Dowhills- 15th May 2011

After the fun and frolics of last week, I decided to give it a go at a enduro cross meeting held by the ASW club. I’ve never done one of these events before, it’s two 1 hour races with a break of about an hour in between in race. I traveled up to the venue with ‘mad’ Jack and his boy Paddy, Jack wasn’t riding because of injury, but Paddy was entered in the youths race.

An overcast and chilly day it was as I got signed on and the bike scrutineerd. Not that many riders I knew floating about, in fact the only person I saw to have a natter to was Phil Studley and that was it. With the youths race 40 mins or so in length and the first adults race not starting until another half hour after that, I had plenty of time to go walkabout and check out some of the course which seemed to be plenty of fields with some woods thrown in in between that I could see in the distance. Good thing was with Paddy racing before me he’d tell me what the course was like when he’d finished, always handy that when someone’s rode the course before you and they can tell you to look out for the dangers such as wild bears, unexploded world war II bombs and not forgetting real life scarecrows such as ’Catwaezle’.

So then, with the 1st youths over it was time to get lined up, warm up the engines and get ready for the flag to drop. The thumb wasn’t feeling too bad and I was hoping it would see out an hours racing, although it has to be said that this was probably the moment I needed a nice 2 stroke 300 to try and take it easy on my right hand so I wouldn’t have to do so much work with the throttle all the time. Oh well, at least that’s something I can look forward too when I’m about 50, few years yet then!

As the flag dropped for the 1st race I got a flyer and made it into the corner in 2nd place, but with about 3 flat fields to cross before we hit the woods, it wasn’t long before I got swallowed up by a couple of the bigger bikes as the big 4 bangers thundered past me, although I didn’t do too bad and made it into the wooded section in about 4th or 5th. The woods themselves were excellent (just not enough of them), nice flowing trails, a beauty of a steep climb which caught a lot of riders out on the first lap, a couple of gnarly descents, and a bit of tight stuff through the tress before with went back out across a couple of more fields, along a short rocky stream section, yet more fields with a couple of uphill jumps thrown in, and back to the start. Quite a short course and I’d say only about 4 miles or so.

So onto the 2nd lap then and when I got to that steep climb in the woods, there were 3 or 4 riders stuck half way up it all clambering about trying to get to the top, not one to be waiting around these days, I saw a gap and went for it, sods bloody law then when just as I was about to go past someone, he over balanced and stopped me in my tracks. A quick dismount, a bit of heaving with the bike to get around him, and I was on my way again. With around 20 mins gone on the clock my right hand wasn’t good, it really started to hurt after last weeks ‘off’ and I was seriously thinking about pulling out and stopping and I thought to myself I’d give it another couple of laps and see what happens.

Although a bit down on pace with my hand killing me, I managed to finish the first race and got a 3rd so pleased with that. With about an hour and half before we raced again, I managed to get some pain killers down me which helped a bit so I was looking forward to getting on the strimmer again and giving it another go.

So onto race no 2 then and as the flag went down I got another flyer and managed to get the holeshot into the first corner. My lead only lasted a few corners though because as we got out into the open stuff once again, a couple of those big noisey 4 banger things flew past me and as the same as the first race, I made it into the woods in about 4th or 5th. As the race went on my hand felt a lot better and I started to ride a lot better as well, and with no real drama’s I pushed hard for the hour and ended up with a 2nd place this time around.
So a good day in all and nice to do one of these enduro cross meetings which makes a bit of a change to the normal hare and hounds/enduro events. Highlight of the day for me though was stopping at Macdonalds on the way home for a cheeseburger and chips, can’t beat that can ya?

Finishing position 1st race: 3/12 (vets)
Finishing position 2nd race: 2/12 (vets)

Nancemellion- 8th May 2011

Well it has to said that Nancemellion isn’t one of my favourite places to ride an event round. Sometimes the organization leaves a bit to be desired shall we say? And I never seem to have much luck down at the place. Anyway, it was a local event just down the road, and a chance to have a blast on the bike.
For a change it was nice weather and the sun was shining as I pulled up into the field to get parked up. Most of the usual local motley crew of faces were to be seen which included Adam Blake who decided to change his exhaust on the morning of the race because he had ‘nothing better to do’!

So after a bit of banter and chit chat, it was off down to the start. Rather than walk I managed to cadge a lift off of some poor unsuspecting bloke on the back of his bike who was riding down there, Don’t ask, don’t get eh? Now then, I’ve said this before about this event, where the hell do we all line up then? There wasn’t even anything on the start line to tell us what groups to line up in. Come on Camborne and Reduth motor club, just print the classes on a bit of A4 paper and tape/pin/attach them to a stick and hey presto, Job done! So bike numbers were all over the place although most of the over 40’s (I say most) the class I was in, were lined up together.

Onto the start itself then, and I got an absolute flyer and like a scolded cat I was gone and managed to get the holeshot. The course itself was a big improvement on previous years with some nice tight gnarly rooted woods, a small piece of mx track and some grassy hillsides. Nothing really challenging and I thought it flowed quite nicely although there was a few sloppy bits to get stuck in if you weren’t careful.

So, I was out in front of the o40’s class and going well and led for the first 2 laps until disaster struck (The nancemellion curse) when I has a silly little 5mph off turning a tight corner. The front wheel slid away and as the bike went down my thumb got caught between the front brake master cylinder and the throttle housing and I couldn’t let go. With my thumb trapped I had to down with the bike and when it hit the deck my hand went one way and my thumb another, ouch! It bent it right back and I knew straight away it wasn’t good. I got back on the bike and rode off, but it was useless as I couldn’t twist the throttle properly let alone hold on to the bars and I knew it was game over. Within a lap I’d lost the lead, then another place, and I was beginning to go backwards, I just couldn’t do anything so rather than come off again and make it worse, I decided to crawl back to the van and seek some medical attention as my thumb was flamin well killing me.

So in the ambulance I went and after a check up they told me that I’d done the ligaments in my hand just at the base of the thumb. 4 ice packs later and with my hand throbbing like it’s been hit with 5lb club hammer, I decided to watch a bit of the action for 10 mins and then make my way home rather slowly in the van because I could hardly turn the steering wheel round the corners!

Finishing position: DNF

GBXC- 24th April 2011

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.

Boscastle- 23th April 2011

This event was ran by a new club that had set itself up to organise H&H races for quads, sidecars and solo's. Ths first thing i knew about it was when Steve Jose phoned me up and said 'get your bike in the van, the race starts in 2 and half hours, see you there'! Now i know what your'e gonna say when i tell you that the phone call woke me up and it was 11 o'clock in the morning, no i'm not a lazy b*stard coz i didn't go to bed until 3am because i was out the night before gigging and living the rock 'n' roll lifestyle! (seem to be doing a lot of that lately) So to be honest it was all a bit late for me to get organised, so i'd thought i'll go and watch.

I turned up with about an hour of the race to go, not many competitors going round the track i must admit, probably about 20 or so? But a few local ones having a blast round on a Saturday afternoon that i knew anyway, so at least i could have a good laugh.

Highlight of the afternoon was me and Ali Gilbert (who pulled out after breaking his forks on his 'ginger' machine) watching Trevor Vercoe lap Steve Jose, and Matt Tilley doing his best to emmulate 'Dancing on ice' whilst getting it all wrong and ending up on his arse through a wooded rooty section!

The course was a mixture of woods and fields but nothing too technical, and i think the club did alright in putting on their first event. Hopefully next time might get a few more riders involved and i might get a bit more notice so i can ride it!

Thats better!- April 17th 2011

Hey hey, picked up the strimmer and took her down the track for blast. No problems and it went like a dream. In fact it went a whole lot better than it has done for a long time! Having that barrel done (again) has made the bike a hell of a lot more responsive and crisper when you open her up. So, a big relief today for me and can't wait to race................

