Dawn to Dusk- 30th August 2009

My longest report yet!!!!!

It’s fair to say that I was really looking forward to this event, I’m feeling really fit, the bikes good and I was mentally prepared to push myself for 12 hours worth of riding!!!

Three of us were traveling up together to do this, me, Adam Blake and Steve Jose. Steve unbelievably had managed to ‘blag’ a motor home for us to use free of charge for the weekend, a 6 ½ ton truck that was kitted out with all the mod cons as well as storage for 3 bikes in the back, nice one!
So it was a short drive up to Bude to meet the lads and to get loaded up before beginning the trek up to Wales. Things didn’t go too well for me as I arrived late because of the holiday traffic I had to get through on the way, so inevitably that meant we were late leaving. After a few hours of traveling it was a quick stop on the M5 to get some diesel and fuel ourselves up with some Harry Ramsdens fish & chips before we set off again. A game of ’who am I’ (that’s a game where you have to guess the famous person by asking questions) in the lorry turned out to be a game of ’who the f*ck am I’ because the supposedly famous person that Steve Jose had picked, me and Adam had never even heard of! Not once he did that, but twice! So everybody, if your gonna play party games at your bar-b-cue and Steve’s there, just make some sort of excuse and don’t involve him otherwise it’ll all go tits up and people will start to leave!

Anyway, after about 5 hours we finally arrived at the dawn to Dusk site, a damp quarry ‘in the middle of nowhere’ and met up with the other lads that had traveled up from Cornwall. Arthur Johnson and Hannes Tanzer were both doing the 24 hr solo iron man race (nutters or what?) and brothers Rich and Steve Jay were doing the 12 hr two man team. Because I was doing the 12 hr race I had to get signed on and the bike checked today (Saturday), Adam and Steve didn’t need to as they were doing the ‘mickey mouse’ race, the 6 hr one, so they could do all theirs in the morning. So with everything done it was then off to see the start of the 24 hr marathon event. The start itself was further down in the quarry and had a small moto x style track before heading into the forest. It was a great atmosphere as the riders got underway and as darkness fell we went back into the big marquee to listen to the riders briefing and take a look at the video screen which was a full lap of the course done by a helmet cam so everybody could see what we were letting ourselves in for! I was there with Rich and Steve Jay and all we really wanted to see was the 4 or 5 ’extreme’ sections that had been put in in order to save time to see how difficult they were. I’d made my mind that I’d be having a go at all of them on my very 1st lap to see what they were like and then have a quick pit stop to tell Adam & Steve how I got on with them so they could get some idea if the sections were tough or not.

With time now getting on, it was back to the motor home for a bite to eat and some kip. It’s really weird watching the bike lights in the distance going round at night racing, a big round of applause to everybody that did that 24 hr race, must have been tricky in the forest sections. After dinner we got our heads down and all you could hear was the 4 bangers belting out their thunderous exhaust tones in the distance as I drifted off to sleep, couldn’t hear the 2t’s at all. Bloody noisy 4 bangers!

So it was up at 5am in order to have some grub and get hydrated before the 7am start. The weather at this point was overcast, grey, and looking really miserable with the threat of rain in the air. The actual start of the race was a ‘le mans’ type thing where you had to run to your bikes first, albeit only a matter of about 10 yds, I’d have preferred the distance of around 2 or 3 miles myself but you can’t have it all can you!
The vets class was the second group away and I got a flyer and went into the first corner in 3rd and that’s were I stayed around the short moto x style track before we headed out into the forest.

With the race being held in a disused quarry and looking at the footage of last years event before I came, wet or dry, it was going to rocky, and once the top soil had been worn away, all that was left was going to a granite type surface. With that in mind we all decided to use trials tyres, and what a cracking decision that would turn out to be.

The lap was about 15-16 miles and mainly consisted of fire tracks that meandered through the quarry and the forest. A couple of rocky climbs and down hills, a nice little river that we had to go through, but nothing too major and unbelievably I didn’t see one tree root! All the ruts had stones and slate under them as you rode along and basically you couldn’t travel more than about 10 yds without your bike not going over some sort of rock be it big or small. The open sections out of the forest which were in the quarry were fast and gave you a chance to ‘pin’ it or sit down on the saddle if you needed a rest bite.

