I must be getting old? I’ve gone and got all sensible, so instead of riding today, I’m marshalling!

Nothing to do with my last foray into the woods at Rendlesham mind you, Well not much anyway! Those of you with more memory capacity than the average goldfish will recall that I nearly left here on a stretcher the last time. Well I’d just about recovered from those injuries when I managed to pop my knee out playing ice hockey. That comedy of errors is why I’m not riding today, (the following day I’m seeing the specialist, and I recon it’s no good giving him a knee the size of a melon to examine after an Enduro at Rendy! So that’s where all the sudden sensible stuff comes in!).

So in typical fashion, my absence guarantees a perfect course in perfect condition, bloody typical!! This sensible stuff is BORING!! BORED BORED BORED!!!!

Ray had asked me to help dish out the tags to new riders, which had it’s own entertaining moments! Number one was caused by whomever had written the tag numbers on the new wristbands, There was a duplicated batch of 20 tags, which fortunately was spotted in time by my partner in grime for the day Chris Liddington, so a little disaster was avoided. (I wonder if this was the “Cross-checking” of the results that was posted on the forum?). We dished out about 70 new tags on the day.

Even more amusing, (for the audience anyway, ) was me being mistaken for Ali Carver by one of the new riders, who innocently enough asked if I was Ali, the name being relevant to both sexes of course, and never having met either of us! Liddinton peed his pants at this! For those who are unaware, The lovely Miss Carver is about a third of my size, four time more clever than I, and of the opposite sex!!!! Easy mistake to make I guess!

After one of Mr Child’s excellent burger breakfasts, Chris and I walked about 100ys up the course to what we thought could be the first potential bottleneck. We weren’t wrong. Despite it being only a small ditch and some roots and branches, the queue soon built up due to a combination of stalled bikes, cold engines, and fiddly choke settings. All bar one bike was eventually cleared from the track, with the dead bike being pushed back to the pit to help the knackered rider who had drained all his energies trying to restart the dead bike. The leaders were already on their second lap by the time we started back.
There was also another “Early Bath” for one rider, who, despite the riders briefing warnings, forgot about the blue tape speeding penalty, and was invited to park up for the remainder of the event. In fairness I was told that the rider concerned accepted the decision of the officials after discussing it. Unfortunately the error happened right in front of the ACU official and didn’t really allow much room for any other option.

Again getting to the start at Rendlesham seemed to be a task on it’s own. Anton Ridden (177) and mate John (?) had an eventful lead up to their departure for the race. John called Anton just as he was about to leave and collect him. John’s drive was completely blocked by a fallen tree, not something easily moved as it was about three feet thick and about thirty feet long according to Anton. So they both set about chopping the thing up to move it, in pitch dark, in the pouring rain, all by the car headlights! Anton said that they both felt that they had already done a full Enduro by the time they got to the event. I see from the results that Anton went on to finish a creditable 60th place with 6 laps, a great effort under the circumstances, Well done Anton.
It seems that this event went off pretty well in terms of injuries. I only heard of one reported crash at the far end of the track, but apparently all is well as I don’t have any details of any lasting damage. Perhaps I knocked all the dangerous trees down with my crash in November??! I did here that Cliff Lanfear and two other riders had a close encounter with a stray deer on one of the quicker parts of the track, although the quick reactions of the group of riders meant that all escaped unharmed, (Including the deer!).

One thing that I did notice from walking the course instead of riding. I was really pleased to see that we passed by many parts that we had used in previous events there, but they were all recovering well and becoming grown over again with new foliage and overgrowth. The ruts and tracks were also getting filled in as the rain and wind moved the loose sand back into the ruts. I think we all deserve a pat on the back really as this recovery reflects not only of the quality of the course set-up and management by Roy and Jason et al, but also the course gathering and general care taken by all the riders. I think that this sort of example could be held up to any detractors that criticise our sport and its impact on the environment. I would hope that the Forestry Commission is pleased as well, and continues to allow the use of this venue as a result.

Sharon Bell was on her newly acquired KTM 125. Welcome to the world of Orange Sharon! Sharon said the first thing that she noticed was the lack of weight compared with her beloved DT Yam, which is now enjoying a well-earned rest laid up in her shed at home. We’ll keep an eye on Sharon’s performance during the season to see how much quicker she goes at the other tracks too. (I’m sure the guestbook will be full of observations about Sharon again all year!!!!!)

Talking of the guestbook, I was lucky enough to meet up with “Honey monster” Jim, riding his XR650 at his first event. He was in pretty good shape really, considering it was his first ever race, on a heavyweight bike, and having sucked the life out of his Camelbak by half way through the event. I think he managed four laps! I wonder how he’ll enjoy a Muddy Whaddon??!!

Now for all you avid readers of TBM, you may have already realised that I have a bit of good news to share! Yup, I’m the lucky git that won the Kriega competition in last month’s mag!!! (Stop hissing at the back!). I had a call from the lovely Mel at TBM to tell me the good news, which made an excellent start to the day. I did actually feel slightly sad for the guys at Kriega as I’d been talking to them about placing an order anyway for a backpack for my trail riding holiday later this year. I’d delayed placing the order on the off-chance that someone has to win it, and behold, miracles happen! In fairness the guys were great. The allowed me to upgrade to the 20l bag instead of the 15l that was on offer, and I also bought a couple of other bits to complement the backpack and the waist pack I’d won. Excellent service and fantastic kit. The only problem? It’s FAR to good to use in the dirt!!!! No seriously! This kit is awesome. It really is the bulldog’s gonads, definitely the stuff to use on the Dakar or other long distance events. I know I sound like I’m on commission for Kriega, but the stuff really is that good. Trouble is it makes everything else I’ve got look rubbish, so I’ll be upgrading all that to Kriega stuff as well then. If you’re interested have a look at Kriega.com .

My knee just about works again now and I’ve got an entry for Whaddon so we’ll see how it stands up in the mud. After four months off I can’t wait to get out on the bike again

See you all there