First open day: Jan 27th

all small pictures are links to a larger one

Well we couldn’t have asked for a better day really. The sun shines on the righteous I say, so we must have been good boys and girls lately! Anyway, apart from a slightly tricky first lap (more of which later) we had an absolutely fantastic day!

After a terrible few weeks (rain and more rain) I’d started to get a bit worried about the conditions at the track. Nigel the organiser was also worried and advised us to park outside, unless you had a 4X4. Knowing that space was going to be an issue I set the alarm for 6am and after a very restless night, I crawled out of bed loading the bike in the dark, before heading off to pick up Tony (Twowheelsdad).  A quick (1Hr) blast up the M40 & A43 later, we arrived in time to get the last remaining parking spot, outside the venue in the lay-by.  After signing on and saying hello, Zulu pulled in behind us in the lay-by, so we lifted my trailer over the barrier to allow him to park up safety.  Getting changed while every man and his dog whizzed by on the A43 didn’t bother me, but if anyone got offended by a pale (slightly) fat bloke in his underpants I’m sorry for such a sight so early on a Sunday morning!
I found Nigel once we were a kited up and he explained that they had to cut out the water splash as the small quads would not be able to make it through.

Having a bit of a chat after a few laps, plus on-site medic team

I’m not too sure what time we set off, about 10 or 10.30 I suppose, but the three of us hung back for a while as the rest shot off on what I latter found out was the ‘sighting lap’.  We set of with me leading, following the green arrows though the first section of humps followed by woods.  It turns out I missed a section of track hear, but once into the woods the markers became easy to spot and the track flowed nicely.   Riding though the trees I found that the changes I'd made to the bike were working well and the rear was gripping much better now (however I was using a full knobbly). Like in the last CHEC race the front end felt very planted and confident inspiring.

"And their off" setting of to get some more laps in!

After the first section of woods the track shot up a steep bank, turning sharply to the left at the top before once again going down the hill into an open field. Half way across the field you turned right into another section of woods, which again flowed nicely until you came to a long straight rutted bit then turned right. At the bottom of this section was a funny hump and I got a little lost hear on the first lap as I couldn’t see the tape.

The three lads getting the hump!

Going over the hump was a first gear affair but the woods after this really didn’t flow well and the 450 was a bit of a handful in this section as the turns became very tight and I had to use lots of clutch.
Eventually we broke out into an open field and again I wasn’t too sure of the way but gassed it along the edge as I figured that was probably where it should go. This bit of field was very boggy and needed to be taken at full throttle with the bars getting a bit of a wiggle on as I sat as far back as I could to aid traction. Full throttle, flat out in third gear on the 450 and roosting like hell!

A couple of unknown lads havin' a ball

I think this was followed by a switch back section were you went over a ridge a few times, boy did this section get slippery later on!  I’m sitting hear now trying to piece the sequence of sections together but it’s harder than you might think! Anyway a little later, after more woods there was another open field which included the ‘bomb hole’ part that is so good for photos. Funny enough the fastest way of taking the bomb hole was not to jump out like a hero, as you had to turn left straight after this (but it does look good).

L to R - Zulu, then me and Scott_rider

Unkown on the left getting a bit loose and Tony showing some 'whip' action

After the bomb hole I think you switched back over the ridge a few times before entering the last section of woods which doesn’t have a flat surface in it at all. It’s one big mass of humps and dips, and this is where it all went wrong. Trying to lay out an interesting course they over did it with the tape. This sort of blurred into a maze when you see it for the first time and I did three laps of it before finding my way out! By the next lap they had cut it shorter and it was much easier to navigate and I never had any problems after that.  Coming back to the pit area some poor bugger stopped to turn right, (staying on the other side of the tape as we’d been instructed in the morning) but got taken out by someone else still going for it! A silly mistake by the second rider, and hopefully one that will be avoided in the future.
After a couple of laps we found Scott_ rider and we all set of again in a group. After about a third of a lap I could hear another four stroke behind me, so I pulled over to let him by and it was Zulu who seems to have found some extra speed over the winter as he was flying! Sitting behind him at the boggy section the big 525 threw up a massive clump on ground (too big to call ‘mud’) and completely filled in the gap of the helmet where the goggles go! I pulled on the ‘visor cleaning toggle’ thingy but it just moved under the clod so I had to resort to riding one handed across the rest of the field while pawing out handfuls (I’m not exaggerating) of grassy sod. I returned the favour later on though!

