Tomorrow We Race!

I've been pretty shit with blog posts since the TT. Work, the crap commute and travel to be with my wife have sucked up all my time n energy. I have managed to do a round of Dirttrackin though... it was ok. I'll post on that soon. My next race adventure is tomorrow.

Up early and a 4 hour drive to south Wales for hopefully 2 days racing at Amman Valley. It's the biggest track we race on... I love the speed on that 1/2 mile track. I've only raced there twice. In 2010 I was still a Rookie and arrived unprepared - shit weather and things didn't go great. In 2011 I was faster, but crashed my ass off. I've never made a final at Amman... despite enjoying the track.

Here's hoping I have a good weekend on the dirt to help lift me out of this shitty depressed state I've been in for the last 2 months. 'Cmon! Bring it on!!!

Dirttrackin' Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the final round of the DTRA National Dirttrack Championships at Rye House (Hoddeston - just norf of London). I was lying 2nd in the Thunderbike class after two rounds - but then I missed the next three rounds due to my wedding and travel for work. I'm pretty far down in the Championship standings now. Oh well... I'll be there to have some fun.

I haven't ridden the Dirttracker for more than 4 months... so took the opportunity for some practice at Rye House this morning because there are no practice sessions scheduled before tomorrow's racing... and just because it's fun :-)

Early morning rain delayed the start and I waited till the track had dried out a bit. Focusing on some of the things I picked up from Kenny Noyes at the beginning of the season, I was back into it by the second session. I also experimented with tyre pressures... until the front-end disappeared mid-turn and I was slam-dunked into the dirt. I got my leg trapped between the front wheel and forks and another rider had to lift my bike before I could get free.

No major damage... bent gear-change lever... a few more scrapes. My calf took a good smack. It's hurtin' now... It's gonna hurt more tomorrow. My learning: the rear isn't so sensitive to tyre pressure... but the front is.

Also burned my hand on the rear brake disc while doing the tyre pressures

Got the bike a bit cleaned up, fitted a new/used gear-change lever and made some fresh cuts to the tyres this evening. Looking forward to going fast and turning left tomorrow. My classes (Thunderbike and Pro) start racing at 13h00, entry is free so come along and watch some Dirttrackin'!

Dirttrack National Championship - Round 2 - Coventry

Sunday morning and we head out to Coventry speedway stadium for Round 2 of the DTRA Dirttrack National Championship. Practice starts at 11 and a few years ago, arriving before 10 would have given me loads of time to get a spot in the pits, unloaded, scrootineered etc. Things have changed. I arrive to a packed-out pits, everybody already setup and busying about, so I setup in the parking behind the pits.

Thanks to Ian Roxburgh for the pic

Pits for the day...

The last time we were at Coventry was for the inaugural Dirtquake and the Shorttrack UK meeting. It rained and the track was a mudbath. A normal race meeting would have been cancelled, because of the huge effort and crowd turn-out, Dirtquake and the racing went ahead. It was so bad that guys were doing 360 spins off the line and crashing. Unlike most, I survived the day without laying down in the mud.

Start-line shenanigans at Coventry 2 years ago

Pretty soon, we're into the racing. Thunderbike heat 1 and I bag a 3rd. Good start :-) Pro heat one and I have a good battle with one of the super-fast youngsters, Aaron Sylvester. I run wide on the last turn, he tries to get up my inside and it's a drag-race for the line. I find the traction and nose in front of him to take something like 6th. As we cross the line, I brake and start to get a slide on so I don't end up in the fence. Then I feel a punt from behind... Whooooah! I control the bike and slow it down in turn 1 to see Aaron picking himself up off the dirt. We're both trying hard.

Looks like Aaron Sylvester's front spindle ripped some new tread for me - it gave me the edge!