The ‘extreme’ sections weren’t really ‘extreme’ at all, and I was expecting to come across something out of ’the tough one’, although there was one, where you dropped down and down and down before crossing a river that was littered with boulders before going up a rally steep rocky climb the other side, this one saved you at least 5 mins according to the organiser, so I had a go and made it ok, that trials tyre on the back was working wonders, I had such good grip with it. Another ‘extreme’ had a an easy climb but with a near vertical summit to get over at the top, I did this ok as well, so overall I did all the time savings and get through them all without any mishaps. To be honest there are more difficult sections than this at a Exmoor or Camel Vale event that I’ve come across.

I took the lead about 20 mins into the 1st lap when I cleared the ‘extreme’ bit that saved me 5 mins because the 2 riders in front of me had taken the long way round and didn’t go for it, I knew is was in 1st because they got past me soon after, no panic though, still over 11 hours to go!

So after my first lap I came in to pit to see Adam and Steve and tell them that the hard routes were ok and to go for it later on when it was their turn to start. With the rain now falling I changed my goggles, had a quick top up of fuel and went on my way again. My plan now was to stop every 2 laps to re-fuel but that was soon abandoned as the rain kept on and I had to come again the very next lap for some more goggles. Lap 3 and yet more goggles and a quick re-fuel and I was out again, I think I was still in 3rd at this stage and only 5 mins behind the leader or so I was told.

I think it was on my 5th lap and about 4 ½ hrs into the race when disaster struck. I felt the front get a little out of shape and she wasn’t handling as good because every stone or rock I went over made the bloody bike shake. I stopped and checked for the obvious, and sure enough I’d managed to get a puncture in the front wheel. With still about 7-8 miles of the lap to go I nursed her back round to the pits feeling slightly pissed off that I would be losing time, but that was just the start of it. As I put the bike on the jack stand I realized that the tyre levers weren’t there, Oh bollocks! I rode back to our motor home hoping that Adam and Steve would still be there and sure enough they were just getting changed when I arrived. ‘Steve, where the bloody hell are my tyre levers’ I said, ‘everything of yours is down in the pits’ he said, ‘you sure because they was in that blue box’ I said. Sure enough the blue box was still in the motor home so I quickly grabbed the levers, picked up a tube from Arthur Johnson’s wife and rode back to the pits to change the offending tube.

Things weren’t great, it was pissing down with rain, there was mud everywhere, the wind seemed to be blowing at 90mph and to top it all we didn’t have any shelter what so ever because we didn’t bring a gazebo with us, not the ideal conditions for maintenance on your bike then in the middle of a race. I just concentrated on trying not to lose anything in the mud like the pinch bolts and valve as I was putting the new tube in. I reckon with the tooing and froing and me having to slow up a bit to get back to the pits in the first place, I must have lost a good 25 mins. Just before I went back out I managed to take a peek at the lap scoring TV and I was still in 3rd.
It was now well over 5 hours into the race and I felt really good and I’d worked out in my head that even if I was to do the laps 10 mins slower as the race went on, I’d be on for at least 13 laps, which would put me right up there. The trouble now was that I’d gone through all my goggles (4 sets) and at least 3 pairs of gloves because of the conditions and I was now riding with nothing covering my eyes. I know we’ve all done that and we’ll probably still do it, but today I got caught out, so more of that later.

On my 6th lap and going great guns I thought it would be a good idea to hit a tree as I was overtaking a slower rider, a broken brake lever was the result but I had a couple of inches of it still left so that was enough for me to use, and I certainly wasn’t going to stop again for anymore maintenance, didn’t have time for that!

I started my 7th lap just as the riders for the 6hr race were gathered at the starting area, so with another 5 mins or so to go, I knew they’d be off and all breathing down my neck soon after. I still felt really good, was still doing the ’extreme’ sections, and was going really well and the only thing that was tired was my clutch finger, so I had to use 2 fingers now instead of one to pull the lever in as I didn’t want it to get any worse and start cramping up. What happened next put me out of the race.

