Malverns Classic 2024. One word: busy.
Once again I was fortunate and ever thankful for Kona, or to be precise, Mount Green Cycles (the new UK distributor for Kona, there're a safe pair of hands from what I could tell over the weekend - great gang!) for inviting me onto the stand. Like previous years, it's a lot of hard graft, starting on site 09:00 on Thursday, right the way through to close of play Sunday. Erecting the stand, taking it down of course, and the daily routine of unpacking and packing bikes and so on. Before we get on site there's a ton of work the gang do, and for me, that also means getting all the bikes and gear together, thinking about what to display and how it could look.
Thinking back to the event itself compared to 22 and 23, you could see the incremental gains in terms of security and overall organisation. Footfall seemed higher, even with the dodgy weather (more on that later). There looked and sounded to be more events than ever before, with something going on in the main arena almost all of the time.
The stands were pretty full when I managed to get a few minutes to walk around and the vibe was all-round positive. If you've never been then it's well worth a day visit and if you're riding, definitely worth staying longer.
The Misser Replica exceeded all of my expectations in terms of reaction. I'll save the full debrief on that to the build thread, but it was a head-turner (arf arf) all weekend, not least from my favourite moment when Boom Boom made time to come over. Absolute scenes! Also, finally, getting to chat with Doddy was great. My placement in the show and shine next to the pristine ex Jonny T race bike scuppered my chances of making the top 10
@d8mok 's sweet 94 HH with it's bigger more modern cousin
Pip's old HH KK - bless him - I wonder what he would of made of it being here?
An absolute weapon, still being ridden hard today. Check out the rolla-coaster!
Amazing! A brilliant time was had and I met loads of people, putting names to faces, alongside catching up with friends and pals.
Some feedback and musings:
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Weather. It was pretty shite wasn't it? Storm on Thursday night/Friday morning, heavy showers, one afternoon of sun and it didn't warm up much. Ah well!
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Show and shine. Let's go there. Please, please, please, please, please can we have a proper adult conversation about how this is organised and run. There's so many amazing bikes, across such a broad spectrum, a couple of categories or a theme, communicated well in advance, with transparent scoring would encourage even more participation. At the moment it's all cloak and dagger.
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Food options. They were limited compared to last year. If you were a veggie or needed GF, you were going to struggle.
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Evening entertainment. A real mixed bag and it's totally subjective. What I would say is that it was too dance/electronica focused. Even the god-awful covers band (the worst act I've heard in years) did dance music. The reggae band were a welcome respite on our ear-drums. Oh and the MC can get in the bin
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Diversity. This is a proper problem in the sport and hobby we love. I think the event can do much, much more, building on the great work they've already done, especially with the brilliant events and opportunities they have for children. It was great to see more women in Dirtwars for example. We want to see the very best they can do, so a course or set-up that encourages that would be a great move. Also, we're a very white, middle-class bunch aren't we? It doesn't need to be that way.
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Waste management. Yes the site was clear at the end - well done everyone...but where's it all gone? Recycling stations/bins or transparency about where the waste goes, if it's sorted, etc. would be a great development.
I'm looking forward to hearing more from others who attended. How was it for you?