Yor avin a larf - April 3rd 2011

No i ain't!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, i picked up the bike on friday, barrel re chromed, new piston, rings, etc,etc and waited for Sunday to come around so i could run her in a bit down at the MX track.

After another late night through gigging (early morning actually, 3am) on the Saturday, it was off down the track to let the little strimmer loose. Nice day too it was, a bit windy but lovely sunshine, perfect! No trouble starting her, 2nd kick and bring a ding ding, up she fired. I sat there warming up her up for a couple of minutes before i headed out on to the track for a nice easy ride round to run things in. I was on my 3rd lap when all of a sudden she started to rev and suddenly died on me. Strange i thought? Checked a few things, petrol on, throttle ok, plug not loose, kill switch not stuck, so then went to kick her over.................................................SEIZED SOLID! What the f*ck? um........... not happy was an understatement. With just 7 mins on the clock the strimmer decided to commit suicide rather than be ridden by me. How inconsiderate after all we've been through together?

On a more serious note i have not got a clue in the world as to what caused it, but at the moment it's being looked at, and i'll leave it at that.

On yer bike! - 27th March 2011

Well my little strimmer's out of action at the moment due to a few things that needed doing which should have been done a while back. The barrels been sent off to get that sorted so a new piston can be put in and also i smashed into a stump a few races back and bent part of the frame that the back pedal attatches to, so thats got to be straightened out as well. So until i get her back which should be sometime this week (fingers crossed) i'll have to play the waiting game.

After gigging last night i didn't get to kip until about 3am so i was a bit 'cream crackered' so a long run was out of the question. Instead i took my little girl out to Dunmere woods (where the enduro's held in October) on our mountain bikes and tried to teach her a few things on how to ride a bike over rough ground, Oh what fun!

Hopefully be back riding next week..................................

Out for a run- 20th March 2011

No riding today so went out for 10 mile run in the lovely sunshine.

Brass monkeys- 13th March 2011

(Pic by Debbie Tucker)

First of all a big thanks to Thor motorcycles who managed to sort out my bike on Saturday afternoon at 3.30pm the day before the race so I could ride on Sunday. I’d just finished putting the numbers on the bike at home and giving everything one last check when my clutch (which is a hydraulic one) decided to blow it’s seals on the master cylinder after I pulled the lever in. A quick phone call to Thor and within half an hour they had the thing out and repaired it for me.

So to Sunday then and I was really looking forward to this one but also hoping that I wouldn’t have a repeat of last years event when I did some marshaling and went and did my elbow in after I had my cortisone injection. Fingers crossed then and off I set at about 6am for a couple of hours drive up to Devon. A chilly start to the day but with bright sunshine overhead, it looked set to be a corker of a day.

With this being the 2nd round of the South West champs all the usual riders were present who’d made the trip up from Cornwall and a whole lot more from the surrounding counties as the event was sold out. To me that wasn’t surprising as there’s not many events that offer a 24 mile lap with a variety of terrain, and also with it being a timecard event, it was a proper enduro!

With me milling about before the start, I wasn’t short of a chat or two bumping in and stopping for a chin wag to just about everybody who got in my way. Mark and Debbie Tucker were in the signing on tent getting the riders organized, so at least all the competitors were assured of some smiling faces when signing on instead of the usual miserable ones that you seem to face most of the time! Now I’ve got to say that numbers is a strong point of mine, and that’s why I seem to have about half the amount of riders coming up to me at a timecard event to work out or check their times for them. Imagine then to my horror, when Ali Gilbert came up to me and asked if his times were right and were in fact 10 mins out! (by that I mean 10 mins more than what they should be). A big drum roll ladies and gentlemen please for Mr Steve Jose, who not only worked out Ali’s times wrong, he also did it to Matt Tilley’s as well!!! Whilst back at the van getting changed Paul Ford and Richard Batstone dropped by and asked about ’mad’ Jack, so I didn’t disappoint and told them a few story’s about the ‘legend’ that I’ve acquired along the way!

So it was down to the start then and today I was in the vets experts and we had 3 laps to do with 3 special tests, so lots of riding and a good challenge. Just after 9.30am I kicked the strimmer into life and off I went with John Hinkley (who was on the same time as me) out into the road for about a mile before turning down a lane and into the woods where the special test area was. With this being the 1st lap we had basically a sighting lap of the test as we wouldn’t be timed on that section until laps 2,3, and 4.

This was a test and half I’m telling you because of the nature of it. We started off in very slippery tight hilly woods that had the usual stumps and roots in, and for good measure a couple of log hops were thrown in before going out into some extremely slippery fields moto x style, then across some undulating meadows, before heading back into the woods which included a muddy rutted water filled ditch (that was causing a few problems to a few riders) another log hop and more off camber slippery trails. An extremely long test and hard work especially with it being so slick as you were either going up or down in the woods constantly over all the stumps and roots. I reckon it must have been at least around 4 miles in length and unlike the test at the Muntjac a few weeks back, this was a lot harder believe me.

I can’t begin to describe a 24 mile lap, but lets just say it had almost everything thrown in there, a bit of road work that linked each set of woods together, water crossings, marshy bits, off cambers, stoney climbs, muddy ruts, ‘flat out’ field sections, mud infested ditches, and a whole lot more, superb course and I can see why clerk of the course Simon Thomas spoke to the ACU about this becoming a BEC round at some point. At about 2 thirds distance we had a time check, this was a slack one so no need to rush and I got there with plenty of time in hand as did everybody else. Mike Roose was in attendence nattering to all and sundry and generally ‘geeing’ all the riders up as well supplying a few with a much needed ‘ciggy’!

The 2nd check point was back to the start/finish area and this was tight in terms of time, I think I took this one too easy to be honest and ended up 2 mins over, should have pushed a little harder, but with 48 miles still to go I didn’t want to go and do something stupid so I wasn’t too disappointed. Onto the 2nd lap then and with our 1st test coming up and me knowing things were a bit ‘tricky’ because of it being so slippery out there, I let a few psi out of the back tyre and this worked wonders for me. I had a good first special test, no mishaps and went well, and the best bit was when I came to that big muddy water filled ditch half way round, there were 3 riders stuck in it and I thought ‘f*ck this’ I ain’t waiting, so I launched the 125 through the middle of them and went through it and up the other side without a problem leaving them there wallowing about like Hippo’s in a mud bath, Well pleased with that as I knew that all those 3 had started in front of me on the test so I’d make a lot of time on them.

From here it was onto the slack check and with no problems I made it with plenty of time in hand. So after a bit of a rest things got now even tighter as we had to make it back to the start area with even less time than we did on the 1st lap, and I ended up losing 4 mins. So 2 laps gone and 6 mins down, it was a quick splash and dash and out again to do one more lap but still with 2 tests to go (as we had to do an extra one after we’d finished as well) My second test went even better and I was flying, a good time and was well pleased and it was the 2nd fastest in the vets experts on that particular lap, I felt good!

Me and Steve Jay then rode round together for a while, but I lost sight of him after I got stuck in a horrendous rutted mud filled ditch somewhere in the woods and got pulled out by a marshal, but I didn’t waste much time and I made it to the slack check with plenty of seconds left on the clock. So from here on in it was back to the finish, and with this being the ‘tight on time’ one, I knew I had to push as hard as I could to try and not loose much more time. Just before getting back to the Start/finish area there were a couple of fields that you could open the bike up, I was absolutely nailing it and flat out in 6th gear, in fact I was even sat back on the saddle ‘Weston beach race’ style trying to get more speed out of the strimmer and trying to gain a few seconds on the clock hoping I wouldn’t loose anymore time. I did loose another 2 mins, so 8 mins altogether, but now the fun started as just as I handed my time card in to Mark (Tucker) get checked, my engine died! I kicked and kicked her but no good, she wasn’t going anywhere so I pushed her back to the pits. I still had another test to go and I was desperate to finish after riding for so long so I got a bump start from a few lads and she fired up down the road and off I went towards the special test.