As I riding at a decent pace through the forest on one of the fire tracks, the rain had made a few branches bow over, and it was bloody sods law that I got whip lashed by one when a branch smacked me right in my eyes. I knew instantly I was trouble, I couldn’t see a bloody thing and had to stop. My left eye wouldn’t even open and my right eye was only working about 50%, I thought it would get better so I carried on as best I could, but things went from bad to worse. It got really bad when I couldn’t even see which rut to ride in as everything was blurred, and I had a job crawling along in 1st gear at 5 mph, and with still about 10 miles or so still to go before the end of the lap I wondered if I was going to make it back to the pits.

With the 6hr race now started, it seemed like everyone was flying past me and i was standing still, Adam and Steve both went past me and must have thought I’d run out of energy, but far from it, I couldn’t bloody well see. That lap seemed like an eternity, and with me now in quite a bit of discomfort, and with the rain lashing into my eyes as well, the sight of the pits felt like I’d won the lottery. I went through the timing at 6hrs 56mins, that last lap must have took me an hour.

I quickly dumped the bike down and stumbled off to the medical tent, where 2 of the ambulance guys grabbed me and got me into the ambulance and started to clean my eyes. They called a paramedic in who then started to syringe my eyes with fluid whilst someone else was holding them open because I couldn’t open them myself. Some dye was also put in my left eye to see what damage there was, luckily for me I’d only scratched the lens. It made laugh when the guy said ’look, this is what has come out of your eye mate, a bit of tree’. I think the thing that hurt the most was I knew I wouldn’t be able to finish the bloody race, I was gutted, but also relieved to find out that I didn’t need to go to hospital (even though they were going to send me there).

So after spending about 30 mins or so getting treated, it was back to the van to get changed, race over, simple as that. I went back to the pits and helped the guys out a bit re-fueling and stuff and even contemplated getting back into my sodden riding gear and doing one more lap near the end just to get a finish, but my vision was just to blurred, so just too dangerous to do anything. I’ll tell you what though, after about 2 hrs of not doing anything, I was still in 7th place in the vets class so the lap scoring said, unbelievable! Not a good thing to see that really, just goes to show I must have going a fairly decent pace, and looking at that made me feel even more gutted!
All the lads from Cornwall were still going strong, Arthur Johnson was in 4th place, Hannes Tanzer was an unbelievable 2nd , both of which were doing the 24hr race, Adam was winning the 6hr experts, Steve Jose was in 3rd in the 6hr clubman, and the Jay brothers were in 7th in the 12hr 2 man team. Apart from Adam, that’s how they all ended up at the finish. Adam missed out on winning the experts and 1st overall in the 6hr race on his last lap! We think he must have got overtaken when he made his pit stop just before his last lap while he was in the pits, and he missed out on winning by just 40 seconds! Bloody nora, unlucky or what?
Everyone’s bike had gone through brake pads galore as the slate and rain mixed together just turned into grinding paste, and most of the guys finished with no pads at all and that was after putting new ones in halfway through the race.

There was drama in the Boyle’s camp as well, Dad Pete, riding with his two sons Mike and Chris in the 12hr 3 man team were missing a rider. Chris went out at about 5.30pm to do another lap and still wasn’t back at 7.30. No one knew where he was, so they had to go race control and send out the marshals to go and look for him. Still don’t know what happened there as I’ve not got the update on that as yet. Lets hope everything’s ok on that score. Pete told me that last year they did the 12hr team race and got a DNF because something happened on their very last lap, looks like it might have happened again this year, 2 years running, how unlucky is that?

After everybody getting changed and with the rain still pooring down from the dark gloomy skies (hadn‘t stopped since the morning), it was back up to the marquee through the squelchy mud in the car park, for a bite to eat and to see the presentation. I bumped into Arthur Johnson up there, and after finishing the 24hr race, Arthur told us his own words that he felt like he’d been ‘run over by a bus‘! Just finishing that is one hell of an achievement on your own and he deserves a massive round of applause for doing that.

So after a nights kip we headed home, all a bit ‘cream crackered’ but in good spirits, and as usual Mr Jose had a thousand stories to tell us about what had happened the day before.

