Check out the 700 + Photos of this event: Morning & Afternoon

The searing disappointment of not being able to compete for weeks, and the burning anger at myself for being so stupid on the last lap of the Lane End race has somewhat diminished this week, as I managed to take part in the very next round of the 2009 CHEC championship! I must say a quick thanks again to Brian Simpson for filling me with confidence weeks ago, saying that I’d be ok to race come the next event. And another big “thank you” to my girlfriend for being so supportive when I said I was going to give the race a go! Everyone else thought I was completely mad and the few days leading up to the event I myself thought that I might not be ready – but I’d already been boasting about taking part, so it was too late to back out now. “If you’re going be stupid you – you gotta be tough” as they say!

the state of the weather! brollies and rain coats were needed

The weather leading up to the weekend didn’t fill me with confidence. Rain had started to fall after the short dry spell, and I knew Sevenoaks would be a bit of a handful in the wet. It’s a cracking venue but the woods section is set on a hillside and it’s always going to be difficult in the rain.

Tony had managed to blag a van from work, a long wheelbase high top merc, so it was easy lobbing everything in the back on the van – we could have got another four bikes in there! I was a little worried about the time, as he’d set the pick up time for 8am and that didn’t seam like nearly enough time for me. I like to be there nice and early to chill out and have a chat with everyone. Things were going from bad to worst when the van arrived and was completely clapped out, it wouldn’t do more than 50 mph on the slightest hill! We got to the venue gone 9 and were parked up just before 9.30, so we had to grab the bikes for scrutineering at the same time that we went to sign on. Poor old Nicky meanwhile lugged all the spares and fuel up to the pits. Of course it was still raining so now I was kinda glad we had a big van to get changed in.

first lap - raining so much you can see it in this photo

I was amazed by how many people came up to me asking how the shoulder/collarbone was and I managed to turn a few queasy by showing them how the collarbone wiggled up and down on its own!
Pre race planning was to let the front row set off and to take it nice and easy behind them. I decided to ride around for a few laps just to see if I could handle it and to play it by ear during the race. I had to promise Nicky that I’d pull in if it got too bad. However I’d tapped some pain killers to the front pad of the bars just in case!

atxjohn having some issues in the water meadow otherwise know as the race track!

another close one!

it had to happen eventually!

It was still raining as we started the race and to be honest the conditions could not have been worse for my first race back from injury. Rain, slippery clay/mud and steep hills do not an easy race make. The start line was up in the paddock just to the right of the main entrance. We clocked out and set off down the slope turning left to enter into the lower paddock. Initially the track followed the left hand side of the field but we criss-crossed back and forward crossing a little impromptu stream before turning back at the bottom of the water meadow. Applying full throttle to get back across the meadow it was a high speed run out of that paddock and into the next where we did a few more switchbacks and headed off once again at full speed towards the far end of the field and into the woods.

second lap and i'm still a bit unsure so best to keep those legs out!

Once in the woods we more or less followed the same well worn track from last year. It starts off with a few tight, root covered bends, and has one or two minor jumps built into it if you’ve got enough speed going. Next up was a small little slope up to the right near a fenced area. This was no problem on the first lap as was the next slope that ran up the side of the fence. It was a very narrow bit of track and again I had no problems on the first lap but by the second/third lap there were bikes stuck and queued on nearly every small incline. After the fenced-in part you rode for a short while on a narrow single track before heading back down the hill on a winding path that switched back to the right. Having no run up this was causing major problems a few laps in and a bypass track soon opened up as bikes started queuing. Another tight turn to the left brought us out into the farmyard and it was mandatory steady going here. This was followed by a root covered fairly tight ‘up and to the left’ bend as we re-entered the woods. Every ‘up’ of course was followed by a ‘down’ section but it was all fairly flowing bar one very short steep drop that sent a stab of pain to the brain, a reminder to take it easy.

Once at the far end of the woods a tight right hand corner led to a very long climb. The surface was quite loose at the bottom and on film it looks deceptively flat. However the further you climbed the steeper it got. Not only that but there was some big holes and ruts opening up that you had to bounce over. Keeping a good momentum was vitally important here but you have to be careful that you don’t give the bike too much throttle if things start to go wrong. Gentle increase in power it all that is needed on the 450EXC and it climbs those sort of thing with ease.
Nearing the top there’s a bend to the right which took you on a track back down the hill before coming to the blind entry to the steepest part of the track. A novice route to the right was marked here but to go straight on required a lot of momentum i.e. speed. I recognised this from last year so was able to hit the gas in time. I had a narrow escape climbing the first slope on one of the laps, but I’ll not give it away - see the video below!

the first part of the lap. taken from the afternoon session
second part further down the page

The approach is hidden by the overhanging trees but it’s a very steep slope and you can jump out into the open once at the top. This year we shot across the clearing before hitting another climb, then turning to the right to follow the track through the woods.

A lot of this was made up of single track going and came out into another farm clearing, before once again hitting the single track. This part looked like it had been newly cut out of the undergrowth by CHEC, so it added some unseen bits to the event. Crossing a dirt track we weaved in and out of some tight trees and the off camber & exposed roots made it hard going during the wet part of the day.
Breaking out into the open fields again we were treated to some high speed blasts across the fields and re-entered the woods up a very steep slope with plenty of roots and rocks sticking out. Once at the top we turned left following a narrow path along the base of a hill but this part does have a split section that allows you jump over a hump, passing any slower riders that might be in your way (again see the video).
The vast majority of riders had good rider etiquette and pulled over when space and conditions allowed.
Following on from here were plenty of dirt tracks that had more tricky climbs waiting to inflict pain and suffering on the novice riders. The woods section finished in a run of single track that once again opened up into the very top field and another high speed chase back down to the pits.

