Firstly a big THANK YOU to the Marlborough District Council and whichever department is responsible for the maintenance of the Conders Bend recreational area. The car park area has been tidied up with a nice flat surface and tightened fencing so that the whole car park is now obstacle free. The innovation of protecting the banks with those huge concrete blocks and wire ropes is a great idea and could be used to block off 4WD access to the mountain bike areas when time and budget allows. Perhaps the club could approach a sponsor to finance such a move, just an idea !
Another great turnout with riders enjoying a break from the enthusiastic winds experienced earlier in the week. We had more young ones with their infectious enthusiasm circulating around the tracks, this is very encouraging for the organisers and the future of the sport. With six year olds managing laps with big smiles and finding energy to carry on riding after the event can be very tiring for the casual observer, phew !
We also had Keith with a trailer and passenger. Keith had been around Conders at the weekend with this configuration and completed a couple of laps but tonight it wasn’t to be. A broken chain ended his plans so he spent the remaining time running around encouraging Callum, Zara and Emma. He even borrowed a bike in this quest. The bike donor was an unlucky Sharn who succumbed to gravity in a big way. He landed on a meaty part of the body and would have had an exciting shower when he got home. Will not be sitting comfortably for a wee while with a graze like that.
Joel also had a fall on lap 1 and was not his usual enthusiastic self after this. Rest up and recover Joel, next week is another day.
Cheryl no longer leads the young ones around, she now tries to keep up, so her coaching is showing results.
Matt and Justin were wheel to wheel for the four laps, Matt, sans camera, holding on for the victory. Tristan managed to get past Brent on lap 2 for third place and Jim, Jason, Joel and Stephen managed four laps in the 50 minute cut off.
A great evenings fun and more to come next week at the MTB park. We will be having two weeks at the MTB park as BikeFit are having a demo evening there on 4th December. Peter is contemplating moving some of the rides to Picton in the near future. With daylight drawing out there is plenty of time to get there for a later start. Watch the website for details.