Blounts Report 011006

Well I guess that was a race you’d either love or hate, for a variety of reasons?

Personally I was well up for it. I decided that as TBEC hadn’t been there before, no-one would know what tyre to fit, so I plumbed for an all-rounder. Mistake number one! I definitely picked the wrong day to try out the new Dunlop D908 that had such a good write-up in last months TBM.

Things started ok, despite getting stuck behind someone on a touring holiday on the first lap. Again it seemed to take forever to get by them despite numerous missed opportunities for them to pull over a bit. Most of the lap was uneventful, and as I set out on lap two, I had no idea that things were about to go into slow motion. I’d sailed over all the clag around the muddy lake on the first lap without a problem. Easy really, ease back on the pegs to weight the rear and keep the front light and keep the drive on all the way through. Same method worked a treat on lap two until a rider baled in front of me. I had no other option but to back off the throttle to avoid hitting them, and try and steer around them. Bugger! As soon as the front wheel detected any input to turn, it just washed out and I came to a halt. Mistake number two! Down into the mire it sank, and resisted all attempts to move in a forwards direction again. I must have been stuck in there for longer than it took me to do my entire first lap!! I’d get roughly one rotation of the front wheel before it stuck solid. The fork shrouds were doing a fantastic impression of mud scoops and catching all the clay into a big clump and locking the wheel. There wasn’t much more than I could do to stop it. I was finally dragged out by the marshals and cleared it out enough to finish the lap. One hour and nine bloody minutes that took!! Two poxy laps in an hour and a half!! The fork shrouds were hanging off threatening to rip off my speedo wire and brake line, and the coolant was steaming away like a kettle. Today wasn’t going to be the day to be a big bloke on a big bike with the wrong tyres. Back in the van she went and I got changed ready to do some marshalling!!

Probably the best decision of the day to be honest. I could see the storm clouds building, and we had driven down to traffic reports of flooding just up the road and heading our way. It clearly wasn’t going to get any better, (and DIDN’T!!).

Of course I wasn’t on my own having this much fun! Jason Callaby and mate Glen Smith have discovered EVERY conceivable way to crash at less than four miles per hour, but managed to do so in such good spirit that they could barely see where they were going for the tears of laughter in their eyes. Mad or what?? Looking around the paddock it was clear to see that many others had been afflicted by the “Flintstone Wheels” syndrome. (Well they look as is they are made out of rock!). It seems that the DRZ’s where particularly badly affected from what I saw.
Jason and Glen did have time to watch Sam Carver tiptoe his way around the bottom fields. So impressed were they with his performance that he was christened “Twinkle Toes” for the day. Possibly TBEC’s own Bruce Forsythe??

Also the source of much merriment was Nigel Herring. Nigel arrived at the first steep ditch crossing with the high climb-out, only to face plant at the bottom of the ditch and topple off into the undergrowth with his KTM following him. Nothing too funny in that really? Apart from the fact that immediately behind him, Sharon bell on her trusty DTR125 trail bike took it all in her stride and cleared it effortlessly!! Will you be offering him lessons Sharon??

I didn’t get to see much of what else happened in the morning apart from coming across a complete KTM hand guard lying in the track. There was no-one else around so the rider must have been ok, although I couldn’t help thinking what a sizeable get-off it must have been! Nearly as impressive as the rider I saw giving it large over the jump by the photographers for the benefit of the cameras, only to lose it big-time on the slick surface and wipe out! Shame I didn’t get his number as it definitely would have got a mention.

The PM session had already started before I got back to the paddock, and Dave Roberts asked me to man the crossing at the back of the paddock.. Quite an interesting place to watch from really, with all the usual names thinking that they were exempt from the blue tape rules and trying to pretend that riding side-saddle was the same as walking. You know who you are and it was noted again. There were some great mud-surfing moments as numerous smooth-soled MX boots failed to get any grip on the deteriorating surface. Excellent fun to watch though.
When I first arrived at the post there was already several pairs of goggles left at the side of the track, and several others were handed to me having lost any ability to contribute to improved vision. Someone clearly suffering from mud in the eye was Darren Reed (380) who thought he had given his goggles for me to look after. Interestingly it was actually Chairman Dave Roberts who had them, so either I’ve lost a little more hair recently, or Dave has been giving those high performance pies a serious seeing to. I’m not sure which one of us should be the most upset about the mix up?? Darren was re-united with his goggles, (or soon will be!) following an appeal on the website guestbook, so it does have other uses apart from talking about Sharon’s domestic situation!

Our Chairman had quite an eventful weekend actually. Some of you may have heard about Dave’s unfortunate little incident in the water whist setting out the course on the Saturday. Fortunately Andy Lilley was on hand with his camera phone to capture, well, mostly his finger actually!! But you can just see around it well enough to see our leader trying to put things right before any one notices. Nice one Andy!! The Irony of the situation is that only a few days later, Dave passed his Quad Safety Course! So is now able to teach us all how to overturn a quad in a lake SAFELY!!!!!

I was amazed by how many riders seemed to really enjoying themselves in the conditions and it was clear to see who was flying and who was suffering, but Jason said that the feedback at the van at the end was fantastic, with many riders praising what TBEC are doing as a club.

Jason has also told me that he has quite a collection of bits in the van after the last event including goggles, tools, and even a Camelbak, so contact Jason if you are missing any kit, although you’ll probably need to be a bit more specific than, “it’s got loads of mud on it” if you want to get it back. to it’s rightful owner.
 

My style award for the event goes to rider 280 Glen Donachie, who, at the end of the race, just allowed his Honda to slide away from him in the paddock and he just stepped off it and carried on walking up to us to have a chat,. Cool as a cucumber! Nice one Glen!

I caught up with Dave Parker as well at Blounts, and answered the question about his recent performances. It turns out that Dave has banged up his knee quite a bit, and it’s taking it’s time to get sorted. So much so that Dave has already sold his bike so he can collect his new one in time for the start of next season. Rumours of a new orange twin-cam motor are in the air! I would guess that the Club Champion number one plate will definitely be someone else’s bike in 2007 then. Hope the knee mends soon Dave.

You’ll all soon be receiving a newsletter from Chairman Dave, and a voting form for the new committee members. Don’t be alarmed if you suddenly can’t make some numbers add up. Apparently there is a small error in the newsletter that wasn’t spotted before they were printed. You will need to vote on SIX members not the SEVEN requested.

I’m looking forward to Rendlesham at the beginning of November, but I’m hoping that it won’t be quite as wet and muddy as the last time there which was a real stinker if you missed it. Please move over and let us pass if you’re a little slower, as well as affecting my race time, I need to get off quickly at the end.. I have double booked myself on the day and will follow a TBEC enduro with an hour long Ice-hockey match starting at 9.00!!! Probably best to move out of the way on the A14 as well then!!!!

Look out!!!

Large bloke coming throuoooooooooooogggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh……………………………………..

Dan #15