Trewint- 26th October 2008

Not much traveling this week as Trewint was only about 20 mins away, nice one!
Now then, this was the race I did last year when I had that tasty ‘off’ and I’m still bearing the scars of it now, so I was hoping not to complete a ‘double’ this time.
With the rain that we’ve had, this was going to be a wet one and sure enough getting into the field just to park proved a challenge in itself, mud, mud and more mud!

Met up and had a chat with fellow ’gasser’ riders, Jed, Arthur and Tim for a quick chat about the conditions and how tricky it could be (how right we were), then back to van it was to get changed. Although it wasn’t raining at the time, the weather was very wintery and to be honest, it was bloody freezing because of the cold biting northerly wind.

It was nice to get going when the flag finally dropped and off we went. I didn’t make too bad a start, about halfway in the pack as we made our way across an off camber hill that had been cut up really badly due to the quad race earlier and was as muddy and as slippery as you can get. Everyone seemed to be tip toeing their way round as we moved into the wooded section.
The woods weren’t too bad, slippery, but rideable, with some nice roots thrown for good measure and a nasty uphill that later was causing carnage with queues forming to get up it!
Out of the woods we came and again the fields we crossed were just filled with mud as far as the eye could see and no matter what gear you were in, the back wheel would just spin like a washing machine on 800rpm trying to find some grip! The off cambers were like riding on ice and you just couldn’t help yourself sliding down to the bottom and then trying to get the bike pointing in the right direction so you could ‘nail’ it and try and find some traction and get going again. Tricky indeed!
The course itself was only about 5 miles or so, but in the conditions, it felt like a lot more, not hard work, but just tricky and I had quite a few little ‘offs’ due to the front wheel sliding away from me.
The longer the race went on that nasty hill in the woods became blocked with riders trying to scramble up it and thanks must go to all those marshals who were working overtime to help clear it. At this point of the course all you could see and hear were screaming engines, lots of smoke and spinning back wheels, lovely combination that!
After last weeks race and going the distance without re-fueling, I knew it wouldn’t be a problem today as this was only 2 ½ hours in duration so that’s exactly what I did and it worked out a treat, even with the heavy going.
As I came round to the clock with 4 mins left, riders were stood there waiting for the time to elapse, not me mate, so off I went to do another lap.
Not a bad day and I do like riding when the conditions are a little bit more tougher than usual, I just think it’s a great leveller.

Now there’s one thing about racing in muddy conditions and that’s 9 times out of 10 you’re probably parked in a muddy field in the middle of nowhere right? And sometimes you might get stuck right? Well, not only did I get stuck, but also about 20 other vans did as well trying to get out of the place!
So it was out with the coffee and a nice friendly chat with a few other stranded mortals before finally being towed out in near darkness by the local farmer.

Finishing position: 7/16 (clubman 2st)

Bike status: ok

Injuries: none

Stonedown forest- 19th October 2008

Early start, up at 4.30am. Out the door at 5.30am to take a 30 min drive to meet Andy Smith at his place as he was going to give us a lift in his van up to Stonedown forest. Andy was riding as well, although he wasn’t looking forward to it as much as me as he was feeling a bit under the weather. Also riding ’shotgun’ was Andy’s mate James who came along to give us a hand.
Off we set then for a 3 hour or more journey ending up somewhere near Salisbury.
I was looking forward to my 2nd race on the new bike, and after that ’marathon’ enduro at Dunmere a couple of weeks ago, I certainly had no doubts about my fitness!
About 10 miles or so from ‘Stonedown’ on the A354, Andy decided to abuse his position of driver of the van with a ’whatever gets in my way, better get out my way’ attitude when a pheasant with ‘no brains’ who looked like it was sightseeing and acting rather clueless, got in the way of the van at 70mph. BANG! With oncoming traffic and cars behind, Andy had no option but to add one more ‘road kill’ to the stats of this country. The funny thing was we could see the thing about ½ mile away and as we got closer we were all thinking, oh no, ‘GET OUT THE WAY YOU STUPID IDIOT’. You should have seen Andy’s face when he hit it, and his white knuckles from gripping onto the steering wheel as he ran over it!
Arrived at Stonedown with plenty of time to spare, but everyone else had ’inside information’ and got there before us as the single track parking left us with a bloody great long hike up to the signing on and pits area. I spoke to Steve Jose the night before who was marshalling at the event who did tell me that might happen, and bugger me it did!
Anyway, after the usual signing on, scrutineering and riders briefing, it was off to the start.
The flag dropped and off we went, I didn’t make too bad a start, probably about halfway but within about 10 mins it seemed I was getting overtaken by everyone! Not surprising really with only 1 race behind me in 4 months! Still, with the nice weather that had blessed us for the day and a brand new bit of machinery underneath me, I was here to enjoy it and that’s what I did.
The course itself didn’t have anything technical to test you, a few roots, some fire roads, a few off cambers, a couple of hills, but with it being ‘bone dry’ the flowing forest trails made it a fast race. Might have been different if it was p*ssing down with rain though but I’m not complaining, it is nice sometimes when the bike goes back home and doesn’t hardly need jet washing! The circuit was about 5 miles in length, so fairly short and with it being dry, I was doing about 15/16 min lap times.
After a few laps I was getting into the swing of things and everything was going splendidly, I was really enjoying it and trying to get used to riding on a faster track. After about 1 ¾ hours I was thinking of pitting, but I took a look down at the tank and thought to myself ’bloody hell, there’s still loads left in there’ and decided to carry on.
After 2 ½ hours and with everything bowling along nicely I still hadn’t stopped for fuel and I didn’t want to stop either, I was loving it out there! I took another quick look down at the tank, and I still had what I thought could be enough to go all the way to the end, so I carried on knowing that if I did run out, I could stick her on reserve and with it being short laps, I’d make it back to the pits no problem for a quick ‘splash and dash’.
I had a little ‘off’ soon after on some roots on an off camber hill, nothing spectacular, but wasted a bit of time picking the bike back up and pointing it the right way again. I passed the clock with 10 mins to go and new it was going to be my last lap, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t stopped for fuel yet, well pleased!
I passed Steve jose and 5 mins later dead on the 3 hour mark, the engine died and I knew that the tank was virtually empty. Steve caught me up just as I stuck her on reserve and was kicking her over, she fired up like a ‘good un’ and off I went on to finish the rest of the lap and the race.
3hrs and 4 mins on the bike on one tank of fuel, ‘I don’t believe it’ as Victor Meldrew would say, neither do I, but it did it and I’m bloody impressed!
All in all, a good day out, nice little course, nothing too demanding and the bike is still clean (don’t get that very often).
Thanks to Andy ‘road kill’ Smith for the lift in the van.

Finishing position: 15/19 (clubman E1)

Bike status: ok

Injuries: none

Typical that is- 12th October 2008

Yeah, Bloody typical!
The only time i don't go to Weston and it turns out to be a fantastically glorious sunny hot day.
I've rode it the last 2 years and watched it for 5 years on the trot before that and never had weather like it was today. To make it worse my sister went to watch and promptly phoned me with all the noise of screaming competition engines in the background (you know what it's like when you phone someone from the track) to tell me what a lovely day it was and what a cracking race i was missing!
Like i said before, theres no way i'm going to take a 2 week old bike along the sand, so i decided to stay away from the whole thing. Wish i'd have bloody well gone now and watched it!
I still have the TM at the moment but i didn't want to take that either just in case i wrecked it as i might be selling it soon. Offers please?

So, i stayed at home, had the 'gasser' up on the jack out in the sunshine,had a good look round it, and changed a few things more to my liking.

Dunmere- 5th October 2008

Not content with the exhaust burn I got a couple of weeks ago, I thought to myself, ’why not try and get some friction burns this week seeing as you’re back riding again’, so that’s exactly what I did! ( yes they are my legs not 2 bits of string)
Warning: Do not wear brand new knee braces when you’re going out riding in the woods for 5 hours.

I couldn’t wait to get rid of my Dunmere ‘curse’ as 2 years ago this was my 2nd race ever and I didn’t finish due to being completely cream crackered, and last year I was injured and bikeless due to a tasty ‘off’ a few weeks beforehand. So, 3rd time lucky? Too bloody right it was!

Dunmere woods, just 10 minutes up the road and I still got there late enough to ensure myself a bloody long walk to the signing on/pit area due to the single file parking. I met quite a few riders on the way up to sign on and all of them asked about the new bike, just goes to show that some of you actually read this, so thanks to everyone and I hope you enjoy it and you have a good laugh at my expense!

Although I haven’t ridden for months I was really looking forward to it and it was nice to get back into the swing of things again especially with a new bike and I felt like a kid with a new toy. At precisely 10.11am I kicked the gasser over and ’bring-a-ding-ding’, she fired up instantly, here we go then, out through the check and off I went. I was one of the 1st away in the clubman 225 to start along with Mike Roose who I thought I’d try to follow through the woods, but no chance there as Mike flew past me on the special test and I didn’t see him again until the end of the lap, ‘wily old campaigner that he is’, you can’t beat experience can you?

