Rendlesham Report 12-02-2006

Rendlesham Event Report Feb 06

It didn’t strike me as to how surreal the whole thing was until about 8.30. We’d been up for three hours, travelled 130 miles, and we’re now standing in the rain unloading the timing equipment in the middle of the forest. Most sensible people were still in a nice warm bed reaching for the Sunday papers and a nice cuppa, (or whatever else you reach for in a warm bed on a wet Sunday morning!),

Sadly, despite this being the first round of the 2006 championship season, this was as good as it was going to get. For once the weatherman had got it right. Today will be wetter than a halibut’s wallet.

With a record entry (I think!) it was always going to be a busy day with 200 riders expected to start. The weather didn’t bother me too much as I had never seen the course cut up due to wet weather. Ah well, there’s a first time for everything I suppose!

As you will all know by now the place was heaving.

Gray Yardley (621) was riding his first ever event and was marshalling. He was despatched to do the pre-race course clearing lap. I guess that 75 minutes wasn’t a bad lap time under the circumstances, but apparently he had to clear several big logs that appeared to have been laid across the track by some miscreant. Roy had told us that many of the course markers had been pulled down, either by a troop of boy scouts that were there or by some other forest users worried about nasty motorcyclists nicking their Kendal Mint Cake.

Gray wasn’t the only new rider at Rendlesham. In fact we had over 40 new riders on the day, many of which had good stories to tell, (and be told!!) about their first TBEC event.

As I walked out to my start row I passed Sharon Bell (410), who looked absolutely terrified sat astride her DT Yamaha waiting for the off. The last time I saw a look like that it was in the headlights of my car and followed by a dull thud! Sharon turned in a fantastic effort though, putting in two laps once she had come to grips with the points and penalties system! Great effort Sharon! As well as Sharon, there was a fantastic effort from Nigel Woods (356), who, having lost his gear lever, managed to get back and find it despite only being able to use 3^rd gear, and got his bike back to the paddock to refit it, and then carried on for another lap. When questioned upon his commitment replied “ I was having too much fun not too…….” Excellent attitude and well done Nigel.

During the latter stages of the race I came across a rider who, despite being on the course, declared himself lost??? I was a little puzzled at this as there were many other riders whizzing past us. He said that he had been going around in circles and kept passing the same places. Isn’t that what an Enduro is?????

Seriously though the chap was a little disorientated and was getting a bit worried. It was a reminder of what a shock to the system it can be to expose yourself to competition in these conditions for the inexperienced. We were only a couple of minutes from the paddock so he tagged onto the back of me to get back.

It looks from the results that many decided that one lap was just fine thank you.

Alan Liddington (590) did just the one. It was his first TBEC event following a few years off. Because he has spent so much time hanging his road bikes in Trees, (Earning himself the nickname “Woody” on the way, I guess he thought it was easier, (and cheaper?) to just get another dirt bike?!

I spotted his pre-race warm up (3 cigarettes) and guessed he may not be pushing the leaders hard.

Looking forward to the 12 hour then Alan? Al’s brother in law Andy Cossey (110) paid the price for his humour, (naming his dog “Woody” after Alan). He didn’t even get to start! Despite leaving at about 5.00 in the morning ands driving 140 miles to get within 7 miles of the track, he never even to got to fire the bike up! The tyre on Andy’s trailer blew out,. (some say it was the jet blast of  Ray Carver’s estate overtaking him that did it).

Andy being Andy didn’t have a spare wheel for the trailer, No probs though, called the RAC to be told “Computer says no!” or we don’t do trailers mate, but we can recover you home for £300! Andy and his pit crew,  wife Sal (or “Strop”) then tried to find someone who would come out to the back of beyond on a wet Sunday at silly O’clock to fit a trailer tyre. They managed it in the end but it took them until roughly midday, when they had to call out the RAC again to start the car because of a dodgy repair to his trailer blowing the cars electrics!!!!! I won’t tell you what it cost because frankly I don’t think you’d believe me anyway!!!

