Event organisers Trail Break have been forced to cancel this weekends planned Trail Ride and Navigator that were due to take place at Woodcote, Oxfordshire.

“The event area has been badly affected by snow and rain over the past two days,” says Trail Break’s Martin Harrison, “with freezing conditions forecast for Friday night.”

He adds: “This set of conditions raises the distinct possibility of serious ice on Saturday morning both before and during the event, and the risk of the same for Sunday. In accordance with our insurance (as well as our interest in our customers’ well-being) we have to risk assess our events and our chief concerns are the implications for safety on the road (off road is less of a consideration).

These risk “include riders travelling to the event on icy roads, riders joining and using the smaller lanes on the event course, local traffic encountering riders during the course of the event and our ability to react quickly to any accidents or incidents that may occur.

“In thirteen years of operation, this is the first time we have felt compelled to cancel an event on safety grounds, and believe this to be the only sensible decision. We’re looking forward now to our next events on the North Downs at Cranleigh on the 7-8 of March where we fully expect normal service to be resumed.”

More at www.trailbreak.co.uk