The Gasser was struggling, it didn’t want to go anywhere and all it wanted to do was stall, I knew straight away that the piston rings had ‘gone’, no compression whatsoever, so if she stalled again it would be game over. I got to the test and all I could do was to keep the revs up in 1st gear hoping she would keep going and get me to the end. Every yard felt like an eternity as I had to work the throttle and clutch twice as much to keep her going so I could at least get some sort of finish. This test really was taking forever but I couldn’t even change into 2nd gear otherwise it would stall, I crawled round and those slippery hills in the woods were a nightmare as I daren’t let her conk out. With the finish in sight and about 100 yards to go she’d finally had enough and died on me. I was gutted, just another 20 seconds and I would have been home and dry!

So with the bike full of mud and weighing what seemed like a ton, I began to push it uphill towards the end of the test. Luckily for me the entire Scott family were nearby, both Ashley and Ben had suffered DNF’s so went down to the special test to watch with their mum and dad and came to my rescue! We all pushed and heaved and after about 5 mins I finally made it to the end of the test. But………… I still had to go about a mile up the road and hand my timecard back in back at the start/finish area and with the bike out of action I certainly wasn’t gonna push it back, I was cream crackered! So I dumped the strimmer against the hedge (couldn’t find a skip) and started walking. Just as I started going back I saw 2 women and a little boy getting into a BMW who’d been watching, maybe I could cadge a lift back? So I went over (plastered in mud on my race kit and boots) and asked!! Surprisingly they sad yes and I jumped in the back (after apologizing about the mud I was transferring from my kit onto the upholstery of the car) and off we went. I was sat in the back with the little’un and his mum turned round and said to him ’we didn’t see daddy did we’, so I asked who ’daddy’ was and what number was he? Jesus it’s a small world sometimes ain’t it? ’Daddy’ was none than Paul Ford who I’ve known for ages! Would you credit it?

So after finally getting back and handing my timecard in and finishing god knows how many minutes overtime, it was off for a good old natter with everybody and to hear all the hard luck stories (mine included) before I made my way home picking up the stricken bike en route.

Although it went a bit 'Pete Tong' at the end today, i really enjoyed it, i had good test times and i'm slowly starting to get my bike fitness back which makes all the difference over a long race or event.

A big thanks to Paul Ford’s Mrs for giving us a lift back and to the Scott’s who came to my rescue and pushed my bike up that bloody hill and back to the end of the test.

Finishing position:17/22 (vets experts)

Training- March 6th 2011

Not going on the bike this weekend so had a day at home. Keep the stamina going thats what i say, so i got out my Ascics and went for a 12 mile run to test the old legs out a bit.

Muntjac BEC February 27th

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Finishing position: 19/35 (Clubman E1)

Weatherby fort- 13th February 2011

Rain! It was raining when I got up, it was raining when I drove up to meet Adam (Blake), it rained on the journey up there (about 2 ½ hours), and it was still raining when we got there! Needless to say that the area round by the signing on and pits was um……….a bit of a quagmire! It was hard enough walking around the place let alone having to ride in it a bit later, but I love the mud, and the harder the better as far as I’m concenered as it’s a great leveler on the old fitness side of things. A few riders I know traveled up to do this Track n Trail event, ‘mad’ Jack Twentyman, Rich Tucker, Jed Treleaven, also saw Jason Duggan who I hadn’t seen for ages. I got bloody froze just waiting in the queue for the signing on as the wind and rain was blowing across the fields at a decent rate of knots, and me and Adam both decided then and there that there was no way we were gonna to do a sighting lap, sod that! Couldn’t see the point in getting plastered with water and mud then waiting 30 minutes or so for everyone to come back in the freezing cold before the race starts.

So after very nearly getting ‘ripped off’ buying numbers from the trade van, it was off to get changed where unfortunately (sort of) me and Blakey were still getting changed as the sighting lap went off. As we watched every bugger come back plastered (told you!) with mud, I went off to have a word with Jed and get the run down on the course as he’d done the sighting lap. ’All fields, with about 5 minutes worth of woods’ he said, f*cking great I thought, wet slippery muddy undulating fields on a 125, not the sort of thing I wanted to hear, maybe all woods with 5 mins of fields yeah, that’ll be ideal!

So to the start then, erm…I didn’t get a good one and was near the back as I had a job finding traction just going into the 1st corner as the bigger bikes just powered away in front of me. From this moment I suppose you could say that it was your typical Track n trail course, loads of undulating fields with a bit of woods here and there, and if it was dry, it would basically been a 7-8 mile motocross track tailor made for the throttle jockeys. Good job then that the conditions turned it upside down and more in the way of a battle of stamina than speed. Field upon field descended on me and I struggled every time I opened the throttle to find any kind of grip whatsoever to try and keep up with the bigger bikes, especially the 4 bangers who just seemed to find grip everywhere. The track was just becoming a muddy slippery bog all the way round. as each lap went by, and with about 200 riders starting, it just kept getting churned up more and more. Ever seen that footage of the Glastonbury music festival on TV where the people were knee deep in mud a few years back? Not too dissimilar to that!

The event at Hellvana I did a few weeks back was tough because of the course, this was a different kind of tough event today because of the conditions, and I must admit that I really did struggle with the little strimmer today even going up some of the slippery grassy hills absolutely nailing the thing full throttle in 3rd or 4th slipping the clutch trying to find some bloody grip! The small bit of woods that did appear were getting really rutted and riders were starting to get stuck as the ruts were becoming deeper and deeper as the race went on.

I made my pit stop at half way and changed my gloves and goggles, and even then riders were starting to flag having a rest in the pits before going out again. On my next lap and after seeing a rider in front of me get stuck in the wooded section in front of me, I decided to choose a different line and go round him only to plant myself nearly saddle high in a deep sandy hell hole of a rut, and try as I might I couldn’t get out of the bloody thing, lucky for me 2 lads were nearby to give us a yank out so only wasted a minute there. The worse was yet to come though as a bit later on whilst going up a off camber hill, I managed to hit the deck by doing a lovely pirouette on the bike, 10 out 10 for style I think that one! Sods law then that the bike was laying the ’wrong way’ facing side wards down the hill, and boy did I struggle to pick the thing up as it seemed that I’d got half of Dorset county’s mud attached to it. By this time I was getting really tired and it took me 4 or 5 attempts just to get the bike upright and get back on it as the 125 seemed to weigh like picking up a dead cow and trying to put it back on it’s feet again. As the course worsened the track markers in some of the fields became non existent and riders were just starting to pick any line anywhere and just riding across a field cutting out huge parts of the track and basically cutting the corners to avoid ploughing through the mud, and with no one to stop them doing it things on the last lap became a bit of a farce.

So it was another finish under my belt and seeing as I struggled from the first corner in, I’m quite pleased with the result to be honest and even though todays event just showed me how much in the way of bike fitness I’m lacking, I still ploughed on (literally) and got through it whilst others took a rest or pulled out.

Bit of surprise when I got back to the van as Adam was already sat in it ready to go home! He’d been caught in the eye by a branch and couldn’t see properly so I had drive his van home. A quick stop at the local Macdonalds on the way where funnily enough I bumped into Micheal Brooks who’d just finished the race as well, then it was off back to a not so rainy Cornwall.

