Feeling Lucky?

Firstly thank you to everyone who came and braved the weather on Saturday ... I hope Sunday and today made up for it. So, the raffle winners were:

167 John Large

119 Paul Crone

465 Alex Baker

137 Duncan Mellor

42 John Talbot

459 Owen

48 John Talbot

400 Amy

423Nick Gilling

251 Thom Bostock

277 Paul Pomfret

191 John Platt

411 Amy

393 Geoff Lever

303 Kev C

356 Dave Adamson

350 John Moore

432 Nick Gilling

309 Paul Leach

32 Taylor

69 Jamie Talbot

302 Kev C

There we go, some folk won more than once but that's the luck of the draw. If you're names down but had to leave before the draw we'll get your prizes in the post this week.

and so it begins (nearly).

Well, it's nearly time for the 2010 WRT ... soon come round hasn't it. To those people who entered but for one reason or another aren't able to come, take a little consolation in the fact that you've still helped a very worthy cause. For all those who are coming remember to enjoy yourselves, you'll be riding through some fantastic country, be a shame to miss it with your head down and arse up!

See you all on Saturday and keep praying to the weather gods.

Not long now then

Well, in 2 weeks time it'll all be over. Hundreds of miles ridden, numerous stories to tell and a few hundred quid raised for a good cause ... I'm hoping for a tiny amount of sunburn too. There seems to be a few people concerned about their routes or lack of route. If anyone has got any real concerns feel free to get in touch and I should be able to put your mind at rest ... this can not be thought of as cheating as you can only cheat in a race. Remember there will be parts on everyones routes that are a bit of a slog, push, drag or perhaps even carry but it's all part of it. So, if the route you've planned looks like some kind of death march into the unknown ... don't worry you won't be marching alone!

Route planning.

If anyone is still planning their route and doesn't spend much time on the Singletrack forum then you might like this. www.bikehike.co.uk allows you to plot routes on your computer amongst other things. I'll not pretend to fully understand everything the site is capable of as I'm much more a map and compass type fella but it would seem to be proving quite useful. There's a WRT thread running over on STW at present which should shed some more light on bikehike and other useful sites, you can find it be going here ... http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/welsh-ride-thing

Bothies.

I'm sure most people will have noticed that some of this years grid references pass close by bothies. They tend to be interesting places in great locations ... which is the main reason they're on the list. That doesn't mean that you can't use the odd one though.

If you are planning on staying in any bothies then (in my opinion) I think it's only reasonable to give something back to there upkeep. You can do this by joining the MBA who look after most of the bothies in the UK (there is a bothy on the list which isn't looked after by the MBA). It doesn't cost a lot to join and besides helping maintain these fantastic places you'll also get a magazine 6 times a year which is really very good.

If you've never been to a bothy then it would be well worth taking a trip to the MBA website http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/  and have a look at the bothy code. Most of it is common sense / good manners but it won't do any harm to look.

Wanted - Geoff Lever and Alison Mitchlemore.

Well it would seem that everyone has got their grid references apart from a couple who's emails keep getting bounced back. The people in question are, Alison Mitchlemore and Geoff Lever. If anyone knows them can you either give them a copy of the pdf or ask them to email me with an email address that works ... ta.