Cancelled- 30th December 2008

Yes another event cancelled, this time due to lack of entrys.

Lets hope sundays race gets the ok.

Happy new year everyone.

A quick spin- 21st December 2008

No race today so i took the Gasser out for a spin around Wadebridge to give her a quick blast.

I was going to go for a nice long run today (as in running with your legs, not a long run on the bike!) but i injured my right heel on last weeks race so i couldn't do much.

Next event I've entered is 30th December, so lets hope that one ain't cancelled because of the weather!

Have a good christmas everyone.

Grogley- 14th December 2008

After the last 2 events when things haven’t exactly gone my way, I was hoping for something incident free this week!

Grogley, just 10 mins down the road from where I live, nice one. The weather had been kind to us and although a little chilly, it was a still dry calm day, perfect for a winter enduro. The event was held on forestry land and it took a good couple of miles from entering the gates at the bottom before we reached the parking right at the top of the forest overlooking half of Cornwall! In fact we were so high up I nearly had to break out the oxygen mask.
Upon signing on and getting scrutineerd there was a cracking festive atmosphere and everyone seemed to be in a jolly good spirited mood.

I’d entered the solo 3 ½ race where everyone was in together, Champ, expert, clubman 2t & 4t, and sportsman. Also on the agenda was a father and son race and a 2 man team, and the entry was full in every class.
With this being a local event it was nice to see all the friendly faces to chat too, in fact I spoke to so many people that I got a bit carried away and was a bit tight for time to make the start!

Onto the start itself and we had a ‘Le mans’ get away where we had to run to the bikes to get going. Off we went hurtling along an open fire road before dropping down onto some rutted paddy field and then up again into the woods. Root after root and then more roots and stumps confronted us at every opportunity, in fact there just seemed to be no rest bite at all as your arms were constantly being pumped up and down through the tight twist and turns of the forest. There was a section of about 100 mtrs long that was constant whoops that literally had you bouncing all the way through it like a bloody jack in the box! (quite a few spectators were at this section) Even the fire roads were bumpy and rutted and of course there was a couple of nice slippery ‘rooty’ hills thrown in for good measure as well, one of which was quite steep that caused a few traffic jams with riders getting stuck, this kept the marshals busy!
One way or another, you always going up or down or twisting and turning along the slippery forest floor, and with a trails tyre only allowed on the back, it made things interesting!

After about an hour I was going well and getting into the swing of things and everything was just going along nicely. Another hour up on the clock past, I’d had no ’offs’ so felt really good, so not much to report there then!
I decided to pit just after the 2 ½ hour mark to re-fuel and grab a quick gel bar as well. I came back out at 2hr 40mins, I was lapping at about 25 mins so if I managed to push it and take a minute or two off a lap, I’d be able to get another 3 laps in before time. It was going to be tight, but I went for it. Sods law then happened, when I got round to that hill that was causing problems there was a traffic jam, I made it up half way but just ran into bikes, so I had to go back down and wait for it to clear, oh bugger, typical! Knowing I’d lost a bit of time I pushed on only to have a couple of stupid little offs’.

I past the lap scoring with just over 20 mins to go, so I knew I really had to go like the clappers if I was to get another lap in. I really did try and almost lost it big time banging against the trees a few times, once with my shoulder, and then with my head! Another stupid little ’off’ on a root finally put paid to my chances of another lap and I finished 3 mins over time. Bugger it!
A cracking days sport and as always a testing course which Camel vale mcc are renowned for.

Finishing position: 15/39
Bike status: new front pads, chain, sprocket.

Somerley Park- 7th December 2008

I wasn’t out gigging last night so I had a decent nights kip ready for the early start and long drive up to Ringwood, I felt good and I was up for it!
Set off in sub zero temperatures and nearly 3 ½ hours later arrived in sub zero temperatures as well! Had a few tricky moments on the way up along the A35 where the van decided to go where it wanted because of the ice on the road, so I had to slow down to 90mph just in case. (sorry I meant 30mph).

Arriving at Somerley Park it was nice to see that someone had found an alternative method of parking as the ‘in chains’ team van had planted itself in a ditch at a 45 degree angle at the side of the road! Looked a bit precarious that.
So, I felt good, had a nice drive up, got signed on early, so I had plenty of time. Just as well because what was about to happen was the shape of things to come!

Went to start the bike as you do, to make sure everything’s ok, and low and behold after kicking her over about 50 times to try and start it, the thing had frozen up! Lets be honest about this, had would you feel getting towed for 3 ½ hours in the open on the back of a trailer in -4 degrees, god knows what the wind chill factor was. I changed a few plugs round, checked the fuel pipe, the connections, the spark and still nothing. The carb had simply frozen and I just had to wait until she thawed out a bit. Luckily it did, and after about an hour I kicked her into life, brrrrrring a ding ding, she fired up, I love 2 smokes!
I quickly took her down to start and went back to get changed where I froze my nuts off getting into my riding gear, brrrr, it was cold.

It was even colder sat there on the bike waiting for the flag to drop to get away, don’t know how long we’d been waiting for the start, but it seemed like an eternity and my toes and fingers were almost numb with the cold (not much fat on me you know).
The flag dropped and off we went, didn’t make too bad a start at all and off we went into the woods. Soon after the start came ‘the hill of blindness’ where due to that thing called the sun (remember that?) shining straight into your eyes, you couldn’t see a thing for love nor money and you just had to point the bike somewhere in what you thought was the right direction and ‘pin it’ and hope for the best!
Further on and in the woods there were bogs, deep ruts, nice rooty sections, some small climbs, whoopy straights and a few fire roads where you could have a blast. Tight in places but overall a decent enough course and with the given conditions a bit of a test but not too severe, quite good really, 5-6 miles in total I reckon.

After about only 10 mins of my first lap things weren’t going at all well and I started to lose places rapidly. My left clutch finger and my right hand brake finger just totally gave up on me and I couldn’t operate either of those due to both of them being completely numb because of the freezing cold! My engine was misfiring because the carb wouldn’t work properly, also due to the cold. I managed to get round to the end of the lap and with no alternative, I had to stop, I just couldn’t carry on, no point if you can’t control the bike.
After about 10-15 mins I’d thawed out and was ready to go back out and give it a go. The heat from the engine had also thawed out the carb and when I kicked her over she sounded sweet again, so off I went. As the temperature started to rise I felt ok and things started to flow, thank god for that!

About an hour in and the course was getting pretty cut up in places and a few bikes were getting stuck in some of the bogs up to their saddle, some abandoned, and some riders simply waiting for help to be towed out! You had to be pretty careful picking your lines otherwise you’d get stuck up to your thighs in black peaty sh*t.
Trying to make for lost time I thought it would be a good idea to get cocky and hit a nice big tree stump, which in turn catapulted me to the ground before I even had time to call myself a ‘twat’. Oh dear, my front mudgaurd was in pieces on the floor and my headlight surround was smashed. I got up and carried on (like you do) only now to find that every conceivable bit of gloop I rode through splat up right in my face! My goggles soon became useless and soon I was out of roll-off film.

Another lap on and I pitted for a quick splash and dash and another pair of goggles which again became useless within 10 mins as my face was getting covered in too much crap.
Another lap on and back to the ‘hill of blindness’ and I managed to ride straight up some ones rear as I just couldn’t see where I was going. The bikes that had made it out of the bogs just basically left a space for some one else to get stuck in, and they did, jesus the marshalls were busy!
Even though I couldn’t go full steam due to the mud guard episode, I was doing alright until I came a cropper on rooty climb and fell off into another rider and then another bloke came up trying to find a gap and fell into both of us! 3 of us all tangled up halfway up a bloody hill, great fun! Got going again only to find that my front brake lever was now bent. What else is gonna happen?

Next lap and I had another annoying little off only to get back on the bike and find that now my gear lever had bent round so that I couldn’t change gear anymore! (theres more to come)
With about 30 mins of the race left and only in 1st gear I thought I could get another lap in easy, and I should have, but I got stuck in a bloody 3ft deep rut probably because I didn’t have the speed to get through stuck in 1st, and it took me and another rider (who was also stuck) over 10 mins to get me out. I then returned the compliment and helped him out of his rut. Good bit of team working that.

