Hi Ferrals, Builth started off as a nightmare with all those bloody man-made techy bits added, turned up on Saturday in the pouring rain and could barely keep the bike upright, only did the rock garden and gap jump as a lines and gave up after one lap!

Sunday was dry so managed to get enough courage up to do the big drop off plus all the others I had not done and they were okay. Finished 9th in the race which I was pleased about, no legs or head left after the marathon champs last week! The course was dry and rode really well, did all the a lines apart from the rock garden on the last lap as I was a bit ‘wobbly’ by then and having started a new job a few weeks ago, I was keen to stay upright and unbroken!

So, if you were racing Sport then good decision not to do it! But Sunday racing was good fun.

Rollindonut – thanks, it’s so important to not use ‘all your matches’ on the first few climbs or you just grind to a halt before the finish. A power meter is the best thing you can have for a race like that but HR will work ok, you just have to be aware that it will drop with fatigue through the race. I tried to aim for 260-280 watts for all the climbs, never going over 300 watts after the initial start. It allowed me to still have enough left to go higher on the last climb when I had to. Always stick to the plan and know what you are capable off over the distance.

FNSS is probably your best option, have a look at events on the British cycling website and it will list everything that’s going on.

Thanks, I could not imagine how tough the 100 mile event would be!

I’m nearly finished my season now and it’s been great to meet a few of the guys on here and cheer them on in races, share the highs and some of the lows (ferrals, jimbob, especially), I didn’t quite hit my XC aspirations (so far, one to go) of top ten nationally, I think my lack of experience works against me in shorter races where really, really good technical skills are essential. My best so far is 12th in National XC and several 4th and 5th in Midlands. I started mtb’ing at 45 years old and only raced as a grand vet for a few years so I’m slowly picking up the skills, very slowly!

I do seem to be better at longer events and managed to win the V50/grand vet National Championship on Sunday after 6 hours and 40 minutes of pain and suffering where I managed to ascend and descent 10,800ft, brutal course but great for me.

If you have a spare half hour to read the race report, it’s here with pictures and I’ll put the words below:
https://www.facebook.com/CotswoldCyclesRT/?hc_ref=ARQ_0H-gI4bAdlYdLK-kyJkmFzbtmV22PJfyQYVDM62U32gUxFtGITLyxQXUTxq_bKU&pnref=

Race report, National MTB Marathon Championships, Isle of Man, 2017.

It was with some trepidation that Marc, Stuart and team friend Richard Gregory set off for the Isle of Man for the Marathon Championships. The event had been billed as the ‘toughest ever’ MTB marathon and the Championship event was to be held over 100km but including nearly 11,000 feet of ascent, or to put it another way – for every 6 miles you ride you’d have to climb 1,000 feet and descent 1,000 feet, over ten times!

We travelled on the Friday, taking nearly 11 hours door to door by the time we’d negotiated the ferry. The plan was to have Saturday free to sort bikes and do a quick course recce. Morning arrived and it was pleasantly not raining (– rain had been forecast off and on for the whole weekend) so we loaded up and headed out for a short recce. When we came to unload the bikes on the famous road at the top of the mountain where the TT runs we were immediately hit by the incredibly strong wind and the fact that it was freezing compared to sea level. This was looking like less and less fun for the race!

I think we managed to pick the only bit on the course with a road and smooth bridleway to recce and this gave us a nice one hour loop to loosen the legs. Due to the 6.30am race start time we had a very early meal, signed on, went to the race briefing and then in bed for 8.30, not your usual Saturday night on the Isle of Man!

Race day morning came and breakfast was the usual early start hotel room fair at 5am with muesli, two porridge pots, eggs boiled in the kettle and couple of mini sausages, at this point I could hardly move far less race but I knew it would be a long day and had to make sure I had enough fuel in the tank.

The Marathon Championships was being combined with a sportive event so it meant that around 250 riders were lined up at the TT grandstand for the off. We had the first 3 km’s neutralised with a full police escort out of town before we got down to the serious business of racing. My strategy had been to ride at a very consistent pace and not get carried away by pushing too hard, especially in the early phase of a 6+ hour race, this can be disastrous. However, all good plans have to be modified slightly. As I sat in the main pack, the pace ramped up for the first few miles and when we hit the first climb I realised half way up that if I kept trying to hang on to the front runners then I would be in serious bother as my heart rate and power levels were both getting into the red. I opted for the sensible option at that point and backed off to my prescribed power output level on climbs while watching heart rate and making sure it never went higher than zone 4.