L To R - Me leading Scott & Zulu with Zulu setting up a pass

After a few more laps I jumped on Tony’s bike for a quick blast. It’s a crf250x and although I’ve ridden it many times before I’ve never ridden it at ‘race speed’. F*ck me I nearly binned it on the straight coming out of the pits! I hit a bump and the front went light kicking the bars to one side and the front slid. Mmm this was going to be an interesting lap!
Nearly crashing at every corner the front end felt very light with no grip what so ever. Scott commenting that I did not look comfortable at all on it. To cap it off I ended up losing the front in a slow speed tip off (in the last section of woods). Back at the pits I checked the front tyre pressure and let out about half of the air and tried again. This time it felt a lot better and I could concentrate more on the bike. It had good grip from the rear and the little 250 lump had more than enough oomph in the trees/woods. It struggled a little going over the boggy section, but that was only because I didn’t nail it hard enough. It was around this time that I noticed the bars had quite I lot of rake to the rear and I think this coupled with some suspension ‘tweaking’ has thrown the front end out of wack. I stopped half way round the lap to jump back onto my lovely KTM450. Apparently Tony had had some problems with mine as well, he’s not used to the pressure required to stop a ktm! There’s more than enough power there, it just needs a firmer pull on the lever than most jap bikes. I’d love to have a go on a 200cc ktm if anyone would be kind enough to swap next time?

Tony on the left with two more of me

I met Chris from the TBM forum at the end of one of the laps and he explained how he’d hit a tree, braking his headlight surround, again! Nice to see you mate, if you either mark up the front of the bike with a number or lettering next time we might be able to get some photos. Either that or wear something eye catching.
Stopping for lunch we sat about talking shit about the mornings ride and it was quite pleasant sitting there eating sandwiches, until the sun went behind a cloud, brrr wet body armour in the winter wind, nice!

This is the 'steep'slope with the turn at the top. 'Camera flattens itS out' etc etc. L-R: me then Zulu and on the next lap me chasing Scott_rider

Tony on the slope then me again.

In the afternoon session I alternated between racing Zulu, sitting behind Tony or on my own concentrating on improving my technique. Not having the pressure of being in a race, I could work on bike and body position. Finally I was starting to get the bike to rail round the ruts on the power properly. I also tried peg pressure and body position to try and improve traction on flat corners, which is one area that I really do need to work on, but I think I’m going in the right direction.

A couple of quad guys having a blast and me 'eyeballing' the camera!

All in all it was a great day and the concept of riding fast (or slow) and not having to worry about lap times when you stop to chat to your mates is a great idea. If you’ve not joined yet then get your arse into gear and sign up now cos there are only three hundred place available and going fast.
Personally I can’t wait for summer, ride all day long then fire up the BBQ at the end of the day, enjoying a cold beer – watching the sun go down, if we don’t get kicked out first.

Finished for the day and packing up, tired but happy!

I managed to find Tyrant from the TBM forum just before we left and had a nice long chat about bikes etc, and while she only managed a few laps late in the day, she also agreed it was a great venue.
For those of you that had a few grumbles about the course marking, I had a chat with Nigel before we left and they are aware of the few problems but vow to have them sorted out by the next meeting. I hope a few more club DB and TBM forum members will make the effort to join up and enjoy the day as much as we did as all four of us had a fantastic time.

For more great pictures go to my 'Gallery' there is about 130 odd pictures there, including other riders and quads

If you enjoyed this report and would like to be notified of new reports or website updates then join the mailing list. To sign up to the list just click HERE>> and send me an email.