Those of us who did actually start were met with a new take on Roy’s course markings.

In an effort to highlight the dangers of the stealth stumps at Rendlesham, Roy had chosen to mark them this time in Blood Red!!  Nice one Roy! As ever though, there were those that chose to ignore some of them. Early on I passed through what looked like an explosion in an orange plastic factory? The debris seemed to start just after a Stealth stump with smudged paint? Wonder what happened there then?!

Roy was invited to lead the field off as it was the first time of riding the course in an event despite organising pretty much all of the last ones at Rendlesham with his team. My own progress  around the course was hindered by my starter motor deciding to have a day off! Now fortunately KTM, in their wisdom, have fitted a kick-start to their bikes for emergencies such as these. I say emergencies because to use the said device regularly would give you thighs the size of the speed skaters in the winter Olympics, those of us who are mere mortals will measure the effort required ti kick them, in days of life expectancy lost, rather than calories gained. Those of you that are aware of my ample physique derived from dabbling in a little judo and Ice hockey, will wonder what the problem was, well you try kicking a bloody 525 for ten minutes with a flooded engine because I’d hung it in a tree! (Actually I was still going up as I hit the tree! (no grip…no grip….GRIP..AAAAAARRGHH!!)

I hear that the ambulance staff were only called upon once and some people clearly didn’t find the conditions a problem though. Another blinding performance by Chris Hockey (370) saw him win by 6 points over James Yearly (613). Setting a fastest lap of just over 28 minutes on the way. It seems that our 2005 champion Dave Parker (1) got off to a flier as well looking at his lap times, although it appears that he must have had some sort of problem, anyone know what ?? Ben Ilott (51) was back to his old form aboard a KTM 125. Lee and Judy must have had one of the longest trips to get to Rendlesham all the way from Monmouthshire. I’m not sure if Ben was one of the campers at Graylynns camp site, but they have asked us to pass on their thanks to all the campers for leaving the place clean and tidy and for behaving themselves!

Anton Ridden (177) was a spectator following his broken shoulder at the last Rendlesham race, but seemed to be in good heart. We look forward to seeing him back on the bike soon.

Another good sport is Andrew Rowland who, having had an argument with a tree, was kind enough to allow mate Ian Clarke (272) to photograph it and mail it to me for inclusion.  

More thanks, this time to Ray Carver and Steve Ives (354)

Many of you won’t be aware that Ray  and family only arrived back from holiday in France at midnight the night before the race. He then jumped in his car the next morning to be at the event to ensure that all the new timing wristbands were handed out correctly. It think it was a perfect example of why Ray was awarded the Kate Hutchins Shield by the committee for all his hard work and commitment. Congratulations Ray, and many thanks for all your hard work for the club. The thanks to Steve Ives is from Ray, as Steve let him use his awning to keep out off the scorching sunshine while he was dishing out the tags!

While we’re talking about the timing equipment, the committee have asked me to remind you to make sure that you WAIT FOR THE BLEEP AND THE LIGHTS when you tag in at the end of each lap. Several riders appear to think that passing the sensors at anything up to 30 mph will ensure that their tag is logged! It takes a lot of manual adjustment and cross-checking to ensure that these omissions are corrected, a task which is increasingly difficult with bigger and bigger entries. The club has been able to help riders to date, but the responsibility to check the log is with YOU! Don’t let that medal slip away because of too much haste! These missed laps will no longer count in future events.

Again all you wombles were on form with the gates being locked up at 16.20, so a big thanks to all who course cleared to register a result. There are about 150 riders classified with results, so that is a massive percentage of the entry that actually started the event. Thanks again everyone. 

Lets hope that the weather is drier for the next event a Whaddon. Two days should be fun, but sadly I won’t be there. I have some of my French colleagues from Renault at my place for the Rugby.

Remember Agincourt anyone……..

 Dan