Mud Sweat & Gears 2014

evo3ben

Dates are out! They are provisional and subject to change if need be but something to get started on for next year
Some of the venues are the same as this year but also a couple of new ones which are TBC!

16th March
13th April
18th May - Regional Champs
8th June - Ickworth House
29th June
3rd August
7th September
28th September

bigdawg

no hadleigh this year and codham is a national so that doesnt count either..

Matt did tell me where the new venues are too, but I've forgotten!

Hopefully Ill get a bike sorted before the first races..!

evo3ben

Tunstall and Thetford will prob be on there. Regionals at Thetford same as this year maybe.

WindyG

It won't be Tunstall, MSG has outgrown the venue, G wasn't happy with going back there again, parking was tight but I think it was down to the overall site being too small.

berm bandit

Hi Campers,

We are currently negotiating venues. So nothing is yet ruled in or out.

Pretty likely to be in are: Langdon, Thetford, Ickworth,
Pretty likely to be out are: Hadleigh (being redeveloped), Secret Nuclear Bunker (not available), Hinchingbrooke Park (parking problems) and Codham (which is being used for the Nationals this year). So obviously we are looking at some new opportunities.

Tunstall is also a problem due to A) Venue size, Legislation regarding bird nesting season (basically 1st March until 30th September), C) Other issues regarding site usage. It does not mean we won't use it, but we would rather find somewhere with less issues for us to resolve if we can. Givne the fact that we are looking at a lot of changes this year we have provisionally booked it just in case.

But I repeat nothing is either ruled in or out as yet.

There you go, direct from the horse.

:-)

evo3ben

Nice one Graham Look forward to seeing the final list 8)

IhateDNS

Codham Park out or in ?
thanks

bigdawg

Codham is part of the nationals this year - so not part of mud sweat & gears, but if you have a licence you can obviously race there.

WindyG

Shame if Codham is out I really enjoyed it there and it fitted nicely between Tunstall and Thetford

bigdawg

i love codham - amazing course (but absolutely despise it when its wet!)

WindyG

bigdawg wrote:

i love codham - amazing course (but absolutely despise it when its wet!)

I can imagine that embankment drop and the climbs on the grass a struggle.

grony

I think it would be a real shame if Tunstall didn't feature, I understand concerns about lack of a large open space, but the trails are superb. It was a shame last year's was slightly spoiled by loads of rain in the week leading up to the event. I rode the course a few weeks later and once dried out it was superb.

WindyG

I liked Tunstall and enjoyed the mud even if it did seem to be at some very odd places like at the top of that hill on the flat.

berm bandit

Like I say FC venues are problematical during the summer months, which I guess is why Thetford MTB Racing focus mainly on winter events. Large tracts of land become unusable because the lesser spotted krelm warbler or similar decides to drop in, and that lasts from 1st of March to 30th September. For example, last year at Thetford I had to bin our original plans to use Mayday Meadow and do a rapid decamp to BCP for prescisely this reason. On top of that there are only two viable arena venues at Tunstall. We proved last year that Fire Road 22 is no longer sufficient, so that only leaves Fire Road 30, which is not ideal either, especially since the local lot have decided to way mark trails, so now its doubly difficult to organise a route that doesn't encroach onto the waymarked stuff, especially in the FR 30 corner of the forest where the options are very limited.

There is another potential venue at Rendlesham, but thats VERY risky, as shortly before we run there will by motorcycle Enduros held there and they can easily turn the whole area into a mudfest. So overall, from my perspective I'd prefer not to go there.

I have however made a provisional booking with the FC as a just in case fallback venue, so who knows..... we do however have other irons in fires elsewhere!!

pilch

Just when you're having fun.... there's always one bustard that'll spoil it for everyone

bigdawg

G have you got either of the September dates / venues finalised ??

Only reason I ask is that whipstakes are trying to get their weekends organised and are trying not to clash with you guys

berm bandit

Dates are pretty firm, venues less so. Currently we have Langdon down for series finale, but currently having some issues over venues as we are likely to lose Tunstall, Codham, Secret Nuclear Bunker, Hinchingbrooke and Hadleigh, so as you can imagine 5 new venues do take some finding.

(Tunstall and Hinchingbrooke = Site limitations, SNB and Hadleigh = Not Available, and Codham is beiung used for the Nationals.... before you ask ;-) )

bigdawg

Cheers G - i did suspect langdon was going to be the last one

Ill let them know

berm bandit

just to be clear thats current best info, but it is potantially subject to alteration as things evolve.

bigdawg

thats exactly what I was after - being just he other side of the river they obviously dont want to clash with MS&Gs and knowing when Langdon was pencilled in was helpful

Is it sad that Im looking forward to Langdon already!?!?

evo3ben

Lastest update

16th March - Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk
13th April - Carver Barracks, Essex
18th May - Codham Park, Essex - Regional Champs
8th June - Ickworth House, Suffolk
29th June - TBC
3rd August - Thetford Forest, Norfolk
7th September - TBC
28th September - Langdon Hills, Essex

bigdawg

does that mean two trips to codham this year??

Rendlesham I quite like - just watch out for the UFOs, the new barracks is close, liking it so far

WindyG

Never been to Rendlesham I assume it is pretty much the same as Tunstall/Thetford?
Good to see Codham is back again

bigdawg

from memory rendlesham was pretty flat but drained really well so a good choice for an early venue

berm bandit

Flat, but has the mother of all pits..... :-)

bigdawg

ah now I remember - someone tried to undertake me into one of the pits, I held my ground and he kind of made it to the bottom sans bike..!

berm bandit

Wouldn't have recommended it as an ideal overtake, generally I've found it to be a "controlled" fall in and hope scenario more than anything :shock:

grony

G, Is it likely to be same format as last year? ie 1 hour AM, 2 hour PM.

berm bandit

Probably, we have some format changes to work through with the U12's but I can't see us squeezing sufficient additional time out of it to make changes to the avo schedule currently. Even if we did I think I'd prefer to use it to allow a longer practice session for the senior riders rather than bring start time back.

anet367

Interesting to see that there is an MSG the day after the Thetford Summer Enduro - good planning !!! Shame as people will only do one or the other, thus affecting entry numbers.

pilch

anet367 wrote:

Interesting to see that there is an MSG the day after the Thetford Summer Enduro - good planning !!! Shame as people will only do one or the other, thus affecting entry numbers.

Thats a bit harsh! what with all the nationals and multitudes of other events on during the summer, restricted dates and various other limiting factors I dont think its possible to please all of the people all of the time... they dont do a bad job considering :roll: