The first battle was for car park space, the local harrier club was using this area for one of their regular events, but no serious issues here.
If we had a disco set up for tonight’s ride I guess the old favourites would be playing, Fleetwood Mac “You Can Go Your Own Way” and The Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour”. With Sven setting out the course using a new marker system and Peter explaining the course without actually riding it first, it seemed inevitable that the odd navigation error may be on the cards. And so it was.
There is not enough room in this report to detail every comment but the common theme was that it was fun and no matter where each rider ended up, they all enjoyed the fine evening with the sun shining and no wind to speak of. It wasn’t too long after the event that the skies opened so we got lucky again. Sven realised he had missed a marker on an intersection and so stopped after lap one to pick up some marker tape.
For those who found the right way Aaron Bleakely shot away from the start with Kiel in hot pursuit, with Matt and Justin eating their dust. Justin was having a birthday but was showing no signs of getting older despite a harrowing day at the office.
Andrew B was another having after effects of an arduous day of employment, riding a mountain bike over a bumpy track was a breeze in comparison. After lap 1 Aaron was just holding out Kiel with Matt forty odd seconds back and Justin not far behind him. Matt was using his GoPro and hopes to have his video available to link to this report shortly. Will be of interest to those who did not follow the prescribed route if only to point out the error of their ways.
Justin took over third place on lap 2, wonder if this will be on the video Matt ? Todd returned from a short lay off to circulate in fifth place with Zahkhan impressing next and first junior. Phil Hurren seemed to be one of the worst affected by navigational problems with his first lap taking over 21 minutes.
This was fast compared to Steph Blackmore who found herself down by the Rotary Lookout. Cheryl was also leading the young ones astray and Aaron was showing concern after 38 minutes of absence. Aarons team of young ones Josh and Tom put in a couple of genuine laps so the Black’s are cultivating a nursery of next generation riders. We hope that they still manage to get some serious riding in during the rest of the week.
So the ride went on and Aaron gradually drew away from Kiel and at the end of the allotted 50 minutes only these two and Justin managed 6 laps, a fine effort and a good workout. Alana was quickest of the ladies and newcomer Rose was next. Mica Drake managed three laps following his Dad so another good effort for a first timer. Lap times will obviously only reflect when the rider passed the start finish area and not how far each rider had been on each of their laps. This technology is not being pursued by the club at this stage.