Tall Pines 31st Jan 2010.

31st January at Enduroland was my first outing in 2010, and it was quite a wake up call! In fact I’d not been out on the bike since the Hafren rally back in October 09. This was partly due to the enforced layoff to let my arm heal, but also because it’s hard for me to get out and about in nov/dec ,what with all the xmas stuff going on. Come January I was really keen to get back out again but ended up missing a couple of Enduroland event s and a club db trail ride while the bike was laid up waiting for parts. First up was the brakes – I just couldn’t deal with those bloody things sticking on any more, so a second-hand one was bought from ‘kevinyorks’ a regular TBM and KTMUK forum poster. The master cylinder fitted straight on and pumped up a treat, and now I’m blessed with a lovely firm feeling in my right hand! Second issue was the swingarm bearings. I’d noticed a bit of play beforehand and decided to trace the problem. Half and hour later I was knocking the bearings out of the swingarm on the workbench. A call to the KTM Centre in Hemel found none in stock, so I placed an order for over the phone, with an expected delivery in a few days. Unfortunately the weather had other plans and the widespread snow pushed back the delivery time another week. Lack of tax and an MOT scuppered the trail ride so Enduroland on the 31st was to be my first outing for over three months!

 
First lap: nice 'n clean but bloody cold
10 sec later - wham!

After a relaxed drive over I got there fairly late and ended up parking at the bottom near the second turn, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. It was all of 1 deg C as I got suited up and the freezing conditions made that a rather hurried fair! Then I discovered I’d not cleaned my boots since the Hafren rally, so they were as hard as rock and still covered in the concrete like mud you get on the fire roads. The guy next to me came back in after one lap and declared it “a bit slippery”. As I had a good view of the track I could see quite a lot of guys having small tumbles due to the icy conditions. I was eventually ready to hit the track so I took off down the straight and into the first turn. This was a wide left hand bend and I could feel the rear slithering around in the turn as I passed someone on the deck being helped to his feet. As the bend opens out a short straight leads into a right hand bend. I normally cut this one tight so I did the same again – big mistake! The ground on the inside of the bend was still rock hard and icy, as soon as I touched the throttle the rear started to come around on me. I thought I might be able to hold on to it - but it got further and further away very quickly and then griped – flipping me over the bars. Looking at the video now that choonzy has posted online, it looks an innocuous little crash, but I landed awkwardly and as soon as I rolled over I could feel my ribs/chest was hurting more than it should. Not only that, but the wind had been knocked out of me, so all I could do was rest on all fours gasping for breath. Someone was there fairly quickly to see if I was all right and guessed straight off that I’d been winded so he picked the bike up for me. A medic came along to see if I was alright and I got a bit embarrassed about causing such a fuss. Once I could breathe again I dragged myself onto the bike and road it the short gap straight over to my car where I chilled out for a while. . I felt fairly shaken up and a little sorry for myself, I could feel my ribs had taken a hard knock, and knew from previous experience they take ages to settle down. Looking at the video I think the problem was I landed on the ground that was still as hard as concrete. The next guy along really went flying but landed in the long grass, he jumped up and seemed fine.

Video courtesy of "dizzychoonz" - it well worth it!

I went for a walk to get a cup of tea. I was standing chatting to the girls at the booking in desk when Nigel (Enduroland owner) came over for a chat as well. After trying to convince me to take his massive quad out, he handed me a nice xmas pressy (I do his website) – mmm that bottle of jacks would go down a treat that night!
Feeling a little refreshed I got ready for another go. This time I pulled on an old body warmer to combat the cold – a few flakes of snow were falling now and then.
Taking it very very slowly through the first few bends I got into the first proper part of the track that runs down the back of the parking area. This is very whooped out and the next section (as you enter the tress) was cut up a lot. All the humps and ruts were really tweaking the ribs so I was quite tentative for a while. The first section down the hill and into the trees was as much fun as I remembered from the last visit, and it was nice to rail the bike around the banked bends (berms) on the gas. A steep, but very sandy (hence loads of grip) climb was still catching some riders out. But this was nothing compared to the next hill that so many were struggling on.

 
Feeling a little better now! Still cold though.

Waiting near the bottom (even before the bend to go up) I could see bikes and bodies everywhere. I spied a route to the top that I thought I could make, so I hit the gas to make sure I had enough momentum as I came out of the bottom turn. Keeping the momentum up I resisted the temptation to hit the gas too hard (to avoid spinning the rear tyre) and picked my way to the top. Luckily I never got stuck or crashed on the hill all day, but I did take some rather interesting lines on some laps! Check out the video of the hill – it’s a classic bit of film. At one point (5min 20sec) you can see me clearing it (KTM rider with blue body warmer on). There are few bits in the video that really made me laugh, especially when people take each other out by crashing into one another!

 
getting a move on in the woods section - on the far side of the track.

I came in after one lap as my hands were absolutely frozen even though I had thicker enduro type gloves on. I dug around in the kit bag and pulled out my winter trail riding gloves which made a big difference. A couple more laps and I was growing in confidence and picking up speed. I found that taking alternate lines on curtain parts of the corners helped massively with grip and I was able to use the power on these churned up parts. The increase in speed was helping to get warmth in my body and hands - enough to ditch the body warmer and winter gloves.

I think this one is just as you come up from the valley.
a bit slippery here earlier but grip got better later in the day

During lunch I popped a painkiller I had left over from the shoulder injury and went out again. I was having a good time but started pushing a bit too hard coming out of the first wooded section on the far side of the track. I’d just overtaken someone and gave it a little too much power on the shortish straight. The rear pirouetted out from underneath me again and I went down on the left (injured) side. Luckily I managed to jam my knee into the ground and let go of the bike so I took everything on my knee and elbow without my side hitting the ground.

no not the same one - a different lap!

I carried on till just gone half two then I noticed the sweat was getting in my eyes so I took that as an indication to quit – not while I was ahead cos I’d already been bitten hard but at least before I did any more damage! As i was loading the bike on the trailer Steve walked up and said hello!? i didn't realise he was there and we'd missed each other all day. i didn't say i was coming cos i didn't want to jinx it after saying to everyone so many times that i was going and not being able to make it.

Once I’d had a good soak and some jacks & coke I didn’t feel too bad – pity I didn’t feel like that when I woke up in the morning (4h45) and could hardly get out of bed! Been in a fair amount of pain all week but I can feel a slight improvement today (Friday). But it looks like the enduro I was going to do on the 21st is out the window now. Pity as its Rob’s first outing on his new Gas Gas and I wanted to try the track out down there in Tidworth. Oh well, better now than mid season I suppose. The biggest problem is that I can’t train at the moment, deep breathing hurts so the exercise bike is out and absolutely no chance of using the gym. Till next time - RBJ

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