The day started at 5.30am when my alarm went off. After a RedBull and a bathroom break, I headed to Gid's place, where I had stowed my bike and gear the day before. We loaded the bikes onto his trailer, strapped them down and set off around 6.30am. The sun was already starting to come up, and we realised that the clocks had gone forward the previous night. One hours less sleep along with the early start explains the yawns!
We got to Royal Cornwall Showground around 7.30 and after driving round most of the showground, we spotted some other bikes and discovered where we were meant to park up. Unloaded the bikes and got changed, as if on cue Ian turned up. We chatted for a bit with the other riders to find out what we actually had to do and it turns out our job was pretty simple. We had to ride the course before the horses go out and make sure the markers were present, clearly visible and easy to follow.
Right, off lead Ian, followed by me, Gid and Neil. First lane, very muddy and slippery. I of course hated that lane. Onto the next bit of the route and what followed was about 20 miles of fire track and other such nice lanes. I took over leading to test the simplicity of following the orange markers. If I can follow them and not take a wrong turn, then surely the horse riders can!
Back to the carpark for a lovely free lunch (thanks EGBSW!) a bit of a chat and we headed out again, to make sure all the markers were still in place and all the riders were safe and enjoying themselves. A fair number of horses out and about this time, we had to ride slow and be courteous, as we normally are on byways. Most were happy to move aside as they knew we were there helping them.
Neil suffered a flat tyre on the ride back to base, luckily we were only 5-10 mins from the carpark, so a bit of air was put into the tyre and the bike was carefully riden back to base. Ian and some of the other guys kindly went around and collected all the flags and markers in from the course, whilst Neil, Gid and I loaded our bikes and headed home.
It was an awesome day riding an area that us bikers are not usually allowed to ride. A big thank you to Jeff for organising and to Ian for showing us what to do!