Fishing position: 9/20 (Vets expert)

Practice- 6th February 2011

While i'm certainly making up for lost time! This is my 6th Sunday in a row that i've been out on the bike, and there ain't gonna be no let up at the moment either because i'm planning on racing the for next 3 weeks on the trot as well!!

Today we had a good little turnout down the local MX track as there was me, 'mad' Jack, Ali Gilbert, Adam Blake, young Paddy Twentyman and Adams mate who's name i don't even know!

Conditions weren't too bad today although them old ruts on the corners seem to be getting a bit deeper as the weeks go by. Today i also had a couple of laps on Paddy's new RM 125, and i've got to say i was hooked on the little strimmer, a cracking little bike. Although it was in standard MX trim and with the suspension being a little bit hard for me, i thought the engine was a little gem, really crisp and you could really give it some coming out of the corners when dropping the clutch and keeping 'on the pipe'.

Me and Ali had a great little battle for 20 mins, both of us flat out aboard our strimmers, and i'm just not saying this (and Ali will tell you) that there is no difference at all in power between the Gasser and the ginger katosh 125's. On the open parts of the track we where both pinning them for all they had, and weather i was in front of him or he was in front of me, we both stayed the same distance apart, no power advantage whatsoever (sorry to break that news you KTM fans). The only thing that spoilt our race was when Blakey came past us cruising on his 250!

A good afternoon, and i'm so glad to be riding the bike again, every weeks a bonus!

Dorset Police H&H- 30th January 2011

Hey hey, racing two weeks in a row, just like the old days! It was a bloody early start, got up at 4.30am, drove up to meet Steve Jose at 6am, then a near 3 hour drive up Dorset. We were about an hour away from the event when the phone rung, it was ’mad’ Jack Twentyman who’d only just left because of a drama the night before. To cut a long story short, he decided to play about with his shock settings on his bike at 10 o’clock the previous night! The rear shock froze solid so he had to quickly get his other bike ready and finished that at half past one in the morning. Lucky you Jack for having the luxury of 2 bikes me old son!

Quite a few lads had traveled up to do this one, along with me and Steve was Andy Smith, Rich Tucker, Gary ‘nothing gets in my way Mcoy, ‘mad’ Jack (when he finally arrived), and Michael Brooks. Nice paddock area it was too, hard standing concrete all around and not a bit of mud in sight! Quite a chilly morning though and my immediate thoughts were ‘please hands, don’t bloody well freeze up again like last week’. After the usual general chitter chatter and p*ss taking amongst each other, it was off to get ready and then head off the riders briefing and then to the start.

The flag dropped and this week (unlike last) the Gasser fired up 1st kick and away I went, not a bad start, but I was a bit slow getting to the first corner and got crowded out a bit, so I was about halfway just as we made our way just a short distance into the woods. The course was very tight in places and in quite a lot areas it was only the one line which made it difficult for overtaking, some times there seemed to be like procession of 4 -5 riders all following each other for long periods and all going at the same speed, and unless you risked going off line and maybe hitting something in the undergrowth (which sometimes you had too) then you had to rely on riders making mistakes so you could pass them. When things started to settle down after a few laps the course then really come into it’s own and really started to flow with some lovely tree lined trails, a nice little deep sand section, a few fire roads that were long and very fast (bloody nora I hit 6th gear on those, not often I do that!), and a couple of log crossings to add a bit of spice. Nothing really major at all to slow you down and unlike last weeks event, today’s track was bone dry and there was grip to be found everywhere, around 7 miles in length I reckon and about 16-17 mins a lap (unless you’re a red plate, they were doing it in 14 mins!)

For the first hour or so I was basically trying to catch a group of 3 riders who were all in the class as me that were just up ahead maybe a couple of hundred yards away, but frustrating it was as the gap just stayed the same lap after lap because the course was getting faster and faster and sometimes even scary as you were going at quite a speed through the trees, and of course, everybody else was going that much faster now as well. The couple of laps just before I pitted (one of which was my fastest) I pushed really hard and managed to overtake all 3, but I knew I had to quick in the pits to stay out in front of them again and not get caught up in a ‘procession’ again. As I came into the pit area I forgot where I’d put my refueling can, what a t*sspot I am! I found it in the end, but I’d wasted a good minute trying to find the bloody thing.

Not happy with the pit stop, and my blood now boiling, I pushed on as hard as I could only for a stick to go straight into my back sprocket and get jammed in the back wheel which stopped me and the bike dead in our tracks. It was another minute before I could get the thing out and carry on, more time wasted. The last hour was gonna be a real test for me as I haven’t finished racing a hare and hounds event for over a year now so my stamina was going to come into question here, but I still was going well and on my very last lap I passed another rider in the same class as me, in fact I’d been bloody chasing that guy for the entire race so I well chuffed I managed to get in front of him.

Back at the van at the end Kevin Pippard popped his head round and told us that he’d managed to finish the race with punctures in both front and back tyres, ‘sods law’ that as I was speaking to Kev before hand about tyre pressures, I bet he wished he hadn’t spoke to me now. Andy Smith was on his way to hospital after injuring his shoulder, whilst Phil ‘smiler’ Harris who came to watch was seeking advice about some nasty goings on to do with his rear end!
A very pleasing day for me and my comeback has started, lets hope that elbow holds out then!

Finishing position 4/16 (Clubman ‘A’)

Hellvana - 23rd January 2011

‘Welcome to hell’, that’s what the sign said that greeted everybody as they drove up the gravel road that led to the venue! I’ve heard a few stories about Hellvana and seen a few pics, and although this year the organisers had cut out a few of the bogs, the word around the signing on area was that the course was still ’a bit of a test’ shall we say!
When I left home in the morning it was quite mild, but I reckon the temperature must have dropped about 10 degrees as soon as you entered the Hellvana woods, funny that, I thought HELL was supposed to be hot!

With this being the 1st round of the SW enduro champs, it was a right local gathering of allsorts, so wasn’t I short of a conversation or two and the odd bit of piss taking here and there. I took a walk from the start line up the woods to see a bit of what the course was going to be like beforehand. After about 100 yds of treading through a boggy stump ridden rut, I decided to turn back and go get changed, ‘blinkin hell’ I thought, this is going to be tough if the rest of the course is like that! Fearing the worse and knowing it was going to be a bit of a slog, I went straight back to the bike and let the back tyre down to 4 to 5 psi so it would give us more grip.

So then, first race of a new season and I entered the Vets expert class, so I needed a good start, but all the hole shots that I got in 2009 seemed light years when my strimmer didn’t start first kick when the flag dropped, bloody hell what’s going on here then? She always starts 1st kick! After about 4 kicks she fired up, but too late and I was last away. Things didn’t go too bad for the first 5 mins but soon after my hands started to get cold, and they got colder, and colder, and about another 5 mins after, I had to physically stop and warm them up. My fingers had gone completely numb and I just couldn’t hold on to the bars and one by one riders were passing me at a rate of knots and before I knew it, nearly the whole flamin field had gone by! I reckon it was a good 10 mins before I could get going again, didn’t really have much problem with them after that. I knew that 1st lap took me ages because as I went through lap scoring Mark Tucker and Adam Blake were standing there taking the piss and shouting ‘were the f*ck you been’? pointing at their watches!!

