The 2018 Black Mountains League got off to a cracking start on Sunday with over 50 riders descending on Gilwern to take part. The feared frost and snowfall didn’t materialise and we were fortunate that it passed through on the northern side of the mountains above Hay. That said the ground was pretty slippery and descending especially on the grass and through the leaves was quite sketchy.

This year I decided to use both sides of the river and send riders both onto the Sugar Loaf and up to Llangattock escarpment to incorporate a recently reclaimed bridleway. This along with the weather conditions would hopefully make a course clearance impossible, Back to the drawing-board again eh Ifor!

We had a good mix of abilities take part and it was great to welcome some new faces, it was especially nice to have 5 Generation teams take part. The honours in this ride-off went to Lisa & Adam Methven who scored a excellent 299 points and more importantly beat the other half of the family. Also a quick mention for Torin Stephens who managed his first full non-Uber event with Kate, doing the recommended 1-9 route up the canal and back down the other side of the valley. (We won’t mention CP23 eh Fraser)

The overall winner was Ifor Powell (M40), who got the maximum 500 points on offer, followed by notable performances from Mark Rowley 458 (M50) and Richard Haynes 457 (M50).

The other class winners were, X50 Lisa Welbourn & Bryan Elson 310, W21 Clare Howes 300, W40 Jackie Lee 390, W50 Nicky Griffin 350, W60 Gill Stott 315, M21 James Brown 355, & M60 Mike Manning 380

Many thanks to everyone who stayed behind to congratulate the League WINNERS and enjoy a cup of warming soup and hot drinks provided by Amanda and Verda, brilliant as ever.

We collect £111 and the donation will be passed to local bridleway specific trail maintenance, we have used this influence to get new gates fitted above Mitchel Troy and will continue to identify areas of improvement in the areas we regularly use.

Thanks also to, Chris, Lisa, John, Mark, Richard and Hanneke for collecting in the majority of the controls, leaving me just to pick up the remaining ones on a pleasant ride over the Sugar Loaf on Monday morning. Thank you also to Ian Kennett for allowing us to use the centre it’s a great facility and Amanda loves the dish washer.

Have a great Christmas and see you on Sunday 14 January 2018 in the Forest of Dean as we launch our exciting new Small Area Format (SAT) events for the winter season.

It’s been a fantastic year!

Siôn and the Black Mountains Planning Team