At this point I had no idea how many riders in my category were ahead of me but I did count three at least come past me on the first major climb of the day which did not impress me much as I knew I could not sustain the pace that these guys were setting over the full race distance. At this point I was riding with Nigel Gregory who also races XC and is a regular top 10 finisher at National level so I knew I was in good company. We rode virtually the whole of the first 50km together, yo-yoing slightly on position depending upon the terrain. It was also evident that we were starting to catch up other riders by the time we were getting to the second feed stop at 50km, we’d been riding for just over three hours at this point. The terrain we were riding over was pretty extreme, the climbs went from sea level to 1,500 feet and then straight back down again, the first descent was harder on the body than the climb itself due to the amount of loose rocks and steepness, I felt absolutely exhausted at the bottom, just to head straight back up another one again!

Nigel and I headed into the second feed stop and timecheck riding together but he had a disaster and could not find his bag of supplies, now, as good a friend as Nigel is, it’s still a race and he’s in my category so I legged it out of the feed stop as fast as possible, determined to open up a reasonable gap and got back into my game plan of riding to power output which seemed to be working well.

At this point I think we had passed another rider in my category but could not be sure. I could definitely see the next guy ahead on one of the long climbs (they were all long climbs!) as he had a bright green top on. It took me about another 15-20 minutes of climbing to catch him and I tried to make sure I went past him quickly enough that he did not latch on. At this point, and 60km in, I thought I might be in the top three possibly but knew Nigel would be pushing hard to catch me after his delay.

I could see two riders ahead of me on the next long climb up to the third feed station. I was slowly catching them but it was taking a long time to close the gap and although the strategy had been to work to a set power output it was really starting to hurt maintaining a constant effort level on the steep and rocky climbs we were being taken over. I caught the two guys at about 70 km, just before the third feed stop and realised it was Chris Green who had passed me earlier and one of the favourites for the race in the V50 category. We headed off down the part we’d recce’d the day before on the only bit of tarmac and with the wind behind we were hitting speeds of 50mph. We got to a sharp climb and I tried to keep the momentum going but Chris attacked hard and I had to let him go as I would have had to go into the red again to stay with him. After the pleasure of the tailwind we soon turned round into the wind again to grind up yet another long climb and I managed to get back on terms with him at the top. At this point we dived down a steep descent and it was the only part of the course where you could see riders ahead than had completed the now familiar ‘down to sea level and back up to 1,500ft’ scenario. Amazingly enough, here’s Marc heading the other way, he just had enough time to tell me how brutal the last climb was! – Thanks Marc, that did not help me!

I tried to stay on terms with Chris down the descent but lost the front of the bike on wet grass and went down hard on my left side, thankfully no damage done just a bit shaken up. Back down at sea level again and I pushed really hard to catch Chris again on the only flat section that must have been all of three miles before the final feed stop and then up the last monster climb.

We hit the feed stop together and much to Chris’s dismay I did not stop but rode straight through, I sensed it might be close and had loaded up with extra at the last stop to avoid the 30 or 40 second delay from picking up more food and drink here.

The first part of the final climb was a pretty constant 15-20% gradient on a tarmac road heading onto gravel. I kept my head down and tried to keep to the prescribed wattage which was becoming harder to maintain as we were now about 6 hours into the race; I just focussed on the numbers and keeping a smooth cadence. One of the great things about the 2017 Top Fuel is the Sram Eagle gearing, I was running a 32/50 lowest gear that allowed me to spin at a reasonable cadence up most of the hills which helps control fatigue levels massively.

I reckoned I was about half way up the final climb when I had to stop for yet another gate. I had a quick look back and there was Chris only 40 meters behind. He must have pushed really hard to close the gap as I had really given it everything so far. This was the deciding point of what happens next. Another 30 minutes of agony and completely turn myself inside out or back off for what would still be a good, possible medal position? Decision made, up the wattage to over 300w and see how long I can hang on for. I absolutely hammered it as hard as I could for the rest of the climb and I could see the gap was opening again only to find that what I thought was the top was not actually the top and there was a whole load of technical, unrideable, scrambling to be done over another couple of false summits before heading down! Great I thought, the last descent will be really good, nice flowing single track into the finish, how wrong was I! It was another bog-fest descent on stream beds and with huge ruts, at this point I could not see Chris but reckoned he was pretty close and I had to keep pushing, I caught my front wheel badly in a rut and went down on my right hand side, just to even things up a bit! Thankfully I landed in a nice soft, wet bog so no harm down.

