Event Details
Club: | Midlands MBO |
Event Name: | Midlands MBO: Lowsonford MBO Score round 1 |
Date: | 20/03/16 |
Format: | MBO Score |
Mapping: | Ordnance Survey |
Time Limit: | 3 hours |
National League: | - |
League: | Midlands MBO Series 2016 (Round 1 of ) |
Electronic Punch: | SportIdent |
Event Report
With the amount of rain that had fallen in february planning this event wasn't easy. Just as things were improving in March we had rain falling solidly for 12 hrs .... suddenly there were duck ponds everywhere....However a quick check on the weather forcast showed dry days all the way to the event so it was fingers crossed and a case of keeping options open until the final week. On thursday the last reccy was carried out and the check points were finalised with 1 section being dropped which was still unrideable, surely there were enough check points to avoid a clearance.
Thankfully the rain stayed away and putting out the controls on saturday confirmed that the tracks had all but dried out.
The forcast was for a cold, cloudy, but dry day and so it proved to be first thing...
With the competitors having set off, the venue welcomed Evesham wheelers for a tea and cake stop then the hall was quickly cleared before the competitors were due to arrive back, the sun came out and everywhere looked more Spring like.
Just after midday the riders started to return and most said that track conditions were fast and "what a lovely area" .... no-one looked like they needed a bath which is just as well as I forgot to put out
the dust sheets... even the bikes were coming back clean, bring on the summer...
Fustratingly a few riders suffered punctures affecting them to varying degrees, luckily 2 riders managed to return ok without a repair however Gemma and Rebecca riding as a pair were not so lucky with Rebecca suffering 2 punctures...
Rebecca told Gemma to carry on whilst she walked back so that the day was not a total write off...hopefully that is all your bad luck out of the way in 1 go.
Once back the riders were welcomed with tea, cake and bacon butties (those cakes looked lovely and I missed them all !). Many of you stayed for a while after to relax, unwind, have a chat and a post event discussion on route choice,"if only I'd...."which is always a good sign.
Well done to all those riders who were on their 1st or 2nd event managing to stay out for the full 3 hrs, especially Kieran who is only 12yrs old, they get easier the more you do, honest....
Congratulations to (Killian 500pts) the overall winner who managed a course clearance having lost a contact lens, closely follwed by Ian(485pts), Ifor(481 pts) and Mark(476 pts).
Finally:
a big thank you to Jeff, Phil and Tim wightman for helping collecting the controls in, with your help we were all able to get off by 4.30 this afternoon. A big thank you also to Jackie, Rose and the others for their sterling work on the catering front- a slick operation with a selection of cakes to die for. Judging by the riders comments it sounds like all their hard work was appreciated and the donations you made reflected this (including Evesham wheelers who stopped off for a mid morning cuppa nearly £200 was raised for "the Childrens society" just from the catering, thankyou for your generous contributions).
Thanks again to you all for venturing out, we hope to see you at the next event on 17th April near Market Harborough, please see our website for a list of future events and sign up to receive our news letters if you haven't already done so:
http://www.midlandsmbo.co.uk
Phil Upton