A disappointing weekend for me then, but that’s why I write this blog, so I can look back on it and reflect on the highs and lows of it all. Back to the goggle scenario, I know we all do it, We’ve all done it on countless numbers of occasions, ride without them on when the going gets shitty because they get clogged up with mud, but I was very lucky when that branch got me, and that’s the worse I’ve been hit by one in 3 years of racing, I’ve learnt my lesson and from now on even if I have to waste a minute stopping in the pits to put a fresh pair on every bloody lap, that’s what I intend to do. I love racing motorbikes, I keep myself fit, I eat well, the bike gets prepped well before every race, I keep my kit in order, and it’s all of these factors that is the reason why I rarely suffer a DNF, ok I know I’m going the odd one or two, but that’s understandable with the amount of racing I’m doing at the moment and something’s are beyond your control, but take note everybody, because if you ain’t got vision, then you ain’t got nothing.

Finishing position: DNF

Keeping up the fitness- 24th August 2009

I was thinking about the TnT event today but decided not to as i didn't want to do anything that could jeopardise next weeks race. Not being content with not doing anything i went for a 10 mile run in order to keep my fitness levels topped up.
I might go for a little blast on the bike midweek, see what happens.

There's a few of us travelling up from Cornwall to do the Dawn to Dusk at the weekend, including 2 guys who are doing the 24hr race, nutters!!!! I'll be doing the 12hr ironman thing, must remember to pace myself and not carried away for the first 3 or 4 hours or so, easier said than done when your racing!

Really looking forward to it and it should be a great weekend.

Practice- 19th August 2009

After sundays race and me not even breaking sweat, i just had to get back out on the bike and do some riding, so it was out down the local moto x track were i met up with Adam Blake. I did an hour non stop at a fairly decent clip, had a break, then did another 30 mins before going home.

The damage from Rifton Barton from that branch that got me to the bike was a broken rad shroud, a hose, and the lighting 'blipper' switch that had got smashed off it's mounting. Still losing a bit of coolant somewhere, best i get that sorted as the Dawn to Dusk is just over a week away!

Rifton Barton- 16th August 2009

Is that the next Laurel and Hardy?
No it's me and Steve Jose having a bit of a laugh after both suffering DNF'S.
Yes i'm the skinny one on the right!
(pic by Debbie Tucker)


I was really looking forward to this one, it’s run by Exmoor enduro club who always put on good events, there was a nice turnout of riders, and most people I know were riding it as well. For those of you that have followed the blog from the early days you’ll know that this was where it all started for me 3 years ago, bloody hell do I remember that or what? Ambulance job!

So with only just under a 2hour drive I set off early and got there with plenty of time in hand so I could take a look at the ’extreme’ section of the course that the club always put in on this event. Got parked up and off I went to have a sneaky look at it which this year consisted of a pile of logs about 4 high with a nasty drop off the other side, and a row of about 20 tyres to ride over. I was in two minds weather to have a go at it as I didn’t want to have a silly ’off’ and wreck me or the bike because I had the Dawn to dusk event to think of in a couple of weeks time, so today all I wanted was to have a nice blast round and get home in one piece. The weather today was overcast but dry, but judging by the youths race earlier, conditions were tricky as most of them were arriving through the lap scoring caked in mud.

Just about everyone I saw last week I saw this week again, so needless to say whilst getting signed on I was chatting to a lot of people and even a few new faces that had recognized me, bloody nora, time consuming these ‘local’ events!!
So after running out of breath it was back to get changed and then down to the start to get ready for the off . I was hoping for another decent start but I had more chance of taken Natalie Imbruglie out for dinner then I did of getting the holeshot because I dropped the clutch too soon and stalled it! 2nd kick and away she went, but all too late and I got to the 1st corner about halfway in the pack. From there on we went through a couple of fields and entered the woods where it all went a bit ’Pete Tong’. Trying to make up places I clattered against a bush which had rather thick branches the size of a broom handle sticking out of it, I thought nothing of it, but within a couple of mins there was steam coming out from everywhere, oh bollocks, just lost my coolant, looks like I gotta leak somewhere then!

