Now the dust has settled on what was a fantastic weekend of cycling and raising money for local charities it’s time to sit back and digest exactly how things went from an organisers perspective. Those people that have ridden the event previously and know me (Gary) know that every year I say ‘never again’ yet here were are 12 years (11 events) down the road.
So why do I do this, why do I put myself and my family through the weeks, months of stress, hassle and sleepless nights worrying about something I haven’t been able to ride since 2011? Quite simply because I want to provide like minded individuals with a platform for them to do what they love to do….ride their bikes. Add to that the fact the event has raised over £40,000.00 for local charities it is safe to say it is all worthwhile…….HOWEVER!
This years event wasn’t without it’s own obstacles which the competitors are completely oblivious to…..like the fact the COVID pandemic put stop to the construction of the new 1km ‘Longest Way Round’ trail at the start of 2020; when we could get out and start work we had to undertake an enormous amount of remedial work due to the trail being ridden well before it was finished…..this is where the ‘Trail Polite’ comes from.
Then there’s the fact we were faced with uncertainty as to whether we would be able to run the event due to Government restrictions and the potential of social distancing and how we would get around this. We were also faced with issues of not knowing whether we would receive the number boards in time or the custom jerseys due to BREXIT issues affecting pretty much everything coming in from Europe!
All that said we still managed to pull off quite possibly the best event to date. So that was some of what we had to endure on the run up to the event but the issues would still come and this is where things really put question on the future of the event and the reason for my putting this post up, will I regret it? Maybe, maybe not but it has to be said.
We have tried to learn from previous events and have made small changes to the rules and regulations in an attempt to make it fair and safe for everyone taking part all while trying to keep it fun! Unfortunately the number of complaints that we have received for poor rider conduct has quite honestly been the most we have ever received, some reported during the event (offending riders were spoken to at the earliest opportunity) and others received some time afterwards.
For me, this has left a rather large dark cloud over the whole weekend and all the positive feedback I have read on the various social media channels, E-mails and messages received direct has left me questioning what it is we need to do and whether the event will take place in 2022!
At the time of writing this I am undecided and will need to take some time to revaluate things!
To finish I would like to thank again our title sponsor, Landscape.im (www.landscape.im) and Andy Warner, and associate sponsors, Bikestyle, Contracting Circle, Country Warehouse, JCK and Pooil Vaaish as without their support we would not be able to put the event on. Thank you all so much. Gary