Thanks to everyone who turned up at Staveley on the 4th June. What a lovely bunch of people you are. We had 35 riders, 3 snapped chains, one terminal puncture, several “good Samaritans” and thankfully zero kamikaze sheep attacks.

This was my first time as a planner, and Tony has asked me to write a bit about that experience. I think he is hoping I will encourage more of you to be brave and give route planning a try :) So here goes!

I agreed to plan the Staveley course back in February. I was quite nervous, head full dark imaginings. What if my map was wrong and no-one could find my controls? What if it was “boring”…. people went missing ….farmers had shotguns and Tom Gibbs completed the course in <1 hour? I needn’t have worried. There was lots of patient and kind guidance right the way through.

I was initially supplied with an OS Base Map and encouraged to start with some desktop planning (a pleasant way to spend dark February evenings). Once I had a general outline of the right sort of distance (thank you Tony for talking me out of that initial 80 mile route!) I had five test ride visits, got to know the area better and enjoyed becoming weirdly obsessed with fingerposts.

I experimented with different ways to draw the control circles on top of the base map (started with Microsoft Word, tried Paint, settled on PhotoShop in the end). I modified the existing Risk Assessment template to fit the Staveley event, so we had insurance cover. By 25th May the final map was ready and I felt quite euphoric when it went off to the printers.

On the Saturday 3rd Tony and Angela helped me put the controls out (which took us 2- 3 hours per person). On the “Big Day” itself I arrived at Wheelbase to find the Start / Finish site pretty much already set up. Tony looked after the computer stuff and all I had to do was hand out maps as the riders set off, then enjoy listening to your tales of adventure as you arrived back.

It was lovely to hear how much you had enjoyed the ride; it made the effort worthwhile. It meant a lot to see you all return safe and (generally) happy. Commiserations to the three unlucky riders who had to retire with mechanicals. I admire your stoicism.

Overall: Being a planner was a quite a bit of work, but also very enjoyable. I’m glad I did it. I learnt a lot, developed new skills, got to know some lovely people, and of course none of my initial dark imaginings came true (which is in itself a useful life lesson). If you are yourself tempted to give event planning a go then I say be brave and go for it. I think you’ll be glad you did :) You will be well supported. Why don't you mention it to Tony next time you see him?

Thank you to Angela, Tony, Ray and Tom for helping me collect the controls in after the event and to all you riders for making the day a success.