I stopped and tried to inspect the damage but couldn’t see anything, but knowing that I had all the lap to do, I took it easy and crawled round, that is until more bloody steam was coming out so I had to stop again and wait for her to cool down. I decided to stop and help a few people get up the hills and also a rider who went down in front of me on a steep downhill. He took a bad fall, but thankfully after a couple of minutes and with me directing the oncoming bikes round him, he got back on his feet and carried on. Not wanting to seize the bike I stopped again just opposite the ’extreme’ section to have a look at everyone going through it and had a chat for about 10 minutes to Mike Boyles who came over to ask what was up. Steve Jose then came round and stopped next to me and told me he couldn’t carry on because of his back, so we both had no choice but to call it a day. After deciding to have a go over the logs and the tyres, I said ’follow me’ to Steve and promptly got stuck on the smallest single log of all before we even reached the real test, embarrassing or what? Thankfully I got going again quickly and made it through the pile of logs and the tyres and back to the start where I pitted, game over for me.

After getting changed and putting the bike away me and Steve went down to the logs and tyres to help a few of those riders that were having trouble getting through that ‘extreme’ section, basically we were picking them up off the floor and putting them upright again so they could carry on! Debbie Tucker was down there snapping away like mad getting some decent shots one of which included Adam Blake doing a bit of ‘showboating’ while doing a wheelie all across the length of the tyres. Phil Harris bottled this section, that is until me and Steve stood right in front of him on his last lap as he was coming down the hill and demanded he went through it, he did and promptly came off at the first attempt to which he muttered under his breath ‘I’m knackered, why I did I listen to you Trev’! Fair play to him though, he got back up and did it 2nd time around.

Everyone who finished that I chatted too thought it was another top class tough event and relieved to get to the end. Adam had a good finish in the champ class, Rich Tucker had bike problems that put him well down, Gary McCoy finished the event on a ‘borrowed’ bike (sorry I didn’t have anything stronger for you Gary than tobacco at the end, but I just don’t smoke that kind of gear mate, only joking), Andy Smith done well in the Clubman 2st and surprisingly Phil Harris finished 2 races in a row. Well I might as well report on everyone else coz I didn’t do anything did I!
What is it this year and the Exmoor events with me? Combe Sydenham I didn’t get the chance to start the race because of a rad leak, Storridge woods I got injured and then my chain wrapped itself around the front sprocket, and now Rifton Barton!

Finishing position: DNF

Idless woods- 9th August 2009

Hey, hey, hey, it’s another holeshot as I led the field into the woods! (pic by Sue Pitman)

So with a cracking July behind me I was hoping for more of the same or at least get a decent result. Today was important as it’s another round of the south west championships and I’m 1pt behind the leader in the series (clubman E1) with just 3 rounds left.

Nice to have a short drive with the venue being just 30 mins away and I managed to get there early which was just as well as parking was tight because of the morning race between the quads and sidecars. The weather today was overcast and humid with the threat of rain in the air.

These local events are now beginning to get like a social gathering! I parked behind Colin George and in front of Francis Banfield as we all arrived at the same time. All 3 of us took a look at the start area where we met up with Gary (nothing gets in my way) McCoy and Mark, Rich and Debbie Tucker. Debbie had a face as white as a box of Persil after being driven there by son Rich who apparently drives a van like he rides his bike, extremely fast and the best ’white knuckle’ ride in the universe. Soon after I met up with Adam Blake, Steve (show me how to get a holeshot please Trev) Jose, and had chats with Jed Treleaven, Arthur Johnson, Mike Roose, Steve Jay, Phil Harris and poor old Andy Smith who’d had van trouble on the way there and had broken down. Andy was stuck in the middle of nowhere so Phil (Harris) got his gasser out of the van and rode it back to his place to get his van so they could both carry on their merry way leaving Andy’s van there stranded to be picked up later.

So after having a good old chin wag to everyone I clapped eyes on it was off to get changed and get my arse in gear down to the start line. Still not content with having talked the ‘hind legs off a donkey’ to a few folk along the way, I also met Paul Fordy who was just starting to race again after a lay off from a badly fractured collarbone, so I had a chat with him as well!