Now I don’t mind tough races (and I‘ve done a few), especially when the conditions dictate it, but I’m telling you, this was a ‘good un’. The woods were tight with roots and stumps littered everywhere, but oh my god, the number of boggy, peaty, rutted ’rabbit runs’ that seemed to go forever, just sapped your strength as the race went on. I mean not just one like you usually find on a course, but loads of the buggers, some filled with icy cold water as well. There was no getting away from the mud anywhere apart from a few short fire roads where you could open the bike up a bit, but that was short lived as you just went straight back into the deep gloop again! I reckon the course was a good 7-8 miles long and most of it was quite testing, especially with a trials tyre on the back (as always in the SW rounds) Must admit it took me a while to find my feet as it were, but after a while I was going ok, I hadn’t come off and felt good and made my pit stop about halfway through. Just after the 2 hour mark things went a bit ‘Pete Tong’ as I caught my brake pedal on a stump which stopped me dead in my tracks resulting in my lever being bent out of shape which caused my back brake to jam solid. Luckily for me The Hull lads, Kev, James and Dan were close by watching a bit of the action in amongst the woods and came to my rescue! After a bit of juggling and some nice footwork from Kev (obviously he used to take the penaltys and free kicks for his local football team judging by the way he booted my lever back) I got going again.

The next lap I went out on I started to overtake a couple of people in my class as they were beginning to flag a bit under the conditions (more so than me!) but about halfway round disaster struck, and after finding another line around a rider that had got stuck in a rut, as I passed him my chain got de-railed after my chain block banged against a hidden stump which caused it to come off and wrap round my front sprocket 4 times. Bloody typical that ain’t it? I tried in vain to unravel it but it wasn’t gonna budge, race over, oh b*llocks. I then dragged the bike out of the rut I was stuck in, lent it up against a tree and went walkabout looking for a way out of the woods to the nearest fire road. Luckily for me it was only about 100 yds away, so I heaved the bike threw the dense woodland and pushed the thing back along one of the fire roads (after asking some spectators directions!) to the van, knackered!!!

After I got changed and still with about 15 mins to go there were riders waiting around the pits and waiting for the clock to tick over to 3hrs and the flag to come out rather than put themselves through another lap of torture! They all could have got another lap in easily but were absolutely shattered (bunch of pussies if you ask me, Steve Jay & Andrew Smith included!!) so couldn’t muster up the energy or the mental strength to do anymore.

Judging by what I saw at the end of it and who I spoke too, the course had certainly taken it’s toll on a few bikes and bodies, and when I drove past ‘mad’ Jack Twentyman’s van and stopped to see how he got on, the guy was so physically worn out he could hardly speak, in fact all he said to me was ‘I’ll ring you in the week’, that was it, 6 words, no more!!!!
Personally I thought the course was brilliant, I love it when it’s tough and it’s excellent riding round courses like that because that’s when you really learn how to handle a bike properly, especially when the fatigue factor kicks in. Like all Camel Vale events it was another ‘good un’ with not a flat field in sight, good stuff.

Hellvana - 23rd January 2011

First race of the season and i DNF'd, arrghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

To be updated.

Practice- 16th January 2011

If last week was muddy at the MX track, this week it was um…………….muddy, muddy and muddy!!!! Oh, and just for record, it was my birthday today and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it other than riding round on a motorbike and getting plastered with wet sloppy mud (much to the annoyance of the girlfriend).

Anyway, quite a decent little turnout today with ‘mad’ Jack Twentyman and his son Paddy, and Ali Gilbert, all of us were mad enough to have a bit of practice in the gloop regardless. Just as we arrived all the other bikes were leaving so we had the track to ourselves. Jack was trying out his new Gas Gas 300 and Paddy was also having a go on his new Rm 125. After a few laps of getting used to the conditions ‘mad’ Jack was indeed ‘mad’, as his kick start snapped off on his new gasser! Not really the sort of thing you’d expect from a brand new bike is it? And jack wasn’t expecting it either and was to left to bump starting the thing in the middle of a wet field whist cursing the name ‘gas gas’ under his breath (done that a few times myself!). After coming off about 20 times in the first 10 minutes, Paddy was getting to master the conditions and only came off now and then (roughly about 15 times every 10 mins, so quite an improvement) aboard his not so now shiny brand new banana colored bike.

Shortly into the session the Krankies turned up, messers Blake & Jose (Jose being the short plump annoying one that doesn’t shut up and who kept shouting fan’dabi’dozi) to see what was going on. Shortly after this and after a bit of a chat, I thought it would be a good idea to lose control of my strimmer and plant it head first into a tree just yards from where they were standing, much to the delight of the Krankies who took the p*ss somewhat shall we say?

It was quite hard work out there today because of the conditions, but Jack was riding like a man possessed and just kept going and going and going, jesus that bloke’s fitness put us all to shame, he didn’t bloody stop! When he did, it was for a quick cuppa and off he went again, even doing a lap on my 125 for a bit of fun and muttering the words ‘how the f*ck do you ride that’? when he came back on it. Ali Gilbert was the bravest man out there going round with a bloody trials tyre on the back, went well he did too seeing as he had little or next to no grip on his ‘ginger’ bike.

So a good day was had by all and my elbow behaved itself especially for my birthday!

Practice 9th January- 2011

I've got a lot of catching up to do in order to get 'bike fit' as it were, so a trip to the local MX track was the order of the day.

I think 3 words summed up the state of the track, Mud, Ruts, Water!!! In fact i was the only bugger there as conditions we a bit tricky so that probably put a few riders off. Good training it was though and i felt a bit knackered afterwards to be honest, that just goes to show that i've a fair way to go yet before i'll be able to do anything for a decent length of time without my stamina running out.

It's been a long time since i had to haul my bike out of a deep sloppy mud infested rut, but that's exactly what i had to do on one lap because my flamin chain got de-railed and come off, brought back memories did that!

Dan hull popped up with a few mates to see what was going on so had a quick chat with him before having another blast round the place and then calling it a day.

I'll be on the bike again next week, don't know where yet but after you been out for a year with injury even riding round and round the back garden feels good!

Christmas pudding trial- 2nd January 2011

Matt Tilley, Steve Jose, Ali Gilbert, Yours truly

So I had this phone call a few weeks ago, ‘do you fancy doing a trial?’, ‘what on an enduro bike’ I replied, ‘yeah no problem, we can enter the trail bike class’, ’I’ll give it go then’, And so the story begins……………………………….............................

So it was a short trip up to Bude to meet up with Steve (Jose) who’d help organize the whole thing and who said it would be ok for a few of us with enduro bikes to enter the thing. Upon pulling into the car park which was about the size of my back garden, I managed to get my van squeezed in and park up amongst the general look of the riders thinking ‘who the bloody hell is that then’? as they were all milling about talking to each other around their trials bikes. I then went off to get signed on, £10, that’s right £10!!!!!! Ten bloody quid for a days event, not bad eh? Then it was back to the van to get out the ‘strimmer’ in full view of the other riders, must admit to feeling a little bit out of place there amongst the ‘feet up brigade’. Good news though as this didn’t last long as Matt Tilley was also there parked up riding his ‘ginger’ EXC 250, so after a brief chat and a quick change, it was on the bike and with the usual ’bring a ding ding’ sound after she fired up ringing in my ears, it was off to the riders briefing.

Now I must admit, I’ve never even been to see a trials event, let alone ride one, so this was a whole new ball game and I was feeling a bit apprehensive I must admit, but I needn’t have worried because their were 5 of us all on enduro bikes competing today, 3 ‘ginger’ KTM’s, my Gasser, and a Yammy WRF. The plan was to all ride round together so we could all take the piss out of each other and have a good laugh when we mucked a section and scored a ‘5’, and also have a bit of banter whilst going round as well.

The course in the woods gave us 8 sections a lap, and we’d be doing 4 laps each, so plenty of time to get into it and find your feet as it were. All of us were doing the novice route, but I’m telling you, that was bloody hard enough on our bikes, especially with the turning circle that an enduro bike has compared to a trials bike! The climbs were ok, but we all struggled a bit with the tight sections, however, Matt Tilley was a superstar and ‘cleaned’ one section that none of us had managed to do all day! What cheesed me off was I had a ‘5’ twice on the same section, not through putting my feet down, but bloody well stalling the bike and stopping dead in exactly the same place two laps running, what a turkey!

