MX Training

Managed to get down to my local MX practice track on Sunday morning. It was a clear, bright autumn day. But a weeks' worth of rain gave us a few sections of muddy slag... most of the track was ok though.

I'm starting to really dislike mud...

...scraped about 15kg of mud off at the track... then power-washed the other 15kg off at home... and then spent half an hour cleaning that up.

Managed to do 1 hour 45 mins with only 1 break... and put the bike down only once. The Northamptonshire mud has clay in it... so sticks like dog-shit. Took 2 hours to jet-wash that shit off the bike and kit.

I had to get out there and put the time in... body is still aching. It's my last chance to get some fitness in before I do an enduro out in South Africa in three weeks' time.

Getting Fit

With the ManxGP only 3 weeks away, I've been trying to get fit through the last month... and lose a few extra kaygees I'm carrying around. I'm working away from home at the moment and the hotel doesn't have a gym, so have tried taking up running (the hotel food isn't helping the casue either!). I havn't run more than a few hundred yards to catch a train in the last 20 years so started from zero.

Dry and dusty... the way I love it!

I'm on a 10 week program from zero to doing a 5k run. Except I started late and only had 7 weeks till the ManxGP, and can only do 2 runs a week instead of the reccomended 3. No worries... a bit of determination and a lot of pain later and I should be able to do a 5k without walking next week (on week 5!). Never thought I'd ever run.

Running sucks

I don't really like the running... far rather be riding a petrol engined machine. Got out on the fourfiddy to my local practice track at Weedon on Sunday morning. I did 2 hours straight with only 1 break. I took the break 1 hour and 22 minutes in when I was feeling really knackered - I crashed through the track-marking ropes into a bed of thistles. My side was still burning on Sunday night and my body is still aching from the punishment. No pain... no gain...

Enduroland

Got out to Enduroland on Sunday for my first dirtbike ride in more than a month...

First, the action pic... it all goes downhill and gets pretty boring after this...
(thanks Dave Burton Photography for the pic - but what's with the dreamy border?)

Gave the Fourfiddy some love a few weeks ago...

...some serious love!

Then I threw her in the mud...

...that horrible sticky, claggy, shitty, slick mud...

This rider's handicapped kid has an awesome time riding pillion.
(Does one 'ride' a quad? Doesn't sound right...)

After 2 hours of cleaning that crap off the Fourfiddy, it was back to the man-cave for to give some flattrack love... I think she's running better now. Still bogs down when throttle is cracked open. Any suggestions?

And then discoverin some wounds before bedtime.

It was an okay day. Conditions were muddy and tricky. Frustrating not to get out of third and just spinning up everywhere. I dug in and did 2 hours straight - just for fitness. I'm still hurtin.

Wasn't a huge amount of fun... I went down an ate mud a bit too. Bah! But at least ot wasn't bloody raining again. Gimme the sunshine, sand, rocks and company of California any day!

Enduroland Training

Got out to a local Enduroland event for a bit of training on Sunday. The course was short and slippy-slidey in places. We had great sunny weather - if it rained it would have been real tough going on the big ol' fourfiddy and not so much fun.

When there's grip, nothing can live with the fourfiddy!

Braaaap! Braaaap!

After two hours giving it big, I was knackered. The goal is to get fit enough to do a few hare-scrambles in the next months... without dying.

Trail Riding... Africa style

Some pics of my brother Igor's recent trail riding trip in Qwa-Qwa, South Africa...

 

It was a training trip for the upcoming Roof of Africa extreme enduro... preparations are going well!

Junction Crossin

Yesterday morning I went down to my local practice track. Rain the night before so it was mushy... but the weather was kind and we saw a bit of sunshine.

I went round and round... 'building' a flattrack. Trying not to use the rear brake to start the slide. I only achieved this a handful of times... got to get the knack of slinging the bike sideways.

After a while, I started getting inconsistent and big slides...

Checking out the track... I had worn through the top inch or two of dirt and bits of concrete and rouble underneath were exposed. Not great.

I still had a good workout... and was pretty stiff and sore this morning -my left butt cheek took a pounding over those bumps!

 I went back for a short session this morning to loosen up (the fourfiddy was still full of mud and on the trailer, all my kit was still in the van - so it would have been rude not to!)... but it was raining and pretty slick. It was still a good hack. My body needs to get fit!

David Knight in training

Found this little vid of David Knight doing a bit of extreme enduro training with the locals at a training track a few miles from his house on the IOM:



The obstacles are nothing to him... perfect balance and control.

Erzberg Training in Scotland - Day 2

Al, the trials pro joined us down the quarry on Sunday. Sporting a helmet he had only worn once (he normally rides with just a snoopy-hat), he said that it gave him more confidence. Bejeesus! As if he needed it!

Al showing off at the top of a big climb

 This is a 5 foot vertical boulder that Al managed to get up by just bouncing off a rock on the ground! Pure class!

