Muntjac BEC February 27th

Saturday
The day started off with a phone call at 6am (I’d just bloody well woke up) from John Hinkley, ‘where are ya?, you on the road yet then?’ ‘We’re on our way’. After I’d explained that I wasn’t leaving till 8am it was best I gave him a bell back later!

So four of us were traveling up for the Muntjac, Me, Adam Blake, ‘mad’ Jack Twentyman, and his boy Paddy who was coming along to watch all the action. As per usual I was late getting to meet up with everyone by about an hour, but it needn’t have mattered because they weren’t ready either! By about 10’ish we were on our way and all set for the long journey to Norfolk with all of us squeezed into Jack’s van! After a quick stop at the local tyre changing place to get a new tyre for the van, it was back on the road. With everyone getting a bit peckish it was decided to go to the nearest Macdonalds just outside of Bristol and get fuelled up with food. It was at this point that ‘mad’ Jack had noticed that his catalytic converter was hanging off his van, so he decided to get underneath and rip the thing off with his bare hands, that guy is a legend!

So after emptying our pockets with a few shillings and laden down with big macs, cheeseburgers, chips, coke, coffee and all the other things that are good for you, it was back in the van to ’eat on the go’ in order to save a bit of time. Drama then ensued as Jack had found out that his boy Paddy had ordered him the wrong meal! Jack wanted chips with his and he didn’t have any, a big mac meal is what he should have had, but all he got was a big mac minus the chips. A row soon brewed up and then Jack nicked Paddy’s chips and ate half of them before begrudgingly giving what was left in the carton back to his boy to finish. Me and Adam sat motionless and quiet until the raging storm between father and son had petered out, and after a few short minutes (when we all had finished our nosh) it was all back to normal again.

After 6 hours or more and quite a few hundred miles of tarmac we arrived at the Muntjac and got parked up. It was then straight off to walk the special test and which with the amount of rain the place had had in recent weeks, had turned at least half of it into a sludgy muddy watery track. Oh dear, things were gonna be a bit slippery tomorrow then!

An hour later and with the sun going down, we arrived back at the van and ready to go and find a nice little eating house for some grub. Jack wanted to go and walk the test again but we were none too keen on the idea, but it didn’t stop him, and just like last year off he went while we stayed in the van with the heater on! He came back an hour later in the darkness just as the rain started to fool, legend!

It was then a stop at the local boozer called The Ram for a few pints. It was of course packed with riders and their entourages which included a few well known faces amongst the crowd, namely David Knight and Paul Edmomson. Now of course Paul Edmonson won a world enduro title on a 125 Gas Gas, but Blakey told me that he reckoned it had a TM engine in it, of course I had to find out, so I asked the man himself and low and behold Blakey was right, the Gasser he won the title on had a TM engine in it! Um…………….now there’s a thought?

Next it was off to the Travelodge to find our digs for the night before venturing out again to the local ’weatherspoony’ type pub chain eating house for a stomach filling meal washed down with a few more pints before then retiring for the night. Long day!

Sunday
After the short drive of about 10 mins from the local Travelodge we arrived at the muntjac and met up with John and Tom Hinkley who were also riding. There was at least clear skies overhead and it wasn’t p*ssing down with rain, although a bit on the chilly side it was looking good for the sun to shine a little bit later on. As I signed on and got the bike checked the atmosphere as always at this event was spot on and extremely was organized, but then again, it is the BEC!

After a bit of grub from the catering van, it was back off to get changed and take the gear down to the pits and wait for the off. I did do this event 2 years ago and I knew from then that the last lap becomes an absolute killer trying to keep on time, in fact that year and last year, no one in the clubman class has managed to do it! That my friends, says it all, this is tough!

So at 9.26 am I fired the little Gasser up into life and off I went. A slack time on the first couple of laps was what we had and that included a special test on each lap. The 1st time schedule was 22 miles in 74 mins, so a just a fast bit of trail riding was all that was needed without taking any risks. Within 10 mins of woods it was time to do the 1st test of the day, and boy was it slippery! I struggled a bit with the tight one line moto x sections before it crossed the fire road and opened up a bit where I moved a little bit better, before then crossing back again to finish on the tight slippery section once more. A decent test mind and probably about 3 miles in length with one ‘flat out’ fire road mixed in the middle of it that gave me a chance to get the strimmer in 6th gear!

