Root-bound but hopeful

The latest PM COVID-19 press conference from 8 May 2020 finally got us excited and as of this week we are switching up a gear with our event preparations to re-start the 2020 Season. Why gardening shows suddenly inspire us.

So how was everyone’s Mother’s Day weekend? Did you celebrate with your loved ones and maybe even got a ride in? My wish for my fourth Mother’s Day was a ride with my husband and son. Unlike some previous years we actually got to spend this weekend together (yeih!), so we ventured out to Awaba MTB Park on the Friday to avoid crowds on trails. We wanted our little shredder finally start getting used to the ‘rocky trails’ after spending three months in the Austrian winter and then really only riding around the deserted local streets in our neighbourhood.

Both Martin and I got a ride in on the new “Faulk Line” enduro gravity trail at Awaba MTB Park… Super. Flowy. And faaast! Might we even quote everyone who has been riding it, “Siiiiiiick!”

We had a little ride and runaround with our son’s friend and family at the local sports ground on Saturday and today Sunday, today? We’ve. Been. Slack. I think because he isn’t regularly out on track at the moment scouting and/or marking trails, Martin has started digging up the backyard… he calls it gardening 🙂 We even started watching gardening Masterclasses (!), sparkling wine, baking and eating cake, Schnitzel for dinner and more cake and a cheeky glass of wine as I type this.

So just coming back to that gardening activity, today I learned a new word: root-bound (I mentioned that Masterclass before, didn’t I….).

root-bound [adjective] – Describes seedlings with a dense thicket of roots beneath the soil that have outgrown their pots.

I loved the analogy the instructor gave:

“It’s like living in a box with all your thoughts all your life, your mind starts shrinking.” Roots, he explained, “want to grow and they want to expand. It’s the same way you should think about your life and your brain.”

Ron Finley

And you know what, in a way, we have been feeling root-bound these lat few months. We were so ready to grow and it felt like we were trapped! We were really busy these last few weeks, putting a lot of work into our website front page and navigation, setting up the structure of Rocky Trail regions and worked on internal procedures and various event COVID-19 scenarios.

But finally, since the last press conference by the Prime Minister on Friday, 8 May 2020, we have switched up to the next gear in our preparations for “Day X” – this is when we will be able to announce the re-start of our 2020 racing season.

With two core teams now, both Jo and Bob will put very specific and targeted focus on developing the new venues and Martin and I will work on getting the line-up for NSW and the ACT dialled. After riding the Faulk Line at Awaba MTB Park, this will very likely become one of the first venues in NSW, as the Fox Superflow format we think will be ideal to manage any social distancing measures we will (have to) put in place. Lots of works still to be done, but we are very positive and motivated.

Like those plants in the gardening class, it’s time for Rocky Trail to expand for it’s roots, ie our events, to be nurtured in NSW and the ACT and to expand and be planted in more pots – QLD and VIC. If you’ve listened to our ‘management team fireside chat’ from April you would have heard already that we had quite the line-up of events planned up and down the East Coast of Australia this year and in more regional areas than ever before. As of the coming week we will more actively engage our network of local clubs, land owners and managers as well as State Government representatives.

Next steps and 10 Rocky Trail things for you to do

Now we will refine the individual event pages and populate them with more detailed venue information and also keep you posted about any roll-out plans, as soon as they become more formal.

In the meantime there are quite a few ways you can stay involved with Rocky Trail – we are certainly missing all of you and the event vibe! – Spread the word about Rocky Trail races and we put together some more ideas in our blog about “Rocky Trail-themed activities to keep you entertained right now“.

You can certainly scroll down to the map of our venues on the new Front Page of our website and there are some dates on the events calendar, which is our main focus right now – click through to the Events Calendar portal to get an overview of the venues we will take you to this Season!

We. Can. Not. Wait! It’s going to be huge!