Thunderbike heat 2, I make a good start on the front row, hold my place and get 2nd. Sweet! I'm feeling fast and not making many mistakes. The track was tricky though. Everyone was struggling. Inconsistent and patchy. When it was watered, the water wasn't sprayed evenly and you'd get stripes across the racing line - hard, dry packed dirt with loads of grip next to slick, wet mud patches. Even the smoothest riders were sometimes looking a bit on the edge.

Thanks to Ian Roxburgh for the pic

Next Pro heat and I make good progress against the DTX bikes and make up a few places from the back row. Into the last Thunderbike heat and I make a cracking start from the back row... but get boxed in by slower riders that started on the row in front into turn 1 and through turn 2. I lose my momentum. I try get back at them, but I'm ragged as hell on the just-watered track. I'm not enjoying it and back-off in the last few laps to make sure I stay on and finish the heat with points.

Check out the dark and light stripes of dirt... bad for one's health.

Thanks to Ian Roxburgh for the pic

The last Pro heat goes alright with another mid-pack finish. I come up 14th on points from the Pro heats. Always finishing 6th in the heats isn't gonna get you in the Grand Final. Disappointed with that... but I think there is a stronger top-12 this year compared with last and I take solace in out-qualifying quite a few DTX bikes. In the Thunderbikes class I qualify 7th for the Final. Happy with that.

Gettin' on the gas.

Thanks to Ian Roxburgh for the pic

Thunderbikes Final. I line up in the middle of the second row. "5 sec" board is shown. Green light and we're racin! I make a good start and slot into 4th coming out of turn 2. Super-smooth and consistent Dave Chadburn is out front with Guy Sutherland and Co-Built Geoff Cain are battling for 2nd spot. Lap 2 and on the drive out I nip up the inside of Geoff as he's off the throttle for a split second during a close battle with Guy.

Some action form one of the heats... more 'stripy' traction.

Thanks to Ian Roxburgh for the pic

It's tricky out there. Lap 3, turn 2 and I run in deep... I push the front big-time mid turn but hold it up on my foot. Shit! Losing time! I get on the gas a little too quickly to try get the time back and get her all sideeways. Bollocks! I recover and am lucky not to get passed - I could sense Geoff just off my back wheel. Take it steady... there are no heroics to be done on this track. Lap 4 and Guy over-cooks it in an attempt to get back at Dave Chadburn who, as at Leicester, is running away with it. I'm up to 2nd. Sweet! Keep it steady boy!

Thanks to Ian Roxburgh for the pic

I feel like I'm going slow... steady, smooth... but most important, not making any mistakes. Dave Chadburn was too far ahead... and too quick - I don't try and catch him. The gap is steady, so my pace is good. The guys behind are close, but I'm not challenged for the remaining laps. I cross the line in 2nd. Geoff is a close 3rd.

Whooooohoooo! Awesome! My second Thunderbike podium... the last one was 2 years ago. Feels good. Real good.

Big smiles and trophy time!

Thanks to Ian Roxburgh for the pic

The Pro 'B' final is cancelled because we were running out of time. The Paramedics were busy through the day and there were quite a few injuries. The inconsistent track preparation made it tricky and caught a lot of us out. Glad I got through without going down. Get well soon to all that did get hurt.

Thanks to friend and fellow ManxGP racer Warren and Rogan for coming along to support. I normally crash when folks come to watch me... you witnessed something special. Thanks DTRA and all that help out to make the events as good as they are.

Aftermath - despite doubling up on the seat fixings, I'm still wearing them out after a day's racing.

Not a bad thing - shows I'm moving my ass forward and backward on the seat...

I'm guessing I've bagged 2 Championship points for qualifying 14th in the Pro... and a whole bunch of points for 2nd in the Thunderbikes. Unfortunately, I'll miss the next round in Scunthorpe. Got an important wedding to attend - my own :-)

An awesome day on the clay!

Stoked!