With the overnight rain we had, things were very tricky in places and one downhill section in particular you’d have a job walking down it let alone riding down it. I had to ‘paddle’ down it and lean forward as far as I could with my nuts glued on to the tank to try and make the front wheel grip. Immediately after that was a steep slippery uphill (later got cut out) which you had to get right 1st time, otherwise you’d end up on your arse and slide back down, Luckily for me the track was clear and I flew up it.
Another section in particular was an incline about 200 meters long with just one big single rut all the way up to the top which became a another ‘paddle job’ as it just got so ‘sludgy’ as each lap passed.
The roots through the woods were really slippery and quite relentless and the only rest bite you had were the lovely open fire roads where you could relax a bit and open her up. A proper enduro course and proper conditions!

I was Just about a couple of minutes away from finishing my first lap when I went to ride through a small ditch was which was covered by some branches and bracken only for the front wheel to plant itself and send me over the bars, there was bloody log at the bottom of it wasn’t there! Of course I hit it full in the face and another ’you’ve been framed’ moment was successfully executed.
Into the pits at the end of the 1st lap and a with a little time to spare spoke to Jed Treleaven who told me he’d just been over the bars too in exactly the same ditch!

My 2nd lap went ok apart from the special test when I decided to plant myself and my machine in some bushes face down to get a ‘birds eye view’ of what’s it’s really like to be an insect living rough in the woods.
Made it back with about 5 mins to spare, so another little break, where I spoke to Ken Brown and his family who’d turned up to give us some moral support.

So far everything was going well, 3rd lap and off I went (still couldn’t keep up with Mike) and I was full of confidence when all of a sudden my energy levels began to drop, I hit a tree stump at the end of the ’boneyard’ and came off, came off again on some roots and really started to struggle from there on. I even took a couple of minutes to rest at the side of the track due to some cramp setting in to get myself sorted. I got back into the pits where Steve Tizzard help me refuel and went back out 3 minutes overtime.
With just 3 laps in and probably only about just over 2 hours riding time I was seriously thinking about pulling out.

By the end of lap 4 I was completely shot to bits. I’d taken more ’time out’ on the track, my camelbak was bone dry (all 3 litres gone) and the cramp was getting worse, not to mention my legs which were killing me due to those flamin knee braces, which meant I couldn’t control the bike properly so I had to slow down. Andy Smith came past me and waited for me at one of the top of the climbs, I rode round with him for about 10 mins but I couldn’t keep up at his pace so he disappeared into the distance. I came into the pits way over time (over 50 mins that lap) and took another quick break and set out on another lap.
If I thought the last lap was bad, this was one was even worse (55 mins). Another couple of little ’offs’ on some roots, another couple of breaks to rest and by now I’d slowed down to a ’trail’ ride pace. I knew I was going to be ridiculously late getting back to the time check but I wasn’t going to quit. I went back out on my last lap 30 mins overtime!

I know what some of you are thinking, ‘why didn’t the silly old sod pull out’? I think it must be my stubborn mentality that doesn’t want me to be beaten by a bit of mud and a few tree roots and the fact that I know some riders are pulling out so I got a chance of beating them. It’s an enduro, it’s a competition, You gotta finish right?, I haven’t come along with Bill Oddie to watch the wildlife have I? so there, stick that in your pipe and smoke it!

I went round the last lap in complete isolation (not surprising judging by the time) apart from a few track marshals who were taking down the tapes and packing up for the day! I stopped and asked if it was alright to complete the whole lap because I didn’t want to cheat myself and take any short cuts. No problem there, so I carried on and eventually crawled back to the check point to record a finish.

I think I’d done about 5 hours of riding and to be honest I was well pleased to finish as there were over 50 retirements, so that says how tough it was out there today.
Overall I’m really pleased, I tested myself today after having a few months off and tested the new bike as well, so far so good, roll on the next race in a couple of weeks time.

Finishing position: 7/18 (Clubman 225)

Bike status: ok

Injuries: friction burns to legs

No Weston beach race for me this year but might go and watch, still haven’t made up my mind yet. Good luck to everyone whose entered!

Running in- 4th October 2008

Been out a couple of times this week doing a bit of running in and trying to used to the new bike. Today i was at Dunmere again marking out the track and putting up the tapes etc, etc. This time we took the bikes out so it done the 'Gasser' a bit of good riding her over some proper enduro type terrain! Looks like it's going to be a wet one tommorrow as just as i was leaving the rain started to fall.

It's arrived- 28th September 2008

Yes indeed and here she is!

The ‘eagle eyed’ amongst you will spot that the plastics are actually from a ‘08’ Gas Gas. Why? I’ll tell you why, because I just thought the ‘09’ plastics had too much black in them! (although I won’t be going as far enough to change the swinging arm and forks back to silver!) So I asked for last years red plastics to be put on to spruce to colour up a bit. I’ve managed to get my regs in for next week so I should get back to riding at long last although I got to take it out a few times this week somewhere to run her in.

The last couple of Sundays I’ve been out at Dunmere with some Camel vale members chopping back half the woods getting the course ready for next weeks race. Makes a change to have good weather to do it in

woolborough barton- 14th September 2008

I was out gigging last night and didn’t get to bed till 3.30am (I’m getting too old for this rock’n’roll life style) and was up at 6am to get ready and drive to Thor m/cycles HQ to meet Jed Treleaven and Steve Tizzard, who I was going to get a lift with and help them out a bit for the day as I wasn’t riding.

I got there bang on time, 7am, no one was about so I waited and Steve turned up 5 mins later and said he’d overslept because his bloody ‘snooze’ button on his alarm didn’t work properly! Off we went into Thor HQ where Steve got the gear packed in the van and we both waited for Jed. And we waited. And we waited. And we bloody well waited! Lazy sod was about half hour late and he only lives 50 yds away from the place!
Off we went then on our merry way and chatted about various subjects (mostly dirt bike related) which included what is the best chain to use (I brought this up and I should’ve kept quiet, more later!) and we arrived at Woolborough with plenty of time, so off I went to get the coffee’s in. The catering van was about a minute away but it took me about half an hour to get 3 drinks because I was talking to everyone who I hadn’t seen for ages along the way! Chatted to Andy smith about all things enduro, Mike Roose who was glad I was changing my bike, Francis banfield about all things Gas Gas, Rich Tucker about his Husky flying machine, a quick bit of banter with Dean Canfield, and Debbie Tucker about the general running of some events.

Right then everything ready I told the boys to have a ‘good un’ and went to find some nasty slippery hill down in the woods where I could help some riders out if needed. I found a small little climb, didn’t look to bad but little was I to know that carnage would follow later!
Just gone 11’o’clock and with the sun shining through the top of the trees, the champ riders arrived first followed by the experts and all cleaned the hill no problem. The first few clubman got up no problem and then of course the inevitable happened, one got stuck, then of course it causes traffic choas like Piccadilly circus on Friday evening rush hour! By the time the big sportsman field came round I didn’t know who to help first, I was the only one there and with no marshall anywhere to be seen riders were just looking at me praying for me to get them out of trouble. I was pushing bikes up the hill, picking riders up off the floor and holding them upright so they could kick start themselves back into life, getting some people un-tangled from between the trees, it was bloody carnage and I was glad to see the back of the last few riders disappear into the distance. Felt sorry for 1 guy who had to turn round and go back because he’d blown his head gasket, not good on your 1st lap.
I stood there for another 4 laps helping riders who were still having problems (this is harder than actually riding an event!), but at least 1 marshal, yes 1 marshal turned up to help, so at least my workload was halved, hip, hip, hooray. Now for the bad bit, while I was pushing a big 4 banger up that hill my left arm rested against his bloody red hot silencer, ouch (see picture) the flash bastard had a twin exhaust fitted! As with most bikes all your looking out for when helping out is the one silencer and that’s usually on the right ain’t it? Caught me out that, Bloody 4 bangers, I hate um.

So, when the going had got a little bit easier and the hill wasn’t so bad it was off back up to the pits to wait for the lads to help them out with their pitting. I bumped into Rose disney who suggested I got my arm looked at by the ambulance crew, good shout that, so off I went to get it treated. F**k, that hurt when they decided to wash the wound clean but made up for it with some soothing gel stuff that made the burn feel nice and cool afterwards.

I missed Jed and Steve’s stop so decided to go and watch the rest of the race from near the pits at the top of a long flowing hill. After a while I bumped into Jed, ‘what’s up’ I said, ‘my chains snapped’. I felt guilty now, I was the one in the van that had mentioned about chains earlier!
We had to wait until the end of the race before we could attempt to get the his bike back up because it was half way back down the hill and we also had to wait for the ‘traffic’ to stop. Race over and it was time to go and get the bike. Jed had got a spare link from somewhere but the chain was so badly mashed there was no way it could be fitted, so we both stupidly thought we were superman and tried to push the mad lagged ‘gasser’ back up to the top which must have been about a good 50 meters, not easy with it being slippery as well. We made about 20 meters before exhaustion got the better of us and not wanting to stay there until the middle of December I went off to get some help . Mind you, that wasn’t before I’d stopped every travelling marshal (at least 5 or 6 of them) that were doing a sweep around the course to ask for help, or at least send someone back to help us out, and did it happen? No it didn’t, no help and no one came back either. Excuse my language but that is piss poor, enough said.

