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KTM Capel
Report by Col
We were told very early in the year that the old 200 Capel may not go ahead this year. The few I had ridden in over the past few years were brilliant and I was more than disappointed when I heard the news. Pretz then came to the rescue with the RTRA, re-badged the event and found a new event location close to the old site. The professionalism and effort that had gone into the event was more than evident well before the weekends ride. Signing up online and getting fresh updates emailed through on a regular basis kept us all aware of the progress and changes. Heading into Capel we found signage that a blind man could have followed which lead us to the host farm that was set up like a major world event. (Too bad about all the orange) Of course the Crusty's did get a bit of special attention and we were ushered into our own cordoned off camping area with permission to have a separate camp fire. CQer's started rolling in around 2.00 pm on Saturday afternoon with about 40 of us including a few partners spending the night together, sharing a few drinks, stories and lots of laughs. Many of us took advantage of registration on Saturday arvo and all that was left to do were to get the bikes through the scrutineering on Sunday morning. Once again the set up was spot on and 300 bikes were in the pits in no time ready for the "this is not a race event". With a choice of a classic trail with 5 challenge sections, a novice loop and a special test thrown in at the finish line, there was defiantly something for anyone. I rode both the main classic loops, had a go at a couple of the challenges and tried out the special test at the end of lap two. From what I had heard there were all sorts of variations to that. One of the real novices named Evan managed two loops of the novice section and was pretty happy with his efforts where as guys like JC did the main loops, all the challenges and tore up the special test a few times. I am sure a few of the other boys also did the full Monty. There was a great combination of surfaces and trail types to ride on. There were fast sandy trails, slippery mud sections and tight technical goat trails littered with rocks and small logs. I myself had an off on a slippery section but there were plenty of others in contention for the SOTD award. Steve had a good off in front of Pete and took some skin of the arms, JC came down hard and knocked himself a bit silly for a few minutes (no smart comments thanks) but the award ended up with Brett who ignored a skull and cross bone sign which resulted in a trashed helmet and and a big scare. Good onya old fellow. Well done to the Crustys who helped out on the day and made our day so enjoyable. There were some checking bikes, others riding sweep and some just walking around looking important with a clip board in hand. (Tiger). The behind the scene work that goes into an event like this must be huge. Pretz you have picked up a well deserved ROTD award for putting together such a top event. I hope the Capel stays an annual event although you may just have to allow for 500 riders next year.          |