Thanks Rogan for the pic

DTRA Flattrackin Round 3 - King's Lynn - DIRTQUAKE II

Saturday morning I drove up to King's Lynn with a couple if dirttrack bikes, my gear and a whole packet of enthusiasm.

The day started off well... I finally collected my silverware from last year's Championships :-)

I unload, unpack and get setup for a day's racing and the crazy-ass DirtQuake II. Get the bike warmed up and kit on. First up, practice. At the gate onto the track, the bloody bike doesn't want to start. I wheel it back to my pit and give it a battery-boost. She starts, but the gate is closed and practice session underway. Bollocks! At least with 2 Classes I get 2 practice sessions. I get out in my second and try get up to speed quickly in the 4 laps we have on track.  Still feeling my way around a bit.

First heat and I'm drawn on the front row. With so many riders, to qualify decently for the final, one needs to get into at least the top 3 in every heat. Especially if you're starting on the front row. I get a decent start, but get passed and land up 5th or something. Crap.

Pikes Peak and desert racing legend "747" Travis Newbold came out from the US for the party... he was super-fast on loaned bike and kit... and bagged 2nd in the final. Great ride Dood!

Next heat and I start to get into things. I think I get a 2nd and a couple of 3rds in the heats after that. Sweet! I'm feeling fast and comfortable and riding steadily to make sure I qualify well. Last heat in the Pro Class. We wait to go out on track.

When waiting I leave the bike off - with a dinky wee radiator and no fan, she boils over quickly if standing. We get ushered onto track. I hit the start button. Crrrrrrrrrrr.... hit it again... Crrrrr.... again... Crrr. She normally fires up straight away. Fuck.

Drogo Michie donning battle-gear for a heat

 

I grab the nearest person to me, hand them the bike and shout over the noise of dirttrack bikes heading out onto the track "Just hold this...". Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! I do the steel-shoe lope-run back to the pit, grab my battery boostpack... Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Clunk!

I plug it in and ask the guy who held my bike "Stop them closing the gate!" He can't hear me, or understand what I mean. I point at the gate and repeat. He has no clue. Shit. I try get the bike fired up... Crrrrrrrr. Crrrrrrrrr. Crrrrrrrrr. Bollocks. I check the fuel, choke off, ignition, cut-out and lanyard switch. All ok. Try again... Crrrrrr. Crrrrrrr. Brraaaaaaap! Yeah!

Foot massage, anyone?

I look up just as the heat starts. Fuuuuuuuck! They hadn't realised I wasn't on the start line and started without me. Sitting in the pits is not the way to score points to get one into the final. Poor tactics. When the bike didn't start, I should have just asked Andy at the gate to wait 1 minute. Instead, I thought I could get it all sorted in less than 1 minute. I know for next time.

The nicest battery pack I've ever seen!

As a result, I didn't get into the Grand Final. I scored enough points in my two heats to only qualify 14th. Damn! On a brighter side, I qualify 8th in the Thunderbikes. What is it with me qualifying 8th? Third race meet in a row. It's not great... you gotta be on the front row (first 4) to have a good chance of a podium.. but its ok. Frustrating because I know I have the speed to be nearer the front. I still need to sort out my slow-burning first heats.

"Sideburn" Ben Part fettling his chop for the DirtQuake II showdown. In the Chopper final he had an epic battle with "747" Travis

For the next few hours we were entertained by the antics of DirtQuake. It was brilliant. There must have been 7 or 8 photographer types buzzing around with big cameras and a 'helicopter' camera. Riders came from all over Europe and a few from the US including "747" Travis Newbold - great to see him again. There was even a celebrity - Charley Boorman was riding a Zaeta. I didn't take many pics of the event because there was so much other exposure... I'll post links to them soon.

Cool toys! An awesome hi-tech VTOL camera drone - it was buzzing around taking film all evening. Can't wait to see the footage.

Had to get kit and race face on after about 3 hours of DirtQuake shenanigans and do the business in the Thunderbike final. I started middle row, far inside. Revvs up... and we're off!

