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Well this is a much more civilised way
to start the day. Leisurely departure at a sensible hour followed by
a cup of coffee and a bacon roll at the venue, surely this can’t be
a race day??! Well indeed it isn’t for me cos I’m marshalling. It
feels like a bloody long time since I last marshalled for a full
day, and thinking back it must have been about 18 months ago at
Buildwas last year. Looking across the wind and rain-swept course at
Chatteris, I decided I’d finally got something right at last. I’ll
keep my nice warm coat on and watch the rest get muddy for a change!
Actually, marshalling at Chatteris was always the plan, but we all
know what it’s like to turn up at an event to marshal and end up
wishing you had bought your bike. Definitely not me this time!
I found myself marshalling the blue tape crossing by the big hay
bales, (Giant Haystacks? How appropriate!!!) along with a few hardy
other souls, and we divvied ourselves up into a few strategic
positions so we could cover all eventualities.
I planted myself on the edge of a ditch, figuring that as the riders
were heading into the low winter sunshine, they may miss the braking
point and turn-in on the early laps. Having a day-glo honey monster
standing directly in front of them should help pick out the end of
the short straight before the sharp hairpin.
Good job I did I think, as at least half a dozen riders made a late
grab at the brakes as they realised and went down in a splash of
muddy fen water. Several others added to the tally over the day to
make about a dozen in all, but no injuries I’m glad to report.
I remember smiling as I noticed that the big forklift make it’s way
to park-up by our position. We’ve only been to Chatteris a couple of
times before, but on each occasion, the forklift has been called in
to action to help lift a drowned bike out of the water-filled
drains. I didn’t realise just how busy it was going to be for him
this time though.
We managed a new record of four bikes into the drains this time, but
actually had FIVE riders in there??? How did we end up with that
tally? Well Nigel Herring managed to sum up all of his talent to
avoid dropping his bike into the mire, but apparently even Nigel
wasn’t even able to resist the laws of physics, and finally went
over the bars and into the ditch for a swim!
As I said, there were five riders that ended up getting an early
bath, but I think the earliest was Ian Clarke (272) who was only on
lap 2 when he started the trend. I think Ian summed it up perfectly
when he mailed me, so I’ll just use his e-mail to explain what
happened;
“As promised, just a quick note to let you know that I was one of
the silly sods who put his bike in the Dyke, I’m fine, just a lump
on my thigh from my handle bars, the bike on the other hand will
need some serious work, it was completely under water at one point.
My biggest fear was actually drowning, the bike landed on top of me,
I took a lung full of the bog before springing to my feet.
Fortunately it was only thigh deep.”
Excellent, and thanks for sharing it with us Ian. He subsequently
mailed me again to tell me about the damage, fortunately, despite
completely drowning the bike and filling the engine, he has drained
it all off and emptied all the water from the engine and had it
running again. Hopefully with no further damage, and plans to be at
Rendlesham because “thankfully there’s little water there!” (Mind
the trees though eh Ian!!!!!)
It was clear early on that a couple of the regular fast boys were on
the pace again, with Ben Ilott, Graham Albrecht and Andrew Childs
noticeably quicker than the pack. I’m pretty sure I saw Jamie
Collins (54) also dicing with Ben too, but then disappeared for a
while following a big “off” I was told; He seemed to get out again
and get back on the pace though.
Ben’s race didn’t finish incident–free either. His engine had
started to vibrate after about the first hour, gradually getting
worse. He decided to carry on and hope, until finally the main crank
bearings seized about 400 yards from the finish line. I’m not sure
if he was lucky or not? With only 400 yards to go, he was able to
push in for a finish and grab a load of points, another 400 yards
and he’d have been in the medals, alternatively he could have gone
bang at the far end of the course and lost the lot by DNF’ing!
Anyway, the bike is up on the bench with the engine out. No plans to
change the bike, just rebuild it over the holiday period. Have fun
Ben!
What was going on with the petrol shortage then? I’ve never seen so
many people begging and borrowing petrol? My own guess is that many
underestimated the increased consumption caused by the conditions.
It certainly looked as if most riders were spinning their wheels in
a bid for traction and to keep the tread blocks clear, but
travelling less far on their usual fuel load?
Because of our proximity to the pits, we had many riders shouting
instructions to their support crews, (OK wives and girlfriends!) to
find petrol from somewhere so they could get to the finish. I’ve no
idea how many failed to finish due to fuel but I’m guessing a fair
few did.
The local weather forecast proved to be spot on, with the rain
clearing and the sun coming out to join the chilly wind. Good job
too from what I saw as another dose of rain on that course would
have made it a pretty miserable day for all I think. From where I
was I could see that some parts of the corse had started to dry out
a bit , although the long drag up along soide of the drain never
seemed to improve at all during the day.
Thanks to all my fellow marshals, the first aid team, and all the
TBEC officials not only for another good day’s racing,
but for another TBEC season. The work that goes on behind the scene
to keep us racing is amazing, and often not recognised or
appreciated. I know for a fact that while the majority of us were
slobbing around after Christmas dinner last year, Ray was sorting
out hundreds of new timing tags while Ali waded through a stack of
membership renewals. I guess most of the committee was busy in some
way or another, so a big Thank you and Happy Christmas to all of
you.
One final bit of info that may be of interest to some of you.
If Santa is due to visit with new gear this Christmas, make sure he
has popped in to a Sinisalo dealer first. I was at the bike show at
Stoneleigh talking to them on their stand, as I need a new jacket.
Now because of my ample physique, (Giant Haystacks again!!!) getting
good fitting gear can often be a problem. Well did you know that
Sinisalo offer a made-to-measure service for their stuff? Yup! No
extra cost either!!!! The Monday after the show I was straight down
to my local dealer (Corby Kawasaki) and while I was there, Sinisalo
faxed them through a measuring form which I filled in while the
staff measured me up. Normal delivery is about 2-3 weeks I believe,
and my new jacket is due any day. I already have their excellent
waterproof Enduro Pants (trousers!), and their waterproof gloves
(Enduro Comp) are awesome!
If the jacket is anywhere near as good then I’ll be having a very
happy Christmas.
See you all in the new Year for more TBEC mud, rain and madness at
Rendlesham.
Have a great Christmas everyone
Dan
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