So with us all having a ‘dab’ or two (that’s putting your feet down, not taking a class A drug by wetting your finger and dipping it into the powder) and a few ‘fives’ dotted about here and there throughout the event, after it was all over it was back to the finish to get a free hot cup of steaming soup and a bread roll. Hold on a minute, I thought this was a Christmas pudding trial? Where’s the Christmas pudding then? In fact the only thing that resembled a christmas pudding was the shape of Steve Jose’s physique!!!! After being fed and watered it was off for a bit of fun on the bikes round the woods doing a few climbs and having a bit of a laugh where Ali Gilbert on his ’ginger’ 125 showed us skills by launching himself sky wards at the top of a steep climb, although this cannot be said of Mr Jose who was riding his big 450 4 banger who showed us all how not to do it coming a cropper half way up much to the delight of us all which was greeted by a huge amount of laughter and cheers.

To be honest I thought it was a cracking day out and I’d definitely do it again, it’s not too serious and it’s bloody good practice. Thanks to Holsworthy Mcc for a good event and for letting us compete on our bikes.

End of the year thoughts 2010

This is where I normally look back on what’s gone on in the year regarding my racing, but as you know it’s been almost a complete washout due to the injury. With the 2 races I did do towards the end of year, I was of course pleased to get back on the bike after being out for so long.

Without the racing I still kept myself busy going along to a lot of events and helping out a lot, not only in the pits with the refueling and taking the gear backwards and forwards, but also on the course helping stranded riders and of course putting out the ‘pit board’ to let the boys know what position their in etc etc. Must say I have had a good laugh doing that as when it gets towards the end of the race some of the messages I’ve written on the board has had everybody laughing! Even the riders who’ve read it! I do remember writing on the pit board at Nancemellon ‘’Twist the throttle more’’ and showing it to Francis Banfield as he went by only for him to shout ‘’F*ck off’’ and stick his 2 fingers up at me!! (all taken in good jest of course) I did the same thing at Woolborough Barton to Andy Smith, he laughed so much as he rode by that he nearly ended up planting himself head first into a tree!

There has been plenty of memories that stick in my mind this year, here’s a few:

Jack Twentyman getting out of the van and walking along a dual carriageway while we were stuck in a jam on the way to the Muntjac enduro in Suffolk. Jack thought he could get to the end of the queue of traffic and cadge a lift to the Muntjac and get there quicker by walking. 1 hour later when I finally got going driving Jack’s van, I got to the end of it all and saw Jack, he’d been trying to ‘thumb’ a lift with someone for the last hour and got nowhere! He wasn’t happy I can tell ya.

Adam Blake (who was driving) on the way to the Twin Oaks event, following an ambulance through all the traffic that pulled over to the side of the road to let it pass. This left some very irate drivers fuming as we passed them whilst tucking in right behind it with it’s blue lights flashing. One car driver in particular was ‘obsessed’ with getting us back and getting in front of us again which he did. Not to be outdone Adam then overtook him back! This just fuelled the fire that was raging inside this blokes car and he tried to get us back again for about the next 10 miles! ‘Blakey’ wasn’t having none of it and managed to hold him off until we both went our separate ways at a roundabout.

Christian Soanes at Hustyns eating a home cooked pre race pasta dish that resembled a bowl of ‘mashed up cold corrugated cardboard’, it looked and smelt so bad I took a picture of it and stuck it on the blog!

Jack Twentyman again, this time not content with walking the special test once at the Muntjac just before dusk, he went out and did it again in the dark and the pissing rain, he didn’t even have a torch with him!

After having a cortisone injection I decided to do a bit of marshaling at the ‘Brass monkeys’ enduro. After helping a beginner get back to the pits by following him to make sure he was alright because he was struggling a lot, about a mile from the end of the lap he came off right in front of me which in turn caused me to tear my tendon in my elbow again to stop myself hitting the deck. Nightmare!

A few Camel Vale members looking like death whilst doing the 24 hr race at the ’Dawn to Dusk’ in Wales. Arthur Johnson could hardly put his leg over the bike towards the end but still went on to complete it. I did here him mutter the words in true Steve Redgrave fashion ’’I never want to go near this place again’’, yeah is that right? We’ll see what happens next year Arthur!

The look on Steve Jose’s face when Steve Jay (who was in the same 2 man team) was miles behind and late getting back to the pits in order to make the ‘change over’. Not surprising really as Mr Jay had suffered a puncture in the front and the back tyre on the same 12 mile lap and literally had to crawl back to the pits. Inside Steve Jose’s helmet was a raging inferno as minute by minute went by with no sign of the other Steve, it got to the stage where I nearly called the fire brigade in readiness to help put out the volcano that was about to explode inside his helmet. He wasn’t happy!!

Dawn to Dusk again, Steve Jay, Richard Jay and Scott Johnson suffering an incredible 12 punctures between them, or was it 13? Amazing that was, just watching the guys coming back lap after lap with yet another flat.

The burger van at I think it was at the Idless woods race packing up and leaving just as the race had finished. Excuse me, hello, are you from this planet? There’s about a 100 hungry riders here that may just want something to eat.

‘Mad’ Jack again. Went up to an ORE event with Adam Blake and Jack. ‘Mad’ Jack was walking around like a 90 yr old with a bad case of piles (well that’s what I imagine they look like) after over exerting himself into a near state of total exhaustion after he finished the race. Not only being able to hardly put one foot in front of the other, we had to stop on the hard shoulder of the motorway on the way home in order for him to test his gagging reflex and throw up!

The huge ’thud’ on the ground measuring 6.2 on the richtor scale when Steve Jose had a huge ’off’ right in front of me at the ‘Grogley Christmas cracker‘ event.
The earth moved and this made my bike go into an uncontrollable wobble until I managed to correct it and come to a stop. Not only that, the tremor from Steve’s weight hitting the ground was felt by the HMS Nautical submarine that was conducting it’s sea trials way out in the Atlantic ocean.

And so to next year……………………….

The situation as it stands is that the elbow is not completely cured and to be honest I don’t know either if it will be without the operation that it needs. I have explained earlier this year about the pitfalls of going under the knife, and if I want to continue racing then that simply isn’t an option. It is a lot better than it was, but I never know what’s going to happen when I wake up in the morning, sometimes I still get pain in it and it hurts to move it, sometimes I don’t. The couple of races I have done have been ok and it’s only afterwards that the bloody thing kills me! The problem I have is it if I were to overstretch the tendon again I think it could be curtains, unless I can find a miracle cure, and believe me, I’ve tried almost everything to try and heal the bloody thing.

It’s been really hard just watching all the racing this year, and although I’ve seen some great action and had a good laugh as well as making many new friends, it’s simply not the same as riding a motorbike. In 2009 I done a hell of a lot of riding and reached a reasonable standard, so I know it’s going to be a hard road back to move on and do better than that, but I’m no quitter and I’ve had some injuries in other sports along the way which have kept me out for long periods and I’ve always managed to get back to where I was and be better. So on that note, I’ll see you all in 2011 where I’ll be hoping to do a full season.

Happy new year to you all………………………………............

TMX news Xmas edition

The christmas edition of the TMX news came as a bit of a suprise to me as in the Enduro section (page 53) there's a pic of yours truly from the recent 'Grogley' race.

