[i]Sorry i couldn't come. I wanted to come with the missus and kiddie on Saturday for a look around, but spectator tickets were only available if accompanying a full ticket, and we couldn't afford £50 for an afternoon.[/i]
That was dropped due to demand, oh well.
All the photos are brilliant! I love the 4 little lads on bikes.
Still on a high from a great weekend, off to Cumbria this afternoon to round off the school holidays. x
Cracking event, really enjoyed it, my first go at XC racing aswell and although riding a Patriot meant I couldnt keep up with the pace that well it was great fun on the rooty, twisty, downhilly bits (and I survived the night race too - only a couple of bruises from not quite getting it right through a couple of trees !) 😀
Enjoyed the weekend, great weather etc, well done for putting it on.
But it did do my head in with No Itinery, not knowing what was going on and all the waiting about after delay delay delay!!!
Some damn good prizes too!!
Pants sorry for the delays....
Some were not avoidable though like when Andy broke the lake jump ramp.
We have learned a lot. I think we could have doen with a few more people organising the events.
Hope you all enjoyed the music 😀
Some of us quite liked the slightly shambolic scheduling!
(I'll get you on that inside line next time, rich!)
Some damn good prizes too!!
Absolutely!
Nice to meet you Clink 🙂 Your far too quick though!
are there any photos of the lake jump up yet?
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Hope you all enjoyed the music 😀
Definitely, although not my type of music the bands were really good (especially the one that did some Queen and Deep Purple covers) 🙂
That was Stone3 they were excellent!
I've got photos of most things I think. I'll get them sorted tonight.
I've got a cracker of the bloke breaking the lake jump ramp, head on, from out in a boat!
🙂
Any idea of how much was raised for the Charity yet?
I'd imagine they're still to knackered to count cash yet, Pete! 🙂
I've just been editing my pics. Now I've taken something in the region of 370 shots and I can't find one where there's not a person smiling in it....
😀
Nick told me last night that it could take a few weeks until we know, the amount to charity.
Did all the beer get sold in the end Luke?
Just 20 pints left, apparently
I've just got back from returing the empty barrels only took 7 hours due to the traffic 👿
Yeah only about 20 pints were wasted which was good, a fair few people took bottles home with them full of ale for a donation which was better than wasting it.
And seeing the pic's of kids enjoying themselves got the wife saying she'd come next time and maybe even ride a bike 😆
I've just got back from returing the empty barrels only took 7 hours due to the traffic
I did offer to do Yeovil for you 🙂
You did indeed but I wanted my cash back that I stumped up for the deposit, for it's return.
Thanks for the offer
Yeovil was the easy bit, first stop of the day it got worse from there.
Great weekend indeed. Thanks to the organisers for the massive amount of work they put in.
Are their any similar family events coming up?
Will the race results be published?
Results "might" be published I will ask James the Web guru.
Pics from the DJ
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And seeing the pic's of kids enjoying themselves got the wife saying she'd come next time ....
So there's going to be another one then 😉
So there's going to be another one then
Dunno but I hope so.
Photos uploding now!
Another load just started, so it'll be another hour or so before they're all finished.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/peter_atkin/sets/72157622131361022/
If you know anyone who might want to see them, please pass the link on
🙂
Were there many people there?
...was the rudeboy story the one you were talking about at the start of the short track xc then Peter? If so, dish it!
Great to put faces to names, top ale, great music (especially the band that did all the Sabbath Covers), kids had a great time, and the xc course was proper hilarious. Oh and Juan made my wife blush when he greeted her like a proper frenchman.
Well worth the journey and we have many fond memories. Huuuuuuuuge thanks to WCA and his team of merry bikesters.
I'm surprised the Rudeboy story hasn't been posted up yet.
..oh and the trailer bike race was a unique bonus, and hotly contested! Here's a picture (from peterpoddy's photos) of Juan getting his clearances wrong. My daughter descibed her ride as "a bit bumpy", and Juan as "strange". 😆
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Due to other engagements I couldnt make it till 3pm on the Saturday. Quick game of frisbee with Dez and the boy wonder then put up tent, lost in round 1 of the drag race, then did a lap of the XC course. Actually not that bad. Not too fast , or technical, some tight twisty corners that didnt flow, and a loamy loose surface that was unpredictable. Not too long , I imagine overtaking would have been a nightmare as there was basically no double track / bash road.
The event was really well supported by the trade. The bands were excellent. Really liked Firetone, very similat to Funeral for a friend or the LostProphets, both of whom i really like. Putting them up on an arctic trailer was brilliant. Exactly the right height and just big enough for them to perform on. I bought the CD from Thinking for Tuesday , and played it at work today, really good. She has lovely voice and the quality of the production is top class.