I get a decent start and am into the thick of it in turn 1. Get hooked up nicely out of turn 2 and am in 5th or so into 3. As I get into turn 4, the bike just washes out and I'm on the floor again. I didn't feel over the limit or off-line so might have been nudged from behind. With the pack so close behind it is inevitable that I'm hit by a following rider...as I hit the dirt, I brace myself for the second impact.

Checking the heat results. Guy had another great qualification... front row in Thunderbikes and second row in Pro

Clatter! Scrunch! Thud! I see a front wheel and another rider with a red helmet off their bike in the dust. The wheel slides under me and I'm sandwiched between two bikes - Gary Inman's bike under me and mine on top of me. I'm okay.. no second impact. I manage to wriggle out and push my bike off. Gary is getting to his feet and trying to get his bike up. He must be okay, so I try get mine up. But I'm snagged by his bike, by then the red flags come out.

Okay... no panic. Let's get the bike up check the damage. Mullered gear lever. Shit. It's still attached and although out of place, still does the clickety-click change. Cool. Let's get going. I hit the start button. Crrrrrrrrrrr. again. Crrrrrr... Sonnofabitch! Crr.

"Sideburn" Gary Inman raced in the Thunderbikes... got taken down by someone on the ground in the final and also managed to run the DirtQuake II event! Top man!

A photographer offers to push start me. I try... but I know with the compression it's just about impossible. I've tried many times but have never managed to bump start that flattracker. We give it a go and land up pushing the bike all the way to near the gate. Gary's bike won't start either, so is beckoning for his starter form the pits. Great idea!

I hand the bike to Andy near the gate and say "I'll be back in a minute". Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! I lope-jog to get my battery boost pack. Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! By the time I get back to the bike, there is a crowd around it checking and straightening things. Derek Brindley just finishes off sorting my gear-change. Awesome! Thanks guys! I plug in the booster and after a few tries. Braaaaaaaap!

Jason Cursley looking badd before a heat

Jason Cursley looking not so badd between heats

I hussle her back to the start line and in seconds we're off on the restart. I get an okay start and am again in the thick of it in turn 1. Turn 2 I spin her up too much and lose a place. Damn!

For the next few laps I have a close battle with Geoff Cain - he's faster into the turns. He gets alongside me on the outside going into turn 3. We're side-by-side coming out. I'm spinning up the rear too much. Too much adrenalin and haste. "Just take it easy... feeeeeel the traction. Get her hooked up and DRIVE".

Pro heat - Co-Built Geoff and I were pretty close all day/evening

We're locking elbows as we drift out of turn 4. It's close, real close. Neither of us give an inch. I get the inside through turn 1 and 2. But he's back at me into turn 3. I work on getting drive out of 4 and I get ahead of him. I'm clear.

Next lap as I get form turn 3 to 4, I feel a nudge on my outside arm. It's like someone walked up to me and gave me a tap. Weird. Surreal.

 Co-Built Geoff sporting a cool Ruby helmet

I glance over and see a flash of yellow. It's Geoff again! I dig in and push harder. I'm onto the back wheel of Guy Sutherland now. He's trying to get past Tom Clemens ahead of him. I just keep to the lines and protect my inside from Geoff... waiting for an opportunity to get by Guy. I daren't not try anything bold on Guy because Geoff will have me as soon as I'm off line. The race winds down and last lap flag is out.

Guy makes a push for the pass on Tom into turn 3. He makes it stick and is ahead of Tom as we go into turn 4. But he overcooks it and goes down in the dust cloud. I wind up taking 6th. A close, hard-fought race. AWESOME!

Disappointed to not make the Pro Grand Final... but very happy with a 6th in the Thunderbikes after coming off in the first start. Got to take the good with the bad... missing a practice, a heat and a place in the Grand Final - kinda balances out with crashing in Thunderbikes and still salvaging 6th in an great race. Think my battery is on its last legs.

