779 Photos from the event
So Tring came round again – time to dig the fancy dress shirts out the bottom of the kitbag. Unfortunately the number of people taking part in the ‘loud shirt day’ was rather disappointing this year. I made a special effort and got a new shocking pink Hawaiian top, with the rather muted blue one going to Tony, just so he didn’t feel left out. Of course I promptly forgot this at home, so we had to turn around from Amersham and head back home to pick it up off the dining room’s radiator (where I left it after washing it the night before).
getting the bike into perc ferme
The venue is a little tucked out the way and we seemed to see a lot of cars with bikes on trailers going in the wrong direction when we got near the site. Once inside it was a simple task of parking up along the access road and getting the bikes off the trailer nice a fast, so we could beat the rush down to the signing on desk and scrutiners post. A quick cup of tea and we caught up with all the gossip from the CHEC regulars as well as the club directors.
Loud Shirts were in short supply
ah! one more - apologies if this is
your 'normal' mx gear!!
Back at the car we slipped into our gear and Hawaiian tops. Steve and Dan popped over to say hello and although they had made the effort in the shirt front they were hardly ‘loud’ as both were dark black/brown?! Still it’s the thought that counts. Dave Garland (one of the front runners in the championship) said he had one (loud shirt) but didn’t bring it. I pointed to his rather extravagant mx top and said “looks like you found one anyway” boom boom!
At the riders briefing we were told of another new event and venue to be held on the 1st of November, so get onto the CHEC website and book in now, it should be a cracking day. The new venue is apparently ‘massive’ and located near Tunbridge Wells.
I was number 35 so I had the luxury of not being on the front row of the grid. This meant I had a few moments to get goggles on etc before my group started. Several times this year I’ve been caught out while still chatting to people or faffing with something.
me getting away from the start
Pete at the start
As I had Tony and Rob one row behind me I sort of felt like I had the devil on my tail. However I didn’t want to push too hard too early. After nailing it away from the transponders we went straight across the road, over the field and into the woods. I thought I was clear of the pack but another rider sneaked by just as we were about to enter the woods. Sitting behind him for a while we twisted and turned though the woods for a short run then popped out of the tress skirting the edge momentarily, followed by another few turns under the trees. Once back out we went up the right side of the field and turned left in a fast run (60 to 70 mph) over to the woods once more. Into the woods again and this bit flows nicely. A little log hop is followed by some tighter turns – and this is where it all went wrong -again! Apparently one of the arrows got turned around by the naughty wood elves in the night so we ended up taking a wrong turn (mind you I was following the guy in front). Within a few yards we both knew something was wrong so we turned around and were confronted by several other bikes coming our way. I spotted a red arrow and got away first, pushing hard to make a break. It must have worked as I don’t think the other rider got by again.
Steve coming out of the quarry on the
far side of the track
Dan down in the quarry section. i
didn't realise there was such a drop off there!
Dan exiting the quarry
The flowing track continued through the woods and the big puddle was there again, as was the big ‘bomb hole’. That puddle – does anyone go though it? Drop me a line if you did. There is a short field to cross somewhere along the line but I can’t remember if it’s before or after the bomb hole. Maybe I should check out the video again! Anyway you eventually get back out into the sunlight and turn right up the side of the field, turn left up to the top and switch back for a moment before turning right again in another fast run. Around a tree and you turn left back down the hill to re-enter the woods once more. Once back under cover there were a few twists and turns, a hump and then a tricky left turn up a short but steep slope. As there was zero run up several people looked to be having trouble here.
