Easter gets the cold shoulder
By TMX Archives on 5th Apr 13
The Easter weekend: cue images ofchildren in shorts and t-shirts running wild in the spring sunshine, lambs gambolling in green meadows and sporting events of all kinds even motorcycling playing to vast crowds swigging cold drinks to wash down sick-making amounts of chocolate egg.
Well, I've been out and about a bit at the weekend – before manning the TMX pumps again on Bank Holiday Monday – and I have to say that sadly I didn't see anything like that.
Sorry to say it is all becoming a bit Groundhog Day, with every weekend resounding to the cancellation of events that have never been called off in the previous 100 years.
And I've lost count of the number of reports of events that have taken place beginning with a weather report and the ‘bitterly cold' keys on my keyboard have collapsed with overuse.
Yet I still feel we shouldn't be surprised at the weather. I can (being of a great age) remember lots of times when there has been snow at Easter – although the freezing winds were certainly absent.
And it is the cold weather that has done most damage on the farms in our part of the world, as even those that remain snow free just don't have any grazing for the beasts.
It has simply been too cold for the grass, or anything else for that matter, to grow.
Having seen the disastrous start to the Maxxis British MX champs I do feel that we have seen the end of the February/ early March dates which had effectively been forced onto us by Youthstream starting the World Champs so early in the season.
Yes, I've covered this before, but I've since researched a little more and I just don't see anyone wishing to risk a fortune trying to stage a round that, at best, can't ever have better than a 50/50 chance of running.
If you get away with it fine, but then, like FatCat, and the Hawkstone International before it, comes the hit and it is a case of once bitten, twice shy.
Why on earth would you?
What everyone wants, and that includes riders, spectators and yes, organisers, is to see cracking racing on a well-prepped course populated with thousands of fans basking in the sunshine.
Yes, this is being idealistic, but you tell me if that is ever going to happen in the early months of the year.
So far we have seen mudbaths and cancellations – which is more or less what was predicted.
But, with the clocks now optimistically set on BST, we've got the rest of the year to look forward to and there's a jam-packed calendar to look forward to and we'll all pick and choose whichever events we fancy to ride in or spectate at.
Here's to the summer...
