Gunpowder Park Sep 21

[danielwolman]

well i personally had loads of good feedback about the course, from those that had and hadn't ridden GP before.

you'll never be able to please everyone

[EdwinBurden]

well i personally had loads of good feedback about the course, from those that had and hadn't ridden GP before.

you'll never be able to please everyone

Thanks to all who organised- it all seemed pretty slick to me and the course was fine, even though it didn't suit me. From the people I talked (both other GT'ers and a couple of guys new to cross I was with) to I didn't really hear any complaints, only that it was hard with the pace and bumps. Best was the sterling support from marshals all round, as I steadily got slower and slower and slower.

The footpath between the hedges did seem to be made of quicksand however....

[Stuart]

Well it was a Hackney GT rider who descibed the course to me as "boring". But he wasnt in a good mood.

The point about varied courses is a valid one. The beauty of cross is that different courses suit different styles of riding so it rewards all-round ability, not just fitness. But my personal view is that we should ideally have added some more technical features. The U10s loved climbing that bank (those that werent in tears )

[StevenDrew]

Well it was a Hackney GT rider who descibed the course to me as "boring". But he wasnt in a good mood.

I vote Benny!

The U10s loved climbing that bank (those that werent in tears )

One parent asked me when we'd start running U6 races

[KevinCarter]

yep those Hackney GT riders is well grumpy, they've been on a special Finchley RT style training camp.

From my perspective making the u10/12 do the hill was a master stroke, really enlivened the race. Having
ridden round the course I would say the GPx is much more interesting when it's muddy, in the dry it's always
going to difficult to add technical bits - two years ago was fantastic in the gooey mud on basically the same
course - however I was under the impression the the parks auth were not best pleased with the mess that was left ?

K

[andrewnewman]

The park authorities are generally happy to have us and have been very supportive. However, they do have to respond to any disgruntled locals, and that's more likely to happen when the ground is soft and there's superficial (and very temporary damage).

On another note, what was the feedback on the kids' course? I don't really feel that I've done my job unless I've made at least one child cry each year.

[StevenDrew]

I recall two years ago there was some correspondence from disgruntled dog walkers about the state of the park after the mud bath but the LVPA fended them off. The grass was back to normal within six weeks and, personally, I'd find that less of a problem than a woman threatening to encourage her dog to wee on my lunch as I had last week. LVPA seem to feel the same way so chapeau to them.

As for the kids, they seemed to rise to the challenge and were actually enjoying it. One kid came off and hurt his arm (Damian sorted him with this magic sponge) but I didn't see any tears. The rest of 'em lapped it up.

[BruceMackie]

OK, having ridden this year I can say that the course was not boring, requiring a great deal of concentration to try and keep forward momentum. Those complaining of it being a bumpy course probably had too much air in their tyres, a frequent rookie error. Having not raced in the London League for a while, apart from the team Champs last year, I wasn't surprised to be not gridded. It did mean I expended more energy moving up from the back of the grid after the start, rather than holding onto the leaders. By the time it was all shaken out Dougie and Andy had disappeared into the distance & I was with Simon Scarsbrook trying to hang onto his wheel and recover. We were stuck with an annoying gap to Mick Bell which was static, after a couple of laps I felt I could move things on and went through, unfortunately I'd left Simon doing all the work for too long and he couldn't hold my wheel. I closed the gap significantly against Mick who was dragging round a Paragon rider from the V40s, but as I got within a few bike lengths he and Mick started cooperating against me and though he was not that good technically he had a good turn of speed and dragged Mick away from me again and that was where it all ended up. In retrospect I should have ensured I'd taken Simon with me to even up the odds. It was useful to run a race working through the V40 and womens field, as that what has to be done at the Trophy rounds, something which the Eastern League lacks with it's separate races.

[Chris Clague]

Steven and I rode the course today (in both directions) having ridden up the towpath and up into Epping where Steven demonstrated his gymnastic dismounts on 2 occasions. Having purposely inflated my tyres higher for the ride over, then not bothering lowering them I can confirm how brutally bumpy the course was with that setup. Something I hadn't noticed last week when I rode it at a snails pace on my MTB. However it was boring and we have some ideas to freshen up the course design and use a bit less Tarmac next time around.

[Stuart]

some ideas to freshen up the course design

Hold it at Herne Hill?

[Chris Clague]

Only if there's enough course tape