What can I say about the rest of the track? Woods, woods and er……..woods! Nothing too demanding, but very rarely was there time for any kind of rest, and even with a couple of fire roads dotted in for good measure, they weren’t exactly flat as there always seemed to be bumps or whoops on them. What was surprising was that there was hardly any stumps or roots that are always associated with a course of this nature, but nevertheless with some really tight sections through the trees, a couple of log hops and the infamous mile long whoop section than ran right beside the train track, it kept you busy.

At the end of the first lap I made it back with 5 mins to spare, and the good thing was, I didn’t use up much energy at all, so no problem. After a bit of a rest and a top with fuel, it was back out to do my 2nd lap, 22 miles in 70 mins, so up the pace a little bit without risking anything on the going and ’bobs your uncle’, should be ok. Onto the 2nd test then and I certainly felt I could go better with this one so I gave it a good go. I went a lot better on the moto x section and went even better when I crossed the fire road and out into the open bit. Disaster struck though when I was just coming out of a corner, and when in 3rd gear pinning the thing for all it’s worth, I lost it and high sided ending up past where the bike was laying eating dirt. B*llocks I thought, I quickly checked the bike for damage before carrying on and finishing the test not happy with myself after losing a bit of time on it. Must admit though, lucky to get away with that one and it was a good job that the track was wide on that section as I wouldn’t have fancied ploughing into the trees.

Just before the time check right near the end of that lap, I got pulled over by the ACU officials and was noise tested! Fair play to them and I reckon it should be done more often, but for a 125? (catch them 4 bangers that’s what I say) Err….yes I did pass it, so I was quickly on my merry way again. I made it back with a few minutes to spare, so a quick rest and a top up with fuel, then it was back out again onto the 3rd lap where things now got interesting.

No special test here but this is where it all gets serious, 19 miles in 54 mins, so basically from the last lap the time was 16 mins shorter in which you had to do a lap. Admittedly it was 3 miles in length shorter, but now it became hard work. I pushed on this one still keeping in mind that the last lap was the one where it could all go ‘Pete Tong’ regarding the schedule. I arrived 7 mins overtime and really happy with that, because I knew if I could keep going and finish maybe 15 to 20 mins overtime at the end, I’d be in for a good result.

Sods bloody law then it was too, because as I went straight to the time check to get my card marked, the whole lot of Championship riders were waiting to go. For the next 10 to 15 mins and in the tight woods, it was all stop start as I kept pulling over to let them pass. This really threw all my momentum straight out of the window, and with 19 miles to cover in 47 mins, I began to wither. As the lap went on my lack of bike fitness was beginning to tell, I really did struggle, so much in fact that as my energy levels went down I was reduced to literally ‘hanging on’ whilst going no faster than a trail ride. Mistakes started to creep in, and whilst I was still determined to do as best as I could, on one occasion I ‘threw’ the bike at an oncoming tree that got in my way as I lost control simply because I was getting knackered, no damage done there, so I got back up and carried on. All I could think about that kept me going was the thought of munching into a full tray of flapjack that was in my pit box back at the finish! I finally made it to the end 31 mins overtime and not a happy bunny.

The last time I had to physically lay down and rest after an event was back in 2006 at the Dunmere enduro, and that was my 2nd event, well I was so ‘cream crackered’ at the end of today, I had to do just that, very tough but glad I finished. Everybody else in the ‘Camel vale’ camp was done for, John and Tom Hinkley, Adam as well, we all lost time and were completely exhausted. Big respect to Adam who was in the experts, he did a lap more and only lost 26 mins, and for the first time in years I have to say that I physically wouldn’t have been able to do another lap, not often I say that. ‘mad’ Jack had a DNF on his 2nd lap so for once he got off lightly which was just as well because he was the one who was driving home. Speaking of which we had to pull over after about an hour into the journey home to let me out of the van just before I went into the mode of yelling and screaming like a pregnant woman about to give birth due to an attack of leg cramps! Don’t ever suffer with those, so it just goes to show that I give it my all (and more) today.

Around 10 pm we arrived back in Cornwall and all ready for a decent meal (yum yum I had cottage pie waiting for me) and a good nights kip. With hindsight now I’m quite pleased about the whole event really, I was off a year with injury and this is only my 5th race back, and to get a result of just over half way in the E1 class in the BEC ain’t bad at all seeing as I’m still lacking a huge amount of bike fitness to compete at this level. Bearing in mind as well out of the whole field (over 200 riders), only one rider stayed on time in their own class, a certain Mr David Knight!
Onwards and upwards then and I’ll see some of you at the ‘Brass monkeys’ event in a couple of weeks time.

Finishing position: 19/35 (Clubman E1)