Jason Miles has a run-in with the powers that are supposed to be helping him.
A few weeks ago a mountain bike race happened in a park just outside Manchester. I’d organised it. It took a long time to get everything sorted out, mainly because hardly anyone entered it until I’d moved the date twice. That bit cost me a few quid because when their online entry system is used, our national governing body (for the purposes of this column, let’s call them ‘Big Chris’) charges money for every entrant who asks for a refund when they can’t make it to the new date. Plus, there’s an extra processing charge for every batch of riders that withdraws. That’s after Big Chris has charged money to process every entrant when they initially enter the event. That’s OK though – chasing medals costs Big Chris money and I know my place.
On the days leading up to the event, the people who work for Big Chris rally round and lend me stuff. For that I am very grateful. They then put me in touch with the volunteer officials who need to attend the bike race in order to make sure that I’m not sending anyone over a cliff and thus risking an awkward insurance conversation later on.