Merthyr Results

[telecat]

The Results from both days have now been posted on the Yeadon-Guiseley Website. My Apologies for the format but that's how they were supplied.

You can't see how bad the course was in this format unfortunately. Still I can say that the section descriptions in TMX were badly flawed. The Rain had been intermittant but very heavy making the banks soft and slippy.

The first section for example was new for this year and how both Jack Shepard and Richard Sadler escaped without wrist injuries I don't know. The slither down the banking to a 3 to four foot vertical drop onto a rocky stream bed was dangerous. Especially when the boulder in the bottom was taken into account. The observer on the section was also concerned that riders would go over the handlebars.

Section 2 was last years section 1. Basically a large outlet pipe awaited once you were up the drainage channel. Only three riders made it last year which you thought should have told the C 0f C something about the section. This year most did the same as the rear wheel found no purchase if you landed on the sump leaving most riders either falling back or pushing like mad to a five as they "went backwards" or hit the marker tape/flags.

Section 3 was supposedly "easy", (C of C's words), Most riders again failed it on their first lap.

Section 4 was a goodish and passable section.

Section 5 required the riders to ride up a steep bank. I believe the idea was to get to the mid point stop and turn to jump over a fallen tree. With the conditions the only way over was to go right at it at speed and jump. Jack Shepard managed it but failed when the section took the riders to the bottom of the bank and required them to get back up to the top again. This was the section that was eased on the next lap.

I could continue but you get the idea. Most riders "managed" their rides to finish as cleans would be at a premium.

Most of these sections had been used the previous year when it had been drier and had been pretty hard then. The Heavy rain turned them into a minefield.

A fellow "Sponsor" was involved in a discussion with many of the observers at the end where they expressed concern about the sections and whether they would get a Youth round again. Even If they did would any but the top riders bother turning up?

As a youth rider said Without the other riders there is no event.