So in the end I crawled back to the finish quite relieved and glad it was all over as I just didn’t know what was going to happen next.
Thankfully nothing happened on the way home!

Finishing position: 16/25 (clubman E1)
Bike status: New gear lever, new brake lever, new front mud gaurd, new headlight surround.

Thanks to Brewbs for the photo.

Cancelled again- 30th November 2008

No racing again because of the event being cancelled so it was out again with the dog for a 10 mile run.
Gotta try and keep fit, especially at my age!

Cancelled- 23rd November 2008

The meeting i was going to do today was called off and i've just found out that the race i enterd next week has just been cancelled as well!
So rather than do nothing it was on with the running shoes for an 11 mile run to keep my stamina up.
Yes indeed winter has arrived and it wasn't a very enjoyable bit of fitness training today as i had to cope with the wind, rain and hailstones.

Duty calls- 16th November 2008

I was 200 miles away last night at a family party so no chance of doing anything at all today.
I did consider taking the bike up there and entering a race somewhere nearby, but in all honesty after i had a few beers and a late night (well early morning really) i would have been in no fit state to ride around for 3 hours!

Castle park- 9th November 2008

Wow look at that suspension, must have been a heavy landing!

Makes all the difference when you get a good nights kip don’t it? The nipper didn’t wake me up in the middle of the night (just for a change) and I also went to bed early because I wasn’t gigging either, double joy!
So feeling fully refreshed, it was out the door at 6.30am for the 3 hour drive up to castle park.
An overcast day with a cold chilly wind greeted everybody but at least it was dry although a bit squelchy underfoot in places due to the recent rainfall.
So it was off to get scrutineerd, sign on and pick up the transponder. Well, to be honest I waited about 15 mins to get the bike checked and no one was there to check it! Perhaps the guys had gone for a cup of tea or something? Never mind, get it done later I thought, so I went to pick up the transponder. Now this was fun, everybody was walking backwards and forwards through the lap scoring area trying to get the things to work properly! Me included, sometimes the ‘bleep’ would sound (to record you number) and sometimes not. I saw Mark & Richie Tucker there who were also having fun doing the same thing, thankfully it all got sorted in the end.
I missed the sighting lap due to the hold ups with the bike and transponder farce and judging by the riders bikes as they came back from it, it was going to be another muddy one.
Onto the start itself, didn’t make a bad one but got past by a few up the long straight just after the first bend, I should have ‘nailed it’ more!
After a few tight twists and turns across the muddy fields it was onto the 4x4 track that had a few jumps in it and then we entered the woods. One word can describe this section………..RUTS! Yes indeed, it seemed like the things were endless and I knew that this could turn out to be quite a tough race as time went on as riding through them took more out of you after each lap.
Out of the woods we came and it was back out into the fields once more before more woods and more ruts and then finishing the lap back out on the 4x4 track that had a nice little bog situated after a jump that caught some riders out.
The lap was probably about 7-8 miles and I was lapping in about 35-38 mins.
After the 1st lap I knew I was well down in the clubman 2st class but like I said, I thought things would even themselves out later on due to the conditions and sure enough they did as I slowly began to pass riders and after a couple of hours a lot of guys were parked up (presumably knackered) in the wooded sections taking a breather.
One rider I was following on the 4x4 track lost control in front of me and slid down a bank, went straight over the bars and landed in a lovely deep muddy pit. I did quickly stop and asked him if he was ok, he was alright after his ‘you’ve been framed moment’ so off I went again. Must admit, it did look funny, no harmful intentions meant there mate, been there myself a few times!
So, I was plugging on and without any mishaps so far I felt quite good, time was getting on for a decision, and with 30 mins left on the clock as I passed lap scoring, I knew I would be on my last lap as I’d have a job to find 7 or 8 mins more speed a lap in order to get another one in.
Do I pit and make a quick ‘splash and dash’ or stay out and hope the little gasser makes it through to the end? I decided to stay out as the bike has done over 3 hours on one tank (Stonedown forest 19th October) before, but they were short laps and I didn’t take that into consideration, oh dear, what happened next left me fuming with myself!!! The word ‘twat’ springs to mind!
10 mins into the course and she coughed and spluttered and died on me, no problem, onto reserve she went and fired up again, but then it suddenly dawned on me, iv’e got at least another 25 mins of riding, will the reserve last that long? My fears came true when about 15 mins later and in the woods, I ran out of the stuff that the americans call ‘gas‘.
I was livid with myself and now every rider that passed me I kept looking at their numbers to see if they were in the clubman 2st class, and sure enough a few did pass which made me call myself a twat even more!
So I was stuck in the woods and stranded there thinking what to do next. I saw an ambulance in the distance parked up in one of the fields so I left the bike and went over there and begged them for some sort of cannister/bottle or anything so I could put some fuel in. Luckily then gave me an old coke can so I rushed back and started to flag some riders down to give us some fuel.
The 1st guy on a KTM stopped to help, but we could only get his fuel pipe off from the tap end so didn’t really manage to collect much as we couldn’t get the can near it to catch the fuel coming out, it was going everywhere! So off he went.
Another rider stopped on his KTM and we tried in vain for a good 5 mins to pull his fuel pipe off from the carb end, but we couldn’t budge the circlip that holds it on, so I then take off his petrol tank breather pipe and tried siphoning some out, that didn’t work either as the pipe wasn’t long enough but I still managed to get a mouth full of petrol in the process, yak! In the end I said cheers mate, thanks for trying, but had to let him go on his merry way.
3rd time lucky as I flagged another rider to stop and help me on a YZ 250, this time we managed to fill some of the can up, so lobbed it in, kicked her over and fired her up. It was at this point that I realized that when I threw my helmet down in disgust at running out of fuel that I’d broke my goggles, and furthermore because I was such in a rush to get my helmet on again and keep the motor ticking over that I smashed myself in the face with it and promptly cut my nose! Anyway, I was relieved to get going again and took it very easily indeed trying to nurse every little bit of fuel I had out of the tank to make it back home as I was still on reserve. Could anything else go wrong I thought? It bloody well did and as Victor Meldrew would say ‘I don’t believe it’.
With one last jump on the 4x4 track to get over and the little bog that accompanied it on the other side and only about ½ mile from the finsh I ran out of fuel again!
Only this time the engine died on me in the middle of the bog! I couldn’t push her out so yet again I left stranded and only yards from the finish. Someone else was stuck in the bog too on his (I think) Honda crf and he’d run out of fuel as well! As luck would have it he had a drinks bottle and got some petrol off another rider and gave me the bottle after he’d finished with it.
After about 5 more mins I managed to get some more petrol of a bloke who stopped on his GAS GAS and that was enough to get me back and finish.
That last lap took me 1hr 14 mins, that’ll teach me in the future to remember that short laps and I can make it back on reserve if I run out, but long laps? More sure you re-fuel you pillock.
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse………………………………..................
While I was putting the bike on the trailer the back wheel slipped off the loading ramp and came crashing down on the lighting board (reg plate and tail lights) and smashed it!
Thank god for ‘gaffa’ tape as I managed to piece the thing together again with it so I could get home.
So lets run through that again, I ran out of fuel and threw my helmet down in a kiddies temper and smashed my goggles, I then put my helmet on too hastily and in doing so put a nice cut in the bridge of my nose, I then ran out of fuel a 2nd time and got stuck in a bog, last but not least I managed to smash my trailer board.
A good day? Er………………………I’ve had better.

Finishing position: 15/36 (clubman 2st)

Injuries: Cut nose

It's gotta be done- November 2nd 2008

Yep, it sure has.

Now that i'm back racing again and with no event today, it was out with Sid (my trusted dobermann) for a 10 mile run in order to try and keep my fitness levels up.

Trewint- 26th October 2008

Not much traveling this week as Trewint was only about 20 mins away, nice one!
Now then, this was the race I did last year when I had that tasty ‘off’ and I’m still bearing the scars of it now, so I was hoping not to complete a ‘double’ this time.
With the rain that we’ve had, this was going to be a wet one and sure enough getting into the field just to park proved a challenge in itself, mud, mud and more mud!