Luckily Steve Tizzard had waited in the pits so I sent him back to the van to get the ratchet tie downs so we could heave the bike up. You know them strong man events that you see on the T.V when they’ve got a harness around their shoulders and they are bent over double pulling a bloody great big lorry along behind them? That was us yanking that bike up that hill, would have made a good picture that!

With everyone back at the van I went off to get the cheeseburgers for everybody but that turned into a nightmare, we were all Hank Marvin but the catering van had just run out of rolls! Oh b*llocks, we had to settle for just chips instead.
What a day, a nice burn on my arm, exhaustion from dragging a muddy bike up a hill (not even mine at that) and can’t even get a cheeseburger at the end, that’s the last time I go for a day out with them lads from THOR!

Finishing position: My house
Bike status: Still waiting delivery!
Injuries: Exhaust burn left arm

It's all gone quiet- 11th September 2008

Ok, it's been bloody ages since i last wrote on this blog! I haven't done any kind of racing or practising because of 2 things really.

1) I've been rather busy gigging due to the holiday season here in sunny Cornwall (well we did have some sun one day last month!).
2) I'm still waiting for them SPANIARDS to get their arse in gear and flamin well get my new bike shipped over to these shores!

Can't wait to get going again as it's been a while. I've been busy getting some new riding kit together as gone are the old blue TM colours!
Bought a new race shirt, well ok not exactly, it's another football shirt! In fact got 2 of them courtesy of fleabay. The main one is a red long sleeved england shirt (gas gas colours) for £8!
And another white Leeds shirt for a back up, £5! My old race shirt (the leeds one) has died on me and is in a bit of a state so i had to replace it to be honest. 2 shirts for £13, beats paying £30 or so for a moto x top! (better ventillation on a footie shirt anyway).
Got myself a new lid as well. It's a Bell moto 8k. I got to say that this is class piece of kit, even get a helmet holdall with it as well as a helmet bag. SHOP AROUND thats what is say, and i certainly bloody well did!
dirtbikebits.com wanted £239 for that helmet and 1stmx.co.uk only want £169. £70 difference between the two. So me being me i phone up dirtbikebitz and they matched the price from the other place! Just goes to show, don't ask, don't get!

I do hope to get to the next south west championship round this sunday as i've managed to blag a lift with the 2 lads from Thor m/cycles. Suppose i'll have to buy um one of them dodgy burgers to help pay for the petrol!

No chance of racing! - 27th July 2008

So there i was on Saturday evening fully relaxed and prepared for Sunday. I was really 'up for it', I'd had a belly full of pasta, loads of fluid for hydration because of the warm weather, and i didn't have a gig that night so i could get some decent kip in. no f**king chance!!!!!

Sods law, it was bound to happen.
Our little girl started to scream the house down just as we got into bed. This continued all through the night and i remember Marie saying to me at about 3.30am 'why don't you try and get some kip before the race'. I went outside and tried to get a bit of 'shut eye' in the van but obviously i couldn't because i was worried about our offspring. At around 4.30am we just couldn't stand anymore and had to call the doc and ended up at Bodmin hospital later on. luckily for us it was only a virus so nothing much we could do except 'sit it out' and put up with what goes with a baby being ill!

I'm seriously thinking about starting a new blog on the net titled 'THE JOYS OF BEING A FATHER AND THE EFFECT THAT SLEEPLESS NIGHTS HAVE ON YOUR LIFE'
Or maybe i should take up a less energetic hobby or pastime like croqchet or knitting so i can sit on my arse all day on a sunday at home!

It's a good job i'm a happy bloke because otherwise i'd have been driving round the bloody bend by now!

Whats going on then?- 19th July 2008

I'll tell you whats going on, I'm shattered!!!!!
It's all rather a bit slow for me at the moment as I've only ridden in a couple of events in the last few months.
Due to the joys of being a father my little girl decides to wake us up in the middle of the night nearly every night because she's 'teething' (apparently this means that the teeth are trying to cut through the gums and grow and causes a lot of pain) or so my girlfriend tells me!
Pain? Try hitting a gate post head on at 30-40 mph, that's pain i can tell ya!

I haven't done any running for about 2 months because i ain't got the energy to lift one foot in front of the other and I've got 2 pairs of brand new £90 running shoes i haven't even worn yet, waiting for me to stride out in. I do love running, always have done, always will, simple reason is that it keeps you fit. Comes in handy sometimes you know, especially trying to push a muddy lagged motorbike up a slimy slippery rooty granite laden hill!!!

On top of that I've been entrenched in decorating up to my neck and if you look at the profits of Homebase at the end of the year, half of that has come from me, I'm sure of it. I'm forever down that bloody place!

Next week I'm hoping to get some kip, eat enough pasta, drink enough lucozade and s.i.s and actually race at Idless in the next round of the south west champs. Fingers crossed eh?

OK, now for the good news (yes there is some), I've been and ordered myself a new bike!
Brand spanking new 09 Gas Gas EC 125. I'm just hoping i can get to ride the damn thing a lot more than i'm doing at the moment when it arrives!

Practice- 28th June 2008

The Wadebridge track was open today so off i went for a couple of hours of bike time.
Things were going splendidly until i managed to get a puncture on the rear. Luckily for me my Neighbour Darren was up there watching with his little 'un' so he kindly offered to nip back to my house for me and pick up my spare wheel, cheers pal!
Spare on and back out i went trying to learn how to take them bloody jumps a bit better.
Had a good few laps with some local motocross lads who i eventually overtook because they were knackerd! No stamina them boys!
We were blessed with some nice weather so quite an enjoyable day even though i was a bit 'cream crackerd' later on when i went out gigging. Still thats 'rock 'n' roll i suppose!

Cadeleigh- 15th June 2008

Cadeleigh- 15th June 2008
Nice weather driving up to Cadeleigh, took a couple of hours, but just as I got there the bloody heavens opened! It absolutely lashed it down, thunder an all so I took shelter in the van reading the t+mx until it stopped. Things were now going to be interesting due to the recent downpoor, and that’s exactly how it turned out to be.
After doing all the necessary, the time came for us all to do a sighting lap, so off we went.
I’ve ridden this course before so I knew a little bit about it including the 3 or 4 slippery climbs, the ultra slimy downhill’s and the off camber grassy sections that were like riding on ice due to the recent rain. Overall some nice wooded sections, nothing too technical and the course was rounded off by that motocross track with a few jumps on it and a couple more grassy fields.
On to the start itself then, I was in the clubman class, 2&4 strokes together, any size bike.
The flag dropped and off we went, I made a really crap getaway and was near the back but managed to make a few places up through the woods until we hit an off camber grassy right hander. Still desperately trying to gain more places I overcooked it, the front slid away and ended up on my arse! By the time I got back on the bike I was plum last.
When made it round to the first of the climbs chaos loomed up in front of me and I had to wait until the marshals had cleared the way of the riders until I could carry on. Going down these hills the other side was bloody well tricky and I virtually had to ‘crawl’ down in order to keep control of the bike. On my 2nd lap I did a ‘you’ve been framed moment’ while taking it easy down one of those slippery descents. The front went away from me and I went straight over the bars doing a somersault landing on my back which luckily for me was in some soft bushes, nice one! What happened next was something that you might see on ‘you tube’ if you type in ‘funny videos’ on the search bar (or words to that effect). I picked myself up, got back on the bike, started her, let the clutch out and promptly slammed into the nearest tree about 5 yds away! My throttle had got stuck wide open! I hit the tree at fair crack as well because it flattened my ring that I wear on my right hand as I slammed into it (much to the annoyance of the girlfriend coz she bought me that ring). Oh well never mind I’m sure she’ll buy me another one!
I rolled down to the bottom of the hill and tried to re-start the bike but it wasn’t having any of it and I’d thought that I might have fouled up the plug, not good if your miles from the pits. I rested for 5 mins, turned the fuel off, kicked her a few times, turned the fuel back on, kicked again, and Bring-a-ding-ding, the sweet noise of a two ‘smoke’ rung around my ears as the Tm fired back up into life and off I went. By the time I got through the transponders after doing 2 laps (36 mins) I knew I was well down due to the couple of ‘offs’ and getting held up.
Had another ‘off’ on my next lap on one of those hills again, my fault really as I tried to get past a fallen rider through a gap that wasn’t there, no problem though, just went back down and made it up 2nd time.
After I pitted and went back out on the course the club had obviously decided to cut out some of the hills probably due to the chaos they were causing some riders so our lap was now a lot quicker. Shame that, those climbs were fun.

