2005 SHAHZADA
WEATHER CONDITIONS AT ST ALBANS
Latest update 0533, 26/8/05.

13/8/05 - Very cold, widespread frost in morning.

14/8/05 - Frost, not as bad as Saturday.

15/8/05 - 0900 - Cloudy morning, no frost, 10 degrees. The day has been quite warm and sunny but very windy, (no thermometer set up yet for during the day maximum).
2045 - Still getting occasional wind gusts, temperature very mild at 15 degrees. The river is low but just running. Its hard to believe that the water level at the bridge was 2 metres during rain a few weeks ago.

16/8/05 - 0700 - Clear sky, 0.8 degrees, frosty. Max temperature was 24.5 degrees, with strong wind at times. Temperature at 2020 5.3 degrees.

17/8/05 - 0630 - minus 1.3 degrees with a widespread frost. It has been a pleasant, sunny day with not much wind. Top temperature was 21.4 degrees and the temperature at 2010 is 8.1 degrees C and falling.
Many Training Riders have been allocated different rider numbers due to the actual number range of the available vests being checked today. Check up in the Training Ride start list for actual numbers.
Entrants from Tamworth, Mudgee, Victoria and ACT have arrived and set up camp.

18/8/05 - 0700 - Thick fog with a temperature of 3 degrees. When the fog lifted we had a pleasant sunny day with a top temperature of 25 degrees. Temperature at 1940 is 9.6 degrees. More entrants have arrived from country and interstate, the village is starting to feel like Shahzada.

19/8/05 - Friday = overnight 4.3 degrees, 0645 = 4.5 degrees, day maximum = 25.1 degrees, 2330 = 9.4 degrees. A pleasant day.

20/8/05 - Saturday, many entrants rolling in this day. It was raining lightly from 7am to 7.30 am, hardley enough to settle the dust then it became unpleasantly windy. Overnight minimum was 4.3 degrees, 7am was 8 degrees, day maximum 20 degrees, 6pm was 15.9 degrees and 1020pm 8.5 degrees. At least the wind has eased off.

21/8/05 Vetting for 400 km, from 2pm to 5pm. Today was a pleasant weather day. Gone was the very strong winds, replaced by a gentle breeze and the temperature was quite pleasant - 7am it was 3.8 degrees after an overnight of 2.6 degrees. The day maximum was 21 degrees and at 9.20 pm it is 7.3 degrees.
We have 60 riders and horses who will potentially start the 400 km test at 4am tomorrow, Monday 22/8/05. Pre-ride talk held at 6pm. 400 km Start list uploaded to web site at about 7.40 pm. Remember to REFRESH or RELOAD with your web browser to ensure that you read the latest information.

22/8/05 400 km start at 4am - Vetting for Training ride 11am to 2 pm.
The weather was a mixed bag today. 3.7 degrees at 3 am, 2.5 degrees at 6am and still. By 10 am it was 16 degrees, cloudy and windy which lasted through to about 2 pm. About 1 pm a small front went through, there was very light rain in St Albans but a couple of showers (less than 5 minutes) with big drops out at Joe's Crossing and up Jack's track. By 4pm its sunny, clear and still and 19.4 degrees.
We finalised entry for 49 in the training ride which starts 6am Tuesday 23/8/05.
60 started in the 400 km ride today, 5 were out after the first leg and another 1 after the second leg.

23/8/05 - Tuesday will be a day that long time Shahzada Vet, Chris Walker would probably rather forget. Chris had a fall when attempting to mount his horse for the training ride and broke his leg. The Ambulance service, Wespac Rescue helicoptor, Wisemans Ferry Police, Geoff Bonham and several other Shahzada people were involved in getting Chris to Westmead Hospital. Our sincere thanks to the rescue services.
It was a bitterly cold morning with a heavy frost. The lowest temperature was minus 1.3 degrees about 5.30 am with about 5 degrees cooler at lower altitude just 100 metres away. The day warmed up to a maximum of 21 degrees, but the strong wind was very cold at times.

24/8/05 - The minus 0.5 degrees recording does not do justice to just how cold it is. A good frost this morning with a substantial layer of ice formed on chairs 4 metres from the very hot camp fire. 15.3 degrees by 10 am, up to 19.3 at 1pm, still 19.7 at 4pm. A pleasant day with just light breezes.
Very late upload time for web site this evening due to data from the ride containing errors and incomplete.

25/8/05 - Problems with computers this day strained resources. A Power Supply transplant fixed one after a suitable donor computer was found. The old TI server computer console has severe problems with keyboard input.
Temperature a bit warmer, 0.5 degrees and misty at 6am; by 10am its 17.3 degrees bright and sunny. The strong winds did not come up as earlier days so the recorded 20.6 degrees at 1pm was quite hot. At 4pm its still a very pleasant 19.8 but it cools off quickly when the sun disappears over the hill to the west.

26/8/05 - At 3.30 am its a very mild morning, 5 degrees at 5am, still that camp file is very nice to get warm by. Today the field is down to 19 starters, juniors Zoe and Allix are first out at 4am and Mark is last out at 5.02 am. The numbers have thinned around the camp file early morning and the number of camps in the village have thinned out substantially as unsuccessful riders have gone home.

27/8/05 - 0700, Judging of Best Conditioned, Presentation 0730.

This file will updated on a daily basis from about a week before the Shahzada starts