Met up and had a chat with fellow ’gasser’ riders, Jed, Arthur and Tim for a quick chat about the conditions and how tricky it could be (how right we were), then back to van it was to get changed. Although it wasn’t raining at the time, the weather was very wintery and to be honest, it was bloody freezing because of the cold biting northerly wind.

It was nice to get going when the flag finally dropped and off we went. I didn’t make too bad a start, about halfway in the pack as we made our way across an off camber hill that had been cut up really badly due to the quad race earlier and was as muddy and as slippery as you can get. Everyone seemed to be tip toeing their way round as we moved into the wooded section.
The woods weren’t too bad, slippery, but rideable, with some nice roots thrown for good measure and a nasty uphill that later was causing carnage with queues forming to get up it!
Out of the woods we came and again the fields we crossed were just filled with mud as far as the eye could see and no matter what gear you were in, the back wheel would just spin like a washing machine on 800rpm trying to find some grip! The off cambers were like riding on ice and you just couldn’t help yourself sliding down to the bottom and then trying to get the bike pointing in the right direction so you could ‘nail’ it and try and find some traction and get going again. Tricky indeed!
The course itself was only about 5 miles or so, but in the conditions, it felt like a lot more, not hard work, but just tricky and I had quite a few little ‘offs’ due to the front wheel sliding away from me.
The longer the race went on that nasty hill in the woods became blocked with riders trying to scramble up it and thanks must go to all those marshals who were working overtime to help clear it. At this point of the course all you could see and hear were screaming engines, lots of smoke and spinning back wheels, lovely combination that!
After last weeks race and going the distance without re-fueling, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem today as this was only 2 ½ hours in duration so that’s exactly what I did and it worked out a treat, even with the heavy going.
As I came round to the clock with 4 mins left, riders were stood there waiting for the time to elapse, not me mate, so off I went to do another lap.
Not a bad day and I do like riding when the conditions are a little bit more tougher than usual, I just think it’s a great leveller.

Now there’s one thing about racing in muddy conditions and that’s 9 times out of 10 you’re probably parked in a muddy field in the middle of nowhere right? And sometimes you might get stuck right? Well, not only did I get stuck, but also about 20 other vans did as well trying to get out of the place!
So it was out with the coffee and a nice friendly chat with a few other stranded mortals before finally being towed out in near darkness by the local farmer.

Finishing position: 7/16 (clubman 2st)

Bike status: ok

Injuries: none

Stonedown forest- 19th October 2008

Early start, up at 4.30am. Out the door at 5.30am to take a 30 min drive to meet Andy Smith at his place as he was going to give us a lift in his van up to Stonedown forest. Andy was riding as well, although he wasn’t looking forward to it as much as me as he was feeling a bit under the weather. Also riding ’shotgun’ was Andy’s mate James who came along to give us a hand.
Off we set then for a 3 hour or more journey ending up somewhere near Salisbury.
I was looking forward to my 2nd race on the new bike, and after that ’marathon’ enduro at Dunmere a couple of weeks ago, I certainly had no doubts about my fitness!
About 10 miles or so from ‘Stonedown’ on the A354, Andy decided to abuse his position of driver of the van with a ’whatever gets in my way, better get out my way’ attitude when a pheasant with ‘no brains’ who looked like it was sightseeing and acting rather clueless, got in the way of the van at 70mph. BANG! With oncoming traffic and cars behind, Andy had no option but to add one more ‘road kill’ to the stats of this country. The funny thing was we could see the thing about ½ mile away and as we got closer we were all thinking, oh no, ‘GET OUT THE WAY YOU STUPID IDIOT’. You should have seen Andy’s face when he hit it, and his white knuckles from gripping onto the steering wheel as he ran over it!
Arrived at Stonedown with plenty of time to spare, but everyone else had ’inside information’ and got there before us as the single track parking left us with a bloody great long hike up to the signing on and pits area. I spoke to Steve Jose the night before who was marshalling at the event who did tell me that might happen, and bugger me it did!
Anyway, after the usual signing on, scrutineering and riders briefing, it was off to the start.
The flag dropped and off we went, I didn’t make too bad a start, probably about halfway but within about 10 mins it seemed I was getting overtaken by everyone! Not surprising really with only 1 race behind me in 4 months! Still, with the nice weather that had blessed us for the day and a brand new bit of machinery underneath me, I was here to enjoy it and that’s what I did.
The course itself didn’t have anything technical to test you, a few roots, some fire roads, a few off cambers, a couple of hills, but with it being ‘bone dry’ the flowing forest trails made it a fast race. Might have been different if it was p*ssing down with rain though but I’m not complaining, it is nice sometimes when the bike goes back home and doesn’t hardly need jet washing! The circuit was about 5 miles in length, so fairly short and with it being dry, I was doing about 15/16 min lap times.
After a few laps I was getting into the swing of things and everything was going splendidly, I was really enjoying it and trying to get used to riding on a faster track. After about 1 ¾ hours I was thinking of pitting, but I took a look down at the tank and thought to myself ’bloody hell, there’s still loads left in there’ and decided to carry on.
After 2 ½ hours and with everything bowling along nicely I still hadn’t stopped for fuel and I didn’t want to stop either, I was loving it out there! I took another quick look down at the tank, and I still had what I thought could be enough to go all the way to the end, so I carried on knowing that if I did run out, I could stick her on reserve and with it being short laps, I’d make it back to the pits no problem for a quick ‘splash and dash’.
I had a little ‘off’ soon after on some roots on an off camber hill, nothing spectacular, but wasted a bit of time picking the bike back up and pointing it the right way again. I passed the clock with 10 mins to go and new it was going to be my last lap, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t stopped for fuel yet, well pleased!
I passed Steve jose and 5 mins later dead on the 3 hour mark, the engine died and I knew that the tank was virtually empty. Steve caught me up just as I stuck her on reserve and was kicking her over, she fired up like a ‘good un’ and off I went on to finish the rest of the lap and the race.
3hrs and 4 mins on the bike on one tank of fuel, ‘I don’t believe it’ as Victor Meldrew would say, neither do I, but it did it and I’m bloody impressed!
All in all, a good day out, nice little course, nothing too demanding and the bike is still clean (don’t get that very often).
Thanks to Andy ‘road kill’ Smith for the lift in the van.

Finishing position: 15/19 (clubman E1)

Bike status: ok

Injuries: none

Typical that is- 12th October 2008

Yeah, Bloody typical!
The only time i don't go to Weston and it turns out to be a fantastically glorious sunny hot day.
I've rode it the last 2 years and watched it for 5 years on the trot before that and never had weather like it was today. To make it worse my sister went to watch and promptly phoned me with all the noise of screaming competition engines in the background (you know what it's like when you phone someone from the track) to tell me what a lovely day it was and what a cracking race i was missing!
Like i said before, theres no way i'm going to take a 2 week old bike along the sand, so i decided to stay away from the whole thing. Wish i'd have bloody well gone now and watched it!
I still have the TM at the moment but i didn't want to take that either just in case i wrecked it as i might be selling it soon. Offers please?

So, i stayed at home, had the 'gasser' up on the jack out in the sunshine,had a good look round it, and changed a few things more to my liking.

Dunmere- 5th October 2008

Not content with the exhaust burn I got a couple of weeks ago, I thought to myself, ’why not try and get some friction burns this week seeing as you’re back riding again’, so that’s exactly what I did! ( yes they are my legs not 2 bits of string)
Warning: Do not wear brand new knee braces when you’re going out riding in the woods for 5 hours.

I couldn’t wait to get rid of my Dunmere ‘curse’ as 2 years ago this was my 2nd race ever and I didn’t finish due to being completely cream crackered, and last year I was injured and bikeless due to a tasty ‘off’ a few weeks beforehand. So, 3rd time lucky? Too bloody right it was!

Dunmere woods, just 10 minutes up the road and I still got there late enough to ensure myself a bloody long walk to the signing on/pit area due to the single file parking. I met quite a few riders on the way up to sign on and all of them asked about the new bike, just goes to show that some of you actually read this, so thanks to everyone and I hope you enjoy it and you have a good laugh at my expense!

