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
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
