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Hi
Not sure if this affects anyone here, but the Langdon Hills MTB round this weekend has been cancelled due to a waterlogged course. It's going to be rescheduled for 15/16 of September
Cheers
MTB event cancelled due to mud on the course 😉
Well it must be pretty bad - I did the Hylands course run by the same folk and it was horrendous. So for them to cancel this means it must be bad
its not the course that is waterlogged that would be very rideable (and in a lot of parts totally dry) its the carpark and event 'village' area thats waterlogged - apparently a tractor was having trouble getting across it this morning..?!?!
I still can't believe they've used Langdon. Of all the Essex/Suffolk courses to use, they pick that one. Its rubbish!
Speaking for Matt and I at MSG we're both pretty gutted to have had to do this, but after a site inspection earlier in the week and careful consideration of the forecast (bearing in mind we are forecast for a further 25mm of rain today, and ongoing torrential rain tomorrow) a decision had to be made sufficiently early to stop people from travelling. Just to put the record into perspective the following might help with understanding of the situation.
Well it must be pretty bad - I did the Hylands course run by the same folk and it was horrendous. So for them to cancel this means it must be bad
The big difference is that at Hylands we were able to utilise parking on hard standing, didn't have camping to consider and also managed to get the majority of the event village off the field, having said that even then we did still seriously consider calling it off, not as any sort of sleight to anyone's gnarlyness, but simply because if you wish to be welcome on other peoples property its wise to consider the impact of leaving a 6 - 8 kilometre long, 2- 4 metre wide 20cm deep ribbon of mud through it. In the event after discussing the implications with the site management we chose to go ahead, with their blessing, having thoroughly assessed both their and our financial, logistical and moral exposure to risk. To be honest I suspect that afterwards the site operators might, with the benefit of hindsight, have made a different call.
I still can't believe they've used Langdon. Of all the Essex/Suffolk courses to use, they pick that one. Its rubbish!
The reason they chose Langdon was because several of the top folks who rode it at MSG last year, when canvassed, felt that it was a) viable, and b) sufficiently different from other rounds to warrant bringing a round to Essex in Olympic year. I guess the fact that Essex County Council having poured shed loads of dosh into the sport and were really keen to bring a round to their county with a view to establishing themselves as an ongoing MTB XC race venue post Olympics didn't hurt either.
From interest, Tunstall, Danbury, Codham, Thetford, and Hylands were all considered and were found to be either not suitable, not available or too similar to other venues. The hardest part of finding venues is actually suitable parking and arenas, not courses as such, trust me we do spend a lot of time trying to find and secure them, and it isn't anywhere as easy as you might imagine.
Once again really sorry about the weekend if we could have found a way around it we definitely would have.
G
The weather this year has been exceptional. I'm amazed more events haven't been cancelled. I've never seen arenas as muddy as thy have been this year - look at Mayhem. It's annoying to have lost £40 on a hotel room I can't cancel, but it's one of those things. It's the right call.
GB
It's annoying to have lost £40 on a hotel room I can't cancel, but it's one of those things.
Sorry, and thanks for your understanding.
G