Grogley christmas cracker- 12th December 2010

(pic Sue Pitman)

Photo's of this event can be found here:

www.photoboxgallery.com/suesbikesnaps

A nice local event and just 10 mins up the road from me which is always handy, especially in the winter months! Today’s race was an entirely different kettle of fish for me as I was riding in fancy dress and hoping to raise a bit of money for the Cornwall Air ambulance. Even in my short space of time racing motorbikes I’ve seen the air ambulance being called into action a few times to help injured riders, so I thought that would be a worthy cause to ride for.

Well what a cracking sight it was as I drove up the hill in the van to arrive at the parking area in the darkened sky at around 7am. The Camel Vale club had Christmas lights hanging from the trees, a stereo sounding out festive corals and a decorated Christmas tree thrown in for good measure! Just as the sun came up, then one by one everyone started to arrive and with me holding my bucket, I went off and visited every riders van or trailer and asked for a donation for the charity. Everybody I visited was only too pleased to throw in some loose change and with me having a chat with every bugger as well, it took me bloody ages and I didn’t have much time in the end in order to get changed and get to the start. Even the bloke from the burger van who was serving stopped me as I walked past and threw in some money! Tony Dinham almost pulled my arm off and couldn’t wait to throw some money in the bucket as he told me he’d used the air ambulance 3 times when he was riding at the top level of racing after crashing and getting injured a few years back!

It really was a great atmosphere with just about every local rider in attendance and far too many to mention. Hannes Tanzer came by the van with box of Stella’s and gave us a couple of bottles (didn’t drink um before racing I might add!), and those riders who didn’t have any change for the bucket when I saw them came back after a visit to the burger van and lopped some money in. So, with a quick change into the outfit, it was off to the start where Mike Roose was waiting there to give a riders briefing. As always with this event something a little different was in store as we all had to line up (without our bikes) wait for the hooter to sound, run and jump over a couple of fallen trees, then go under some trees and run round a corner before we could fire up our bikes and go!

By the time I started I was probably about mid pack (not easy running to the bike with a father xmas outfit on I must say) and even though I was supposed to be riding for a bit of fun, I got into the mode of racing which didn’t do me favours as I soon found out. After about 10 mins I came off on a tree root and dumped the bike on the floor, I thought to myself ‘what the bloody hell you doing? You’re supposed to be doing this for charity and having a bit of fun and not trying to prove anything’, so I got back on and took my own advice and slowed down a bit without risking anything. Shame Steve Jose didn’t listen to my advice because shortly after he came flying by me (literally) only to catapult into the air after hitting a tree stump and landing about 30 ft away from where he took off with an almighty THUD. This happened right in front of and to be honest I thought something serious had happened, it didn’t look too good. I quickly got off and for once Steve was speechless! (that makes a pleasant change) The only thing that could be heard was a slight groan with the words ‘f*ucking hell that hurt! I directed all the riders past so no bugger ran into him while Steve crawled to one side of the track and propped himself up against a tree. Luckily after about 10 mins or so he was able to make his way back to the pits albeit a little sore and take a breather. He later re joined the race and managed to finish.

The course itself was a cracker, quite rooty and soft in places with some lovely flowing woodland tracks and lovely hills, one of which tested you a bit as it was as slimy as hell and very steep which we had to ride down. On the first couple of laps there was a bit of traffic jam on this one as nearly all the riders were tip toeing their way down there very cautiously. A few long fire roads to open the bikes up a bit were included as well as the famous ‘whoop’ section which was like riding a rocking horse over a road of ten pin bowling balls, extremely bumpy and an ideal part of the course to give yourself a 'tank slapper' if you were unfortunate enough to cop one!

Every lap I did I was cheered on by a few spectators as I was making my way round the course in the Father Christmas outfit, I even stopped a few times and had a chat with some of them and had a good laugh. Unfortunately at about half way through the race my fancy dress began to show signs of doing an enduro, especially the trousers, and soon after the material on one of the legs got caught in the chain and within a flash my trousers were ripped off of me and proceeded to tangle round the back wheel. Oh well, never mind the whole costume was only a tenner from eBay! As for the beard I was wearing, what a nightmare to wear that is, bloody hell that thing seriously makes you hot No wonder you don’t see many enduro riders with massive amounts of ‘moss’ growing on their faces!!

For the last couple of laps I rode round with Phil ‘smiler’ Harris until the flag came out for the finish. Today I set out to do a race and raise some money for a worthy cause and in fancy dress. Glad to say that everything turned out exactly the way I planned it, a cracking day!

Many thanks to all who donated on Sunday, a total of £100.77 was raised. Further details of the monies collected today and also with sponsorship forms that have been completed, will be on the blog within the next couple of weeks when I shall be visiting the Cornwall Air ambulance in person and presenting them with the funds that have been raised.

All set for Grogley!

This coming weekend (12th Dec) i've entered the 'Grogley xmas cracker, always a top pre christmas event with a great festive atmosphere to it coupled with a decent course. Just for a change i've decided to ride for charity in aid of the Cornwall Air Ambulance, a very worthwhile cause indeed and over my years of racing i've seen a few riders that have needed the services of it so it'll be great to try and help them out in some way.

With the race being a non championship event and only one class in the ironman (champ,expert,clubman, o 40's, etc, mixed in together) there's not much pressure to do well so i'm just gonna take my 'strimmer' out for a blast and have a good time and a bit of fun as i'm doing the thing in fancy dress!

Bovington- 28th November 2010

The current freezing weather conditions all across the UK didn’t deter the most hardened of riders traveling up the SCEC event in Dorset. Although I wanted to do an event this month, it hasn’t turned out to be, but with a very good champ class lined up for this race, I decided to go up and give Adam (Blake) a helping hand and watch a top class hare & hounds at the same time.

Remnance to that of a Siberian winter (that’s what it felt like) greeted us as we arrived and got parked up. I thought I recognized the race hardened big green wagon we pulled up next to and sure enough it was Michaels Brooks. Hadn’t seen him for a while so had a good old natter before checking out a bit of the course with Adam to see which bits were frozen! To be honest the track looked excellent and half the course was basically in a huge sand bowl with undulating terrain, not too dissimilar to an old school scrambling track and with a water crossing for good measure. The rest of the course that went through the woods I couldn’t get too as it was riders only due to security reasons and it being off limits to anyone on foot. With this being MOD land I didn’t want to get ‘court marshaled’ so I stayed round the sand bowl area, good enough anyway because it had some great vantage points.

Gary ‘nothing gets in my way’ Mcoy came over for a chat and told us all about his Erzberg entry for next year and how he got in ‘through the back door‘, Phil Studley also made the trip up and I also bumped into Rob Thorn , Pete Lawry and the Scott’s. So with me wearing a thick jacket, 3 jumpers, 2 pairs of trousers, 2 pairs of socks, gloves, scarf and a hat, feeling like the ‘Michelin man’ I went off to watch all the action.

One rider left on the line because his 4 banger wouldn’t fire up decided to push it and try and bump it down the 1st hill just after the start, he still didn’t have any luck and after kicking the thing until exhaustion I decided to help him push it back up the hill and back on the flat so he could go back to the pits and get it sorted. Tell you what……. humping a KX450f up a sandy hill certainly warms you up!

So with the racing thick and fast due to a full entry and about 12/13 mins a lap for the top riders, it was a good race to watch. Just over the half way mark I went and help Adam to pit and even at this stage I had to do his fuel cap up because he just couldn’t feel his hands due to the cold! I had the same bloody problem with my feet! While I was I there I had a good chat with the guy from ‘In Chains’ who are a TM main dealer, um………………still tempted by the sky blue bikes I am!

For the last hour the field noticeably began to thin out with a few retirements being the order of the day because of the cold. Adam began to struggle and lost a bit of time on every lap and with about 10 mins of the race left, and after having a crash due to not being able to grip properly with frozen hands, decided enough was enough and called it a day.
A good day out with some top racing and well worth the frost bite on my toes!