I kept pushing as hard as I could, taking as many risks as I thought reasonable to hit the finish arena still clear, only backing off 50 yards from the line when I knew I was safe. I was utterly exhausted. I had suffered a small amount of leg cramps and stomach cramps in the last 30km but thankfully they had not become too bad. Marc had waited at the finish for me after finishing third in Vets which put him on the podium again in a highly competitive field. I had no idea where I had come but was starting to hear rumours that I was first in for the V50 Grand Vet category which I could not believe, stuff like that does not happen to me!

I went to the timing hut to find out and YES, I was National Champion, unbelievable! I never thought something like this could happen, especially having just started mountain bike racing a couple of season before.

I think Marc was grinning more than me at this point, both of us still unable to take it in. I know people spend a lot of time thanking everyone at this point but I do know that without using Marc’s strategy that he has developed for riding marathon events and fine-tuned with our coach, Jenny Copnall, I would not have been able to ride such a consistent race.

I also know that without having all the support we do from Andrew and Tracey and the team at Cotswold Cycles and Trek, the support from Tony and Adrian at WNT, Nicholas from Cutts of Campden, the guys at Halt who cheer us on at the races from their trade stand and Emma at Bexson Chiropractic for straightening me out, I would not be riding in such good kit, on a bike that is perfect for this type of racing and in good form. Lastly, if it was not for Don dragging me over all those bloom’in hills on training rides that I would have avoided if left to my own devices I would not have had the conditioning to get through 6 hours and 40 minutes of climbing and descending on some of the most severe terrain that the UK has to offer. Thank you.

Hi adsh, Nigel is doing better now, surgery went well and he was able to attend his daughters wedding at the weekend which was really good (with the help of crutches and a brace). Fingers crossed for a full and fast recovery.

ferrals – just wondering if you saw anything about what happened to Nigel Brown in the race at Builth Wells where he crashed on the ‘feature’ (or if anyone else did?). Maybe you could drop me a quick email to iainwight@aol.com as his family are trying to understand what happened and what was changed on the course between sessions.

Nigel is still in hospital awaiting an operation which had to be postponed as his condition was more serious than expected unfortunately.
Thanks, Iain.

Thanks weeksy, apart from the falling off bit :-)

jimbob – I’m also doing the two days for the Midlands this weekend, you’ll be fine doing two consecutive days racing if I can! I had the same problem on the 6 days of andalucia bike race earlier in the year – 4 hour stages each day and legs that would not work for the first hour of the stage, then they free up and it’s okay. Just make sure you warm down after the race, foam roller and get a long steady warm up next day and you will surprise yourself by what you can achieve, especially with the form you have just now going on your recent results. See you in Sheffield.
Iain.

Just thought I’d post the race report from last week’s FNSS round, it’s a bit wordy as it’s for our team facebook page! Online here with pics https://www.facebook.com/CotswoldCyclesRT/posts/1790992587878539?notif_t=like&notif_id=1498157755326383

Words here:

Last Friday saw the hottest evening of the year we had seen so far for the latest round of the Friday Night Sumer Series (FNSS). This is one of the longest running MTB race series in the UK and is based upon a fairly relaxed format of mountain bike racing on a short circuit, usually about 10 minutes a lap for a time of 45 minutes plus a lap. This creates some very exciting racing with, at times, up to 150 riders all racing on a 1.5 mile track with very different abilities ranging from top 10 nationally ranked Elite riders to young kids and recreational riders.
My son Fraser, Stuart Tyrrell and myself have been regular riders in this series and try to fit as many in as possible depending upon other schedules. Last week’s race venue was the National Bowl in Milton Keynes and involved features ranging from tight off camber woods sections to flat out blasts and leg breaking climbs! We try and aim to get to the venue at 6pm, pay our entry fee then slowly warm up to allow all the stresses of the working week to flow the other way!
As soon as we hit the track we knew grip was at a premium; the surface was very dusty and we were all suffering from the dreaded ‘front-wheel-wash-out’ syndrome. I had opted to ride the Trek Procalibre 9.9 hardtail as I felt it would be a benefit on the punchy climbs over a full suspension bike.
On the back of the circuit they had a small drop off that could be easily rolled by taking a specific line. I quite fancied a bit of air time though and hit the middle of it fast. Now 20mph may not be fast by roadie standards but on a short circuit MTB course it’s as quick as it gets! I took off and as I did so the rear of the bike kicked up and the front dropped. “Oh dear” I thought (or words to that effect), “I’m about to go over the bars on a section that should be easy!” I managed to just about land it, the front wheel hitting the soft gravel and sliding to the right, I corrected this and instead exited stage left off the side of the bike landing hard on my back with my head hitting the ground for good measure. “Great”, I thought, “I’ve come all the way here to take myself out of the race on a ‘nothing’ feature!” Thankfully, Stuart did a great job of not running me over – I’ve no idea how he missed me, but it was close!
I got my legs turning again and the pain in my left glut (bottom!) was quite severe – I couldn’t ride up the hill easily so circled around the flat trying to get some movement back in my leg. Whilst doing so, I realised that some of the regulars in my category had headed off to the World Championships in Andorra so it might be possible for me to get a good points haul. I had nothing to lose after already crashing so headed for the start to see what happened.
We had a decent field in Grand Vet with about 35 riders. I usually make a reasonable start so made sure I was up there at the front and went into the first singletrack section in second place. While still sore, it was not unbearable – “great” I thought, “let’s carry on”!
Going into the second lap, Tim Stowe came past me and went into the lead, knowing he was very proficient in getting through tight sections I quickly moved in behind him to make sure he didn’t build up a lead. I followed him for a couple of sections and then saw an opportunity to pass him, the plan being to make sure I kept him behind me on the tight sections where he would be strong!
I’m not sure what happened to Tim after I got past but he dropped out the race and suddenly I had a reasonable lead – head down time and hope no one catches me now!
The races are usually about 50 to 55 minutes in length so they are truly a flat-out blast, however at about 50 minutes I got the two laps to go board which would take the race distance to a full XC length, not what I had in mind! I could also see the second placed rider getting closer, ‘oh no’ I didn’t want to lose my first opportunity of a mountain bike race win by getting caught on the last lap, so guess what? Head down again for the finish! I managed to clear the line in first place with about 20 seconds to spare – I was quite pleased with that.
Fraser was already at the finish, having come fourth in the competitive Youth class. He was sporting a good amount of gravel rash from a crash mid race but had managed to get up and maintain his position.
Stuart had his best finish of the series so far coming in at 14th despite feeling a bit off-colour that evening and, more importantly, managing to finish ahead of riders that have been beating him in the previous rounds.
So, a good evening all round – a bit more skin lost and a few bruises gained but very happy with our results!

“Hope the guy who was ambulanced off the wooden drop-off is ok.”

I think this might have been Nigel Brown going on the update from his daughter Rosie today who is my team mate, unfortunately he is awaiting an MRI scan and has 5 broken bones in his lumber spine which sounds horrible. If anyone knows Nigel you will know he is an awesome bike rider, regularly on the podium at National level in GV and a really nice guy.

I heard the man-made feature was modified between practice sessions, anyone know if that’s correct? if it is then it’s pretty bad.

ADSH – that’s a good weight for 6′, I’m 6’1 and on 76 kg – don’t think there is much more to come off me!

Finally managed to win my first race on Friday in the FNSS series, pleased with that after two years of trying!

Thanks, having missed the last round I reckoned I needed to at least finish and get some points, my sense of humour was compromised a few times though!

Disaster for me at Dalby at the weekend! Moved back to being gridded 17th as I’d missed the previous round which was okay(ish!). Saturday was minging weather as mentioned before and me and my lad did only one lap to see where the grip was or was not and then spent the rest of the day bike cleaning, not sure why!

We had travelled up the week before to ride the A lines a few times as I hate doing this on the Saturday practice, thankfully Medusa was not in as it would have been trecherous in the wet – for me anyway,

My son raced well in Youth, moving from 33rd grid to 25th so he was pretty happy – some of these kids are bloody fast!