Although I haven’t ridden for months I was really looking forward to it and it was nice to get back into the swing of things again especially with a new bike and I felt like a kid with a new toy. At precisely 10.11am I kicked the gasser over and ’bring-a-ding-ding’, she fired up instantly, here we go then, out through the check and off I went. I was one of the 1st away in the clubman 225 to start along with Mike Roose who I thought I’d try to follow through the woods, but no chance there as Mike flew past me on the special test and I didn’t see him again until the end of the lap, ‘wily old campaigner that he is’, you can’t beat experience can you?

With the overnight rain we had, things were very tricky in places and one downhill section in particular you’d have a job walking down it let alone riding down it. I had to ‘paddle’ down it and lean forward as far as I could with my nuts glued on to the tank to try and make the front wheel grip. Immediately after that was a steep slippery uphill (later got cut out) which you had to get right 1st time, otherwise you’d end up on your arse and slide back down, Luckily for me the track was clear and I flew up it.
Another section in particular was an incline about 200 meters long with just one big single rut all the way up to the top which became a another ‘paddle job’ as it just got so ‘sludgy’ as each lap passed.
The roots through the woods were really slippery and quite relentless and the only rest bite you had were the lovely open fire roads where you could relax a bit and open her up. A proper enduro course and proper conditions!

I was Just about a couple of minutes away from finishing my first lap when I went to ride through a small ditch was which was covered by some branches and bracken only for the front wheel to plant itself and send me over the bars, there was bloody log at the bottom of it wasn’t there! Of course I hit it full in the face and another ’you’ve been framed’ moment was successfully executed.
Into the pits at the end of the 1st lap and a with a little time to spare spoke to Jed Treleaven who told me he’d just been over the bars too in exactly the same ditch!

My 2nd lap went ok apart from the special test when I decided to plant myself and my machine in some bushes face down to get a ‘birds eye view’ of what’s it’s really like to be an insect living rough in the woods.
Made it back with about 5 mins to spare, so another little break, where I spoke to Ken Brown and his family who’d turned up to give us some moral support.

So far everything was going well, 3rd lap and off I went (still couldn’t keep up with Mike) and I was full of confidence when all of a sudden my energy levels began to drop, I hit a tree stump at the end of the ’boneyard’ and came off, came off again on some roots and really started to struggle from there on. I even took a couple of minutes to rest at the side of the track due to some cramp setting in to get myself sorted. I got back into the pits where Steve Tizzard help me refuel and went back out 3 minutes overtime.
With just 3 laps in and probably only about just over 2 hours riding time I was seriously thinking about pulling out.

By the end of lap 4 I was completely shot to bits. I’d taken more ’time out’ on the track, my camelbak was bone dry (all 3 litres gone) and the cramp was getting worse, not to mention my legs which were killing me due to those flamin knee braces, which meant I couldn’t control the bike properly so I had to slow down. Andy Smith came past me and waited for me at one of the top of the climbs, I rode round with him for about 10 mins but I couldn’t keep up at his pace so he disappeared into the distance. I came into the pits way over time (over 50 mins that lap) and took another quick break and set out on another lap.
If I thought the last lap was bad, this was one was even worse (55 mins). Another couple of little ’offs’ on some roots, another couple of breaks to rest and by now I’d slowed down to a ’trail’ ride pace. I knew I was going to be ridiculously late getting back to the time check but I wasn’t going to quit. I went back out on my last lap 30 mins overtime!

I know what some of you are thinking, ‘why didn’t the silly old sod pull out’? I think it must be my stubborn mentality that doesn’t want me to be beaten by a bit of mud and a few tree roots and the fact that I know some riders are pulling out so I got a chance of beating them. It’s an enduro, it’s a competition, You gotta finish right?, I haven’t come along with Bill Oddie to watch the wildlife have I? so there, stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

I went round the last lap in complete isolation (not surprising judging by the time) apart from a few track marshals who were taking down the tapes and packing up for the day! I stopped and asked if it was alright to complete the whole lap because I didn’t want to cheat myself and take any short cuts. No problem there, so I carried on and eventually crawled back to the check point to record a finish.

I think I’d done about 5 hours of riding and to be honest I was well pleased to finish as there were over 50 retirements, so that says how tough it was out there today.
Overall I’m really pleased, I tested myself today after having a few months off and tested the new bike as well, so far so good, roll on the next race in a couple of weeks time.

Finishing position: 7/18 (Clubman 225)

Bike status: ok

Injuries: friction burns to legs

No Weston beach race for me this year but might go and watch, still haven’t made up my mind yet. Good luck to everyone whose entered!

Running in- 4th October 2008

Been out a couple of times this week doing a bit of running in and trying to used to the new bike. Today i was at Dunmere again marking out the track and putting up the tapes etc, etc. This time we took the bikes out so it done the 'Gasser' a bit of good riding her over some proper enduro type terrain! Looks like it's going to be a wet one tommorrow as just as i was leaving the rain started to fall.

It's arrived- 28th September 2008

Yes indeed and here she is!

The ‘eagle eyed’ amongst you will spot that the plastics are actually from a ‘08’ Gas Gas. Why? I’ll tell you why, because I just thought the ‘09’ plastics had too much black in them! (although I won’t be going as far enough to change the swinging arm and forks back to silver!) So I asked for last years red plastics to be put on to spruce to colour up a bit. I’ve managed to get my regs in for next week so I should get back to riding at long last although I got to take it out a few times this week somewhere to run her in.

The last couple of Sundays I’ve been out at Dunmere with some Camel vale members chopping back half the woods getting the course ready for next weeks race. Makes a change to have good weather to do it in

woolborough barton- 14th September 2008

I was out gigging last night and didn’t get to bed till 3.30am (I’m getting too old for this rock’n’roll life style) and was up at 6am to get ready and drive to Thor m/cycles HQ to meet Jed Treleaven and Steve Tizzard, who I was going to get a lift with and help them out a bit for the day as I wasn’t riding.

I got there bang on time, 7am, no one was about so I waited and Steve turned up 5 mins later and said he’d overslept because his bloody ‘snooze’ button on his alarm didn’t work properly! Off we went into Thor HQ where Steve got the gear packed in the van and we both waited for Jed. And we waited. And we waited. And we bloody well waited! Lazy sod was about half hour late and he only lives 50 yds away from the place!
Off we went then on our merry way and chatted about various subjects (mostly dirt bike related) which included what is the best chain to use (I brought this up and I should’ve kept quiet, more later!) and we arrived at Woolborough with plenty of time, so off I went to get the coffee’s in. The catering van was about a minute away but it took me about half an hour to get 3 drinks because I was talking to everyone who I hadn’t seen for ages along the way! Chatted to Andy smith about all things enduro, Mike Roose who was glad I was changing my bike, Francis banfield about all things Gas Gas, Rich Tucker about his Husky flying machine, a quick bit of banter with Dean Canfield, and Debbie Tucker about the general running of some events.

Right then everything ready I told the boys to have a ‘good un’ and went to find some nasty slippery hill down in the woods where I could help some riders out if needed. I found a small little climb, didn’t look to bad but little was I to know that carnage would follow later!
Just gone 11’o’clock and with the sun shining through the top of the trees, the champ riders arrived first followed by the experts and all cleaned the hill no problem. The first few clubman got up no problem and then of course the inevitable happened, one got stuck, then of course it causes traffic choas like Piccadilly circus on Friday evening rush hour! By the time the big sportsman field came round I didn’t know who to help first, I was the only one there and with no marshall anywhere to be seen riders were just looking at me praying for me to get them out of trouble. I was pushing bikes up the hill, picking riders up off the floor and holding them upright so they could kick start themselves back into life, getting some people un-tangled from between the trees, it was bloody carnage and I was glad to see the back of the last few riders disappear into the distance. Felt sorry for 1 guy who had to turn round and go back because he’d blown his head gasket, not good on your 1st lap.
I stood there for another 4 laps helping riders who were still having problems (this is harder than actually riding an event!), but at least 1 marshal, yes 1 marshal turned up to help, so at least my workload was halved, hip, hip, hooray. Now for the bad bit, while I was pushing a big 4 banger up that hill my left arm rested against his bloody red hot silencer, ouch (see picture) the flash bastard had a twin exhaust fitted! As with most bikes all your looking out for when helping out is the one silencer and that’s usually on the right ain’t it? Caught me out that, Bloody 4 bangers, I hate um.