me coming out of the quarry
I quite like this one of Tony - it
shows how steep the incline was
pete
At the top of the slope it was time to enter the best bit - the quarry. Unfortunately someone didn’t like it and filled it all in, and smoothed it out! We had to make do with a few humps but it was still fun. Exiting the quarry we continued away from the pit area into the next field. This ran along the side of a big hedge which shaded the track so it remained slippery here, especially at the breaking point and into the left turn. Half a field up and we crossed into the adjacent field but turned left immediately down to the bottom of the hill. Swapping back into the centre of the field in a right turn was followed by a left turn up to a tree island. This hid a steep drop into the trees, a few turns and ups and downs before once again crossing the fields into the next one. Angling up the slope into a very tricky turn (which was inches deep in stones) we went back down the hill then up the other side. Just as I was passing another rider here I got assaulted by five guys throwing rocks at me, three were flinging small handfuls of stones and two were tossing huge chunks of flint at me (which really hurt). Well ok I made that up, but that’s what it felt like when the rider in front is bombarding you with a maelstrom of rocks off his back wheel! My arms & shoulders are absolutely covered in black marks, small nicks and cuts.
Once onto the other side of the valley, two sections of nicely flowing woods were followed by a short blast and into the next set of woods. Hear we found a new addition to the track in the form of several large bomb holes. Up and out one, turn sharply and down into another. Unfortunately some of this was cut out later, not sure why. Once out of the holes some more woods were dished up and after that we had a small dip into another quarry for dessert. For after dinner coffee we had a massively long high speed blast (flat out in tops on the 450) down into the valley again to reach the transponders.
Tony coming up one of the humps by
the 'old' quarry site
Dan in the same area
me again
Somewhere in the first hour I came out of the woods on the far right hand side of the track and saw a rather amused looking Rob with his shirt off and several people there with him. He looked fine so I didn’t slow down but I found out later that he’d had the bike fully open going up the hill when the rear tyre found so much grip it pulled the front up so fast he didn’t have time to catch it. The resulting flip-over ripped the rear end of the bike, damaging a lot of other stuff as well. I caught up to him later on, just as he was rejoining the race from the pits. I sat behind him for a while, then made my move to get by, which was successful. I then had to push extra hard as I knew he’d be trying to retake the position. We’d had a little ribbing session before the start! It worked as I got away but I think Rob had to pit again anyway, as he’d not done the triple clamps up properly.
I caught up to a slower rider inside the first section of woods and he stalled the bike right at the last tight bend just as you exit the trees. Being a two stroke he started trying to kick it back into life. Being stuck behind him I got impatient and aimed the 450 at the bushes and let fly – and got stuck on the interwoven branches. Turning the air blue with words and tyre smoke I forced my way through but the other rider was already away. This little hole was picked up on by almost everyone else after that as people cut out the tight ‘lock to lock’ turn.
Man down !!!
Man still down ?!
Man not having a good day :)
David Garland (last year’s champ) had caught me up and passed me at some point during the race (he was two rows back). It’s very easy for me to get lazy during a race and slack off mid session. However the dice with Rob got me back up to speed and I managed to catch back up. Sitting behind Dave I realised there was no point in overtaking unless I could pull clear by two minutes. But where’s the fun in thinking like that? So I made sure I made the pass, and again went like hell.
Tony fully intend on getting plenty
of air
(showing off for the camera - again)
looks like Steve has been in the bushes
again!
me making a pass in the ex-quarry
Coming into the transponder area near the end of the session I looked down a saw I had about 12 minutes left, not enough time I thought, to get another lap in. However with the lap being cut slightly shorter and me speeding up once I’d got to know the course I could have managed it, with about a minute penalty. This would have given me an extra six points at least – oh well. My left arm/shoulder muscles were really sore anyway (the pain had set in again after four laps) and it would have only raised me one spot overall and wouldn’t have made any difference in the O40 class.
After filling up the bike it was back to the car to catch up on race gossip and grab some food/drink/pain killers (in that order). It was then that we found out Pete and Steve had both suffered punctures in the morning. Luckily Abingdon Off Road was on hand to fit new tubes. Back at the start area Rob told me of his big ‘off’ and his bike was looking slightly worse for wear by now!
break time - me, steve and rob (in background with back to us)
Rob's rear end was looking rough....as usual!
