Planners Report
At the risk of sounding like Kate Winslet at the Oscars, there are some votes of thanks to start off with;
Firstly the Millar family for being the brains behind the series and for all their assistance, to Pauline, Margaret and the girls at the café (top soup and a great spot) and Caroline at NT for allowing us to use Larrybane. A final thank you goes to Ivan Park for his endless enthusiasm and putting up with question after question. Thanks to you all.
The initial plan was to use an area at the head of the Glens but we quickly ran into a permission issue with the Forest Service (nesting birds vs mountain bikes) which we lost!
Racking our brains, we came up with the idea of using the North Coast with its rolling hills, good network of roads and tracks, and some fantastic views. This led to the A3 map. It could have fitted onto an A4 sheet with the loss of only 1 control. However this would have removed some of the link roads going North to South making navigation more difficult. Therefore we had the idea to really stretch the legs for our last ride of the spring events on a much larger map and with more route choice.. The plan was to make it impossible to clear the course but the winning ‘Star Fangled Nutz’ took it much closer than we imagined – well done fellas!
Despite the hours of planning, driving and trying to track down landowners, I would thoroughly recommend planning an event to anyone. Not only does it improve your own skills but it keeps this vibrant series going – just pick somewhere closer to home!
Thank you for riding and all your positive comments.
Jon Kay (Maryland 2 Minus 1)
You can view Jons impressive race day photos here too:
