Now that the dust has settled a bit a big thanks to all those that entered and took part in the second running of the Mille Pennines 1000 and congratulations also to those that finished.
This was a 1007 km randonnee through the Pennine chain, spread over 4-days. The first day saw the riders tackle a circuit of the Lake District. Most found the early hiils around Sandside and Grasmere relatively straight-forward but rain set-in for the afternoon making the climbs of Hardknott & Wrynose a dismal affair. Fortunately, all the riders were assured of a warm welcome at the excellent Sedbergh control; a facility that provided the riders with the opportunity to consume some hot food, as well as shower and sleeping facilities. Day 2, a circuit of the northern Pennines, saw riders riding in some decent conditions for once. Day 3 was more or less a circuit of the north Yorks' Moors, including some steep climbs to the west of Robin Hood's Bay.
Overall, the event was a success with 68 riders starting and 43 finishing! The central control at Sedbergh received some favourable comments and I plan to use this facility again in the future. More unforgettable stories were written from the event and many of them have been uploaded onto the event website at:
https://millepenninesaudax.com/volunteer/There'll doubtless be many more! A few accolades from me that I can remember (in no particular order):
For more than half the field this was their first 1000 km audax ride.
4 riders: Ray Robinson; Ian Ryall; Mike Sheldrake and John Sherlock also completed the 2016 edition. They were nicknamed, "The Fab Four".
Ray Robinson & John Barkman both completed the "
999 miles of Rome and the south" event in Italy less than a week before this event began. There might be others that I don't know about!
Tim Woodier became the first rider to complete the event on an ElliptiGO!
Robert Bialek completed the event a week after completing the legendary Pendle 600.
Once again, congratulations to all those that finished the event and commiserations to those that weren't able to finish this year.
Riders travelled from as far as London; Bristol; Scotland; Sweden & Germany for the event and I do hope their time and expense was worthwhile.
Last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank the volunteers that helped make the event a success:
Taunton & Debbie Southwood who helped out at the start at Bispham.
Dean Clementson; Peter Turner; Martin Lucas; Ann Fleck; Andreas Schade and his wife; Jon Richardson; Steve Gee; Caroline Item who all helped out at Sedbergh over the weekend.
I'd also like to thank Andrew Fleck, a rider who is also the headmaster of Sedbergh school for permitting us the use of the facility, particularly at such short notice.
The date for next year's event, the last for at least 2-years, has been provisionally set for the weekend of:
06 - 09 July 2018, subject to approval.
I hope to catch up with some of you all soon at LEL ...
Andy Corless
Organiser
Mille Pennines 1000