Pete having just had his inner changed
I’d rigged up the helmet cam for the afternoon session. Having failed to record pictures at Endurofest I’d done some diagnostic investigations and found the cable had snapped inside the cams connection plug. Several attempts to re-solder on the wires proved fruitless, so I used some high tech waterproof, flexible heat shrink that had build-in solder included at the joint. You push the wires together, heat it with a lighter and hey presto, job done. This does mean of course that the cam and helmet are permanently attached to the wiring but finding a waterproof plug that small isn’t easy at short notice.
redbikejohn films a lap of the CHEC race at Tring on the 18th Oct 2009
Once underway I pushed hard and made some good passes. Catching up to Steve in the far set of woods I suddenly remembered I’d not switched the cam on! Doh! I was weaving in amongst the trees with one hand trying to reach the remote switch so that I could record Steve – not easy but I got there in the end and managed to get a little footage before overtaking on the next straight.
coming out the woods
getting down for the flat out run
been playing in the bushes eh!
The afternoon went really well. I managed to get some nice footage and caught a few tumbles on camera. I did have a bit of a problem though – the front brake plunger was getting stuck in again. I had this once before earlier in the year and cured it by fitting a new repair kit. However the problem has come back so before every race now I’ll give it a squirt. The problem first started by the lever gaining a lot of play. Then I noticed the brakes were grabby (hot from dragging) and the front was tucking slightly when going into bends from high speed. This is a big problem for me as late braking is where I make up so much of my time on other riders. Anyway I carried on as I thought I’d lose more time stopping for spray than I’d gain speeding up again afterwards. I did pull up momentarily ask Hog (one of the marshals), if he had any, but I was out of luck.
Peter Cook - overall winner
Glen Baker - second place finisher
David Garland - third
I did have one close call which is shown on the video lap. I came haring down the hill towards the woods and wanted to get there before a rider in front. I missed my braking spot slightly and with the brakes now fading badly I very nearly ran into the marshal’s quad! I managed to squeeze between a pile of wood and his quad and just made the corner. The next rider fell off in front of me, so the rider that I had tried so hard to out brake, slipped past while I was stuck waiting to get by.
The rest of the afternoon went by so fast it was only on my second from last lap that I realised time was nearly up. Running twelve minute laps I came in with eight to go so that was a no brainer, race over.
Another great day racing with the Chiltern Hills Enduro Club – many thanks to all the CHEC organisers, marshals etc to laying on a fantastic event. Can you organise someone to pick up the stones on the fields before the event next time!
ps: i seem to have done myself a mischief in my right arm. i didn't fall off but near the end of the race i felt a bit of an ache in my right forearm. by the next day my wrist was so swollen my fingers were going dead! I took some pills i had left over from my leg injury and that took the swelling down. however writing this several weeks later and one Hafren Rally under my belt it's still painful and swelling up every time i use it so i've decided to take a month off (bikes) and rest it.
Results: I got 5th Overall and 3rd in class! My best result to date.
Having a laugh at the
end of the day
(steve "the boy" and his brother popped down on their road bikes
to say hello)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second opinion: Steve
CHEC race at Bellingdon nr Tring: This was the meeting I desperately wanted to do as I watched the 08 CHEC meeting there just to see what an H&H enduro was like and decided this is the thing for me, so 1 year, 11 Enduroland’s, 2 CHEC races, 5 long trail rides, 3 bikes and a broken rib later I get to have a go!
The weather was promising to be good and I had at last got over a cold that had been lingering for weeks so I was good to go. My mate Dan (Dan300 from the TBM forum) and I turned up nice and early. As I only live 10 minutes away and got signed on with no fuss so we had about an hour and a half to stand around chatting, getting the bikes and fuel ready and visiting the toilet twice (nerves), RBJ, Tony and Nicky (always good to see Nicky as you know there’s going to be some top quality photos available) turned up and we found we’d been a bit lax with our loud shirts! It’s a shame more people didn’t wear them but at least I could tell which KTM was being ridden by Dan, John or Tony. More chatting then it was time for the briefing which I made sure I listened to properly this time as I came in too early at the last race, then stand by your bikes!
