Allercot farm- 19th July 2009

So, fully recovered after last weeks event of tortuous riding, it was off up to meet up with Adam (Blake) and to travel up to near Minehead for another round of the south west champs.

Every where’s had a lot of rain this week and further more it lashed it down on the way up there and after finally finding the ’arrow’ that was made up of a Mr Kipling’s box that directed us off the main road and round the country lanes into the place, we sat in the van for half an hour while until it had stopped ‘peeing’ it down!

Rich tucker came over for a quick chat before we headed off to do the usual stuff of signing on, etc, etc. Andy smith had forgotten his helmet and was panicking trying to find one, luckily he did so he was able to race. Phil Harris was complaining about his bike again and wants to get shot of it and get one of those ‘orange things’, and oh, yes I finally met the guy who ran over my bike at Storridge woods a while back which put a dent in my exhaust and punctured my petrol tank. Shall name and shame him? Of course I will, step forward Mr Gary McCoy!!!
After having a bit of laugh about it Gary said to me about the incident ‘sorry, I had nowhere to go’, try ‘New Zealand’ or 'Austrailia' Mr McCoy, I’ve heard it’s nice there this time of the year!

Jed Treleaven, Tim Williams and Arthur Johnson had all kipped out the night before in a tent at the venue and had walked the track the previous day and told us all about it, wet, muddy and slimy I think was their words, to be honest I think every bugger was expecting that due to the weather.

Onto the start then and it was straight off up the field for a few hundred yards and after a right hander and then a left, it was into the woods. No holeshot for me this time as I was in a about 5-6th place as we entered the trees but soon got up to 2nd within the 1st minute, so well placed at the moment for a decent opening lap.
The woods were covered in mud, simple as that which made things very tricky and tough on the old body as you continually had to battle with the bike to get any control. There were a couple of steep drop downs, some really slimy hills (which they later cut out), a lovely bit of a rocky downhill stream that we rode down, and of course the roots were out in abundance as well. To top it off the grassy fields that connected each bit of woodland together were mostly off camber and in places was like riding on ice as going into the corners you virtually had to ’tip toe’ it round to avoid coming off.
I knew that today would definitely be a test of fitness for everyone, but with a lot of riding under my belt (especially last weeks event) I was confident that I wouldn’t get too tired and so it proved. I reckon on the laps being about 6-7 miles long.

After the 1st lap I was leading and things were going well as no one had overtaken me in my class, when about an hour into the race and when trying to overtake a back marker and squeezed for room, I came off on the edge of a bank, slipped down it a bit and was pinned under the bike. After about a minute of struggling I wriggled free and just as I got up a rider (think it was no 45) stopped to give us a hand and to get the bike up the bank, I must have lost a good 3-4 minutes before I managed to get going again and with me not knowing how far I was leading by, I didn’t know if anyone In the clubman E1 class had got in front of me.

Apart from that little excursion off the course, things went really well for me and I was going well, I decided to pit earlier than usual for fuel because of the amount of revving the little ’gasser’ was doing to get through the mud and I didn’t want to run out of the bloody stuff again like I have done in the past! I also had a change of goggles and gloves and back out I went.
I knew I was doing well as I started to lap riders in the same class as me so I was really confident that I was still up there at the sharp end of things, and as the race went on riders really started to struggle in the tough conditions and were stopping and getting stuck all over the place. I remember passing Francis Banfield when he was taken a rest on the top of a climb and he looked completely ‘spent’, absolutely knackered!

On my last lap I managed to get stuck on a grassy climb and had to go back down and have a 2nd go at it, It was at this moment that the ‘gasser’ decided to let go of it’s coolant and boil over, steam was coming out from everywhere and for the last half lap I coaxed her home with an empty rad and luckily she held on for me.
So plastered with mud and wet through it was off back to van to get changed. Gary McCoy came over for a quick chat with me and Adam before we headed back home.
By the way, thanks to Gary for not running over my bike this time when he lapped me!

So a cracking result today and my first win in the clubman class. Well pleased with that.

Finishing position: 1/18 (clubman E1)