After the ‘Farmyard Frenzy’ two weeks ago it became quite clear that the rear shock was knackered. I took it off and sent it away to DrShox for a full rebuild. After a bit of a scare I got the shock back on Friday morning so the bike was a set to go. In the week I’d treated the KTM to a bit of a service and spruce up. The valves were checked (inlets tight again), fresh oil and filters were installed as well as a DID o-ring chain & sprocket set. I went for a 14/52 tooth setup this time in place of my normal 13/50 gearing. I wanted to prolong the life of the front sliders and sprocket as I think the 13 tooth front put too much stress on everything. Finally I replaced the full set of chain sliders (all three) and the rear slider cage as well. So come the weekend the bike was all set for the day ……. much like the rest of club db – unfortunately they were all set for something other than riding dirt bikes though!

Some of the parts replaced in the minor spruce up

All packed and ready to roll

Traveling up to Whaddon on my own I got settled into the paddock/pits and eyed the clouds suspiciously. The forecast was for sunshine but the gray skies and larger clouds told a different story. I wasn’t keen on a repeat of last year when we got soaked at this same venue and spent half the day either on our arses or spinning up the rear wheel trying to get up the slopes.

The sign in desk at the gate

Steve found me while I was getting geared up and we chatted for a while. He could only make half the day riding but even though I stopped several times at the pit entrance I never got to meet him out on the track.

Everyone eagerly waiting for the start

After a rather slow ‘sighting lap’ I set about trying to get some quick laps in. The first few were a bit difficult as I was struggling to come to grips with the bike now that the damping was restored. I seemed to be losing the front end a lot and just wasn’t feeling comfortable on the bike. According to the speedo on the ktm, the track was five miles long, almost all of it very bumpy and some still fairly rutted even though Nigel had been through some of the worst areas with a grader.

Taken with my new camera and cropped down.
This is the first jump on the mx track

As normal, we started at the mx track and completed one full circuit of mx section before pealing off just as you came back round to the pits. This track took you down the valley and we turned to the right at the bottom skirting round the boggy bit and then criss crossing the valley floor several times. Instead of going through the water puddles we doubled back on ourselves to climb some short but steep slopes several times. After that the track took you over to the far side of the property and Nigel made good use of the land by constantly switching back and forth to take in all the features the land had. Some extra dips and routes had been cut out since the last event I attended there and there wasn’t much chance for a rest as even the fast flat out sections had some surprises in store for you so a firm grip of the bars was recommended at all times.

Me at the soft sand corner
photo from Dave Burton

I pulled in for a quick breather every two lap or so and waited for Steve several times but never saw him at all. After about an hour and a half I was getting a bit tired and hungry so I popped back to the car for a snack and noticed Peter (new on the club db seen) had called and left a message. I gave him a ring and found out he was on the far side of the track. Finishing of the sandwich I headed out again looking for a ‘blond in blue jacket’ and bloke ‘brown hoodie’ combo (we’d not met before). While in ‘full flight mode’ on the fast back section I spotted them and pulled well off the track for a chat about enduroland and the up coming CHEC H&H race he’s entered into with us on the 6th September.

Didn't get his name but i helped this guy with the rear wheel spacer
it got jammed sideways and he needed an extra pair of hands to free it.

Once I’d set off again, and made it most of the way round the course, I put in an extra effort to overtake two slower riders that I’d caught up to. I managed to get past just before the run up to the pits. This section is pretty rough but I been able to keep up a fair old pace on it thanks to the steering damper. This time however I sort of got bounced over to the right slightly and managed to get the front end into a mini rut and I didn’t correct it properly – I hit the ground surprisingly hard but jumped back up feeling like a right plonker. Little did I know but Peter saw it happen from way of the other side of the valley and wondered if the orange tit was me – yep ‘fraid so!

Dusting my self off I decided this was a good time to head back for lunch and to get the helmet cam out. The weather was looking a bit doggy so I wanted to get something on film before any potential rain came down. If you don’t already know Whaddon becomes like an ice rink in the wet.

A full lap

I set out on the first lap in record mode but paused at the track entrance as some quick quads and mx bike were kicking up a lot of dust and I fancied a clear run to get some good footage. The first few corners when fine as did the first couple of jumps. However when I got to the small ‘table top’ jump I got it completely wrong and nearly flipped it for some reason! Thankfully the rest of the lap went without any major whoopsie and I managed to overtake some slower riders, which always impresses the friends & family when they get to view the footage. On the second lap I got past by a quicker rider and gave chase for a while but eventually he got away. One cos he was fast and two I’m just too unfit to keep up that sort of pace. Strange but that bit of footage seams to have fallen though the cracks of the cutting room floor!

just a shot I took on the mx track - unknown rider

On the third lap every quad in the venue seemed to be out on the course. All but one pair very kindly pulled over or road in such a way as to enable me to get past. The last pair however had other ideas and the one at the back nearly too me out as I tried to get past on one side then almost squeezed me out on the other side when I changed course! Check out the lap on film.

Redbikejohn burning up another lap of enduroland's "Wild n Whaddon" event on 30th aug 09.

Pulling in for another break I had a chat to Nigel for a while and he asked if I’d ridden the other mini track yet. I hadn’t so the next time out I tried that, which turned out to be much the same as the rest of the course but lays at the back of the mx track.

A few more laps and the very faint drizzle that had been falling for a while started to get a bit heavier so I decided to call it a day and loaded the bike up onto the trailer. That this point it eased slightly so I walked up to the Abingdon Off Road stall to get another rear sprocket for my race wheel and took my new camera with me to snap off a few shots on the mx track. Even though the light was very poor the little waterproof Panasonic FT1 shot some great pictures. A little bit of blur crept in once I started to use the zoom and burst mode, but I was happy with the results. As the camera can shoot HD footage as well, I tried it out, and when playing back the film via the SD card in the TV, I was blown away by the quality.

Another great day….. pity I was Billy no mates out on the track as Steve had to leave by one o’clock - but a day spent on the bike is better than any other day!

There are some photos i shot at the end of the day. light was very poor and this was the first time i've used it so they are not great but not too bad considering it's only a small compact.

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