My race started well, getting into the singletrack section somewhere in the top ten, then got to the first climb, 3 minutes into the race and snap goes my chain! This then meant me doing a Freddy Flinstone type pedalling effort and walk back to the tech zone where we got it sorted about 15 minutes later.

At least when Paul Oldham lapped me up a little later with his thru-axle falling out I was able to stop and chat and offer him mine, sadly he did not take it so I had to carry on!

I ambled round for 4 laps and ended up 25th having caught a few people but not the best race effort!

I thought the weekend was run really well though and the commissaires helpful in times of my trouble.

We stayed on to watch my team mate race in the women’s elite and also cheer on her partner who finished a strong second in the men’s after a good battle with Grant Ferguson – a really good race to watch.

All in all it was a good weekend despite my mechanical woes.

Padkinson, nice to hear Dave was able to help you, he bought last years bike off me, nice guy.

Oh dear, I’m really hoping it will dry up tonight! Well done for getting round.

Interested in this as bought one a while ago to see if it helped a tendon problem I have, not fitted it yet though! Might be up for sale if anyone wanted it? It’s xx1 eagle.

What happened to you today jimbob? I saw you make a great start – 2nd into the singletrack was nice nice and then heard the commentator (while I was bike cleaning!) say that you must have had a problem as you were running lower than normal. Hope you’re okay?
Blooming wet at Dalby today, hoping it will dry out a bit for tomorrow.

What size are you after? I know where there is a 18.5″ Remedy 9rsl on demo that might be up for sale soon.

Not sure on that one, I hear some of the Trek models are relatively unchanged for next year so it may not make a huge difference. The only thing I can say is I’ve never regretted buying a Trek (back up and warranty is awesome) only not buying it sooner as I phaff around too much :-)

That was a good point about the rsl 9 not being in stock, they did have a decent amount of 9.8’s when I looked last – there might be a deal to be had there. I swapped my lads bike to 1×11 though, which was easy enough.

My lads got a 9.8 and no creaks yet, not expecting any either. The standard BB’s and lower headset bearings are awful though, change them for a Hope or equivalent as soon as you can and the bike will be perfect.

Yup, I’m in – went up on Friday to refresh my memory of it, rumour has it that Medusa is in but Worry Gill out.
See you there I hope.

This is pretty relevant to the recent discussion: http://bicyclelab.com/why-endurance-athletes-should-re-think-fatigue/

My races are generally starting about 10.30, so for me that means a decent breakfast at about 7.30, then an energy bar about an hour before the start, warm up, a pre race caffeine drink 30 mins before. A gel if possible with about 10 mins to start. During the race I may have one or two gels but it depends on the course, I can cope with a 1.5 hour race without any gels but prefer not to, I’ll get though one bottle in total, either as one I carry with me or a few half filled ones that are handed up if the course is hilly and I have someone in the feed zone.

Good point weeksey, people forget that you can only really get into good shape for maybe four races in a season and even then, one or two of them will be compromised. I had that problem yesterday, I knew my numbers were not great (too much fatigue, not enough form) but I also know they will be better for the next National event which is a bigger target for me.
Anyone racing really needs to plan their season and ensure their training blocks and rest periods combine to the events they want to target, whichever events they are, some people will target regional races and use Nationals as training or vice versa, if your target is your local FNSS then work to that and enjoy the moment when you legs feel great ’cause you numbers are good!
The main thing is to know what combination of fitness/form/fatigue or ATL/CTL/TSB works for you. I’m in my second year of racing and it’s been a hell of a learning curve to understand a little about what works for me, I’ve taken the leap of employing a coach (at 52 I don’t have that many years to muck around trying to teach myself!) and I have a very strong team backing me up which I am hugely grateful for.

So, I think what I’m saying in this ramble is; choose your events and plan properly otherwise you may be disappointed – it’s bloomin’ competitive out there in all categories!

Nice to meet jimbob yesterday at the Midlands Championships, shame about my race though! Had another disappointing second lap where I lost 4 places after a decent start and then had a good last lap. Finished 9th in the end in Grand Vet.
My lad finished 7th in Youth which he was pleased with.
The big result for us was my team mate Marc’s son who won the under 8’s race! He now has a cup with ‘Midlands XCO Champion, under 8’ on it. Looks like he is taking after his dad who won the vet’s National titles for XCO and XCM twice.

Really nice venue at Dudmaston and well organised as ever.

