EDINBURGH WEEKEND 30th/31st JANUARY 2010

[andy]

Old town streets at the moment are mostly ok, there's odd bit of ice but it's easily seen on the ground, there is no 'black ice' per se. Lots of slush though... Hopefully it'll be gone by the end of the month!

[Kitch]

i hope no-one will even consider cancelling/postponing the event -

Nerer the time and if we are still experiencing Baltic conditions they will have to.

The thing is "I compete at my own risk " discalimers are worthless. Any organiser is still required to make responsible decisions based on evident risks.
For a city race this needs to consider not only the competitor but the general public.
So if you go skating into granny MacTavish, out walking her poodle down the Cannongate and she breaks her hip then its a bit of a problem. Mrs MacTavish is a sharp old bird with an eye for an opportunity and she'll spot the opportunity to sue your arse off, but that will probably end up at he organisers door.
You don't even have to make contact with someone in these conditins for some of them to lose balance and fall
I wouldn't run a race around the streets as they are now.

Don't be pressurising the organisers.
If it can't happen then you have to accept it.
If you've booked travel then come, enjoy the city and run the chasing sprint on Sunday, which being on Arthurs Seat shouldn't have ice problems, and will be a cracking race whatever the conditions.

[Big Jon]

If the race goes ahead dobbs will likely be the shoe of choice - good grip on ice! - and a chance to avoid the Grannies

[graeme]

As kitch says, the busy closes of the Old Town are probably the highest risk areas in the UK for racing in ice.

But there are 5-6 areas in Edinburgh where you could put on a great event in the snow, and a lot of competent people live within walking distance of them. Some of them are golf courses, and never used except for the odd night-O. Many are publically owned such that, under the land reform act, access even at short notice is straightforward.

In the very, very unlikely event of the Old Town being unusable, I'm confident that a back-up event could be arranged at short notice. I think this would be preferable to postponing.
If I wasn't planning Sunday, I'd commit to doing this myself...

Looking forward to the Meadows intervals tonight ... in dobbs of course!

[awk]

Don't be pressurising the organisers.
If it can't happen then you have to accept it.

Exactly! Organisers are probably the people least wanting to cancel or postpone any event. Any aggro for an entrant is multiplied several times from the organisers' perspective. They are also the people in the best position to make that decision, being the only ones with sufficient overview of the event. Leave them be, and let them do what they see as the best thing, whatever that is.

We're looking forward to the event, but will take any decision as it comes. There's still a few weeks to go!

[Mrs H]

..and of course there's always the ceilidh

Awk, Madmike, Wendles - where are you lot staying? We are at the shandwick Place Travel Lodge
(always assuming we can dig ourselves out of the house by then )

[madmike]

Inverleith hotel next to Botanic Gardens Mrs H. The good news is we are moving office over that weekend so I've been ordered to take the monday off as well so they can finish moving all the IT and stuff

[Becks]

My Mum's only staying on Friday, and will be in Chesney Towers on Castle Terrace. (My boyfriend's flat, which was previously rented oyt by Chesney Hawkes over the festival. Bizarre, but true.)

[jjjl]

As Graeme says, if the streets are really to dodgy to be running around on the saturday, there are numerous possibilities within walking and bus distance of the city centre to organise another event on (Blackford, Corstophine, Craiglockhart etc.) so there will definitely be something happening.

About Dynamic Earth qs - Its free access to the public for toilets/cafe, don´t worry abhout having to pay to go in!
They have also been warned and as i said, as long as people don´t soak the place in muddy slush (if the snow is still around) then they will be happy and we can continue to use it in future. I don´t know if there are any sort of changing rooms there (probs not) but there is the toilet!

Castle access is improbable.

[awk]

..and of course there's always the ceilidh

Awk, Madmike, Wendles - where are you lot staying? We are at the shandwick Place Travel Lodge
(always assuming we can dig ourselves out of the house by then )

Don't know - haven't decided yet. Might well be staying with family near Doune and coming over for the day, but there again might stay in/near Edinburgh. Don't really want to book anything unless have to, just in case.

[andypat]

Its definitely thawing a bit over Glasgow way.

[andy]

Its definitely thawing a bit over Glasgow way.

driving from aviemore to edinbugh yesterday evening the car thermometer went gradually from -4 to +4, and most of the snow was gone in edinburgh, still quite a bit of ice on the pavements but if the temp continues to be this high it won't last long...

[andypat]

+4 degrees!
That must be all the heat escaping from all those "saunas" down Leith way Andy?

[andy]

+4 degrees!
That must be all the heat escaping from all those "saunas" down Leith way Andy?

could be, or perhaps the volcano is back?!

snow mostly gone now, city race is going to be awesome (assuming no more heavy snowfall anyway)

[jjjl]

Start Lists and Final Details will be available some time in the next few days.
Its shaping up to be an excellent weekend! Saturday courses are very interesting and very different from the last two years!
Gona be ace