Middleton court- 18th November 2007

Traveling up through the rain, memories of ‘combe sydenham’ earlier in the year came flooding back (pardon the pun), it was still p*ssing it down when I arrived and I got soaked through just getting signed on and getting the bike checked. Whilst waiting for the riders briefing I was stood there with steve jose (turned out the bugger beat me by a couple of mins) and his mate Tim, we all agreed that today was going to be the survival of the fittest!
As expected a delayed start was had due to problems with the course as the organisers had to re-route some parts due to the bad weather, not surprising really, but yet again Xmoor enduro club hold no fears when it comes to putting on an event no matter what the conditions, so fair play to them.
So to start then and mayhem ensued right at the off as a load of bikes were getting stuck just yards from the line at the bog at the bottom of the hill, I was lucky and got directed round it up through the woods. The 1st little climb proved tricky and I got stuck, not for long and I was back on my way again. There’s so much to say about Middleton court, superb venue, it had everything, long slippery hills (up and down), loads of off cambers, tree roots, water, rocks, ruts, fire roads that were filled with ’gloopy’ mud that had you snaking all over the place because of the rain, so with a trials tyre only allowed on the back, it felt like you were fighting to get control of the bike all the time. This is what I think an enduro is all about, no flat field racing here. A true test of man and machine, and it certainly teaches you a thing or two about bike control, and you just got to admire those champ and expert riders who make it look so bloody easy, awesome!
At times on the course there were bikes and riders all over the place either stuck, or just simply taking a rest due to being so ‘cream crackerd‘.
I was struggling, and I wasn’t the only one, on my 2nd lap, on a tricky little rocky climb after a sharp right hander, I got stuck halfway and tried in vain to make it up, not going anywhere, I slid back down and had another go. Got stuck again halfway and tried to push the bike to the top, it seemed like I was heaving forever and I simply run out of energy, so I slid back down again and took a rest before giving it another go. This little climb caused a few problems even to the more experienced riders as they were finding it troublesome as well, needless to say queues were starting to form trying to get up the thing.
On my 3rd attempt I got stuck halfway yet again, but this time I simply wasn’t going to be beaten and I pushed and shoved the little TM (seemed like it weighed a ton with all the mud attached to it) up to the top, got my breath back, and I was on my way again, phew!
Chris Ware came flying past me on a rocky watery climb then proceeded to launch his bike straight up in the air and go ‘dancing’ with it, nice one Chris, made good viewing that!
I pitted after 2 laps only for Mike Coates to come over and hand me my fuel can, his bike had overheated so he was out. I told you to get a new bike mate, sorry, I forgot, you just have! (just joking).
Back out then I went to do another lap and got stuck on that hill again that took me so long to get up last time, no problem this time though as I quickly go to the top with the help of some spectators, thank you! I had a nice little ‘off’ straight into a tree as I slid into it down a slippery bank, I must have going all of 2mph! Believe or not, I managed to really hurt my thigh as the only bloody branch that was poking out stuck straight in it. Typical that.
Getting back to the start, Time up, I missed out on another lap by a couple of minutes so my race was over, only 3 laps!!!!
Not particularly good, but I was glad I finished, a tough race today in very difficult conditions.
Met Richard Tucker whilst walking back to the van at the end, he had a dnf on his new bike, so things didn’t go to plan for him either, shame that, as i as looking forward to his Husqvarna 125 flying past me!
Overall, a tough day and you certainly felt that you'd done an enduro, especially when your soaked through and everything thing is lagged in mud and your knackerd!. Why do we do it? Because we love it that’s why.

Finishing position: 11/29
Bike status: ok
Injuries: none

Evercreech- 10th November 2007

Why have put a picture of my hammer on here? Read on and I’ll tell ya!

Another of the ORE championship races, yes it’s a long season, and this is round 10 of the series. I’ve rode at this venue before earlier in the year so knew what to expect. Very open, hardly any woods, a few little jumps, so very much a motocross type venue (as is most of the ORE events). Short laps, only about 8-9 mins, so not a very long course. With the decision to cut the race to just 2 hours because of lack of daylight due to the 2pm start, racing was going to be fast and furious.
Not bad weather seeing as it’s November, overcast and a bit chilly, but dry. I traveled up on my own for this one as marie stayed at home for ‘parental duties‘ and no one else was available to give us a hand, it took about 2 ½ hours, I left early, so got there with plenty of time to spare.
After doing all the necessary and hiking the gear up a bloody steep hill to where the pits were, it was off on the sighting lap. Yet again I’d realized that I’d forgot to put my transponder on (been there before) so I rushed back to the van and quickly attached them to my shirt. It was at this point that I didn’t think I’d have enough time to put the keys back in the toolbox in the pits for fear of missing the start, so I just threw them in the back of the van and shut the door (bad mistake that).
Anyway, made a good start, lost a few places early on but kept a fairly good pace up so I was quite pleased. After about 30 mins the course was shortened due to a rider being injured, in fact it stayed that way until the end, so the laps were even shorter!
Not much to say really, I had no ‘offs’ so quite uneventful really and made a quick ‘splash and dash’ pit stop with 15 mins to go. To be honest, with such a short course, you were constantly overtaking someone or being overtaken!
Finished ok no problem.
Got back to van and guess what? I’d only gone and locked the keys inside the back of the van hadn’t I!!!! What a twat! I knew exactly when I done as well, it was when I forgot to put the transponders on and had to go back to do it, that’s when I just threw the keys in there and shut the door. Obviously the central locking was on!
Word got round, and it seemed like everyone tried to get into my van one way or another and a big thanks must surely go out to Richard Batstone (no 321) who tried for ages with an assortment of tools to get the door to open, but to no avail. So, in the end it was down to the hammer to smash the side glass so I could get my keys and drive home. I said ’ who wants to do it?’ this other rider almost grabbed the hammer out of my hand, he was keen! He smashed it 1st time (reckon he’s done it before, could be an ex car thief!) any way I was relieved to finally get going and drive home albeit at a reduced speed due to tiny pieces of glass everywhere and no side window and a cracked windscreen for good measure!
It took me 3 ½ hours to make it home.
A disappointing result today as I was only placed 12th in the 2 strokes.
My riding over the past couple of months hasn’t been at all spectacular, and I’ve had some pretty poor results. I don’t know weather it’s because of the accident at the Trewint race in September or indeed my lack of fitness or sleep since the baby was born that’s affected me, or maybe a combination of both!!!! But anyway, even with to days result, I’ve earned enough points to win the ORE sports 2 stroke championship due to some good results earlier in the season.
Not much to some people I know, but it's my first full year of riding. I’ve rode 8 rounds all through the year and at 43 years young I’ve beat some guys a lot younger than me along the way, on bigger bikes than mine, and nearly all the tracks have been a motocross type layout rather than a proper enduro one. So I’m really pleased with that.

Finishing position: 21/41
Bike status: ok
Injuries: none