I think i spent a little bit too much time in the real ale tent tho , and the next morning was a bit blurry. Rode the XC course 3 laps, once with Pete, then headed off home to beat the traffic and maybe get a windsurf in , which didnt happen.
good points .- Weather, beer , bands, uber friendly atmosphere, kids dancing , friends, Prodigy, Lancaster bomber.
bad bits .- lack of meat in food tent at breakfast time, no rigid timetable for events, lap timing, no enduro ( a tracklogged route round the forest for 30 / 60 /90km would have introduced others to the National Park and added value ) Showers a fair step from campsite. 100 more riders would have made the event.
I was the official photographer & they're in the process of being uploaded as we speak
www.saundersphotography.co.uk
Please remember that money from the sales of the pictures is being donated to the UK Youth Charity via Nick (WCA)
Cracking weekend, really nice chilled out atmosphere.
Got back home at 12/30 last night/this morning, hence why they're only being done now!
this sounds like the event I would have loved to have been at, but am in France at the moment enjoying the excellent hospitality and trails...
Well done to all that were involved, I can't believe there's not more talk about it. Will be there for the next one if there is one....
I am uploading anoth 500ish pics here will be a couple of days at this rate!
http://s139.photobucket.com/albums/q300/soma_rich/bbb09/
Soma_rich I can't see your as don't have a photobukcet account and wants me to login,
I think you need to share your pics Rich. I have got an account but still can't get em
err hang on i will sort that when they are uploaded....
...was the rudeboy story the one you were talking about at the start of the short track xc then Peter? If so, dish it!
I don't think it's really my story to dish. IMO Peteimpretza or DrP should be the ones to blow the lid off it.
Suffice to say RB was in a very sheepish and sorry state......
😳
Nick is talking about doing some BBB T's - anyone interested in kids ones?? If so let him know.
We really enjoyed the weekend. My 4 year old son loved everything, my 8month old daughter seemed happy nearly all the time. I won a couple of prizes, my wife won a couple of quality prizes, so we all went home happy.
It was nice to see an event trying out a new format, rather than just copying the current trend for enduro style races. I got the impression that the family element of the event worked really well, with lots of happy kids.
The venue was really good. The drinks and catering were very good and sensibly priced.
The negatives:
The lack of an agenda was a pain, I rushed up to the arena a couple of times, only to find that events were delayed for an unknown amount of time. With me and my wife both trying to do things, while looking after two kids, it made it all really difficult. In the end we both missed events we had wanted to do.
It would have been nice to get some results from the xc race on the day, there weren't that many people taking part so it should have been fairly easy to even hand write a list. I am sure there was no need to delay the start of races until everyone had finished the previous race. The numbers weren't massive so it didn't really matter, but a downhill start straight into a bottle neck is not a great way to start an xc race.
The course was ok, ideal for an event that is trying to encourage people to ride. However it seemed to have loads of hairpin corners, something a bit more flowy would be good.
A compulsory pint at the end of each lap of the singlespeed race would help even things up a bit.
The event info pack was just a load of junk mail. An agenda and site plan in there would have been great.
It would have been nice to have more prizes for the kids. Even just a couple of sweets, or an ice cream for those taking part would be good. Although they all seemed to enjoy it anyway, even my son who managed to crash during the pedal bike race...
It would have been better to call people out by name rather than race number at the prize giving.
Other than that it was all great. Thanks for putting in the effort to run the event.
Jason, Thank you for the comments. We decided against the race timings (even though we had bespoke timing software) as we didnt know how many people were going to race before hand and we knew it would have been very tricky with loads of riders. As it was we managed OK to get teh finish orders.
This was our first ever event and we learnt alot. If it happens again it will be Bigger, better, there will be timings but above all it will be as much chaos as it was this weekend. We wanted a party first and the racing second. I think we pulled that off.
Well if this is the place for it, the only downside for me was the campsite: you can't have showers/facilies that far away!
But I think you got the gist when you saw my grumpy side Sunday morning, eh Rich!
i really enjoyed it too, was a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, the location was excellent, camping was fun indeed, beer was great well the pure gold & pino was until we/everyone drank it all and gradually picked off the other beers.
food and drink was reasonably priced, xc racing was fun, but preferred the short knock out xc race more on the sunday, great idea
missed the night race due to music and beer and company
lake jump was crazy, glad nobody got hurt
was really nice to see people having fun
edit, i'm the first to check xc results etc but really on this occasion i wasnt at all bothered about it.
i've been to loads of races and waited forever on the start line, these started promptly once thye got the start time right and the boards were updated when i looked or asked some one knew. timings always looked a bit optimistic but you learn
showers were a walk but at least you had the choice
everyone involved should be pleased about what they achieved and delivered.
My pics should now be public. Thats only half of them though!
does anyone know who this is?
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He was one of THE best dancers on the stage on Saturday night!
LEGEND