I’ve had a disaster this weekend, I thought I had entered but did not so cannot get a late entry so will not be in Aske unfortunately, Absolutely gutted as I would have been gridded around 10th I reckon.

Cheers r8jimbob88 – sounds like we are on the same schedule, Aske this weekend and Dudmaston next, hopefully it will go better than last week.
That fireroad was bit of a killer, my 15 year old was racing in Youth and I caught him near the end of that section on lap 3, the cheeky monkey then re-passed me into the singletrack section and promptly demonstrated he could do the technical stuff better than his old man, most annoying :-)
Maybe see you on Saturday practice, let us know what number you are. Iain.

Thanks doncorleoni, I love Trek’s but I do wish they could put decent headset’s into them! The BB’s are okay but the standard SRAM unit is pretty poor, I’m running a Hope one in my Top Fuel which works well and got a Chris King to try on the Stache as I use it through the winter and reckon a 5 year warranty might be useful but the BB shell tapers in the middle of the carbon frame and you can’t fit it, so it’s probably another Hope one for that as well.

I had a disaster, led the GV race for the first half lap, settled into about second/third after the fire road climb, got into the tight section, caught a load of back markers from the vets and we all started moving through them slowly. I was looking for gaps ahead and clipped a post which threw me off slightly, clipped a tree, again no big deal but was now heading straight for the next tree which I hit hard! Got myself back together but had lost a load of time and was struggling with an arm not working very well, finished 11th in the end which was bit depressing.
Hopefully a better day at Richmond next weekend.

That was a good result r8jimbob, well done. I did like the course none the less but I have asked Nick to move a couple of trees for me when he sets it next time to try and avoid the same problem :-) the first half of it was really good, fast and flowing and a pleasure to ride.

I have a few Trek MTB’s and always change to a hope bottom headset bearing as the standard bearings fitted are rubbish, I have one sitting ready for my Stache when the std bearing inevitably fails in the next few weeks! Already done the Top fuel, procaliber, wife’s remedy etc…..

I’m at the midlands also tomorrow, racing in the morning with the other old blokes, bright orange Cotswold Cycles-TREK kit on, say hi if you see me, always good to meet other STWers.

fathomer, thanks – just got an email with the course details.

My 15yr old is going to give it a go with his mate, he’s never done an Enduro before and looking forward to it. I saw on the website that the route is posted today, anyone got an idea of how it is posted and is there enough time to practice on Sunday morning rather than heading down Saturday?
cheers, Iain.
ps he is on a black Trek with blue writing, please say hi if you see him.

A couple that I found that were driving me mad:

1. chainrings – took them off the cleaned the mounting interface points and solved one creak.
2. spokes creaking against each other, found it by lubing each point the spokes crossed, drove me mad for ages!

Good luck!

I’ve used one for 6 months on an xx1 eagle setup and it’s been great – stable consistent readings as long as you calibrate it each time, battery life is a bit rubbish at around two months but it’s not the end of the world.

r8jimbob – I watch the Sport race on Saturday and the front group that you must have been in were looking pretty strong, especially over the big drop, well done!

ferrals, you were looking good as well, sorry I never said hello but did cheer you on!

I did the GV race yesterday and managed to finish 12th which I was pleased with, had a slight off on lap two which lost me a few places when the front wheel slid out on some gravel, got all the a lines – the drop was not much quicker but hope the photo’s will be good! It was better when you could use all your speed on the run out to take you up the next hill but not if you had to brake for people on the b line.

Great weekend all round, the highlight for my wife was that someone had the foresight to get the portaloo cleaners in on a regular basis which helped a lot!

I think the problem with tubes might be the powder in them (that stops the rubber sticking together) does not allow the sealant to work, hence why it’s a bit hit or miss.

15th grid spot in GV for me, hopefully second row, maybe third.

Good fun today and the course had dried up nicely from when I went over it on Thursday. Bit of family success also, my wife was first women back in the 50k, my son was first junior and 4th back in the 50k, I managed to drag myself round to 5th in the 100k and my slightly (a lot!!) quicker team mate nearly went under 4 hours to be first rider back in the 100k. Just about to crack open a beer and fire up the barby!

Hope everyone else had good fun and no one got hurt anywhere. Thanks again to the organisers for great organisation, signage was also good and nice they could also arrange the weather to be so good!