As I raced on and with about 20 mins on the clock remaining I thought I could get another 2 laps in and maybe 3 if I pushed it a bit before the clock ran out on me. These last 20 mins turned out to be action packed! One guy on of those orange bikes (you know the one’s, there everywhere) overtook me whilst going over one of the jumps only to go over the bars right in front of me and get a face full of dirt with his bike landing on top of him. I managed to avoid him but stopped and asked him if he was ok, he was a bit shaken but alright.
Next up on one of the grassy off cambers 2 riders got tangled right in front of me again and came crashing to the ground, again I managed to get out of the way and carry on. I did take a quick look back, they both got up so no problem.
I then ran into a fellow TM rider as he’d got stuck on a slope and I saw a gap to get past him, but just as I got next to him he moved, he hit the deck, I stayed upright and carried on. Yet again I took a quick look back to make sure he was ok.
As I started another lap with 10 mins to go I knew it was going to be tight as to weather I could get another lap in before time. I kept looking at my watch on the bars thinking will I make it or not and yes I did with 20 secs to go!
I was well pleased with that and rode round in almost complete isolation due to no one being behind me, but there was still a few in front and as I caught and passed some I came to the only hill that was left in the course which was still causing some riders a few problems. I rode up it ok but as I got to the top 2 marshals were helping some guy get back on his bike and there was gap that I could get through to pass him, so obviously I went for it. Sods law, just as I was about to pass him he slipped and fell down right in front of me. I tried to avoid him but couldn’t and ran over his leg! I came off, got back up and turned round to ask him if he was alright and guess what? It was the same TM rider that I’d hit 10 mins ago!
Thankfully he was ok because I’d seriously thought that I might have broken his leg, phew.
After I made it back to the finish I waited for him to finish and told him that I didn’t have anything against him and I wasn’t out to get him just because I’d hit him twice in the few laps of the race! He took it all in good faith and we both had a laugh about it.
Had a chat with Rob Ellick and Paul Ford just as I was leaving and to be honest Paul must be sick to death of seeing me. Every time we speak before a race, he has a Dnf. He did it at Combe Sydenham and he did it here as well!

Finishing position: 24/29
Bike status: ok
Injuries: none

A bit of ride- 8th June 2008

Well it was such a gorgeous day that i couldn't resist taken the bike out for a bit of a ride in the sunshine down at Ken's track.
I was just happily pottering about the place enjoying myself until i phoned Marie up to check on things. She reminded me that i was supposed to be at home to give her a hand to get the barbeque ready as we were entertaining some friends that evening, needless to say she wasn't impressed!
Everything turned out alright in the end and i just made it back in time to give her a helping hand.
This bloody biking lark gets you into trouble sometimes don't it!

Nancemellion- 1st June 2008

The day started well, not much travelling, I had a good nights kip because I wasn’t gigging last night, the weather was lovely and warm, and when I went to sign on I picked up a trophy for last years 2 man team that me and my mate Pete Jago had rode in together.
Had a chat with a few people before racing started, in fact I almost had to put my sunglasses on when I talked to Mark Tucker because of the glare that was nearly blinding me coming from his new white alpinestars that he’d just bought!
Now then to the start., What a shambles! It looked to me (and others I spoke to) that no one had a bloody clue where they were supposed to be, obviously apart from the champ and expert boys, who of course always are the first ones away. All the classes seem to be mixed in together , why? Call me a blind old sod but I didn’t see any signs or markings stating where we all meant to be and with such a small area where we were all cramped in, it seemed to be a total mix up!
Just after 10am the champ boys got away and we could see that about 50 yds from where we lined up, there was a bottle neck which even these guys were going a lot slower than that what they normally would due to a slippery rooty climb up. Why oh why the club put that part of the course so close to the start god knows (last years start was a lot better, don’t know why they changed it) and even some of the experts got stuck in a traffic jam so I think we all knew that a good get away would be the only way not to get caught up in any mayhem.
While I was waiting for my time to go, about 4 different classes all started at the same time leaving me standing, what the f*ck is going on here then? Even the sportsman behind me were flying past, so i quickly fired her up and got going albeit near the back and guess what? Yeah, traffic bloody jam! After queuing like it was rush hour on the M25, I finally made it to the foot of that rooty climb some 7 mins after the start! And I’ve only gone 100 meters, and there was still riders behind me, complete shambles, but you must give those poor bloody marshals a big hand for helping everybody up to the top with the never ending onslaught of bikes.
After I made it up to the top (or should I say dragged up there by some helpers), the course dropped back down again and went round a tree that was covered in slimy roots, I had a stupid little ‘off’ here, nothing out of the ordinary, but when I picked the bike up and got back on, I went to pull the clutch in and oops! Oh crumbs (or words to that effect) my clutch levers broke! (see pic). I finally made it back to the pits after 35 mins really struggling to coax the bike round with the little bit of lever that I had left. Gear changing was difficult and I just kept stalling the thing in the tight wooded sections.
I parked the bike up and walked back to the van in the hope that I had a spare lever in my toolbox, I did! But that was broken as well. What I’m I doing keeping a broken clutch lever in my toolbox god only knows!
Things were now serious as I didn’t want to get a DNF as I wanted to keep up my record of finishing! But as it stood at the moment I really couldn’t see myself riding round with hardly any clutch. Might be easy to do on a flat field, but not in the woods.
I then went back down to the pits and had a general chit chat with anybody that I could find to cry my eyes out too! Jed and Steve from Thor ( who both took a short break at one time because of the heat) Debbie Tucker, Dean canfield, as well as helping out a few riders re-fuel.
As time went on i thought to myself, surely I must have some sort of lever back in the van that I could ‘bodge’ to get me round? So off I went again back up to the van to try and find something. After digging through the depths of my toolbox I finally came across something that resembled a clutch lever, and it wasn’t broken either, bingo!
I quickly fitted it on and with 1hr and 55 mins gone on the clock I set off on my 2nd lap.
Within a couple of minutes I knew that things weren’t quite right and the ’dodgy’ lever that I’d put on was really no better than the broken one, it just didn’t work properly, So yet again I huffed and puffed my way round another lap and pitted on the 2hr 30min mark and waited for the flag. To be honest another lap wouldn’t have made a blind bit of difference to my result, so in the end I did the right thing and at least I got a finish. Who knows, I might even get some championship points!

Finishing position: 13/15 (clubman 225)
Bike status: new clutch lever
Injuries: none

Practice- 10th May 2008

The moto x practice track just up the road here in wadebridge was open today so off I went to have a little blast round up against those motocross boys.
Needless to say that mine was the only enduro bike there and the only TM, which made things slightly interesting as I pulled into the car park! I got shall we say some ‘inquisitive’ looks, and as I was driving past some ‘seasoned’ mx boys to get parked up, I was going to stop and get out my guitar and give them all a song so they’d have something more to talk about, but I didn’t have it with me, what a shame!
Ok, that’s enough sarcastic wit from me so lets move on.
It was an absolutely beautiful summers day and the track was just about in perfect condition due to the rain we had the night before.
I was looking forward to testing my jumping ability over the table tops and the ‘ski’ jumps and trying to get a bit of speed up and the same time. After a few warm up laps I thought I took the jumps ok and was getting some decent ‘air’ until some guy overtook me in mid air up about 10 foot higher than what I was!
‘where the f*ck did he come from’ I thought, the clouds? The bloke must have needed an oxygen mask to get that high. I later found out this guy had won sort of championship last season, not surprising is it?
Anyway, I had good session down there doing about 20-30 mins at a time, taking a breather for 10 then going back out again. It did make a nice change having some little tussles against some motocross boys and I enjoyed the competition (especially against the big 4 bangers), so an enjoyable day.
One sad note is that we stopped an hour early because one guy had a bad ‘off’ going over a jump and an ambulance was called. He got taken off to hospital so the organizer decided to call it a day. Lets hope he’s back on the mend soon.

Just to say- 6th May 2008

Get well soon Ken who broke his collarbone in 3 places over the weekend. Ken was out practising on his own little moto x track (which i use sometimes) when he landed awkwardly and snap went his collarbone, OUCH!

I was going to do the xmoor event on monday, but having just returned from a week away i thought i'd better stay home and play 'dad' to my little girl and help the girlfriend with all the unpacking and the washing!

A day out- 28th April 2008

Yes it was off to watch a bit of motocross today, the DEP 2 stroke championships at Landrake.

Free entry, excellent weather, decent track and not a 4 banger in sight.

Can't beat the screaming sound and smell of a 2 'smoke' can ya? (ok i'm biased). Brilliant day!

Hustyns- 20th April 2008

With Hustyns being just a mile up the road all I had to do was fall out of bed and I was there!
We were blessed with lovely weather so all was set for a good day and after ‘eyeing’ up the course over the last few weeks, I was really looking forward to it.
Now this being a timecard event I was due off at 10.10am, this being the first of the clubman and allocated with 6 laps each varying from 44 mins a lap down to 38mins for the last one, so all had to do was to try to stay on time!
Had a chat with a few riders parked next to me, everyone very friendly and a good atmosphere was evident.
So, at 10.10 preciously off we went in groups of 4, one of us being Dean Canfield who was quite a decent clubman rider, so I thought if I could hang to his shirt tail I’d be doing well. No bloody chance, he left me after about 10 mins and I didn’t see him again until the time check after the 1st lap! (This was the same on every lap).
The course was probably about 10 miles in length, with enough roots to wrap around the world twice over, some very tricky indeed (to which I later found out), a couple of small water crossings, fire roads, tight nadgery woods, a few off cambers (one of which was to be cut out later because it caused some carnage), some nice hills and a special test included about halfway round, so all in all a decent and testing course even with it being dry.
I personally think the first few miles were the hardest riding through the forest as it was just so so bumpy, in fact it was like trying to hold on to a fire breathing pogo stick if you dared to open her up on this section.
1st lap everything went smoothly although I only just made it back dead on time so I had to go straight back out again.
2nd lap and a chance to scare yourself silly as the special test came along. No problems with that and yet again I made it back to the check point dead on time, so back out again I went.
3rd lap, another scary test, that went ok as well and guess what? Back to the check point at the end of the lap again with no time to rest, so it was straight out again.
Ok, so now I’m thinking, hold on, if I can only just about stay on time how the hell am I going to refuel without losing time and collecting any time penaltys? I knew I had to push a bit harder so on my 4th lap (including another special test) I did, and made it back with 1 min to spare, phew! I quickly shouted to some guy in the pits to hand me my fuel can (cheers mate), i put some in and I was off back out again just making it to the check in time.
5th lap and I was starting to get a bit tired now although that’s not surprising as I haven’t raced that much this year and all those silly little things start creeping in like losing concentration and not picking your lines right. That’s exactly what happened when I managed to plant myself head first into a tree on that rooty, bumpy first section. It’s at this point in the race when you start talking to yourself don’t you? ‘what the hell did you do that for? concentrate Trev you twat’, or words to that effect! No damage done off I went again and no prizes for guessing as i made it back at the end of the lap dead on time.
5 laps gone and I’ve only had 1 minute to spare after some 3 hours riding, and with the last lap time set at the fastest, I knew I’d really struggle to stay on time. I had a choice, do I push and with being so knackerd risk keep coming off? Or do I carry on at the same pace and make it back in one piece? I choose the latter and keep my record up of finishing! (which is now 30 or more without a dnf).
I did lose about a minute on the last lap as I stupidly stalled the thing in the woods going all of 2mph and fell off with the bike landing on top of me. When your tired it’s seems 10 times harder trying to push a muddy enduro bike off your body!
I was relieved to finish about 2 mins overtime, but well pleased on how it all went for me and quite chuffed with my result today as it’s only my 2nd race in the clubman ranks.
While I was getting changed i seem to cramp up everywhere, fingers, toes, legs, stomach, that’s a bugger when that happens, I had a job getting the bike on the bloody trailer.
Talked to a few riders after who admitted it was tough going as well, although everyone enjoyed it.
The young lad Jed from Thor motorcycles came back and looked absolutely shattered, he was well overtime and found it hard too.
Thanks to Andy Smith for giving me a pillion up the hill from the pits at the end, saved a bloody walk did that.
Overall another enjoyable day.
Just one last thing, I think Mark Tucker should really slow down a bit as I believe he drives far too fast round the roads of Devon, Cornwall and Somerset because I think he’s beginning to frighten some people!

Finishing position: 8/16 (clubman 225)
Bike status: ok
Injuries: cut right hand

Last working party- 19th April

Yes it was up Hustyns again to get the track fully prepared for tommorrow. This time we took the bikes to make sure all the markers were clear to see.
So, it was nice to have a little ride round in the course to see what we're going to be faced with!
By the way i did one of those 'you've been framed' moments when i decided to land on my arse in the pit area in front of some rather bemused Camel Vale members to which Mike roose (the git) had the loudest laugh of all!

Another working party!- 13th April 2008

Yes it was out with the tree loppers and saws to try and demolish half of the forestry commisions pride and joy in readiness for next week. Better weather for it this time, lovely sunshine!

Working party- 6th April 2008

Joined up with some Camel vale mcc members today to help out getting the track ready for Hustyns. Nice english weather, one minute the suns out, the next it's snowing!

Combe sydenham- 30th March 2008

Needless to say I’m not particularly ‘match fit’ at the moment as this is only my second race of the year, and having ridden at Combe sydenham last year, I was certainly looking forward to the challenge of a 3hr race round a proper enduro course to test me. Astonishingly I wasn’t gigging last night so I actually had a decent nights kip! That helped I can tell you!
With the weather we had all week memories of last year came flooding back (see earlier blog) and I thought, oh no, here we go again! But as I arrived the sun was shining and that turned out to be the case all day. Yippee, summers on it’s way.
Done all the necessary, had a chat with a few people, then it was off up the hill and on to the start line. A big class too was entered in the clubman 2st, so I knew that a good start would be handy. The flag dropped and I must admit it wasn’t one of my best getaways. As we entered the woods for the first time things got a bit tight between riders and I had a little off because I simply ran out of space with nowhere to go, and by the time I got up and kicked her back into life, I was near the back.
The first real test came soon after in the shape of a slippery, uphill section about 200 meters long, not a steep one, but it caught a few of us out riding up it for the first time so I was glad to make up to the top of that.
The woods I thought were excellent, everything you could want for a decent days racing, Some nice slimly downhill’s, tricky slippery uphill’s, off cambers, tree roots, a few fire roads, a couple of jumps and a nice water crossing thrown in for good measure. All in all, about 7-8 miles in total. To be honest, you had to be ‘on the ball’ for most of the lap because there wasn’t much in the way of easy bits where you could take a breather.
I did feel a bit ’rusty’ for the first couple of laps, but that soon passed and I really began to enjoy things and started to relax a bit more.
I pitted after 1hr and 40 ins and was now thinking about get as many laps in as I could before the 3hrs were up. I then had a ‘why the hell did I do that for’ moment! I must have been traveling all of about 5mph going through a narrow one track hillside ledge when I stupidly over balanced and went tumbling down the hill. The bike stayed up the top and I rolled over 6 or 7 times stopping halfway down the hill. As I got up (annoyed but laughing with myself for such a silly mistake) the rider behind me shouted down to me ‘hey, nice one mate’ all in good humor of course, definitely one of those you’ve been framed moments that one! As I clambered back up to the top I was then struggling to pick the bike up on the off camber as it was laying on it’s side downhill, but luckily for me the young lad Richard Tucker came round the corner and stopped to give us a hand to get the bike back upright and back off I went, no damage done. (By the way, look out for Richard in the future as he is riding well and has had some excellent results lately and he’s only 17!)
As I went through the transponders with about 25 mins to go I knew if I pushed hard I get another 2 laps in but that’s where it all went a bit ‘Pete tong’. I was doing well and on target until I came to one of the slippery narrow steep little climbs in the woods which I conveniently managed to get stuck on halfway up. Sods law that, I’d been riding up it every lap with no problem and just when you want to put a faster lap in something like that happens. I had to wait for the traffic to clear before I could go back down and have another go which I did, and guess what? I done exactly the bloody same thing again! Yet again I had to wait for the traffic to clear before I could safely go back down and try again. 3rd time lucky so they say, and this time I managed to make up there, although I reckon I must have wasted a good 6-7 mins on that bloody hill. I was in a nutshell a bit ’p*ssed off with myself’ with that, and I as I looked down at my watch I knew I wouldn’t get another lap in and that’s exactly how it turned out to be as I finished about 5 mins over the 3hrs.
All in all an excellent event and was well pleased with the 7 laps I did which was a big improvement on last year, and to cap it all off, I actually drove home for once with the sun shining. Happy days!

Finishing position: 29/40 (clubman 2st)

Bike status: new front wheel bearings

Injuries: none

A bit of practice- 22nd March 2008

Had a nice little bit of time on the bike down at my mates track this afternoon. with things being a bit slow at the moment due to other commitments, i'll be glad to be racing again next week at the Xmoor event.

Poor old Pete!- 3rd March 2008

Went out again on the bike to some private woods where my mate Pete Jago had permission to ride round.
Nice little track it was aswell. Plenty of woods, a few roots, a lovely little rocky river and 2 bloody steep hills (and i mean steep). Hit the deck a few times on the steep hills because the more we were riding up them, the more slippery they got! No harm done though, it was all good training.
Now then, Pete was well under the weather with a bug, but being the hardened stout biker that he is, he wanted to go out and ride regardless. After about 30 mins up come last nights dinner, then 5 mins later his supper, followed by his breakfast another 5 mins after that! He took a break and was still 'yaking up' even when doing nothing! As i done another lap (with Pete taking a rest) i got stranded on one of the steep hills, Pete came down to give us a hand and haul the bike back up to the top and promptly 'yakked' up again!
I'm telling you what, that bloke has got a deep stomach! i lost count the number of times he threw up. (it got to the stage where i nearly phoned up the guiness book of records).
After a couple of hours of riding it was off home.
Thanks to Pete for making the effort to ride with us, and get well soon mate!

A bit of practice- 1st March 2008

Had a little blast round my mates moto x track. A few of us riding about so had a enjoyable afternoon.

Grey Mare- 24th February 2008

A nice local race and i didn't get my regs in on time! The race was full so i couldn't ride, my fault entirley, you'd have thought i would have learnt by now!
Never mind, off i went to watch it instead.
To be honest i really enjoyed watching the top boys in action trying to get tips on how to ride!
Met various folk who i hadn't seen for a while and had a good chat , so yeah, a good day.

Matchams park- 17th February 2008

It’s been a bit of a wait coming, my first race of the year. Lets just say that things have been rather hectic lately at home and until I move house, I can’t race as much as I’d like. Hopefully a few months down the line and it’ll all be sorted!

Now then, onto the race………………………………………………………………………………….
Last night I was gigging and had a ‘late’one. I went to bed at 2am then got up at 4am, 2 hours kip! Not the ideal prep for a race of this magnitude I admit, I should be slow down at my age, but hey, you only live once, so make the most of it!
I really fancied this event, it was round 1 of the newly formed GBXC organisation (Great Britain Cross Country), so bearing that in mind, riders would come from near and far to ride (especially with the TV cameras there) so i would be able to pit my wits against some top opposition at a top class venue. I entered the 2hr morning race in the o40’s class.
Arrived a Matchams with plenty of time to spare, so had a good look round the place and could tell that there was a definite ‘buzz’ going around probably due to the fact of the cameras being present and David Knight along with some top names riding in the main race later on.
Now then this surprised me, scrutineering, what scrutineering? I presented my bike at the entrance to the parc ferme/ start area and I just got my number ticked off of their rider list sheet and got waved through!

The start was on the Famous G.P track, so we all had a big wide fast straight we could blast down until we hit the first corner. 10am on the dot and the flag dropped. I made a decent enough start to the first corner probably in the first 10 so kept out of any trouble, I was happy with that and seeing as I’d had a stupid amount of sleep, the adrenaline of the race kicked in and I felt good. Along the twisty deep rutted sandy mx track we went before heading off into the first wooded section. I got to say that apart from a steep downhill, there wasn’t much in the way of anything technical at all, before we headed back onto the mx track which included some huge table tops to take (flat out if you were brave enough!) before going through some more flowing wood trails (some with whoops) and then back to lap scoring. I reckon about about 5 miles in total.
After that good start I got overtaken by quite a few in my class, ok, make that loads! Bloody nora there’s some excellent o40’s riders out there! I was a bit rusty from it being my first race for a while and it took me a bit of time to get back into things, but when you’re up against some very experienced vets, I didn’t expect any less and was happy riding around to get some more experience.
Everything was going well when about an hour into it some guy decided it would a good idea to ‘t-bone’ me on straight bit of the track. I don’t even know where he came from! Obviously he must have lost control when he went to overtake me but it’s sods law, I crashed down onto the deck and looked up to find his was carrying on along his merry way as though nothing had happened! I checked over the bike, bloody hell, another set of handgaurds gone, never mind that’s racing.
After about 1hr 20 mins I pitted for a very quick ‘splash & dash’ and was on target to get another 3 laps in. With 3 mins to go I passed lap scoring well pleased with myself thinking I was going to do another lap just before the 2 hours was up, but wait a minute, the chequered was out, what’s going on then? Apparently the way GBXC run things is that the race finishes when the leader comes through near to the allotted time of the end of the race. That’s the first time I’ve heard of that, still, I’ll know next time won’t I?

Met up with Steve Jose afterwards and watched a bit of the main race before heading back home.
Overall I really enjoyed it but was disappointed with the course, I thought it would be a lot more demanding than what it was. Great motocross track but nothing for the enduro boys to get their teeth stuck into in the woods. Makes me wonder what their other venues are going to be like?

Finishing position: 26/32
Bike status: New handgaurds, front sprocket, brake pads front & rear Injuries: none

A blast round- 27th January 2008

Well I’ve not been on the bike for about a month now, hopefully February should kick start my season as there’s a few events that I’m looking at doing.
A mate of mine has the use of some land nearby and at the moment he’s decided to build a small moto x track on it. Naturally I asked if I could come down and have a blast round it, ‘ no problem’ he said. So off I went and did a couple of hours on the bike. Nice and relaxed, just pottering round and enjoying the lovely sunshine. Felt great to get my leg over the bike again!

ORE presentation- 26th January 2008

Went to the ORE presentation last night to pick up some silverware.
Couldn’t do much in the way of celebrating by filling up my cup with drink because I had a 2 hour drive back home!

Pictured Lto R are, yours truly, Chris Ware and Mike Coates.

Nice to finally have a chat and see some of the guys faces I’ve been racing against all last season. I mean lets be honest, you ain’t got a clue who the bloody hell they are when everyone’s got their helmet on!

End of year thoughts 2007

There’s no doubt about it, I really am pleased with what’s gone on in my first full year of racing.
I’ve done a fair few races and no matter what’s happened to me or the bike, I’ve managed to finish all of them.
The reliability of the TM has been unbelievable and so has my sheer determination (and sometimes stupidness!) to make it to the finish line. If I can match that sort of record this coming year, then I’ll be over the moon.

I concentrated mainly on the ORE sports 2 stroke champs because I thought I might have a decent chance of getting in the first 5. I had such good results in the early rounds that the lead I built up meant that as long as I finished the last few races without any mishaps, I’ve have enough points in the bag to win it outright.
The most pleasing aspect about winning that (and I’ve mentioned it before) is that most of the courses were very much of the motocross type which is not at all to my liking as I like ‘toughing’ it out in woods that are caked in mud and littered with tree roots. I mean you don’t get many enduro’s doing 25 laps a race do you? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not moaning about it, I’m just pleased I beat some motocross boys at their own game, and some of them 20 yrs younger than me!
I don’t know yet weather I’ll be doing all their rounds in 2008, haven’t made up my mind yet.

Tough races? Yes, there’s been a few I can tell ya. Combe sydenham, Rifton barton, Middleton court (all xmoor enduro club), Huntsham barton (ASW), Star hill (Track’n’trail), Smeartharpe (Little silver). Hats off and 3 cheers to those clubs that put on an event in sometimes atrocious conditions. It’s these sort of races that stick in your mind most and gives you more of a sense of achievement if you finish them. It also makes you admire the pure skill and ability of the top riders, decent bike control or what?
I might be wrong, but I do believe that when the going gets tough, it doesn’t matter what bike you’re on, weather it be a 125 or a 450, everyone’s on the same level. I do have to admit that I do like it when I pass a big 4 banger on my little zingy 125! (that’s probably going to get me in trouble now, I’ll have all you 4 stroke boys shouting obscenities out at me when I’m riding round).

Sometimes it’s been a bit knackering after only getting a few hours kip due to my gigs that I’ve had the night before, and with some events up to3 ½ hours drive away it meant i had to get up really early and set off to get there in time. My girlfriend has been fantastic being my ‘driver’ so I can grab an hours kip on the way up. Mind you that’s all changed now because she stays at home babysitting!

My biggest low point of the year came at Trewint on 2nd September at an ORE race. I had a big off (but still managed to carry on), the bike got damaged, I done my shoulder in, damaged my facial nerves, and still to this day, half of my top lip and gum is still numb from the accident. The bike cost me a fortune to get mended and I couldn’t do much in the way of exercise for a while. A few weeks later our baby was born (that’s a high point by the way) but the lack of exercise and now lack of sleep meant that I really struggled to race and this reflected in my results, I just couldn’t seem to get going properly. A few months down the line now and I’m starting to get fit again and getting more kip, thank god for that!

Well I’ve learnt a little bit more this year about riding a dirt bike and also met some nice folk along the way too. A big thanks to all those people that have helped me out in one way or another, I went mention names because I’m bound to miss someone out and then I’ll get slated for doing so!

I’m now going up to the big wide world of the clubman class or maybe the o40’s depending on which club is organising the event. I’d love to do a round (or maybe two) of the BEC just for the experience and who knows I might even have a little dabble at some motocross!

See you all in 2008

Smeartharpe- 29th December 2007

Bloomin nora, what an event this was!…………………………………………….

The previous couple of days it had been lashing down with rain so I thought to myself that this race could be a bit of a muddy one (that was an understatement) so I was looking forward to it as I love the mud and I always think that it’s a great leveller.
Arrived at smeartharpe moto park to be pleasantly surprised to find that the parking wasn’t in a field at all but in on a hardstanding concrete surface. What a result that was, that made a nice change, usually your fighting your way trying to steer in a straight line across some sodden grassy field just to get parked up!
The quads were already racing in their own event and it didn’t look pretty. Every rider was covered from head to toe in thick brown mud and judging by the state of the motocross track that was part of the course, the words ‘ we’re all going to get lagged’ sprang to mind. That coupled with a biting cold wind, things were going to be a bit tough today.
Parked up next to Steve Jose (story about him later) and also met Debbie, Mark and Richard Tucker who I had a chat with about various bike related aspects.

Got changed, done all the necessary and made sure I didn’t lock my keys in my van this time! And lined up ready for the sighting lap.
I was right, every inch of the motocross section was about 2ft deep with sludgy thick mud, one tiny mistake and off you slid into the stuff. There was a couple of table top jumps but you couldn’t get up enough speed to jump the buggers as you were sliding too much all over the show. The woods were boggy in places and a lot of riders were getting stuck which caused the usual mayhem, and this was just on the sighting lap! I made it back ok but it seemed like ages before the actual race got underway as I sat freezing my nuts off on the start line!
The flag dropped and I must admit it wasn’t one of my better starts but I made up a few places almost straight away until a rider in front ‘closed the door’ on me while I went for a gap on his outside and I went down like the Titanic straight into that thick mud, nice one! Half a lap gone and already one glove and one side of my bars covered in mud .
Into the wooded section and I passed quite a few riders that had got stuck, there were some lovely roots to make things even more tricky and 1 or 2 slippery little downhills, before going back out onto that gloopy motocross track to complete a lap which I reckon was about 5 miles long.
After about an hour into it, the spring on my gear lever broke which made gear shifting somewhat hit or miss, but nevertheless, I carried on. I pitted after about 1hr 40 mins, changed my ‘caked in mud’ gloves, wiped the bar down, and off I went again.
There was a rutted section in the woods that had become so deep then when you rode into it it was as high as the saddle! Took a bit of riding to get through that did, I bloody well got stuck in it once but luckily a couple of spectators came to my rescue with that one. There were a lot of riders taking a breather at this point just parked up or going round very slow due to tiredness.
Had a couple of ‘offs’ on the now almost impassable quagmire of a motocross track, it seemed like you were trying to ride through some sort of ‘fudge brownie mixture’! Big thanks to the marshal who helped me pick my bike up when I got buried in the stuff.
With about 30 mins to go I got a puncture on the front, the tyre was flat and the wheel was wobbling about a fair bit, but given the conditions with no hard ground at all, I decided to carry on and hope it wouldn’t come off the rim.
The last couple of laps I was almost going round in isolation as so many riders had pulled out due to it being so energy sapping or their bikes had simply ‘given up the ghost’, I must admit I was a bit ‘cream crackerd’ myself, but I was pleased to get another lap on the scoreboard with 10 mins to go and went on to finish.
Not really a technical course but due to it being cut up so badly and so much mud about, you didn’t really have any sort of breather on the bike as you were constantly trying to stay in control.

Steve Jose told me afterwards that he was so tired that he parked up in the pits halfway through the race and went and got a burger before carrying on! I thought that was a bloody cheek because the tight git didn’t get me one!

I was just about to go home when the mobile rung, it was Steve who told me that I’d come 2nd in the sports 2 stoke and there was a trophy to pick up. I was well pleased, and looking at the results, over 120 bikes started and there were over 70 dnf’s, yes that’s right over 70 dnf’s! Just goes to show how tough it was today, and with me having a broken gear lever and a front wheel puncture, I managed to finish and get a really good result to end the year with.



Finishing position: 2/43
Bike status: new handgaurds, gear lever

Injuries: none

Typical!!!-9th December 2007

Typical isn’t? I had the choice of 3 races today run by different clubs. ORE, SCEC and CAMEL VALE. I ended up not doing any!
ORE had said that their last round of the series would be on 9th December, so I waited for confirmation of where the venue was and the entry forms to come out as I wanted to complete the last round and go out ending the series on a high as champ of the sports 2 stroke class! But on the Monday with 6 days to go they announced that they couldn’t run the race and it would in the new year..
The CAMEL VALE race was now closed as the regs had to be in by saturday, no late entrys on that one, so that one was out of the window as well. 2 down, 1 to go ………………………………...............................so I quickly got on to the SCEC website to enter that one, B*llocks, race full!!!!!! I was left with nothing, ‘all dressed up with nowhere to go’ as it were. You could say I was a bit ‘peed’ off!
So what now? Well, everything dies down a bit now as xmas is approaching so not really much happening unless I can find somewhere to have a quick ride around.
Looks like there’s a couple of events at the end of the year, so hopefully I’ll be doing those.

Middleton court- 18th November 2007

Traveling up through the rain, memories of ‘combe sydenham’ earlier in the year came flooding back (pardon the pun), it was still p*ssing it down when I arrived and I got soaked through just getting signed on and getting the bike checked. Whilst waiting for the riders briefing I was stood there with steve jose (turned out the bugger beat me by a couple of mins) and his mate Tim, we all agreed that today was going to be the survival of the fittest!
As expected a delayed start was had due to problems with the course as the organisers had to re-route some parts due to the bad weather, not surprising really, but yet again Xmoor enduro club hold no fears when it comes to putting on an event no matter what the conditions, so fair play to them.
So to start then and mayhem ensued right at the off as a load of bikes were getting stuck just yards from the line at the bog at the bottom of the hill, I was lucky and got directed round it up through the woods. The 1st little climb proved tricky and I got stuck, not for long and I was back on my way again. There’s so much to say about Middleton court, superb venue, it had everything, long slippery hills (up and down), loads of off cambers, tree roots, water, rocks, ruts, fire roads that were filled with ’gloopy’ mud that had you snaking all over the place because of the rain, so with a trials tyre only allowed on the back, it felt like you were fighting to get control of the bike all the time. This is what I think an enduro is all about, no flat field racing here. A true test of man and machine, and it certainly teaches you a thing or two about bike control, and you just got to admire those champ and expert riders who make it look so bloody easy, awesome!
At times on the course there were bikes and riders all over the place either stuck, or just simply taking a rest due to being so ‘cream crackerd‘.
I was struggling, and I wasn’t the only one, on my 2nd lap, on a tricky little rocky climb after a sharp right hander, I got stuck halfway and tried in vain to make it up, not going anywhere, I slid back down and had another go. Got stuck again halfway and tried to push the bike to the top, it seemed like I was heaving forever and I simply run out of energy, so I slid back down again and took a rest before giving it another go. This little climb caused a few problems even to the more experienced riders as they were finding it troublesome as well, needless to say queues were starting to form trying to get up the thing.
On my 3rd attempt I got stuck halfway yet again, but this time I simply wasn’t going to be beaten and I pushed and shoved the little TM (seemed like it weighed a ton with all the mud attached to it) up to the top, got my breath back, and I was on my way again, phew!
Chris Ware came flying past me on a rocky watery climb then proceeded to launch his bike straight up in the air and go ‘dancing’ with it, nice one Chris, made good viewing that!
I pitted after 2 laps only for Mike Coates to come over and hand me my fuel can, his bike had overheated so he was out. I told you to get a new bike mate, sorry, I forgot, you just have! (just joking).
Back out then I went to do another lap and got stuck on that hill again that took me so long to get up last time, no problem this time though as I quickly go to the top with the help of some spectators, thank you! I had a nice little ‘off’ straight into a tree as I slid into it down a slippery bank, I must have going all of 2mph! Believe or not, I managed to really hurt my thigh as the only bloody branch that was poking out stuck straight in it. Typical that.
Getting back to the start, Time up, I missed out on another lap by a couple of minutes so my race was over, only 3 laps!!!!
Not particularly good, but I was glad I finished, a tough race today in very difficult conditions.
Met Richard Tucker whilst walking back to the van at the end, he had a dnf on his new bike, so things didn’t go to plan for him either, shame that, as i as looking forward to his Husqvarna 125 flying past me!
Overall, a tough day and you certainly felt that you'd done an enduro, especially when your soaked through and everything thing is lagged in mud and your knackerd!. Why do we do it? Because we love it that’s why.

Finishing position: 11/29
Bike status: ok
Injuries: none

Evercreech- 10th November 2007

Why have put a picture of my hammer on here? Read on and I’ll tell ya!

