Bloody hell, it seems like i'm writing every other week at the moment about a cancelled event!
this however was not down to the weather. As far as i'm aware the landowner didn't want to hold a meeting on his land due to the recent foot and mouth scare that we had a couple of weeks ago. To be honest, you can't really blame him/her for doing that, just one of those things, better to be safe than sorry.
So...........................yet again, to keep up my fitness, it was out with the running shoes and off i went for a 10 miler. Lovely day, bright sunshine (dipped my head in the river camel after 5 miles to cool down!).
My mate Ade is down here on holiday so i dragged him out with me, mind you, he did take the easy option and went on a pushbike.
Sunday 26 August 2007
Sunday 19 August 2007
Rifton Barton- 19th August 2007
Watch out marshal............................ I’m coming through!
Well, this is where it all started for me exactly a year ago when I had my first race. This time I hoped that I wouldn’t have the same outcome as last year!
Rifton has got to be one of the most easiest venues to get to, straight off the main A361, with a nice big massive field to park in too. Lets not forget that it’s summer, you wouldn’t have thought it with a cold wind howling across the place. Chilly indeed for a thin bloke like me!
Upon signing on, met Debbie Tucker (self confessed dirt bike lover, organizer, photographer, pit crew, enduro secretary) who without, I wouldn’t have some rather decent snaps of me on this blog! Had a quick chat, then it was back to get changed ready for the off.
Got chatting on the start line to Michael Coates (had a bit of banter with him in the race as we kept passing each other every time one of us got stuck!) whilst waiting for the race to start proper.
Flag dropped and off we went, didn’t make a bad start, about 5th or 6th, until the 2nd field we crossed and oops……………….off I came. Got back on quickly and entered the woods where there was a massive queue waiting to get down a steep drop, I got off and gingerly walked the bike down there, no probs and I was off again. Through the woods we went, until we dropped down into the rocky little river, this is where I done an absolute ‘classic’. I went up a bank and passed a rider who was stuck, I went to the side of him and dropped down back into the water, as I went down the other side my front wheel stopped dead (a you‘ve been framed moment) and I went straight over the bars and landed on my arse in the drink! The front wheel had sunk and was stuck in a boggy hole, luckily 2 guys helped me out and off I went again.
Further on the lap another sticky, slimy, tree lined treacherous downhill followed, nice! I crawled down it at a snails pace, fair play to the experts, they were flying down the thing as though they were on a pushbike having a bit of fun.
Out of the woods we came to some open going, not as easy as you might think, the grassy off camber slopes were like an ice rink in places, and certainly got worse as the race went on. One of the ‘hard options’ for the more experienced to save time was riding over a car, and then up and over a pile of logs, I did think about having a go, but then again, maybe next year!
On the 2nd lap whilst grimly hanging onto the bike on one of those treacherous downhills, I saw in front of me a guy that was pinned under his machine and couldn’t move, I looked behind and saw Michael following me and shouted ‘Oi, down here, someone’s in trouble’, we both slid down to him, dropped our bikes, and managed to haul the thing off of him, checked to see if he was alright, and off we went again.
As the race went on it seemed everything just became more and more tricky as the track got cut up, and if you didn’t pick the right line on the hills or the slopes, you just got stuck(along with quite a few others). This happened to me quite a few times, and a couple of times even the spectators came to my rescue (great camaraderie these enduro’s). The lap was probably about 8 miles or so in length and believe me, it was certainly a test of man and machine, a proper enduro course, which made it all the more worthwhile riding given the conditions, which I think is a great leveler.
I took a longer pit stop than usual to change my goggles, gloves, and let some more air out of the back tyre, then it was off to get stuck a few more times on the ‘ice rink’ of those grassy slopes, and test my riding skills through the woods (whilst running out of energy) before going on to finish.
Really enjoyed it, I love it when the going gets tough!
Finishing position: 3/19
Bike status: new graphics
Injuries: none
Wednesday 15 August 2007
Cadleigh- 12th August 2007
For a change I didn’t have a gig the night before so I could actually have an early night and get up feeling more refreshed and not so cream crackered like I usually do on a Sunday morning!
Arrived at the track no problem, and for once the field we actually parked in was dry! We’d had good weather all week so I was expecting dry conditions, and this certainly turned out to be the case.
I must just mention one thing, after I signed on, nature called, bloody nora, these must be the cleanest toilets that I’ve ever had the privilege to use (or was I just one of the first to use them, as I was early!)
By the look of it, I think that there was a full entry list. This turned out to be the case as a guy who I know from seeing at other events, came running over to me while I was waiting for the sighting lap to tell me that he’d bought everything with him and tried to get a day entry, but they were full.
Off we went then onto the sighting lap……………………..
