Enduro practice day: July 27th

My second trip to the Adstone venue (but Enduroland’s third event there) has to be one of the hottest days out on the bike this year by far. It was even hotter than the CHEC race down in Sevenoaks earlier this year!
The usual crew were missing this time but I managed to persuade Club DB regular, but Enduroland virgin, Rob to join me for the day. Picking him up at junction seven on the M40 we arrived at Adstone at 10am, giving us enough time to park up and get kited before the day kicked off at 10.30.

Rob in a happy moment

Poo pile in the background

We were parked up near the large hump off poo that makes up the first obstacle on the track. I handed out a bit of advice to Rob and the guys parked up next to us that it could be very deceptive that small hump. It looks all innocent like, but as soon as you ride over it, you find out that it’s very soft and tends to suck you in, slow you down and tada - you are on your arse! (not that this happened to me but I’ve seen it done).
As we were a little slow getting changed we missed the official ‘sighting lap’ but this doesn’t bother me as I prefer not to do it to be honest. You end up getting stuck behind a load of guys and stricken bikes at any semi difficult obstacle. So I normally give them at least ten minutes before heading out but even then we still had a few jams to deal with.

Unfortunately my girlfriend and RBJ site photographer was unable to make it this time, so i was glad to see enduroland 'onsite' photographer Albarrow was there again taking his usually great quality pics, so i knew i'd be able to get some from him to spice up the report. To add a bit of 'in the thick of it' type shots, i strapped a small clicky camera onto my hip so I could grab a few snaps when the chance cropped up. If you attended this event of the last check out his site for photos of you in action.

The Course:
The start was the same as before, but an extra leg had been put into the first section of woods making it that little bit longer. Exiting this first section they moved the track a few yards to the right and utilised a small hump which they’d cut the top off and turned it into a great little jump. As my confidence grew I managed to get some ‘air time’ going but there were some little ruts/ripples just before it that tended to knock the front wheel about a little and these upset my rhythm somewhat. Even though I’ve fitted a slightly heavier weight spring to the rear shock, I’m still a little heavy for it I think, so I have to take jumps with a bit of care (that’s my excuse anyway).

Me launching off the top of the jump - pic supplied by Albarrowphotography

Straight after this jump the first major change over last time took place. The track turned sharp right down the banking followed by another sharp turn to the left, back up the banking. A short straight and then you come to the part that turns back on itself but this time instead of turning left up the old railway track you shot up the banking at an angle on the other side, turning at the same time to bring you back down to the track. This part had been specially cut out and was great fun with over hanging trees, quick changes of directions and slopes – all taken in quick succession. A quick blast up the old track (now with a couple of tyres being used as a chicane) you swung to the right before firing up the banking out into the open again taking in a couple of turns just before the woods.
The Woods:
Now I can’t say this was my favorite part of the last Enduroland outing. Then the woods were wet and had to be taken very gingerly but I’m happy to say that it was completely different this time and I never had a single front end moment all day while traversing the many exposed roots. It took a long time for this to sink in though, but eventually I picked up the pace.

Me in the woods -pic supplied by Albarrowphotography

The banking:
The long straight coming out of the woods had been cut down by a third (much better for it I think) and some extra banking was thrown into the mix. The same ones causing all the problems last time were still there, and yep they were still catching guys out! I think in the early laps there are two problems causing this - traffic congestion and technique. Slippery slopes need to be taken with a certain amount of momentum, so that your existing speed takes you up and over without having to hit the gas hard. Personally I like to tackle slippery slopes in second gear and chug it up. The 450 KTM is ideal for that, with a small amount of gas (low revs) it’ll climb most slopes with ease. Hit the gas hard though and it’ll spin up dumping you back down to the bottom of the slope.
Congestion (stops your momentum) + poor technique (too much revs) = on your arse! However I must admit that anyone can get it wrong at sometime or another, as the photos from Billington will show my rather poor attempts on one particular section!

One down and another goes to help

Nearly done

The guys wait patiently

After the whooped out blast around the field it was down to the slope with the ‘easy & hard’ options. From here on it was more or less the same as last time up until the ploughed field where we veered off to the right and went through two drainage ditches that had running water in them. Coming out of these two splashes the ground became very polished, and very slick – no throttle here thanks very much!

Need a push?

Both got out ok but i missed some wheel in the air action

Clearing the ice like surface we once again blasted parallel to the ploughed field before ducking into a few trees and then carried on along the track which followed the same course as June - along the field and back using the same berms that had build up previously.
After four or five (?) laps I pulled back into the pits and made my way back to the car. I knew Rob would be there as he’d forgotten to bring his camelback and would be gasping for a drink right about now. Sure enough a very thirst (& dusty) looking Rob was waiting for me and we had a good chat while downing water, coke and in my case a peanut butter and honey sandwich, gotta keep your strength up!
We decided to head out for another hour and then pull back in for lunch. I struggle to dial back in for half a lap but once back up to speed I remembered that I was here to get some practice in so I tried to concentrate on body positioning coming out of flat turns. Not coming from an mx background I’m fully aware of this being one of my weaknesses. I’m always a bit disheartened when I see bikes I’ve just caught up with pull gaps on me coming out of turns. But practice makes perfect they say and things did improve as the day progressed. Brake sliding into turn to get the bike turned is something I’ve never been comfortable with but is another trick I’m trying to learn, but will be a while yet before I’m happy doing it. I’m always bottling it and releasing the brake too early but I suppose it’s another thing that has to be learnt - old dogs & new tricks and all that.

Me coming down the banking - pic supplied by Albarrowphotography

After lunch the heat was taking its toll, so much so that the track seemed almost empty most of the time. This was great for me as the dust kicked up but the bikes and quads in the morning session was a bit extreme to say the least. Now however you could get a good run at it and I rarely got stuck behind people in the woods. During one lap in the woods I saw a frog leaping for his life as 120kg of ktm came barrelling down on it – it made it (just).
The rest of the days passed without any further incidence but I did nearly tip over the bars when I took the poo pile on the wrong line just before they cut it out.

Me once again - pic supplied by Albarrowphotography

I came in at about twenty past three as I’d miss read the clock on the bars and believed it was gone four already. Due to the heat I decided to call it a day anyway and Rob and I got changed, and then walked down to see Nigel (enduroland govnor) to pick up Tony’s tyres that he’d won in the raffle at an earlier event.
Getting back to the car and loading the bike Rob noticed that his bikes battery was almost touching the chain. Bending down to give it a quick wiggle it went ‘klonk’ and the bracket and battery feel down onto the rear wheel! Oh well it looks like I’m giving you a lift all the way home then!
Thanks very much too all the guys at enduroland for putting on another good day. I personally thought this layout was better than the previous one but some guys didn’t like it apparently, saying it was too tight. There no pleasing everyone I suppose but all I’ll say is there were no medics needed at this event compared to last time. Keep those technical bits coming and bring on the water splashes, mud, climbs and more.
One real plus note was that the bike ran faultlessly so I’m hoping the ‘cutting out’ gremlins are behind me now. If only my thumb and first finger would finally heal up, it’s been eight weeks now and it’s still playing up.

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