Moving On...

Much has happen since a week last Monday and it now feels like an awfully long time.

The ‘Open5’ at Blanchland was a great day out in a beautiful undiscovered part of the Northern Pennines, and was well worth the effort to get there. James and Lisa, ably assisted by Jim, Andy, Ian et al do a great job of providing a quality event accessible to a wide range of abilities.
James and Lisa’s events are both ‘beginner friendly’ and yet provide a tough day out for the elite, with fierce competition at ‘the sharp end’. If you haven’t sampled one of their events then do so. http://www.openadventure.com/ Don’t be intimidated by the five hour time limit, it soon rushes by when you break it down in to a couple of hours each of MTB and ‘run’ (top tip – just walk quickly and navigate effectively!) Prep and transition time eats into the five hours too.

‘Wilko’ Wilkinson competed solo and raced to second place with a very proficient performance. This proves that she is a strong and very competitive athlete who can navigate and doesn’t need John Allen or myself to lead the way. It was the first event in a series of five so I wonder how it will pan out for all of us.

Last night I took part in a local MTB Night-O, another excellently staged event by a group of hard working volunteers with minimal support. I don’t actually remember doing a pure MTB Night-O ever before, consequently, the frantic 1:45 hr event had me hurtling about feeling a bit if a Numpty as I overcame ‘big event’ complacency, and the various associated night time factors.

An early ride front wheel slide shook my pride somewhat, but eventually I ‘got my ar*e in gear’ to quote one old colleague, and a new ‘sexy’ Petzl Ultra was very useful, too. I just need to take the racing slicks off my bike wheels now. People often ask me what items of gear I would recommend and I’m often hesitant as I don’t wish to pander to commercialism, and belive you have to experiemnt for yourself especially with clothing, but the new Ultra is well worth the money if you are into multi-sport adventure racing.

What these both events had in common is that neither attracted media attention despite us buzzing around either side of the A591 and across bridleways via farmsteads in the dark, or on the prime shooting ground of the Blanchland Estates. These ‘stakeholders’ wanted us there, unlike some involved in the OMM farce. Both the Sun Inn at Bassenthwaite and the people of Blanchland were very accommodating. If you fancy a quiet, or indeed romantic weekend away try The Lord Crewe Arms at Blanchland – a bit quirky, perhaps, but great. Ironically, neither The Lord Crewe or The Sun Inn don’t spring up with websites via search engines.

The media storm that was the OMM has gone, but what is happening is a new wave of investigative journalism – those who want to know why the panic buttons were pushed and by whom, and also why people want to do such events in the first place. There could be interesting articles and TV to be seen, soon, and there is no such thing as bad publicity, apparently.

Finally, looking ahead, the Open5 series will keep me busy for the winter racing season, especially if I do 'get my ar*e in gear' and do some training! My recent revelation is that I’ve got in the habit of swimming indoors – bit of a first for me…. only used to a Lake called Ullswater.

Keep safe - have fun

Ps – Scoob is to be repaired ….