With the dust now settling I'd like to thank all those who entered and took part in the inaugural
Inverness 1200 km Audax event that took place last weekend, and congratulations to the 24 successful riders.
This was a 1229 km route, ran over the weekend of
05 - 09 July 2019.
After a rapid start through the Lancashire Fylde, the riders headed north up the A6 into Scotland; passing through Dumfries & Galloway before cutting across South Lanarkshire to a control at Paisley at about 320 km.
Day 2, after crossing the Erskine Bridge, would see the riders heading into the Highlands with a climb over "
Rest and be Thankful" on the way to Oban. A main-road run following the A82 followed, offering most riders spectacular views of Ben Nevis and the Great Glen!
The return leg cut out Oban and instead sent the riders from Glen Coe over Rannoch Moor, most of which the riders surprisingly enjoyed, before returning to Paisley.
The final 300+ km was essentially a reverse of the first stage.
Overall, I think the event was a success. The only issue was the control at Paisley; part of which had been sold off only the week previously preventing us from using some of the facilities (most unhelpful)! There were no reportable accidents.
I'd especially like to thank all the helpers at both Paisley and Lytham who put in 101% effort to make the event a success, and without whose help the event would not have been possible including: Helen & Geoff Pearce who helped out at Paisley and Andy Willis who helped out at Lytham.
Once again, congratulations to the 24 successful riders and commiserations to those that didn't make it this time. It's better to try and fail than to not try at all!
Many riders have posted photos and ride reports on Facebook and some of the links are attached below:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/audaxuk/Riders travelled from as far as Wales; Scotland; London; Devon; Ireland; Netherlands; Germany; USA and Japan in order to participate.
The event will next run in
2021, probably over the weekend of
02 - 06 July and will see some tweaks to the route.
Andy Corless
Organiser
Inverness 1200