Onto the start then and a good sized looking field had assembled in most classes so racing was going to competitive today. As the flag was raised I got to absolute flyer and made my way up the gravel fire break and into the woods in 1st place, bloody hell that’s the 4th holeshot in the last few months! I must admit I have been practicing, I’ve been trying to kick start some life into the girlfriend and it looks like it’s paying off!

Idless woods, nice track I thought, some lovely twisting wooded trails, 4 or 5 slippery climbs, a seriously steep slimy downhill section that you had to ’crawl’ down at a snails pace, a small water crossing, the inevitable roots, a few long muddy ruts, and only a couple of small fields half way round to break up the lap a bit. I reckon it being about 6-7 miles, but a fast lap due to it being ideal conditions and nothing too technical.

As I went into the woods with the rest of the field breathing down my neck it wasn’t long before I got passed (oh b*llocks I thought) as I lost a couple of places and ended up in 4th place after the 1st lap. As I started my 2nd lap, my main rival (James Hull) in the battle for the championship was right behind me and after about another half lap he took a different line and got inside me. I then followed him for another lap (showing my front wheel to him a few times but couldn’t get past) before he overtook some back markers which I couldn’t do because of the tight sections, so that put some distance between us and I lost sight of him, not happy!

Now down in 5th but still going well and with a long way to go, within about 10 mins or so of James passing me, I saw him motionless on his bike looking down at it on a part of the track in the woods, obviously he had some sort of bike trouble so I went past, needless to say I didn’t stop to ask him what’s up!
That give me a bit of a boost and I really pushed, probably too hard in some places as I had a couple of little offs around some of the more muddier corners with the front wheel sliding away from me.
Mike Roose seemed to be over the place in the woods watching proceedings and every lap I went past him he’d always shout and gesture to me to keep the little gasser ‘pinned’. I don’t know weather he was giving me encouragement or a bollocking!

Around about the 1hr 45min mark I pitted and I’m pretty sure I’d made up to 3rd at this point, things were going well. Another half lap in and my clutch started to slip, oh dear, not good, and with an hour still to go I was hoping that she’d last out until the end, but things just got worse and with half an hour left the clutch was slipping so badly that on one of the hills I had to get off, and with the help of 2 marshalls, push her up to the top in 1st gear with the minimum amount of revs being given to the engine otherwise the bike would just scream and nothing would happen!

I had to make decision, do I wait in the pits for half an hour or more for the flag to come out and lose a load of places and championship points as well? Or do I go for another lap hoping that I wouldn’t lose too many positions and that I’d already done enough to secure a decent place but risk a DNF? I decided to carry on and risk it.

I knew this was to be my last lap and I had to do everything I could in order to get a finish, so I nursed the ‘gasser’ at a snails pace in the high gears in order for the clutch to grip, gingerly around the course. Bloody frustrating it is too, going about 10mph in 3rd or 4th gear (not the ideal way to ride a 125) when everyone’s passing you and you can do nowt all about it. After getting stuck a few times I finally made it back to the pits with a couple of mins to spare, and this time I had no alternative but to wait for the flag to come out because the poor bike could hardly move along the flat let alone any hills! So in the end that’s what I did and relieved to finish.

Spoke to James Hull afterwards who’d explained that he’d punctured so he finished well down the field. Andy Smith pulled out because he was too knackerd. Adam wasn’t happy with his placing in the experts. Steve Jose was happy with his 4th in E2, and even more happier because he overtook me! (after he hit the deck once trying to get past me). Gary McCoy had a DNF? And me? I’m well pleased, 5th place, could have been 3rd but considering what happened I’m lucky to finish at all.

Finishing position: 5/25 (clubman E1)

Breaking news: Me and Steve Jose have had a chat and were going to help each other out. He’s going to show me how to get up the hills on my 125, and I’m going to show him how to get a holeshot on his 250!!!!!!!!

If you rode there today you might want to see yourself in action at the start, here’s a link that I got sent to me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1If8Xz3jf1c

Plans this month.................................

9th Pendennis mcc
16th Exmoor enduro club
23rd ????
30th Dawn to dusk