Yep. Great venue for it - some of the best dirt I can recall riding on. The weather was overcast/light drizzle all day, so the ground was damp, but apart from the grassy bits, it was more grippy than slippery.
The fastest lap I heard of was apparently 14 minutes (remember, not a competition, no results published etc). My fastest "timed" lap was 19 minutes (on the CT1), but it included an Experts diversion and a fall. I reckon I could do an 18 minute lap without risking life or limb on the DT, but the clocks were taken out of the rain after only a few laps.
There were two blokes on twin shock PEs and their mate on an IT-K who seemed to be the gun riders of the day (along with GB, of course).
In addition to Tex's description, the grassy bits were littered with downhill corners that I really struggled with... On the DR, I pulled a reasonably agressive race-pass on Tex, and then on the next corner I locked up the rear and stalled - I thought "I'll just roll straight down the hill (off the track) and clutch start it"... but there was no way I was going to get the rear wheel turning on that wet grass... Meanwhile Tex is up on the track, waiting and laughing...
There were also some 'expert' only diversions. One of these diversions added about 5 minutes to the loop, but seemed to get minimal traffic - there was still leaf litter and stuff covering most of the track at the end of the day. Another expert diversion added maybe 5 metres compared to the 'easy' option, but it quickly developed a great little berm on this uphill left hander that meant that even spodes like me could rail it and feel like a legend.
The 'easy' course was still not novice friendly. The wife managed about one third of one lap before spitting the dummy... At the time, I was a bit annoyed at her, but after she short-cut back to the pits and I finished my first lap, I realised she'd done the right thing.
This was annoying because we'd specifically asked whether the course was rideable for a novice.... She still went home with a smile on her dial (did I mention the great people and great atmosphere?), but it did put a pretty big dampener on something she'd really been looking foward to. If she'd somehow made it to the near vertical drop-off near the end of the lap, I reckon she would have sworn off bikes forever and walked back to the pits...
This is easily my biggest (and only) criticism of the event - for many of the riders and some of the bikes it attracted, the course was far too hard.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not talking about killer hills or bottomless bogs or anything: A competent rider would have little trouble completing the lap, but it was still quite hard work - consistant tight single-track, punctuated by slippery paddocks on steepish hills, doesn't give much chance for a breather.
Virtually everbody that I spoke to would have greatly preferred an easier, more open course. Everything about the day was welcoming and inclusive of all eligible bikes and riders, except the one bit that was impossible to avoid/ignore.
Personally, I would have had just as much fun on a simple, fire-road based course, with a few tricky optional bits thrown in.
I'll be back for the next one, don't worry about that - but it the "easy" courses are kept this difficult, then I reckon a great opportunity to for riders to enjoy old bikes away from the pressures of competition will be wasted. If there's a significant demand for hard stuff and proper competition, then Vinduro can grow to fill that void - but until then...
(Anna has just read this and made it clear that she won't be back for the next one - at least not as a rider).