A good day on the clay! Thanks "56" James Boddy for the pic

What a day! Thanks Gary Inman, Dave Arnold and all the folks involved in the DirtQuake event. It was an absolute cracker! And thanks Anthony Brown, Anna, Andy and all those making the racing happen - awesome job!

Flattrack Practice

All tarted up after some winter-love

Headed out to Rye House yesterday for some Flattrack practice with the new club running the championship this year, Dirt Track Riders Association - DTRA.

Sparkly fresh paintwork - helped out by my mate Steve Mann to get that glitter-bling factor

It was good to see quite a few new faces and bikes out there... also good to see the faces that have been around for the last few years. I was testing out my fresh paint-job and cleaned-out carb. I also played around a bit with cutting tyres.

Oily Rags Rob was out there on his fantastic steam-punk Ducati SS

The weather was very kind... cold early on but warmed with sunshine to a not-seen-since-November 10 degrees. I had a slow start but got up to speed by the second session.
I just went round and round and round. Trying to do a full session non-stop and be as consistent as possible. Experimenting with little things along the way.

 Dimitri Coste and a few friends journeyed over from France

Their très-cool classic flattrackers enjoyed the British sunshine

In the last two sessions there was a blue-groove - I started seeing how far I could push. I landed up sliding off on turn 1... slow-motion low-side - easily done. In the last session I just got a few inches off the groove going into super-fast turn 3. There was no saving that one. I slid out to the fence and hit it hard with me and the bike horizontal. I landed up under the bike, wedged under the fence, with the steel cables trapping me and the bike against the dirt. I needed a few marshals to help lift the fence and drag me and the bike out. Thanks guys!

Good to see some friends again after the winter break

Only damage was a mullered gear-shift lever. Been a while since I've done one of those in. I protected the shiny new pain with my body and it didn't even get a scratch!

Scraped casings, broke gear lever and bruised flesh was the only damage

The last time I rode a bike with a motor in it was the enduro in South Africa five months ago. I have really stuck to my "it's cold and shitty out there and couldn't be bothered to spend two hours cleaning the bike after a ride" training regime. I'm paying for it now - pretty sore and second-hand today.

Rye House Practice

After wallowing in the usual post Manx depression of normal life for two weeks, I got out to Rye House today for some flattrackin' practice.

 A beautiful, sunny day on the clay

All felt good... then I high-sided coming out of turn 2. Bike landed upside-down, I sprained both my thumbs. Not too much damage to the bike... decompression lever, gear lever, bent foot-peg and foot-peg bracket and a rear subframe that's now and inch and a half skew. Still rideable.

I got back out after they had watered the track. It was slippy as fook. I took it easy and got some more practice in - you never know when you might race on a track like this.

A newbie rider enjoying teh experience of sliiiiiiide

Between turn 3 and 4 I slid a bit too much... "I can save it..."... "I can save it..."... I can save it..."..."No I can't." I go down in a low-motion low-side. I guess I should have given up when my shoulder was grinding into the muddy dirt. I'm waiting to slop sliding... "Wham!"

That familiar feeling of being hit from behind. "Crunch!" The impact folds me over like an envelope and I grind to a stop with my face in the dirt and a front wheel pinning my head to the clay.

"Ooooofffff!" I'm winded. I scrabble out form under the other rider's bike... watch for other traffic and then bend over and breathe deep to get my breath back. Ronald Shamier had nowhere to go on that slithery surface and hit me square in the back. This is gonna hurt in the morning!

I did one more session but am starting to feel really beat-up. I pack up and leave early to give myself time to fix the bike. I got the bike all fixed, but not feeling to clever at the moment... not looking forward to getting up tomorrow... but looking forward to the last flattrack racin' of the year. :-)

Mobile workshop - I made it to my local bikestore before they closed to refit my rear tyre... the bead wasn't seated proper