Planning from Wootton was a very pleasurable experience. I went and checked all the trails plus some close by that did not make it onto the final map. There are none that were impassible but quite a few where riding down was a lot more pleasurable than going up! Having decided what area I wanted on the map I had a bit of a software fight getting things into a format I could work with and then annotating the trails. I wanted to red cross all the none permitted routes as when riding myself I now find that I struggle to distinguish the bridleways from the footpaths, especially if they are down a narrow lane as well. I also took on the small circle for none visible on the ground and the dash across the trail for slow going which is normal on the North Yorkshire MBO maps and I find useful.

Planning wise I wanted to try and split people between heading north and south. North has the trickier navigation and the steeper climbs but I was fairly kind with the placements above Dursley so as not to force you up and down as much as I could of. Heading south the trails are more obvious so the navigation simpler. The climes are also not quite as steep and are nice and scenic in general.

On the day the weather was glorious which of course always helps. Things got a bit busy as everyone was sent out and then went quiet for 2 hours. When people started coming in all the comments were good and people looked to of enjoyed themselves even those that had crossed paths with the Naked Rambler. Ian Cartwright just about took the honors from Michael Rackham. He should have been a bit further clear but crossing paths with a convoy of 32 tractors was not a good thing.

We will probably look to do 3 events next year. Somewhere similar to this map for sure as well as something south in the Mendips and somewhere in between if I can go and find some good trails between the lanes.

Ifor Powell (Planner)

Not too much to add over and beyond what Ifor has already said. The scout hut and campsite made for a great venue with plenty of space for parking and the glorious weather made the organising job very easy. Everything beforehand and in the day went smoothly. I even found the admin on the BMBO website easy to deal with, given this was the first event I had organised for them.

It was great to have such a good entry and plenty of new faces who all seemed to enjoy their rides and many smiling faces at the end, despite the hills and the cakes went down well.

So thank you for coming along and hope we see you all at our three events we have already started to give some thought to for, next year or other events organised by others.

Paul Gebbett (Organiser)