Lost again? Don’t diss the organisers
I am not really one for organised rides – at least, that’s what I keep telling myself. Taking part in an organised rides makes things easy, you would think – someone else does the organising, you just have to organise your life so that you get fit, and get to the start on time. I have been on a few – London to Brighton, Tour of Flanders, a couple of mtb rides in Wales and, of course, the Cape Epic, twice. Getting organised for those two Epics probably consumed a lifetime’s supply of organisation in my life of dissolution, I mean, disarray, so I should probably give it up now. But I am a sucker for always giving it one more go.
For about 15 years A.J. and I have been threatening to do the Polaris Challenge, a two-day mountain-bike orienteering event. Finally we ran out of excuses and early this year I sent off our entery. The event takes place this weekend, in the Peak District, and I hope that we are more successful than my previous two-day orienteering expedition, the Karrimor mountain marathon in 2000. Then a colleague and I entered the event believing that we could conquer the Lake District in a squally, misty October with nothing more than a map, compass and high spirits. Well, for us the two-day event lasted but a day and we returned, sodden and sullen, to beat a hasty retreat, well beaten by the weather, the mountains, and our inablilty to navigate our way from A to B without somehow landing up at X. I shall let you know how we get on in the Polaris if we find our way back home again.
Of course, there are many other organised events for the disorganised. The British Heart Foundation hosts a host of rides all over the country, on-road and off-road. And if you’re feeling particularly posh, you can take on the Palace to Palace, a 45-mile ride from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle on September 26 in aid of the Prince’s Trust. But whatever you do, organised or otherwise, just get out and ride.