Due to my over enthusiasm in booking up for this race I was on the front row again, but I decided to take the first lap steady and just find the route, after we set off a couple of the other guys obviously thought the same and we kind of stuck together, three pairs of eyes are better than one and we never got lost (unlike just about everyone else).
Any how, the course, I won’t go into the “we shot across a field and into the woods” type commentary as John’s probably already done that, it was a 14 to 15 minute lap consisting of woods, fields and dells / bomb holes, most of the field blasts where alright but you had to watch out for areas of flint which could throw the bike around alarmingly! One bit in particular, a turn half way up a slope about half way round was particularly nasty and had to be taken with a lot of care as the flint seemed to be several layers thick, but as the day went on most of the fields smoothed out enough for top gear flat-out blasts, in fact if you didn’t go flat out you’d be overtaken by someone who was and getting roosted by flint is not fun!
Steve
The woods consisted of mainly zig-zagging around holly bushes on a very dry powdery soil and was in places very tight especially to begin with before the bulldozers I mean quads had managed to straighten things up a bit, I do love these bits as it’s a great feeling whizzing around trees when you get it right (but it’s easy to get it wrong!) and I can see why it’s frustrating for the faster guys as it does make it hard to get by. Unfortunately the big quarry has been filled in since last year but there still was some nice holes to ride through, some harder than others unfortunately the best one, a triple, was cut down to a double for some reason.
Pete
me
By the second or third lap I was settled in nicely and was concentrating on riding smoothly and trying to follow faster riders to see where I’m going wrong, the other three had passed me by this point but I was happily in the groove until the 5th lap just after the sea of flint, things started moving around a bit more than usual so I pulled over before the next wood section and as I feared I’d got a flat in the rear, after lots of colourful expletives I spoke to a marshal and decided not to ride the course but made a b line straight back to the pits across the field in first gear (I know its course cutting but that lap took me 25 minutes!).
whoa - look out!
Back in the pits Abingdon off road put in a new tube for me and with a lot of struggling and some help managed to get the back wheel in and ready to go (the swing arm twangs shut a bit when you take the wheel out for some reason) but too late to rejoin the first session but I got a nice break before the second session.
During the second session things continued to go well, Dan had to go and so did a lot of others as the field seemed to thin out considerably which gave me more room to try different things like keeping more power on in the corners and breaking later after the straights, I’m really getting the hang of the little Husky te250 now and although it can’t keep up with the bigger bikes in the open it’s great in the woods, although I did seem to be sliding around in corners a bit more now, I just put it down to things getting dusty as the day wore on but as it turned out the guy from Abingdon had pumped the tyre up to 21psi not 12 as he said, he must have been looking at the gauge upside down! It certainly made things interesting.
About half way through the afternoon session I started to get cramp so I stopped and had a chat with Hog the marshal while I had a drink until John came past so got back out and tried to chase him (unsuccessfully) for a while so I just went back to trying to be smooth and standing up as much as possible to stop the cramp, a few laps later I got back to the pits and realised I’d overrun by a couple of minutes! And I thought I had enough time for at least one more lap! Time flies when you’re having fun.
Well my aim for my first year riding was to become an average rider and get beyond the rolling roadblock falling off novice stage and above all have fun and I think I’ve achieved that, certainly the fun part anyway (and the falling off part touch wood), 5 laps in the first session and 8 in the second with an average lap just over 14 minutes so I recon without the flat and a tiny bit more effort I could of got 16 laps in which is not too shabby.
CHEC put on an excellent event which ran smoothly and was well marshaled as always and the location didn’t disappoint, even without the quarry, and above all it was fun!!
Tony
nice one!
oops - almost!
? didn't you get warm ?
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