Another of the ORE championship races, yes it’s a long season, and this is round 10 of the series. I’ve rode at this venue before earlier in the year so knew what to expect. Very open, hardly any woods, a few little jumps, so very much a motocross type venue (as is most of the ORE events). Short laps, only about 8-9 mins, so not a very long course. With the decision to cut the race to just 2 hours because of lack of daylight due to the 2pm start, racing was going to be fast and furious.
Not bad weather seeing as it’s November, overcast and a bit chilly, but dry. I traveled up on my own for this one as marie stayed at home for ‘parental duties‘ and no one else was available to give us a hand, it took about 2 ½ hours, I left early, so got there with plenty of time to spare.
After doing all the necessary and hiking the gear up a bloody steep hill to where the pits were, it was off on the sighting lap. Yet again I’d realized that I’d forgot to put my transponder on (been there before) so I rushed back to the van and quickly attached them to my shirt. It was at this point that I didn’t think I’d have enough time to put the keys back in the toolbox in the pits for fear of missing the start, so I just threw them in the back of the van and shut the door (bad mistake that).
Anyway, made a good start, lost a few places early on but kept a fairly good pace up so I was quite pleased. After about 30 mins the course was shortened due to a rider being injured, in fact it stayed that way until the end, so the laps were even shorter!
Not much to say really, I had no ‘offs’ so quite uneventful really and made a quick ‘splash and dash’ pit stop with 15 mins to go. To be honest, with such a short course, you were constantly overtaking someone or being overtaken!
Finished ok no problem.
Got back to van and guess what? I’d only gone and locked the keys inside the back of the van hadn’t I!!!! What a twat! I knew exactly when I done as well, it was when I forgot to put the transponders on and had to go back to do it, that’s when I just threw the keys in there and shut the door. Obviously the central locking was on!
Word got round, and it seemed like everyone tried to get into my van one way or another and a big thanks must surely go out to Richard Batstone (no 321) who tried for ages with an assortment of tools to get the door to open, but to no avail. So, in the end it was down to the hammer to smash the side glass so I could get my keys and drive home. I said ’ who wants to do it?’ this other rider almost grabbed the hammer out of my hand, he was keen! He smashed it 1st time (reckon he’s done it before, could be an ex car thief!) any way I was relieved to finally get going and drive home albeit at a reduced speed due to tiny pieces of glass everywhere and no side window and a cracked windscreen for good measure!
It took me 3 ½ hours to make it home.
A disappointing result today as I was only placed 12th in the 2 strokes.
My riding over the past couple of months hasn’t been at all spectacular, and I’ve had some pretty poor results. I don’t know weather it’s because of the accident at the Trewint race in September or indeed my lack of fitness or sleep since the baby was born that’s affected me, or maybe a combination of both!!!! But anyway, even with to days result, I’ve earned enough points to win the ORE sports 2 stroke championship due to some good results earlier in the season.
Not much to some people I know, but it's my first full year of riding. I’ve rode 8 rounds all through the year and at 43 years young I’ve beat some guys a lot younger than me along the way, on bigger bikes than mine, and nearly all the tracks have been a motocross type layout rather than a proper enduro one. So I’m really pleased with that.

Finishing position: 21/41
Bike status: ok
Injuries: none

Weston beach race- 21st October 2007

What can you say about Weston? Over 1,000 bikes on a 3 mile track, a mile long flat out straight and over 30 sand dunes to negotiate coupled with a massive crowd.
After doing my first ‘Weston’ last year I was again back for some more mayhem and mishap!
My mate Lester was my pit crew today (he did a fantastic job too) as we set off in the early hours to get there with plenty of time in hand.
First of all I had to pick up my trailer that I’d left up there with the Tucker family from xmoor enduro club, who’d very kindly looked after it for me for the weekend from there campsite pitch. So, no problem there, that was until I was queuing in traffic to get into the official competitors car park, when some pillock in a 4x4 decided to ram me up the a*rse while I was stationary! Nice one mate, I need a new lighting board now.
Anyway, moving on, had a good look round, watched a bit of the youths race and got ready to go and do battle. The weather was absolutely cracking, bright sunshine and quite warm being it an October day.
As usual the wait to get the bike out of the parc freme and onto the beach to the start was mad, with every rider queuing and trying to push each other out of the way (politely of course) to try and get a good position.
Onto the beach we went and then and waited for the start. Unlike last year, I actually started right up there with the lot of them! Bloody nora, what a feeling that is, hundreds and hundreds of bikes blasting down that straight, all of us with our adrenalin fuelled heads on! I reckon I was about ¾ of the way down the pack.
Half way down the straight a few riders were waving there arms frantically as a couple of riders had came off, luckily I think everybody avoided them. When I got to end, I couldn’t see a bloody thing! My goggs had been ‘sand blasted’ and I couldn’t wait to use the rip ’n’ roll to get clear vision. That speed wobble you get when you nail the thing on the flat sand is something else! I was hanging on for grim death!
Got to the first dune where mayhem had firmly planted itself all around me! With nowhere to go, I had to sit and wait my turn , we were packed in like sardines and smelling the constant exhaust fumes were worse than smelling someone elses wind!
After about 10 minutes I finally had a run up the first dune and promptly got stuck, I got back down quickly and had another go and made it over and onto the next one. Same as the first, more queues and more fumes, got a run up at it got stuck big time half way up. The back wheel was well and truly buried and with no marshals to help me (they were at the top trying to clear the carnage) I got off, dug myself out and heaved the bike round, got back on and slid to the bottom to have another go. I managed to get over that one as well 2nd time around and headed on to the 3rd dune. Yet more queues and more fumes were in front of me, I waited for a bit and then went for a gap to try and get over, guess what, stuck again, 3rd one in a row! I thought to myself, ‘what are you like you twat, you still got over 2 hours to go’! After telling myself off severly, I made it over and with no more problems on any of the remaining dunes, i completed my first lap, although I must admit I wasn’t impressed on how long it had taken me.
It was at this point that I felt really ill, there’s a difference between being knackered and feeling rough, and I felt rough, big time, I don’t know weather the fumes got to me or what, It certainly wasn’t due to the fact of heaving the bike around a few times, I’ve done that plenty of times believe me!
Infact, I felt so bad that I contemplated pulling out, something I haven’t done since I my 2nd enduro, well over a year ago. Never one to quit with a ’must finish the race attitude no matter what’, I carried on until my 1st pit stop.
My mate Lester handed me clean goggs, I washed my face down quickly, refueled, had a handful of the customary jelly babies and off I went. Just that little stop made all the difference and now I started to get going and started enjoying it.
Another couple of laps later I made a quick stop again for more fresh goggles and back out I went , and by this time I was actually starting to pass people who were getting tired, but mainly due to the fact that I was now feeling ok and I was going well.
Then the unthinkable happened, the race was stopped just after 2 hours. I was gutted as I was desperately trying to make up for lost time for the first hour of the race where I was ‘trail riding’ round because I felt so bad.
Safety reasons I believe was the cause of the stoppage, something to do with the bridge that we rode over? I know a couple of times that the organizers had directed us around it because riders had got stuck on it, someone told me that It was in a bad state and it was collapsing!
As I write this I don’t really know the main reason, but if it’s in the interest of safety, that has to come first, end of story.

Now for my gripe, 25th anniversary beach race right?
Well the powers that be certainly made it a special one. No weekend pass for us riders this year, just a day one. No ‘goody’ bag this year, just a t shirt with a cartoon on the front. No free programme either.Tight or what?

Not a particually good race for me this time. But at least i managed to raise a bit of money for the Cornwall air ambulance through some sponsorship.
Will I be back next year? ........................................Yeah course I will.

Finishing position:703/1049
Bike status: new chain + sprockets, new fork seals
Injuries: none

St Allen- 14th October 2007

A bit of a chilly misty damp start to the day with a slight drizzle all around.
St Allen was only about 25 minutes away from me, so a nice local little race, not much traveling, bloody hell, I’ll be home early then!

I was hoping to have a better result after last weeks disappointing show where it took me ages to ‘get into it’. Another thing, this was a 3 hour event, so with not that much riding in the last 6 weeks, this would be a good test of stamina for WESTON next week.

Upon signing on I talked to a few guys that explained the track was about 5 miles long, a mixture of woods and some fast sections across the grassy fields, but watch out, the off cambers were slippery due to the heavy morning dew.
Onto the sighting lap we went then, and true enough, parts of the course were a bit tricky, but nothing out of the ordinary. There were nice wooded sections with a couple of steep hills (up and down) mixed in about halfway round, and muggings here got stuck on one of them on the sighting lap, but I didn’t have any problems when racing.
Sighting laps? Good or bad? 50/50 I think. Good in a way that you know where you’re going before racing, but trouble is, no one is up to race pace, and when you come across a slippery or tricky part of the course, you haven’t really any momentum to get through it because there’s a big queue in front of ya!

Onto the start then, not that good, probably in the top ten but made up a few places over the first couple of laps, short laps as well, 8-9 mins, but a lot more enjoyable than last week due to the wooded sections and the dodgy off cambers.
I got into the race fairly quickly and felt I was going ok. After about an hour my rip’n’roll film ran out on my goggs, but with things drying up a bit I decided not to stop and wait a little bit longer until my pit stop for a change.
Had a few little ‘offs’ just down to the slippery grass really, but nothing at high speed so no damage done. I had a great battle with the young lad from Thor motorcycles (he must be 20 yrs younger than me!), we passed each other maybe 6-7 times all through the race and in the end I managed to get pass him with about 20 minutes to go and pull away and finish in front of him by about 2 mins, good little race between us that!
A nice little confidence builder for me today because now all roads lead to WESTON!

Finishing position: 4/28
Bike status: ok
Injuries: none