So, when the going had got a little bit easier and the hill wasn’t so bad it was off back up to the pits to wait for the lads to help them out with their pitting. I bumped into Rose disney who suggested I got my arm looked at by the ambulance crew, good shout that, so off I went to get it treated. F**k, that hurt when they decided to wash the wound clean but made up for it with some soothing gel stuff that made the burn feel nice and cool afterwards.

I missed Jed and Steve’s stop so decided to go and watch the rest of the race from near the pits at the top of a long flowing hill. After a while I bumped into Jed, ‘what’s up’ I said, ‘my chains snapped’. I felt guilty now, I was the one in the van that had mentioned about chains earlier!
We had to wait until the end of the race before we could attempt to get the his bike back up because it was half way back down the hill and we also had to wait for the ‘traffic’ to stop. Race over and it was time to go and get the bike. Jed had got a spare link from somewhere but the chain was so badly mashed there was no way it could be fitted, so we both stupidly thought we were superman and tried to push the mad lagged ‘gasser’ back up to the top which must have been about a good 50 meters, not easy with it being slippery as well. We made about 20 meters before exhaustion got the better of us and not wanting to stay there until the middle of December I went off to get some help . Mind you, that wasn’t before I’d stopped every travelling marshal (at least 5 or 6 of them) that were doing a sweep around the course to ask for help, or at least send someone back to help us out, and did it happen? No it didn’t, no help and no one came back either. Excuse my language but that is piss poor, enough said.

Luckily Steve Tizzard had waited in the pits so I sent him back to the van to get the ratchet tie downs so we could heave the bike up. You know them strong man events that you see on the T.V when they’ve got a harness around their shoulders and they are bent over double pulling a bloody great big lorry along behind them? That was us yanking that bike up that hill, would have made a good picture that!

With everyone back at the van I went off to get the cheeseburgers for everybody but that turned into a nightmare, we were all Hank Marvin but the catering van had just run out of rolls! Oh b*llocks, we had to settle for just chips instead.
What a day, a nice burn on my arm, exhaustion from dragging a muddy bike up a hill (not even mine at that) and can’t even get a cheeseburger at the end, that’s the last time I go for a day out with them lads from THOR!

Finishing position: My house
Bike status: Still waiting delivery!
Injuries: Exhaust burn left arm

It's all gone quiet- 11th September 2008

Ok, it's been bloody ages since i last wrote on this blog! I haven't done any kind of racing or practising because of 2 things really.

1) I've been rather busy gigging due to the holiday season here in sunny Cornwall (well we did have some sun one day last month!).
2) I'm still waiting for them SPANIARDS to get their arse in gear and flamin well get my new bike shipped over to these shores!

Can't wait to get going again as it's been a while. I've been busy getting some new riding kit together as gone are the old blue TM colours!
Bought a new race shirt, well ok not exactly, it's another football shirt! In fact got 2 of them courtesy of fleabay. The main one is a red long sleeved england shirt (gas gas colours) for £8!
And another white Leeds shirt for a back up, £5! My old race shirt (the leeds one) has died on me and is in a bit of a state so i had to replace it to be honest. 2 shirts for £13, beats paying £30 or so for a moto x top! (better ventillation on a footie shirt anyway).
Got myself a new lid as well. It's a Bell moto 8k. I got to say that this is class piece of kit, even get a helmet holdall with it as well as a helmet bag. SHOP AROUND thats what is say, and i certainly bloody well did!
dirtbikebits.com wanted £239 for that helmet and 1stmx.co.uk only want £169. £70 difference between the two. So me being me i phone up dirtbikebitz and they matched the price from the other place! Just goes to show, don't ask, don't get!

I do hope to get to the next south west championship round this sunday as i've managed to blag a lift with the 2 lads from Thor m/cycles. Suppose i'll have to buy um one of them dodgy burgers to help pay for the petrol!

No chance of racing! - 27th July 2008

So there i was on Saturday evening fully relaxed and prepared for Sunday. I was really 'up for it', I'd had a belly full of pasta, loads of fluid for hydration because of the warm weather, and i didn't have a gig that night so i could get some decent kip in. no f**king chance!!!!!

Sods law, it was bound to happen.
Our little girl started to scream the house down just as we got into bed. This continued all through the night and i remember Marie saying to me at about 3.30am 'why don't you try and get some kip before the race'. I went outside and tried to get a bit of 'shut eye' in the van but obviously i couldn't because i was worried about our offspring. At around 4.30am we just couldn't stand anymore and had to call the doc and ended up at Bodmin hospital later on. luckily for us it was only a virus so nothing much we could do except 'sit it out' and put up with what goes with a baby being ill!

I'm seriously thinking about starting a new blog on the net titled 'THE JOYS OF BEING A FATHER AND THE EFFECT THAT SLEEPLESS NIGHTS HAVE ON YOUR LIFE'
Or maybe i should take up a less energetic hobby or pastime like croqchet or knitting so i can sit on my arse all day on a sunday at home!

It's a good job i'm a happy bloke because otherwise i'd have been driving round the bloody bend by now!

Whats going on then?- 19th July 2008

I'll tell you whats going on, I'm shattered!!!!!
It's all rather a bit slow for me at the moment as I've only ridden in a couple of events in the last few months.
Due to the joys of being a father my little girl decides to wake us up in the middle of the night nearly every night because she's 'teething' (apparently this means that the teeth are trying to cut through the gums and grow and causes a lot of pain) or so my girlfriend tells me!
Pain? Try hitting a gate post head on at 30-40 mph, that's pain i can tell ya!

I haven't done any running for about 2 months because i ain't got the energy to lift one foot in front of the other and I've got 2 pairs of brand new £90 running shoes i haven't even worn yet, waiting for me to stride out in. I do love running, always have done, always will, simple reason is that it keeps you fit. Comes in handy sometimes you know, especially trying to push a muddy lagged motorbike up a slimy slippery rooty granite laden hill!!!

On top of that I've been entrenched in decorating up to my neck and if you look at the profits of Homebase at the end of the year, half of that has come from me, I'm sure of it. I'm forever down that bloody place!

Next week I'm hoping to get some kip, eat enough pasta, drink enough lucozade and s.i.s and actually race at Idless in the next round of the south west champs. Fingers crossed eh?

OK, now for the good news (yes there is some), I've been and ordered myself a new bike!
Brand spanking new 09 Gas Gas EC 125. I'm just hoping i can get to ride the damn thing a lot more than i'm doing at the moment when it arrives!

Practice- 28th June 2008

The Wadebridge track was open today so off i went for a couple of hours of bike time.
Things were going splendidly until i managed to get a puncture on the rear. Luckily for me my Neighbour Darren was up there watching with his little 'un' so he kindly offered to nip back to my house for me and pick up my spare wheel, cheers pal!
Spare on and back out i went trying to learn how to take them bloody jumps a bit better.
Had a good few laps with some local motocross lads who i eventually overtook because they were knackerd! No stamina them boys!
We were blessed with some nice weather so quite an enjoyable day even though i was a bit 'cream crackerd' later on when i went out gigging. Still thats 'rock 'n' roll i suppose!

