Rendelsham Event Report - November 2005

Sam Carver’s balls have dropped!

Well the ones in his rear wheel bearing have anyway!

Sam had managed the magnificent performance of half a lap before he was sidelined. Sam has been steadily picking up his pace since he changed to his 125cc KTM earlier in the season, so definitely one to watch for next year.

Sam (371) wasn’t the only one to have mechanical gremlins creep in. For the second race on the trot, Ben Ilott (51) suffered a setback when he burst his rear brake hose. Not something that happens a lot so maybe it was a bit of bad luck or it got snagged up in one of Rendlesham’s stealth stumps? I see that Roy and his team of little helpers had sprayed most of them with orange marker paint for this event. Excellent idea Roy, but by the end of the race most of them had been scrubbed clean by numerous impacts so maybe some weren’t looking hard enough? Not that I can say much. For some reason I got it into my head that one particular part of the track turned sharp left as I approached it, It didn’t? As I hung a hard left and got on the gas, the six riders behind me, including Carver the younger, went straight on. My only defence is that I was temporarily blinded by the bright orange triangles pointing the right way to go!!! Doh!!!(or maybe it was the conversation with Annie Ward about her underwear that distracted me???!! I’m sworn to secrecy about the details and couldn’t possibly disclose details, nope definitely, positively, absolutely not!). What a lovely way to start the day!

More interesting course markings from Roy as well. Now call me old fashioned, but when I were a lad, (just after Noah was born!) taking the hard or easy route was always an easy choice. Invariably taking the easy route meant an easier ride but at the cost of a lengthier time across the section, Somehow we managed to have a hard route option in the first bomb-hole that was both slightly harder but no shorter?!?!?! Now unless the easy route suddenly turned into the M25 car park, it seemed a fairly straightforward choice to me?! Maybe I’ve missed something? (I may get away with ribbing Roy as he confessed that he hasn’t read any of my race reports yet!!). Much of Rendlesham is getting familiar and personally I really enjoy the place. Roy keeps finding more little bits for us to play in though, and although it seems fairly straight forward at first, there are many that have enjoyed the old bike/tree interface. Andrew Childs (5) was one of those that did, and confessed to a slight headache. Looking at how badly he was limping at the end I’d say that a headache was the least of his worries!! Anton Ridden (177) also knocked himself about a bit. He managed to break his Humorous, (not funny!). He was taken to hospital by Ray Carver (372), while they patched him up. There are scurrilous rumours circulating that the knock involved his mate Jon Foxley (10) who was trying to put a pass on him at the time! Get well soon Anton. As they were leaving the hospital about three hours later, they bumped into Russell Jacques (304) pushing Niek Schoutyen (344) into the same hospital in a wheelchair, knee injury. Hope all is well lads. With Ray at the hospital and completing only 1 lap, Dave Roberts (the old slapper(ray's words)) seized his opportunity to shine and put in 4 blistering (!) laps. Just a little faster was Husky mounted Chris Hockey (370) who set a fastest lap of just under 27 ½ minutes on his way to the overall win on 8 laps.

I would like to thank Russell Jaques (304) and Ray Carver (372), on all riders behalf, for giving up their rides to take injured riders to hospital.

Also on 8 laps was Ian McFarlane. Sadly Ian forgot that the start time was 10.00 and not 10.30 so picked up 93 penalty points!! We are still checking the archives to see if this is a club record!

This wasn’t the only example of a poor race strategy. Having driven through storms of biblical proportions to get to Rendlesham, I knew we were in for a wet one. I donned my full waterproofs for the race, smiling smugly to myself as I saw that most of the field hadn’t bothered. Victory would be mine as they all fell by the wayside suffering from damp and hypothermia. Well you all know now that it didn’t bloody rain so by lap two I had turned into Sauna Man! And gradually got slower and slower as my energy drained!

Despite promises to the contrary, Lee Harding (185) didn’t get his Kawasaki to the start line, instead choosing to use a mate’s KTM 200. It must have suited him as he managed 5 laps despite the unfamiliar machinery. It was nice to see that Cliff Lanfear made the start of his first race for a long time through a back injury. Several other riders managed some truly unbelievable lap times, Well REALLY unbelievable actually, and the post- race analysis showed some editing was required. The riders concerned have been spoken to already so stress not if you’ve not heard anything yet. The results are always scrutinised but we need the input from you guys if you smell something fishy. If it’s all innocent there won’t be a problem.

Many thanks to Sam Carver for opting to Marshal after his first lap breakdown, and to Nigel Herring (352) and Jock McClymont (582) for giving up their rides to marshal at short notice. Thanks also to the majority of riders who put their hands in their pockets for the British Legion Poppy appeal. A total of £140 was raised on the day, and I believe that the club are hoping to add to this to swell the legion’s coffers for their work.

I spoke to Roy Sadd after the event regarding the clear up. Roy was pretty pleased at the efforts of the 122 riders that logged their number after clearing up. Roy returned on the Monday and only had to collect some cones and very little in the way of markings. The clear up, wasn’t totally without adventure though. Nigel Herring managed to get himself a little er, geographically misplaced! Despite following the track he managed to still lose it and went wandering in the wilderness. He stumbled across some dog walkers who pointed him back in the direction of the Rifle Range where he picked up the track to civilisation again. You’d think that a bloke that runs a transport business would have a better sense of direction really wouldn’t you?!

Not that I can say too much myself. I owe a big “thanks mate” to Brian Barrett (23) who came to my aid when clearing up. All was going well as half a dozen of us leap-frogged each other at the far end of the track. Suddenly I realised that not only was I on my own, but it was getting dark and I was on reserve with not enough fuel to follow the track back to the end! I was pondering a night in the wilds when Brian appeared from off the course so obviously knew where he was going. After clearing up a final bit he showed me a short cut back, (still about a mile!) and I just about had enough fuel to limp back slowly! Think I’d still be there if he hadn’t shown up!

The worst clearing up job went to the loo hire driver though. As we left on the Sunday the wind and rain arrived shortly after. The four loos were unable to resist the wind and had a little lie down overnight. I don’t think the rest needs explaining!!

The biggest challenge for Roy at next year’s event is how to better his start line briefing from this event!! Bloody funny I thought. Ever thought of standing for Prime Minister Roy?

So that’s another championship season over then. The next event is Chatteris to provide you with some seasonal fun. Congratulations to all the championship and race winners. Let’s see you all back next year for another season.

Thanks to all the committee members and other helpers for another fantastic race season, and work is well underway on next year’s events. Don’t forget that every little bit of help is greatly received, so if you are able to assist in anyway don’t be afraid to stand up! I may not be at Chatteris so if you fancy writing the race report for that event then give ray@tbec.co.uk a shout. Keep checking the web site for current news and information over the closed season.

 See you all soon.

 Danny

 (oh alright then, twist my arm - Lilac)