Nice, a South West round of the enduro champs just down the road about 20 mins away and not bad weather to go with it as well, slightly overcast, but warm, so it was all systems go and I was really looking forward to this one as 90% of the course is all woods. After riding the strimmer in the Dawn to Dusk I was feeling quite good about it all and couldn’t wait to get started, but my arm was still in a bit of pain from that tasty ‘off’ I had so it was fingers crossed on that count.
I got there early and got parked up next to Adam Blake and Ali gilbert, and with a quad race starting beforehand, we took a walk down to the start to watch them off. So with plenty of time in hand and literally nearly every enduro rider from around the Cornwall area riding today, I wasn’t short of a conversation or two! Young Rich Tucker was wondering about looking for a helmet to borrow as he’d forgotten his, he get did get one in the end and judging by his result at the finish (2nd overall), who’s ever it was, that was probably the fastest that helmets ever been round Idless!
After a couple of hours it was time to get down to the start. The starting area wasn’t the best, with 26 experts crammed into a fire road that was about 20ft wide simply didn’t go. In fact there were 3 rows of us, so no room at all to be honest and it was literally ’bar to bar’. Not usually like this at Idless, but because Pendennis mcc had changed the layout of the course, this had prevented them starting the race from the usual position. I managed to get squeezed in on the 2nd row, so at least I wasn’t at the back. Important to get a good start at this course as well, as after a few yards it immediately goes into some tight woods.
As the flag was raised the bike in front of me didn’t start so I had to quickly steer the Gasser round it and made my way down the short straight and into the woods. Not a great get away and I was more near the back than the front. What a superb course this was and a real tester in places as the constant tree rooted forest floor underneath you, kept you on your toes at all times. A few small fields joined the sections of woods together and a couple of fire roads were in amongst the woods as well, so it did give you a chance to open the bike up a bit. There was nothing major in the way of any obstacles or steep hills, but hard work in same places because of those lovely slippery tree roots. All in all I reckon about 6-7 miles in length.
Things for me went a bit ’Pete Tong’ early doors, and within about 10 mins from the start of the race the arm which took the brunt of that ’off’ 2 weeks ago had completely seized solid. I tried to carry on but it was useless, I just couldn’t hold on to the bars and twist the throttle and when it gets like that, it just becomes dangerous. I wasn’t even half way round my 1st lap, so the only thing I could do was to get to the end of the lap and stop in the pits, take a breather and see if it would subside. How the hell can you ride for over 12 ½ hours in a race and then not last 10 mins in the next one? Unbelievable and bloody annoying as well. So at the end of lap I pulled into the pits and waited for the arm to ease up a bit.
So after a good 45 mins milling about and having a chat to various people, it was back out on the course to see if I could do anything worthwhile. I followed Ollie Hicks round for a couple of laps before I had to come in again because my arm just went solid again. Adam (Blake) tapped me on the shoulder as I was stood there feeling sorry for myself. He’d DNF’d, and also Ali Gilbert had some rotten luck and suffered a puncture, so it was game over for those two. With time getting on I went out and did another lap, but that to be honest was a waste of time as well and I was gonna call it a day when I spotted Andy Smith pulling into the pits. He’d taken a nasty tumble and had bent his wrist back and was going to retire, but I persuaded him to take a breather and do another lap before the clock run out so he didn’t get a DNF, that way he’d at least get some points on the scoreboard towards the standings.
So with about 10 mins left me and Andy went round and did the last lap together. Oh well, at least the results won’t show me getting a DNF either I suppose! Not a good day then, shame, it was such a good course and ‘right up my street’ as they say. Time now for me to go to the old doc’s and get my arm checked out me thinks.
Finishing position: 25/26 (Experts)
I started racing Enduro's in August 2006. Here is my blog with everything thats happened. The good, the bad, and the ups and downs. Latest blog posts are at the top.