Cadeleigh- 15th June 2008

Cadeleigh- 15th June 2008
Nice weather driving up to Cadeleigh, took a couple of hours, but just as I got there the bloody heavens opened! It absolutely lashed it down, thunder an all so I took shelter in the van reading the t+mx until it stopped. Things were now going to be interesting due to the recent downpoor, and that’s exactly how it turned out to be.
After doing all the necessary, the time came for us all to do a sighting lap, so off we went.
I’ve ridden this course before so I knew a little bit about it including the 3 or 4 slippery climbs, the ultra slimy downhill’s and the off camber grassy sections that were like riding on ice due to the recent rain. Overall some nice wooded sections, nothing too technical and the course was rounded off by that motocross track with a few jumps on it and a couple more grassy fields.
On to the start itself then, I was in the clubman class, 2&4 strokes together, any size bike.
The flag dropped and off we went, I made a really crap getaway and was near the back but managed to make a few places up through the woods until we hit an off camber grassy right hander. Still desperately trying to gain more places I overcooked it, the front slid away and ended up on my arse! By the time I got back on the bike I was plum last.
When made it round to the first of the climbs chaos loomed up in front of me and I had to wait until the marshals had cleared the way of the riders until I could carry on. Going down these hills the other side was bloody well tricky and I virtually had to ‘crawl’ down in order to keep control of the bike. On my 2nd lap I did a ‘you’ve been framed moment’ while taking it easy down one of those slippery descents. The front went away from me and I went straight over the bars doing a somersault landing on my back which luckily for me was in some soft bushes, nice one! What happened next was something that you might see on ‘you tube’ if you type in ‘funny videos’ on the search bar (or words to that effect). I picked myself up, got back on the bike, started her, let the clutch out and promptly slammed into the nearest tree about 5 yds away! My throttle had got stuck wide open! I hit the tree at fair crack as well because it flattened my ring that I wear on my right hand as I slammed into it (much to the annoyance of the girlfriend coz she bought me that ring). Oh well never mind I’m sure she’ll buy me another one!
I rolled down to the bottom of the hill and tried to re-start the bike but it wasn’t having any of it and I’d thought that I might have fouled up the plug, not good if your miles from the pits. I rested for 5 mins, turned the fuel off, kicked her a few times, turned the fuel back on, kicked again, and Bring-a-ding-ding, the sweet noise of a two ‘smoke’ rung around my ears as the Tm fired back up into life and off I went. By the time I got through the transponders after doing 2 laps (36 mins) I knew I was well down due to the couple of ‘offs’ and getting held up.
Had another ‘off’ on my next lap on one of those hills again, my fault really as I tried to get past a fallen rider through a gap that wasn’t there, no problem though, just went back down and made it up 2nd time.
After I pitted and went back out on the course the club had obviously decided to cut out some of the hills probably due to the chaos they were causing some riders so our lap was now a lot quicker. Shame that, those climbs were fun.

As I raced on and with about 20 mins on the clock remaining I thought I could get another 2 laps in and maybe 3 if I pushed it a bit before the clock ran out on me. These last 20 mins turned out to be action packed! One guy on of those orange bikes (you know the one’s, there everywhere) overtook me whilst going over one of the jumps only to go over the bars right in front of me and get a face full of dirt with his bike landing on top of him. I managed to avoid him but stopped and asked him if he was ok, he was a bit shaken but alright.
Next up on one of the grassy off cambers 2 riders got tangled right in front of me again and came crashing to the ground, again I managed to get out of the way and carry on. I did take a quick look back, they both got up so no problem.
I then ran into a fellow TM rider as he’d got stuck on a slope and I saw a gap to get past him, but just as I got next to him he moved, he hit the deck, I stayed upright and carried on. Yet again I took a quick look back to make sure he was ok.
As I started another lap with 10 mins to go I knew it was going to be tight as to weather I could get another lap in before time. I kept looking at my watch on the bars thinking will I make it or not and yes I did with 20 secs to go!
I was well pleased with that and rode round in almost complete isolation due to no one being behind me, but there was still a few in front and as I caught and passed some I came to the only hill that was left in the course which was still causing some riders a few problems. I rode up it ok but as I got to the top 2 marshals were helping some guy get back on his bike and there was gap that I could get through to pass him, so obviously I went for it. Sods law, just as I was about to pass him he slipped and fell down right in front of me. I tried to avoid him but couldn’t and ran over his leg! I came off, got back up and turned round to ask him if he was alright and guess what? It was the same TM rider that I’d hit 10 mins ago!
Thankfully he was ok because I’d seriously thought that I might have broken his leg, phew.
After I made it back to the finish I waited for him to finish and told him that I didn’t have anything against him and I wasn’t out to get him just because I’d hit him twice in the few laps of the race! He took it all in good faith and we both had a laugh about it.
Had a chat with Rob Ellick and Paul Ford just as I was leaving and to be honest Paul must be sick to death of seeing me. Every time we speak before a race, he has a Dnf. He did it at Combe Sydenham and he did it here as well!

Finishing position: 24/29
Bike status: ok
Injuries: none

A bit of ride- 8th June 2008

Well it was such a gorgeous day that i couldn't resist taken the bike out for a bit of a ride in the sunshine down at Ken's track.
I was just happily pottering about the place enjoying myself until i phoned Marie up to check on things. She reminded me that i was supposed to be at home to give her a hand to get the barbeque ready as we were entertaining some friends that evening, needless to say she wasn't impressed!
Everything turned out alright in the end and i just made it back in time to give her a helping hand.
This bloody biking lark gets you into trouble sometimes don't it!

Nancemellion- 1st June 2008

The day started well, not much travelling, I had a good nights kip because I wasn’t gigging last night, the weather was lovely and warm, and when I went to sign on I picked up a trophy for last years 2 man team that me and my mate Pete Jago had rode in together.
Had a chat with a few people before racing started, in fact I almost had to put my sunglasses on when I talked to Mark Tucker because of the glare that was nearly blinding me coming from his new white alpinestars that he’d just bought!
Now then to the start., What a shambles! It looked to me (and others I spoke to) that no one had a bloody clue where they were supposed to be, obviously apart from the champ and expert boys, who of course always are the first ones away. All the classes seem to be mixed in together , why? Call me a blind old sod but I didn’t see any signs or markings stating where we all meant to be and with such a small area where we were all cramped in, it seemed to be a total mix up!
Just after 10am the champ boys got away and we could see that about 50 yds from where we lined up, there was a bottle neck which even these guys were going a lot slower than that what they normally would due to a slippery rooty climb up. Why oh why the club put that part of the course so close to the start god knows (last years start was a lot better, don’t know why they changed it) and even some of the experts got stuck in a traffic jam so I think we all knew that a good get away would be the only way not to get caught up in any mayhem.
While I was waiting for my time to go, about 4 different classes all started at the same time leaving me standing, what the f*ck is going on here then? Even the sportsman behind me were flying past, so i quickly fired her up and got going albeit near the back and guess what? Yeah, traffic bloody jam! After queuing like it was rush hour on the M25, I finally made it to the foot of that rooty climb some 7 mins after the start! And I’ve only gone 100 meters, and there was still riders behind me, complete shambles, but you must give those poor bloody marshals a big hand for helping everybody up to the top with the never ending onslaught of bikes.
After I made it up to the top (or should I say dragged up there by some helpers), the course dropped back down again and went round a tree that was covered in slimy roots, I had a stupid little ‘off’ here, nothing out of the ordinary, but when I picked the bike up and got back on, I went to pull the clutch in and oops! Oh crumbs (or words to that effect) my clutch levers broke! (see pic). I finally made it back to the pits after 35 mins really struggling to coax the bike round with the little bit of lever that I had left. Gear changing was difficult and I just kept stalling the thing in the tight wooded sections.
I parked the bike up and walked back to the van in the hope that I had a spare lever in my toolbox, I did! But that was broken as well. What I’m I doing keeping a broken clutch lever in my toolbox god only knows!
Things were now serious as I didn’t want to get a DNF as I wanted to keep up my record of finishing! But as it stood at the moment I really couldn’t see myself riding round with hardly any clutch. Might be easy to do on a flat field, but not in the woods.
I then went back down to the pits and had a general chit chat with anybody that I could find to cry my eyes out too! Jed and Steve from Thor ( who both took a short break at one time because of the heat) Debbie Tucker, Dean canfield, as well as helping out a few riders re-fuel.
As time went on i thought to myself, surely I must have some sort of lever back in the van that I could ‘bodge’ to get me round? So off I went again back up to the van to try and find something. After digging through the depths of my toolbox I finally came across something that resembled a clutch lever, and it wasn’t broken either, bingo!
I quickly fitted it on and with 1hr and 55 mins gone on the clock I set off on my 2nd lap.
Within a couple of minutes I knew that things weren’t quite right and the ’dodgy’ lever that I’d put on was really no better than the broken one, it just didn’t work properly, So yet again I huffed and puffed my way round another lap and pitted on the 2hr 30min mark and waited for the flag. To be honest another lap wouldn’t have made a blind bit of difference to my result, so in the end I did the right thing and at least I got a finish. Who knows, I might even get some championship points!