Camel Vale mcc presentation evening.

No pictures, aaaaaargh! i forgot my camera!

A good night was had by all and i even managed to pick up something on the night in the only race i did this year!

Adam Blake arrived wearing shorts!

Steve Jose (after only just fitting his head through the door) revealed after a few drinks that he buys 10 pairs of underpants for 2 quid! Don't really know how that conversation came about but it's a good job we didn't ask to see him wearing them!

Mike Roose was the compare for the evening and did a credible job whilst 'breaking his new teeth in' over the microphone.

Mark and Rich Tucker couldn't get out of the village where they live because of being snowed in so never made it.

Francis Banfield wore a t-shirt that fitted!

And i did a gig at the end and done something useful for a change and showed everyone just how easy it is to play the guitar!

Not much doing- 18th November 2010

Haven't been up to much at all lately, so nothing to report. I was hoping to get out on the bike at some point over the last few weeks but my elbow wouldn't let me have any of it and started to play up again. Some days are good, some are not, but at least i do have 'good days' now with it which is better than what it has been. It's still all a bit hit and miss at the moment but i am still hoping to do a race this month, see what happens eh?

Check out the link on the right hand side titled 'How to ride a 125', awesome piece of riding for all you 'strimmer' fans out there. Demonstrates exactley how to keep the thing 'on the pipe' all the time and being commited round the track!

Dunmere enduro- 17th October 2010

A nice local event just 10 minutes up the road and an ideal situation to test the elbow out on a decent course in a timecard enduro. I knew quite a lot of the woods as I regularly run and walk my dog round the place, and on the Friday before the race I ran around about 7 to 8 miles of the track just get a feel of it! I also went back on the Saturday morning to help the working party get the course ready.

It was a funny old feeling as I packed my stuff in the van on Sunday morning to head off up the road as it’s been 11 months since I last rode competitively, so I had to check everything 4 times to make sure I hadn’t forgot anything! The bike was ready to go with lots of new parts replaced on it and I couldn’t wait to fire her up and let her see a bit of the forest!

A clear sky but slightly chilly start to the morning was had as I got parked up in front of Andy Smith (who happened to be full of germs and was under the weather) just about 50 yds or so from the pit/signing on area. I saved a space behind the van for Batman and Robin (A Blake and S Jose) to pull into and waited for them to arrive, and waited, and waited, and waited, only to find out that the clowns had already arrived and had parked the other side of the pit area to where I was! err………could have flamin well told me, still it wasn’t wasted as Mark and Rich Tucker pulled up into it.

With this being the last round of the South West champs it was good entry of local riders and nice to have many of them wishing me all the best as I milling about round the pit area waiting for the start. At 10am the first group of riders were away, I was off at 10.21 and about 10 mins beforehand when I went to get my bike I couldn’t bloody find it, it was gone, much to the amusement of Rod Mclean who’d bloody well hidden it the git! Had a good laugh over that with a few others who were also ‘in’ on the prank. I knew a couple of the riders who were on the same minute as me, Colin George and Nick Moore, so that was handy because if we got to the time check early we could have a bit of a natter!

My aim today was to get round in one piece, try to stay on time and nurse that elbow until the end in order to get a finish, I’d be happy with that.
So when the clocked ticked over to 10.21 I fired the little strimmer into life and off I went, well, all about 10 yds before she died on me! My fault as I didn’t let her warm up properly, too eager to get going, no worries though as she started again and I let the bike warm up this time before I moved on. The lap had 2 time checks on it, one just over ½ way round and the other at the end, with the special test being right at the end of the lap incorporated within the 11-12 mile course. I was scheduled to do 5 laps with 3 special tests.

What a superb course this was, and in my opinion the best Dunmere yet! The woods had something for everyone with some decent climbs and downhills, roots galore, tight nadgery trails, a small bog section, and some fire roads where you could open the bike up a bit and not a single flat field in sight. The special test was awesome and well thought out with a bit of tight stuff (including a log crossing) coupled with some very fast trials through the trees before ending with a few twists and turns at the end. The test itself was about 3 miles long.

My first lap went ok and made both checks in time, so far so good and it didn’t take me that long to get back into the swing of things albeit a little bit rusty.
Lap 2 and gaining confidence the more I got into it and with the elbow feeling ok, I had a stupid little off after overshooting a turn, when I got back up I realized that I’d just broke my new plastics and bent my new radiator, oh b*llocks! I made it back on both checks in time at the end of the lap so I was still going ok. Whilst in the pits I saw Adam (Blake) who’d DNF’d early on due to a broken rear brake caliper.
Laps 3 & 4 went well and I made it through all the checks on time and with the elbow feeling ok, I was confident that I’d be finishing my first race in 11 months.

With the last and final lap ahead, I knew I had to push a little bit in order to keep to time as we were given 8 minutes less to get to the 1st check. I did get a bit ‘raggerty’ due to not having been on the bike too much, but I made it with a couple mins to spare and then went on to complete the lap with no time penaltys.
A big relief and pleased as punched I’d finished without dropping any time.

As for the 3 special tests? Well I had complete nightmare on the 1st one! I dropped it after over shooting a corner when the front wheel washed out. Then a bit further on I got stuck behind a rider who’d got stuck on the log crossing so I had to wait for him to clear it. The 2nd test went ok, then on the 3rd one I got stuck behind a rider who wouldn’t move over to side and let me through! Bit of a shame that because I felt this was the fastest one at the time. He moved out of the way in the end after I’d shouted for the 5th time, maybe it was just a macho thing and he wanted to race me, there was plenty of chances for him to pull over but he didn’t bother, why I don’t know? Maybe he didn’t like the thought of a little screaming 125 overtaking him? Perhaps this guy wasn’t at the riders meeting when clerk of the course Mike Roose said ‘ if a rider catches you up on the test it obviously means they’re faster than you, so please don’t hold them up, move over and let them pass’. Never mind, perhaps he didn’t have his hearing aid in.

Overall an excellent day for me and it was great to ride at an event again. I enjoyed the course and although my pace isn’t what I want it to be (although that’s to be expected) I was over the moon to get round and finish, and I’m bloody well delighted.
Where does it leave me now? Well my arm does hurt from it afterwards, and I’ll give it some more rest before I decide to enter another event. If things go ok I’ll probably be looking at a race next month, don’t want to do too much to soon. In the meantime I’ll still be out and about watching some races.

Finishing position: 4/15 (o 40’s)

Practice- 10th October 2010

So it was off to the local mx track to put in a decent bit of 'bike' time to see if the elbow would stand up to any abuse! A lovely sunny day it was too although parts of the track were as gloopy as hell due to it being on the moorland where it has a job to dry out if there's any rain.

Funny thing really as i was a bit apprehensive seeing as it's been quite a while being off the bike and i knew that i had to give it some because i didn't really want to go round at a snails pace with next week looming. Within about 10 mins back on the little 'strimmer' i was going really well and did a full hour at a decent old pace before coming in to rest up. The elbow was fine going round but felt a bit stiff when i stopped riding, so far so good.

I then went out and did another 30 mins, i was going so well i thought to myself 'this is easy' but then the obvious happen and just before going through the water crossing where the approach is a little bit stoney, the back skipped out to the left then the right and i went down on my arse in a flash. Luckily no damage done to me or bike so i just carried on to finish the session.

So as i write this on Monday i'd be a liar to say that it's all hunky dory because it ain't and it's still giving me some pain albeit not as bad as it was! I suppose on a scale on 1 to 10 being pain free (1 being the lowest) it's probably on 6, before it was on 1 or 2!

I've decided to give the Dunmere enduro a go next week and see what happens.