Straight into the woods we went along some nice flowing trails, up a couple of climbs then down a couple, nothing really hard or treacherous just a slippery little rooted hill that caught yours truly out. When we came out into the daylight it was on to the moto x section, with quite a few jumps! (Bit rough in places) and back out across a couple of fields to the lap scoring.
Right then, race started and I didn’t make a bad one, about 6th or 7th as we entered the woods. After about a minute into it that little slippery hill caught me out and off I come, mind you it wasn’t just me that was having fun on it, quite a few bikes were. I got back on the bike and still couldn’t get up there so I quickly got off, kept her running, slipped the clutch and pushed it up. Trouble was now, was that I didn’t know where the hell I was as I don’t know how many riders passed me or how many got stuck along with me. Never mind, just keep pushing for another 2hrs and 25 mins and see where you come!
The moto x bit was interesting and although I can’t really jump that well, it was nice to give it a go and try and learn how to do it a bit better (That is until you hit the dirt, thankfully I didn’t).
Quite a short course this one, I was lapping at about 10 mins.
Pitted at half way ok and quickly asked Marie if the bike sounded ok (compared to the last race!) no problem there. Off back out I went and done the last hour to finish. The track did get a bit dusty towards the end and a few times I had to slow to see where I was going when following someone.
Now the bad news, apparently the ASW computer froze at the end of the race so all the results have been deleted. Typical that is, seeing as it's the only time i beat all the experts and i've got nothing to show for it! (um............................................bloody liar)
Finishing position: no results!
Bike status: new back wheel bearings
Injuries: none
Arrived at the track no problem, and for once the field we actually parked in was dry! We’d had good weather all week so I was expecting dry conditions, and this certainly turned out to be the case.
I must just mention one thing, after I signed on, nature called, bloody nora, these must be the cleanest toilets that I’ve ever had the privilege to use (or was I just one of the first to use them, as I was early!)
By the look of it, I think that there was a full entry list. This turned out to be the case as a guy who I know from seeing at other events, came running over to me while I was waiting for the sighting lap to tell me that he’d bought everything with him and tried to get a day entry, but they were full.
Off we went then onto the sighting lap……………………..
Straight into the woods we went along some nice flowing trails, up a couple of climbs then down a couple, nothing really hard or treacherous just a slippery little rooted hill that caught yours truly out. When we came out into the daylight it was on to the moto x section, with quite a few jumps! (Bit rough in places) and back out across a couple of fields to the lap scoring.
Right then, race started and I didn’t make a bad one, about 6th or 7th as we entered the woods. After about a minute into it that little slippery hill caught me out and off I come, mind you it wasn’t just me that was having fun on it, quite a few bikes were. I got back on the bike and still couldn’t get up there so I quickly got off, kept her running, slipped the clutch and pushed it up. Trouble was now, was that I didn’t know where the hell I was as I don’t know how many riders passed me or how many got stuck along with me. Never mind, just keep pushing for another 2hrs and 25 mins and see where you come!
The moto x bit was interesting and although I can’t really jump that well, it was nice to give it a go and try and learn how to do it a bit better (That is until you hit the dirt, thankfully I didn’t).
Quite a short course this one, I was lapping at about 10 mins.
Pitted at half way ok and quickly asked Marie if the bike sounded ok (compared to the last race!) no problem there. Off back out I went and done the last hour to finish. The track did get a bit dusty towards the end and a few times I had to slow to see where I was going when following someone.
Now the bad news, apparently the ASW computer froze at the end of the race so all the results have been deleted. Typical that is, seeing as it's the only time i beat all the experts and i've got nothing to show for it! (um............................................bloody liar)
Finishing position: no results!
Bike status: new back wheel bearings
Injuries: none
Tuesday 7 August 2007
On yer bike!- 5th August 2007
Didn’t enter a race this weekend so naturally I had to put my body through some sort of physical activity to keep up the fitness thing.
Was gonna do a nice run, probably a 10 miler, but I twisted my ankle a bit in the week whilst running round part of the enduro course at Hustyns wood, so it was out on the bike for 1 ½ hours with as many Cornish hills that I could possibly find!
The next 5-6 weeks looks busy with an event every weekend, so hopefully I should get back into the swing of things, unless the baby decides to arrive on a race day!
Got my number for ‘Weston’ through the post this week, can’t wait.
Was gonna do a nice run, probably a 10 miler, but I twisted my ankle a bit in the week whilst running round part of the enduro course at Hustyns wood, so it was out on the bike for 1 ½ hours with as many Cornish hills that I could possibly find!
The next 5-6 weeks looks busy with an event every weekend, so hopefully I should get back into the swing of things, unless the baby decides to arrive on a race day!
Got my number for ‘Weston’ through the post this week, can’t wait.
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