So it was off to watch a round of the GBXC up in Devon with ‘mad’ Jack and his lad Paddy. Quite a few from Cornwall had made the journey up as it was only about an hour and half away. Nice bright sunshine greeted us and conditions were dry, so a good days racing was in store and I was looking forward to seeing some top riders in action.
After watching the youth race it was back to the van to see if Jack needed a hand to get ready, and in true ‘mad’ Jack fashion, he decided to take out the bearings on the shock linkage and re-grease them with only about 30 mins to go before his race started!
With minutes to spare Jack went down to the start line and me and Paddy walked down to the bottom of the hill to get a better view of proceedings. So the flag dropped and the Elite group of riders set off with Jack getting second into the first corner. After another couple of twists and turns the riders came blasting past us with Jack in 3rd place, but just as the last of the elite group past us, Paddy had noticed that there had been a crash just yards away to our right and that he thought it was Jack. We rushed over and sure enough Jack was lying still with his bike a fair way from him, so I knew it must have been a fairly big ‘off’ and a fast one at that.
Within seconds the marshals were right there and with Jack motionless on the track, they quickly diverted the rest of the field to a different part of the track whilst the paramedic arrived. While Jack was being checked over I went to pick up the bike, it wasn’t in too bad a state just a few things bent, handlebars, levers, and plastics. After a good 20 mins with the paramedic doing a thorough job, it was then decided that Jack should go to hospital for a proper examination as a suspected broken collarbone and ribs were diagnosed.
The paramedics vehicle was a 4x4 and this has to remain on site, so an ambulance was called from a nearby hospital, and as we were down the bottom of a hill and basically right on the track, it was decided to meet the ambulance at the nearest point on the road to make access easy for it. I then got on Jacks bike and followed the 4x4 paramedics car across some fields, through a farmyard and out into the road where we stopped and waited for the ambulance to come and pick up Jack.
Now then, I’ve got to ride his bike back to the van, load it up, and take Paddy home, but I couldn’t go back the way I came because I was going against the flow of the bikes the wrong way round the course! I asked the paramedic whats the best way to get back to the paddock? The only way was on the bloody road! So off I went on the YZ 250 and went ‘round the houses’ along a few country roads in order to get back to where the van was parked. Ok, we all know I’m a 125 rider, but I have rode a few 250’s in my time, but I’m telling you, this thing that Jack rides is a beast! I opened her up a few times just to see what is was like, and just like it’s owner, its ‘mad’. Bloody nora, how he holds on to that for 3 hours god only knows!
So after making it back to the van on the YZ (trembling with fear), me Paddy and Dennis Harrison ( a mate of Jack’s) loaded up all the gear in readiness for the journey home. But wait, what’s this? An ambulance pulls up next to the van and Jack gets out! He’s only made the ambulance driver turn around on the way to hospital drive up the road and bring him back to the van so he can get changed! You gotta laugh ain’t ya? You just never know what Jack’s going to do next?
So finally after getting changed he was off to hospital and me and Paddy made the journey home. An eventful day then!!
News from the hospital was that Jack had suffered a broken collarbone, broken ribs, and a damaged liver, but knowing him, he’ll be back before you know it.