Al and Mike taking a break for all that boulder-hopping

At first I just wasn't into it. Tired, stiff and sore from the day before I made many mistakes. but after an hour or so of crashing I got my shit together and started to ride properly. I spent the next four hours abusing my bike and body.

Mike getting up a gnarly boulder on the first attempt.

 Looks easy when others are doing it. I didn't have the nads to try this on the KTM... but now that I'm in comfort behind my PC I'm thinking 'I could have had that!'. Yeah... right!

It was another brilliant day in the quarry. There were some 4x4s there in the morning, so we kept out of their way and where they couldn't go. When they left, they set a pile of tyres on fire - bunch of wankers. This brought the old bill to the quarry... but they just asked if we knew who set the tyres on fire and then called the fire dept. No grief. If that was in England, we probably would have had our bikes confiscated and been chased off. Bonny Scotland!

All packed up and ready for another evening in front of the fire...

My body really felt the two days abuse. My tendons in my good wrist were inflamed that night and started pressing the nerves - it felt as if I had broken every bone in my hand! A handful of painkillers and muscle relaxants downed with beer and a good nights sleep helped. Now, 4 days after riding, I'm still feeling a bit stiff and sore. The worst being my hands, wrists and forearms from hauling the fallen bike around. The pain is all good training for Erzberg!

Erzberg Training in Scotland - Day 1

Last weekend was bank-holiday weekend. Perfect opportunity for a trip to Scotland for some Erzberg training. We drove up on Friday night to the brilliant hospitality of Mike's Mom. On Saturday, Mike, Jack and I  headed out the a nearby old bing quarry for some training.

Trials on!

Jack, practicing his wheelies

It was a bit chilly - only 6 degrees, but dry. This is the same quarry we rode in November 09, but I was on my trials bike then. Mike and Jack were on their trials bikes, but  this time around I needed to get more time on the four-fiddy in preparation for Erzberg.

This was a great climb we found. It was loose and steep, the last 4 feet of it was almost vertical. It just pops you up over the top... huge fun when you get it right. Mike was getting it right all day...

...I didn't get it right every time... the big KTM spent a lot of it's time getting turned upside-down. My forks were leaking oil... from the top! They obviously weren't designed to be used upside-down.

Mike getting some air

All smiles!

A huge, steep bank... my wee camera can only show very little of what was out there

Up the bank in a big arc - 'wall of death' style!

Some of the bits were steep and sharp!

On one of the gnarly sections I lost it on a steep bank and slid down to the boulders at the bottom of the pit with the bike. It was a mission to get it out - you get hardly any traction... the big knobbly just digs a hole in seconds and I wasn't good enough to Dougie Lampkin it out across the boulders!

After the ride.

We spent about 4 hours riding the quarry. It was fantastic! The best training for Erzberg I could ever do. Big climbs up loose shale. Lots of losing it on a 45 degree slope that just disappears from underneath you if you're going any slower than running pace. Brilliant practice for maneuvering a 125kg bike buried in the dirt around, getting it  back up on it's wheels and then down the loose, steep bank... only to try get up it again!

That night we had a fantastic home-cooked meal at Mike's Mom's and sat, knackered around the open fire having a few beers and sharing war stories form the day. Awesome!

Crossin' Down the Field

After all the shitty weather we've been having for the past few months, the last week has mostly been dry with blue skies. Still a bit cold with frost and frozen puddles but that didn't stop us getting down the field today...

While I hacked around the field with Jay on the four-fiddy, Ant, Mike and Andy got into the woods for a bit of trials

Ant landed up having a lie-down in a ditch with the Montessa on top of him. Not much sympathy from Mike and Andy who just canned themselves with laugher as Ant took this shot on his phone...

Meanwhile down the field... after a slippy start, the track cut in beautifully in the sunshine. Spring is on it's way!

The good 'ol four-fiddy... I love the beast!

Fourteen year-old Jay rides a 85cc KTM in Enduros... he was getting to grips and ripping it up with Ant's more than three times bigger CRF 250. He did brilliantly... only biting the dirt once... far less than me!

I managed 2 x 45 minute sessions non-stop. Making rythm and going fast. I was cream-crackered by the time the others finished trials and the 'Superpole' competition began...

 Mr. Rossi going through the pre-Superpole rituals...

 ... and then ripping it up on the sticky track!

Mike sporting his new lid (ACU approved too!). When he put it on he exclaimed "Jeez! I can hardly feel it!". Ant's reply "Welcome to the 21st century."

Heather and Saff came down to provide some much needed glamour to the event...

Max came down on his bike too.

"I was nibbling into your lead and then you went wide on turn 5...

 ... I almost t-boned you!"

Ant styling it up - eye of the tiger!

It was a brilliant day in the clay! I'm getting fitter, but I'm gonna feel this for the next few days. If I can do this every weekend till Erzberg (only 12 to go!), I'll be fit. But if we get weather like this every weekend, I must be the Pope!