Finishing position: 13/15 (clubman 225)
Bike status: new clutch lever
Injuries: none

Practice- 10th May 2008

The moto x practice track just up the road here in wadebridge was open today so off I went to have a little blast round up against those motocross boys.
Needless to say that mine was the only enduro bike there and the only TM, which made things slightly interesting as I pulled into the car park! I got shall we say some ‘inquisitive’ looks, and as I was driving past some ‘seasoned’ mx boys to get parked up, I was going to stop and get out my guitar and give them all a song so they’d have something more to talk about, but I didn’t have it with me, what a shame!
Ok, that’s enough sarcastic wit from me so lets move on.
It was an absolutely beautiful summers day and the track was just about in perfect condition due to the rain we had the night before.
I was looking forward to testing my jumping ability over the table tops and the ‘ski’ jumps and trying to get a bit of speed up and the same time. After a few warm up laps I thought I took the jumps ok and was getting some decent ‘air’ until some guy overtook me in mid air up about 10 foot higher than what I was!
‘where the f*ck did he come from’ I thought, the clouds? The bloke must have needed an oxygen mask to get that high. I later found out this guy had won sort of championship last season, not surprising is it?
Anyway, I had good session down there doing about 20-30 mins at a time, taking a breather for 10 then going back out again. It did make a nice change having some little tussles against some motocross boys and I enjoyed the competition (especially against the big 4 bangers), so an enjoyable day.
One sad note is that we stopped an hour early because one guy had a bad ‘off’ going over a jump and an ambulance was called. He got taken off to hospital so the organizer decided to call it a day. Lets hope he’s back on the mend soon.

Just to say- 6th May 2008

Get well soon Ken who broke his collarbone in 3 places over the weekend. Ken was out practising on his own little moto x track (which i use sometimes) when he landed awkwardly and snap went his collarbone, OUCH!

I was going to do the xmoor event on monday, but having just returned from a week away i thought i'd better stay home and play 'dad' to my little girl and help the girlfriend with all the unpacking and the washing!

A day out- 28th April 2008

Yes it was off to watch a bit of motocross today, the DEP 2 stroke championships at Landrake.

Free entry, excellent weather, decent track and not a 4 banger in sight.

Can't beat the screaming sound and smell of a 2 'smoke' can ya? (ok i'm biased). Brilliant day!

Hustyns- 20th April 2008

With Hustyns being just a mile up the road all I had to do was fall out of bed and I was there!
We were blessed with lovely weather so all was set for a good day and after ‘eyeing’ up the course over the last few weeks, I was really looking forward to it.
Now this being a timecard event I was due off at 10.10am, this being the first of the clubman and allocated with 6 laps each varying from 44 mins a lap down to 38mins for the last one, so all had to do was to try to stay on time!
Had a chat with a few riders parked next to me, everyone very friendly and a good atmosphere was evident.
So, at 10.10 preciously off we went in groups of 4, one of us being Dean Canfield who was quite a decent clubman rider, so I thought if I could hang to his shirt tail I’d be doing well. No bloody chance, he left me after about 10 mins and I didn’t see him again until the time check after the 1st lap! (This was the same on every lap).
The course was probably about 10 miles in length, with enough roots to wrap around the world twice over, some very tricky indeed (to which I later found out), a couple of small water crossings, fire roads, tight nadgery woods, a few off cambers (one of which was to be cut out later because it caused some carnage), some nice hills and a special test included about halfway round, so all in all a decent and testing course even with it being dry.
I personally think the first few miles were the hardest riding through the forest as it was just so so bumpy, in fact it was like trying to hold on to a fire breathing pogo stick if you dared to open her up on this section.
1st lap everything went smoothly although I only just made it back dead on time so I had to go straight back out again.
2nd lap and a chance to scare yourself silly as the special test came along. No problems with that and yet again I made it back to the check point dead on time, so back out again I went.
3rd lap, another scary test, that went ok as well and guess what? Back to the check point at the end of the lap again with no time to rest, so it was straight out again.
Ok, so now I’m thinking, hold on, if I can only just about stay on time how the hell am I going to refuel without losing time and collecting any time penaltys? I knew I had to push a bit harder so on my 4th lap (including another special test) I did, and made it back with 1 min to spare, phew! I quickly shouted to some guy in the pits to hand me my fuel can (cheers mate), i put some in and I was off back out again just making it to the check in time.
5th lap and I was starting to get a bit tired now although that’s not surprising as I haven’t raced that much this year and all those silly little things start creeping in like losing concentration and not picking your lines right. That’s exactly what happened when I managed to plant myself head first into a tree on that rooty, bumpy first section. It’s at this point in the race when you start talking to yourself don’t you? ‘what the hell did you do that for? concentrate Trev you twat’, or words to that effect! No damage done off I went again and no prizes for guessing as i made it back at the end of the lap dead on time.
5 laps gone and I’ve only had 1 minute to spare after some 3 hours riding, and with the last lap time set at the fastest, I knew I’d really struggle to stay on time. I had a choice, do I push and with being so knackerd risk keep coming off? Or do I carry on at the same pace and make it back in one piece? I choose the latter and keep my record up of finishing! (which is now 30 or more without a dnf).
I did lose about a minute on the last lap as I stupidly stalled the thing in the woods going all of 2mph and fell off with the bike landing on top of me. When your tired it’s seems 10 times harder trying to push a muddy enduro bike off your body!
I was relieved to finish about 2 mins overtime, but well pleased on how it all went for me and quite chuffed with my result today as it’s only my 2nd race in the clubman ranks.
While I was getting changed i seem to cramp up everywhere, fingers, toes, legs, stomach, that’s a bugger when that happens, I had a job getting the bike on the bloody trailer.
Talked to a few riders after who admitted it was tough going as well, although everyone enjoyed it.
The young lad Jed from Thor motorcycles came back and looked absolutely shattered, he was well overtime and found it hard too.
Thanks to Andy Smith for giving me a pillion up the hill from the pits at the end, saved a bloody walk did that.
Overall another enjoyable day.
Just one last thing, I think Mark Tucker should really slow down a bit as I believe he drives far too fast round the roads of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset because I think he’s beginning to frighten some people!

Finishing position: 8/16 (clubman 225)
Bike status: ok
Injuries: cut right hand

Last working party- 19th April

Yes it was up Hustyns again to get the track fully prepared for tommorrow. This time we took the bikes to make sure all the markers were clear to see.
So, it was nice to have a little ride round in the course to see what we're going to be faced with!
By the way i did one of those 'you've been framed' moments when i decided to land on my arse in the pit area in front of some rather bemused Camel Vale members to which Mike roose (the git) had the loudest laugh of all!

Another working party!- 13th April 2008

Yes it was out with the tree loppers and saws to try and demolish half of the forestry commisions pride and joy in readiness for next week. Better weather for it this time, lovely sunshine!

Working party- 6th April 2008

Joined up with some Camel vale mcc members today to help out getting the track ready for Hustyns. Nice english weather, one minute the suns out, the next it's snowing!

