Email received from Niall Davis below, safe to say tomorrows spin is back to Djouice me thinks
We are pleading with competitors to avoid Carrick until next weekend for two reasons.
Track Conditions: There is rain forecast for the next week and the tracks are cutting up badly already with the number of riders using them. A lot of work went into the trails over the past month to bring them out of their winter slop and the last thing we want is to be pushing our bikes during the stages next weekend. This message doesn't apply to local riders who have been riding there for years and have nothing to do with the event. But if you are competing please save the trails until next weekend.
Other forest users: Concerns have been raised by local horse riders who are finding it difficult to cope with the high volume of mountain bikers in Carrick in the run up to this event. Now, the first thing they mentioned was that 99% of bikers they meet are really polite and friendly. Please be careful crossing fire-roads at high speed. If you encounter a group of horses please stop and pull into the side of the trail. It also helps to keep chatting so that the horses don't get spooked.
If we want to keep using venues like Carrick we must work with the other local forest users. The horse riders have a permit to use the trails all year round and we must remember we only have a permit for the race weekend. This leaves us in a very vulnerable position, if one phone call is made to the powers to be the event could be in jeopardy.
I know this is disappointing news, especially for those who planned on travelling up to ride Carrick over the coming week, but it lets save it for next weekend.
Kind Regards,
Niall Davis