Tony coming back in the open area after helping me

Still in business!

Gavin taking things a bit more serious

So that was the lap, but how did I get on? Well for the first lap it was fine if somewhat slow going. I managed to clear all the climbs fine, but found that if I was standing up when I hit anything it hurt my shoulder. The main problem for me was the drop offs. These had to be taken standing up and the full weight of my ‘not to inconsiderable’ body pushed through my arms. Of course the rain was making it pretty hard going so I just decided to plod on and not worry about setting the world on fire. Saying that I was getting past slower riders well enough and still making all the climbs ok. I did have a few ‘moments’ on some of the climbs but managed to get going again on my own, with a little bit of steady clutch and throttle control.
Mid way through the morning the sun came out and I noticed Tony ahead of me so I switched the helmet cam on. He very quickly got stuck on one of those innocuous little slopes that would hardly even register in the dry but become rather slick and deadly once wet. Passing him I carried on but within no time I was on the deck as the rear wheel slipped out on a slightly off camber section of track. It was just before we were due to re-enter the fields. Luckily I landed on my right side but stood there looking at the bike not really that keen on lifting it up again. At that moment Tony pulled up and said “leave it - I’ll pick it up for you” well that sounded good to me but before he could a marshal or onlooker walked over and said “hello John – how’s the shoulder” then picked the bike up for me. Thanks very much mate, I can’t remember if I thanked you straight away or not but thanks all the same. I pulled up once outside the woods to clear the camera lens and my goggles, plus I thought it would be good to film Tony for a bit.

no:97 find out just how slippery the grassy corners were

no:35 about to run a little wide. according to Nicky he made a "buurrrk" sound that was very akin to the sound of a turkey as he tried to scrub off speed!

or maybe that was 66?

no:9 Ross going down as well

22 - blamed Nicky!

I can’t remember where but on the next lap I’d already passed Tony, then couldn’t make a turn in time so he got back past. Somewhere along the line he got stuck on a hill and I slipped by once more.
I had another small tumble when the back end just decided to overtake the front on another innocent looking bit on ground. Looking across at another rider stopped at the same spot I commented how slippery it was, and he agreed in rather colourful language! Picking the bike up was a chore but didn’t hurt like I expected it too so I was soon on my way again.
Some doubts about continuing started to creep in but I stuck with it and pretty soon I realised my shoulder was actually feeling rather good, so I managed to pick up the pace a bit and had a little dice with no:6 for a while but he got away in the end and that was that morning session over.

second part of the lap

me again

Standing around at lunch I noticed some people had left already. Fausto came over and he was already full dressed and packed. He’d packed it in after one or two laps as he wasn’t enjoying the slippery conditions. Again loads of people stopped by to ask how I was getting on and I was pretty upbeat – then within ten minutes the pain hit and I could hardly lift my arm. The collarbone wasn’t sore, it was all the muscles in my shoulder and upper arm, they were on fire! Grabbing a couple of nurofen advance I hoped for the best and had some chocolate, pork pies and fruit buns – the food of athletes!
Luckily the pain killer had kicked in before the start but I started the second session still a little cautiously and allowed everything time to settle down and warm back up. Within a lap I was feeling pretty good and by now the conditions were just about perfect.
Gavin came past fairly early on and I managed to hear the ring-a-ding-ding of his bike coming so gave him some room, using the right leg to show which way to pass.

Pete on that same bend

meanwhile back down the other end, the water meadow is still awash

another good pic

A few laps in I switched on the helmet cam and managed to get some really nice footage of the course. The slippery, slidey ‘oh my god’ sections were now nice and dry and I felt good so I started to get back into ‘race mode’, as opposed to the ride round and survive mode of the morning. It was all going so well until I was crossing the lower field the bike started to buck about coming out of a corner, I knew straight away the rear was flat. I limped the bike back to the pits across the field and with only 45 minutes left I realised it was over for the day. Ok I cold have put another tube in as I had all the gear in the pits and I’m pretty good at tyre removals, but the pump was in the van and it just didn’t seem worth it. So a forced retirement - a bit annoying as I think I could have been up for a half decent result had I been able to finish. It almost seems like a bit of a waste, going to all that effort and then being denied a good result by a silly thing like a puncture, it’s not as if my shoulder forced me to stop.
Still I’m tooo upset as I wasn’t even sure I cold do it. The week before I took the MTB out and going across a rough field was pretty bloody painful, it was then I thought I’d be lucky to do more than a couple of laps.

So what’s next? Well I think I’ll give the Ashdown farm gig a miss as the terrain is very hard on the upper arms so it’s off to enduroland for me at the end of the month. I need to get some fitness training in before Penn Wood and will have to do some work on the muscles of my left shoulder and arm before then.

Lets finish off with a load of wheelie shots. Why? cos it is clever and we like it!

Tony

me mucking about
turns out it meant "see you back at the van in ten" - cos i 'll have a flat by the time i get to the end of the field!!

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