Combe sydenham- 30th March 2008

Needless to say I’m not particularly ‘match fit’ at the moment as this is only my second race of the year, and having ridden at Combe sydenham last year, I was certainly looking forward to the challenge of a 3hr race round a proper enduro course to test me. Astonishingly I wasn’t gigging last night so I actually had a decent nights kip! That helped I can tell you!
With the weather we had all week memories of last year came flooding back (see earlier blog) and I thought, oh no, here we go again! But as I arrived the sun was shining and that turned out to be the case all day. Yippee, summers on it’s way.
Done all the necessary, had a chat with a few people, then it was off up the hill and on to the start line. A big class too was entered in the clubman 2st, so I knew that a good start would be handy. The flag dropped and I must admit it wasn’t one of my best getaways. As we entered the woods for the first time things got a bit tight between riders and I had a little off because I simply ran out of space with nowhere to go, and by the time I got up and kicked her back into life, I was near the back.
The first real test came soon after in the shape of a slippery, uphill section about 200 meters long, not a steep one, but it caught a few of us out riding up it for the first time so I was glad to make up to the top of that.
The woods I thought were excellent, everything you could want for a decent days racing, Some nice slimly downhill’s, tricky slippery uphill’s, off cambers, tree roots, a few fire roads, a couple of jumps and a nice water crossing thrown in for good measure. All in all, about 7-8 miles in total. To be honest, you had to be ‘on the ball’ for most of the lap because there wasn’t much in the way of easy bits where you could take a breather.
I did feel a bit ’rusty’ for the first couple of laps, but that soon passed and I really began to enjoy things and started to relax a bit more.
I pitted after 1hr and 40 ins and was now thinking about get as many laps in as I could before the 3hrs were up. I then had a ‘why the hell did I do that for’ moment! I must have been traveling all of about 5mph going through a narrow one track hillside ledge when I stupidly over balanced and went tumbling down the hill. The bike stayed up the top and I rolled over 6 or 7 times stopping halfway down the hill. As I got up (annoyed but laughing with myself for such a silly mistake) the rider behind me shouted down to me ‘hey, nice one mate’ all in good humor of course, definitely one of those you’ve been framed moments that one! As I clambered back up to the top I was then struggling to pick the bike up on the off camber as it was laying on it’s side downhill, but luckily for me the young lad Richard Tucker came round the corner and stopped to give us a hand to get the bike back upright and back off I went, no damage done. (By the way, look out for Richard in the future as he is riding well and has had some excellent results lately and he’s only 17!)
As I went through the transponders with about 25 mins to go I knew if I pushed hard I get another 2 laps in but that’s where it all went a bit ‘Pete tong’. I was doing well and on target until I came to one of the slippery narrow steep little climbs in the woods which I conveniently managed to get stuck on halfway up. Sods law that, I’d been riding up it every lap with no problem and just when you want to put a faster lap in something like that happens. I had to wait for the traffic to clear before I could go back down and have another go which I did, and guess what? I done exactly the bloody same thing again! Yet again I had to wait for the traffic to clear before I could safely go back down and try again. 3rd time lucky so they say, and this time I managed to make up there, although I reckon I must have wasted a good 6-7 mins on that bloody hill. I was in a nutshell a bit ’p*ssed off with myself’ with that, and I as I looked down at my watch I knew I wouldn’t get another lap in and that’s exactly how it turned out to be as I finished about 5 mins over the 3hrs.
All in all an excellent event and was well pleased with the 7 laps I did which was a big improvement on last year, and to cap it all off, I actually drove home for once with the sun shining. Happy days!

Finishing position: 29/40 (clubman 2st)

Bike status: new front wheel bearings

Injuries: none

A bit of practice- 22nd March 2008

Had a nice little bit of time on the bike down at my mates track this afternoon. with things being a bit slow at the moment due to other commitments, i'll be glad to be racing again next week at the Xmoor event.

Poor old Pete!- 3rd March 2008

Went out again on the bike to some private woods where my mate Pete Jago had permission to ride round.
Nice little track it was aswell. Plenty of woods, a few roots, a lovely little rocky river and 2 bloody steep hills (and i mean steep). Hit the deck a few times on the steep hills because the more we were riding up them, the more slippery they got! No harm done though, it was all good training.
Now then, Pete was well under the weather with a bug, but being the hardened stout biker that he is, he wanted to go out and ride regardless. After about 30 mins up come last nights dinner, then 5 mins later his supper, followed by his breakfast another 5 mins after that! He took a break and was still 'yaking up' even when doing nothing! As i done another lap (with Pete taking a rest) i got stranded on one of the steep hills, Pete came down to give us a hand and haul the bike back up to the top and promptly 'yakked' up again!
I'm telling you what, that bloke has got a deep stomach! i lost count the number of times he threw up. (it got to the stage where i nearly phoned up the guiness book of records).
After a couple of hours of riding it was off home.
Thanks to Pete for making the effort to ride with us, and get well soon mate!

A bit of practice- 1st March 2008

Had a little blast round my mates moto x track. A few of us riding about so had a enjoyable afternoon.

Grey Mare- 24th February 2008

A nice local race and i didn't get my regs in on time! The race was full so i couldn't ride, my fault entirley, you'd have thought i would have learnt by now!
Never mind, off i went to watch it instead.
To be honest i really enjoyed watching the top boys in action trying to get tips on how to ride!
Met various folk who i hadn't seen for a while and had a good chat , so yeah, a good day.

Matchams park- 17th February 2008

It’s been a bit of a wait coming, my first race of the year. Lets just say that things have been rather hectic lately at home and until I move house, I can’t race as much as I’d like. Hopefully a few months down the line and it’ll all be sorted!

Now then, onto the race………………………………………………………………………………….
Last night I was gigging and had a ‘late’one. I went to bed at 2am then got up at 4am, 2 hours kip! Not the ideal prep for a race of this magnitude I admit, I should be slow down at my age, but hey, you only live once, so make the most of it!
I really fancied this event, it was round 1 of the newly formed GBXC organisation (Great Britain Cross Country), so bearing that in mind, riders would come from near and far to ride (especially with the TV cameras there) so i would be able to pit my wits against some top opposition at a top class venue. I entered the 2hr morning race in the o40’s class.
Arrived a Matchams with plenty of time to spare, so had a good look round the place and could tell that there was a definite ‘buzz’ going around probably due to the fact of the cameras being present and David Knight along with some top names riding in the main race later on.
Now then this surprised me, scrutineering, what scrutineering? I presented my bike at the entrance to the parc ferme/ start area and I just got my number ticked off of their rider list sheet and got waved through!

The start was on the Famous G.P track, so we all had a big wide fast straight we could blast down until we hit the first corner. 10am on the dot and the flag dropped. I made a decent enough start to the first corner probably in the first 10 so kept out of any trouble, I was happy with that and seeing as I’d had a stupid amount of sleep, the adrenaline of the race kicked in and I felt good. Along the twisty deep rutted sandy mx track we went before heading off into the first wooded section. I got to say that apart from a steep downhill, there wasn’t much in the way of anything technical at all, before we headed back onto the mx track which included some huge table tops to take (flat out if you were brave enough!) before going through some more flowing wood trails (some with whoops) and then back to lap scoring. I reckon about about 5 miles in total.
After that good start I got overtaken by quite a few in my class, ok, make that loads! Bloody nora there’s some excellent o40’s riders out there! I was a bit rusty from it being my first race for a while and it took me a bit of time to get back into things, but when you’re up against some very experienced vets, I didn’t expect any less and was happy riding around to get some more experience.
Everything was going well when about an hour into it some guy decided it would a good idea to ‘t-bone’ me on straight bit of the track. I don’t even know where he came from! Obviously he must have lost control when he went to overtake me but it’s sods law, I crashed down onto the deck and looked up to find his was carrying on along his merry way as though nothing had happened! I checked over the bike, bloody hell, another set of handgaurds gone, never mind that’s racing.
After about 1hr 20 mins I pitted for a very quick ‘splash & dash’ and was on target to get another 3 laps in. With 3 mins to go I passed lap scoring well pleased with myself thinking I was going to do another lap just before the 2 hours was up, but wait a minute, the chequered was out, what’s going on then? Apparently the way GBXC run things is that the race finishes when the leader comes through near to the allotted time of the end of the race. That’s the first time I’ve heard of that, still, I’ll know next time won’t I?

Met up with Steve Jose afterwards and watched a bit of the main race before heading back home.
Overall I really enjoyed it but was disappointed with the course, I thought it would be a lot more demanding than what it was. Great motocross track but nothing for the enduro boys to get their teeth stuck into in the woods. Makes me wonder what their other venues are going to be like?

Finishing position: 26/32
Bike status: New handgaurds, front sprocket, brake pads front & rear Injuries: none

A blast round- 27th January 2008

Well I’ve not been on the bike for about a month now, hopefully February should kick start my season as there’s a few events that I’m looking at doing.
A mate of mine has the use of some land nearby and at the moment he’s decided to build a small moto x track on it. Naturally I asked if I could come down and have a blast round it, ‘ no problem’ he said. So off I went and did a couple of hours on the bike. Nice and relaxed, just pottering round and enjoying the lovely sunshine. Felt great to get my leg over the bike again!

ORE presentation- 26th January 2008

Went to the ORE presentation last night to pick up some silverware.
Couldn’t do much in the way of celebrating by filling up my cup with drink because I had a 2 hour drive back home!

Pictured Lto R are, yours truly, Chris Ware and Mike Coates.

Nice to finally have a chat and see some of the guys faces I’ve been racing against all last season. I mean lets be honest, you ain’t got a clue who the bloody hell they are when everyone’s got their helmet on!