes to choosing a bike, anything goes. From Tweed suits to leather jackets, and riders kicking ass on Bromptons to old ladies with grey hair and flowery skirts, Battle Royale sees it all. Never before have a Folder, BMX, Road, Cyclocross, MTB, Track and Downhill bike all raced side by side, but this wild and completely unpredictable event levelled the playing field and brought cyclists from across the spectrum together to battle it out in style.
A series of preliminary heats gave all entrants the chance to race without the pressure of a result. Any team knocked out in the first round went through to a Last Chance Qualifier and 3 lucky teams drew a Wildcard for automatic progression through to the 4th round. The quarter finals, semis and final ran over the best of three heats with the slowest rider of each team being eliminated for a battle of two against two.
The innovative format makes the race crafty, exciting and incredibly close. There’s no point in treating Battle Royale as a normal drag race and flying from the start if your final teammate is struggling at the back, because if they cross the line last your team is out! Leaders deliberately used blocking tactics to ensure their third riders were in with a shout of crossing the line before their last opponent and the continuous cheering from the captivated crowd amplified dramatically as many heats were decided on the last corner in thrilling sprint finishes.
The combination of fast sweeping track and tactical racing meant crashes were commonplace as racers sought to out-manoeuvre and out-pace their rival gang. A rougher BMX style of nudging riders off the racing line was rivalled by the kind of astute and incisive sprints through tight gaps that would make any directeur sportif proud.
Our undiscriminating ethos, not choosing one form of riding over another, is no better demonstrated than in this revolutionary race series and we hope to revisit the Circus Street Market one last time for Round 2 in April, before the venue is pulled down for redevelopment.
