A la SSEC, quin domini que té aquest biker a sobre de la bike, quan no és a sobre d'ella és una persona molt amable, i encara més atenta.
Plou sobre mullat, simpatia sobre simpatia.
Dies de SSEC.
The ideas, thoughts and actions in life are just like riding Skyline at Storm-Lo: find the flow and enjoy the ride!
SingleSpyder.
The final few days leading up to the event got very busy. With the entry list posted we then suddenly got inundated with requests for late entries. We just couldn’t take on any more riders but with a few cancellations and a reshuffle we were able to take a few more happy riders. Friday night came and we got up to davagh on a beautiful evening. The sun was splitting the trees and the car park was packed. Ivan arrived up and we loaded my van to mark the course. Thanks to Marga and Mellissa for coming along to help as well. We marked our course with arrows to help riders distinguish the direction of the course in the trail network. We also taped any areas to help riders stay on course. The worst thing when racing is arriving at a junction and not knowing where to go. With the trails opened to the public on the Saturday we didn’t tie the tape but prepared it so it was ready for race day. After a few hours of cable tying and taping we headed home late into the evening. I got onto the laptop and Marga kindly started the goodie bags. I got very little sleep Friday a mixture of excitement and the sickness kept me awake. 5am and I got up for breakfast and a coffee and headed straight up to Davagh to mark the start finish boards on the course for any riders arriving to practice. I got back to the carpark just in time to meet the guys from Mountain bike NI who had arrived to set up. While they had there breakfast the piece on BBC Radio’s “Your place and mine” came on. We stopped to listen and agreed how great it was to have mountain biking covered on local media.
With the course pre prepped we just had to secure the tape and install the timing stations. This took over an hour and as we arrived back to the car park we again met Mountain Bike NI guys who had given us the loan of their huge gazebo for the registration area. The sun started to filter through the clouds and it even had a bit of heat with it. We set up the area and installed the bike racks. As the flags, Gazebos and advertising went up the area was looking class. The first competitors started to arrive along with my team of marshals and helpers. Great timing with the guys taking over registration I could brief the stage marshals and take a few out on the course to instruct them on their position. I arrived back to the car park and our medics had arrived. We issued the medics with the radios and briefed them on the race format. The place was getting busy and as it was close to briefing time I asked the Marshals to head out to their positions. Chris from Mountain Bike NI kindly agreed to drive them up to their positions. The top car park we had some Rocwell water and Bananas.
As the first riders started filtering or rather blasting into the finish I congratulated them and marked them off the rider list. Ciara McManus of Summit mountain bike was first to arrive and hardly out of breath. I might have to incorporate a two or three lap elite field next time. As more and more riders checked out at the end of stage 5 I started to get a sense of how the race went. Happy but exhausted bodies stopped for a chat. It was brilliant to hear the positive feedback from everyone. With some shaking my hand and congratulating me on a great event I really began to feel that the vision I had on a good event had worked and worked well. The race format let clubs teams and friends ride together racing the stage then teaming up for the link ups. This was evident with Plush MTB crew having chosen to ride together. Each taking to the stage and waiting for the next at the finish. I have to apologize to Stephen Davidson on what appeared to be a temperamental timing chip. If I hadn’t witnessed it I would have said he was making excuses ;-) It didn’t seem to spoil his event and he was smiling at the finish, when he finally got his breath back that was. Although I think it was more from all the cursing at the timing chip than the ridding. With most of the riders through I got a marshal replacement and rode back to the event tent to get changed. There was one small rain storm and then the sun came out again to light up a delighted crowd of mountain bikers. I drove around the course to pick up the marshals and could tell from their stories that we had happy riders. When we reached the event area the last of the riders had just finished. We got the final race positions printed and got ready for the prize giving. Riders stood around enjoying soup and sandwiches prepared by Joan. Ivan kindly agreed to do the mic duties and I would present the prizes. With the each class we awarded a medal with 4th place receiving a sufferfest video kindly donated by the guys at sufferfest to help the rider achieve that podium place next time out. As this event was aimed at new comers and riders who hadn’t competed before we decided to do a raffle for the prizes so everyone had a chance to win something. Tickets were drawn and the banter was good. I think I even managed to crack a smile myself.
With the event looking like a success it was time for the Spirit of the Davagh Enduro award. It didn’t take much deciding on whom to award the prize to. I was honored to present Wayne Davidson his prize. Wayne has shown that this sport is for anyone his character and determination was evident from the first email but to meet him in person and great him at the finish was truly awe inspiring. Wayne finished 56th in his class and 126th overall out of 140 finishers. Congratulations to Wayne on topping of a truly great weekend. I could now relax and take in the atmosphere. After things had died down we started the clean-up. Ivan took to the trails on the bike and I followed around the fireroad in the van with Marga. We removed all our signs and tape and the small amount of litter we found. What we did lift looked like it had been there for a while. So thank you to all for helping us with the leave no trace policy. As we drove around we could see the trails buzzing with riders the evening sun in the trees and a car park packed with families enjoying a vibrant forest. One last job to complete and then it was time for home. We got the results together and uploaded to the results page. 