This week it was off to a Track n trail event with Adam Blake (pic), beautiful weather it was too, and the sun was shining as we made our way up for the 2 hour or so drive. About half way through the journey a white Transit that was tailgating us began to flash it’s lights, when I stuck me head out of the window I realized it was Andy Smith, he’d also come up from down our way so we rode in convoy up to Two valleys. Well to be honest, me and Adam went straight past the bloody turning because we were laughing too bloody much like a pair of kids joking about, (it was actually over another rider whom I won’t name) so good old Andy phoned us up and told us what a pair of twats we were!!!!
Anyway, got there in the end, so I went to take a look at one of the hard routes and report back. Phil Studley came over and had a chat and apparently had changed his engine overnight due to riding the day before and it braking!! Well that moved worked a treat, and if you look at the results then you’ll know why. I rode this event last year and by the look at it nothing much had changed, I remember getting the holeshot and crying out for some woods, but with the track basically being a motocross and open field circuit, I stood no chance, so I didn’t have a particularly good day, still, can’t complain this year coz I ain’t riding it!!! Nice to catch up with Jason Duggan, hadn’t seen him for ages, so wished him luck, apart from that, I didn’t know anyone else!!!! Bloomin heck, one week you know everybody, the next week, hardly anyone!!
As always at these TnT events you do get a big entry with lots of different classes, nothing wrong with that of course, but, and this is the big BUT, when you have a fairly short, fast and open type course coupled with lots of riders, sometimes you only have to do one lap and you’re already in amongst the back markers. I watched the start from the top of one of the hills and witnessed a pile up of the clubman 4 st entrants just as they were slowing down to get round the 1st corner. I thought myself there and then I bet Andy Smith was involved in that, and sure enough he was!!! Poor old Andy, 20 secs into the race and crashed, and by the time he got himself started again, he was plum last along with a broken front brake and a bent clutch lever that needed the hands the size of Kenny Everett to operate!
Now with so many classes to let go at one minute intervals, I was stood there thinking to myself that the champ guys are gonna come round soon before some of the other classes has started, and sure enough they did. I couldn’t believe it then, when some of the champ riders were coming through lap scoring at the end of their 1st lap and they let one of the other classes go right in front of them. Adam got caught up with the bloody lot of them and must have lost loads of time getting through that lot, not very good organization me thinks.
My time to help in the pits soon came round so I did my bit to help Adam and Andy, then it was off to get the grub from the van. Soon after Andy Smith came back looking well p*ssed off, he’d had an almighty off and busted his foot peg along with a tasty looking graze on his hip after hitting a tree stump. Game over for him, we couldn’t mend the peg so he had to retire. The hot humid weather was certainly taking it’s toll on a few riders with longer than normal pit stops to in order get some more liquid down their gullets, but that was the last thing on Blakey’s mind as his last few laps were dogged by a sticking throttle problem which caused him to ease back a bit.
At the end of the race and as to be expected, a lot of riders were ‘cream crackered’ and were sat there waiting for the flag to come out, not because of the course, but because the weather had taken it’s toll on a few on them.
So after getting a lift back from the pits on one of them orange KTM things and everything had been packed up, it was time for the burger van before the journey home.
