White Stones and Heart of Darkness – Womens TT

White Stones and Heart of Darkness - Womens TT on Sun 26th Jul 2020

I've been keen to arrange a race out onto Bleaklow for a while. But I also wanted to ensure that it had some running in it and not all trashing through the vegetation (controversial though that may be). The TT presented the perfect opportunity. The first two thirds provided a pretty substantial amount of running - if only you could stay on the trods. There was a sting in the tail though, with the Westend and Alport valleys to cross. These provided both tough climbs and a fairly substantial amount of vegetation. As expected when the course was set, the vegetation was the primary factor in determining route choice for many. Whilst this was quite a long outing, in comparison to many club races, the 'when you like' format was hoped to provide sufficient flexibility for as many as possible to get on the course. The weather was predominately good for the week. Tom P did manage to find a window of grotty weather to perform in and was pleased that the Summer Series had taken him to White Stones a few days before, to gain familiarity. The women's field was disappointing under represented. I need to take suggestions and guidance on what can be done to make club races more roundly appealing. The reports that I have received with the results have been overwhelmingly positive about the route and the enjoyment in the endeavour. The TT series is throwing up a number of new routes that will have to vie for space in the calendar next year.