I jumped straight in and signed up for the Sidcup Enduro and then convinced Tony to enter as well, not realising that it was a proper time card event! Having never done one of these before, we were both a bit apprehensive and had no idea what to expect. The first mistake I made was to send of the application in a envelope that was deemed to be a ‘large letter’ and I had the audacity to only put a ‘first class’ stamp on it!Many thanks to Paul (the secretary of the meeting) for cycling down to the post office to pick it up and pay the extra postage, (£1) to the thieving bastards.

Now as Tony and I only race in the CHEC H&H series (which is not governed by the ACU), we had on idea about all the specific requirements. There was some info about the colour backgrounds and numbers you should be using on the info sheet supplied but I just happened to remember something about fire extinguishers etc from watching Rotaxrob race so I had to rely on the TBM forum to get all the technical info. It would appear that it is assumed you know this information but for someone who doesn’t have the ACU handbook I think it would be good for this information to be included into club’s website, as well as being available for download. I managed to pinch a dry powder fire extinguisher from work in the end, but it was never checked on the day and apart from the large club ones I saw no evidence of any in the pits! On well I suppose if I never had it they would have checked and we would have been up shit creak without the proverbial paddle!

Picking up Tony nice and early we set off but almost never got there. Going up the A315 I was getting a bit warm so decided to slip the TBM hoody off whiles driving. Ok I know that sounds dumb and it is, but I’m sorry to say that I’ve done it loads of times before – but normally with the zip up type. Tony was chatting away to Nicky who was sitting in the rear when the (snug fitting) TBM garment got stuck on my head - I was driving rather blind! Tugging frantically Tony came to the rescue and stopped us going off-roading in the Mazda! I won’t be doing that again any time soon that is for sure! We arrived at the venue without further incidence, and as intended, we were nice and early. I wanted to get there with time to spare so we could figure out what was what, without having to rush about the place. Everything was very well organised and we signed on without a hitch but got stung for a day license and day club membership as well. So that was £15 on top of the £35 entrance fee. Luckily the lap times had been worked out for us, so all we had to do was fill out the timecard with the correct times and stick it on the bike.

Once we had all the gear, bikes and ourselves in the pits we met a few of the TBM forum guys. Some of them were starting just in front of us but atxjohn was starting in the same group of four that Tony and I were in. Soon it was time to go so Nicky walked off looking for a good photo spot.

A txjohn on the left with me and Tony

The Race Format: The first lap is supposed to be a sighting lap, so is left fairly open at 45 min, but the next two are reduced down to 40 minutes each. There is also a ‘special test’ section of the course and this part is timed on laps two and three. After that the times got tighter as lap four had to be done in 28 minutes but then it got serious by dropping down to 21 only! The last lap was again more open but I forget the time now, maybe 35 or so?

Lap One: 45min
I got away from the check-in first I think but no.82 atxjohn was right behind on 2T 250 and I’m not sure if he overtook me or I waved him past (I like taking it easy on the first lap) but we were together for most of the special test section until he stalled his bike coming down a slope. I was a bit surprised at how technical the start of the course was in some places but it was all do’ able so that was ok.

 
the first visit into the mx track

Tony in the orchard

A good shot of Rob

Atxjohn having just overtaken Rich C

me

The special test started off with the woodland bit then curved into a field before another quick few humps in the trees, dropping down into the field again and blasting along the back of it, curving once again into the woods for a short tight section and you popped back out near the start breaking the timing beam setting your time. From hear it was a long section of woods again with a few logs to get over and some of the going became very soft, almost a powder like sand on a climb that sapped power and could catch you out easily. After the woods came the first visit to the MX track and a couple of jumps but you often had to do a few 90deg turns off the track and through the fence into tighter going, and at one point we passed through a few containers which was a first for me! Then we took to the orchard which is next to the MX track but we made a few more short visits to the track in between sections on the orchard. Somewhere along the way there was the first of the ‘easy/hard’ sections and the first one was a pile of concrete slabs piled high. Seeing as the first lap was fairly open I chose the ‘easy’ route as I thought the time saved wasn’t worth the risk, but later on I started going over it and it turned out to be a well worth it in time saved. Breaking out of the orchard we set of across an open field where you could let the bike stretch its legs. After doing a few turns in the open there was a quick log hop in the woods before blasting back over the field and into the woods once again on the far side of the course.

 
Jumping off the drop into the back (fast) field - my suspension is way too soft for this sort of stuff! (no i'm not too fat!)

Nice clear pic of Tony

Rich-C starting the special test

This is where the next easy/hard bit was, this time in the shape of a big log. I got over it but stalled the bike going over. I’d had atxjohn on my tail for most of the lap so somewhere along the line I’d waved him through as I felt I was holding him up. The lap ended by once again visiting the MX track. On this, as well as on an earlier section, there was a turn just after a jump, so I was always a bit unsure about jumping the bike, that coupled with the fact that the suspension was bottoming out badly.We got back to the pits with fifteen minutes to spare so we’d quite plainly be going too fast. I was surprised at how tried I was. It was fairly tight going but I think the adrenaline and fear of the unknown had a part to play in it.

Lap Two: 40min

Lining up for the second lap I told atxjohn to go first as I thought I’d be holding him up. Stopping at the timing lights he set off and I followed him after the required break. Having had a few spills earlier I think he was being a bit more cautious as I managed to catch him up fairly early on but was not able to get by. The rest of the lap went by fairly smoothly but we were caught by numbers 85 and 84 who were riding well but one if not both made some errors and fell a few times allowing us to overtake again but it wasn’t long before they caught up again. Tony said he saw one of them hit a tree really hard, but seemed ok afterwards. Once in the woods it was hard to find places to let quicker guys though in the later part of the day when the expert riders started catching us. I did have a woopsie at the big log though, I got it over but then lost the front once over the other side, I felt like a bit of an idiot.

ATXJohn also starting the test

me again

JazzyJeff in a rush! Well done for the great result

Fancy footwork by Tony

Lap Three: 40 min

I went first in the special test on this lap and put in a quick enough time to stay ahead of atxjohn but I think he caught up later on and got past when I never went over the concrete hump. It was then that I saw just how much time it saved so I used it after that. Everything went ok for the rest of the lap.

Lap four (35 min) & five (28 min)

Lap four was tighter by another 5 minutes and I new we’d be ok on that one and everything went fine as did the following one (lap five). I wasn’t too sure if I’d finish on time in this one but in the end I had a few minutes to spare. It was the next one that everyone knew would be tough and it was just a case of damage limitation. Somewhere near the end of lap five I noticed no:79 (rob from the forum) up ahead. I pushed a bit harder and had caught up as we entered the mx track for the final time. I was just one jump behind him and luckily went to the right as I crested the rise because Rob lost it in the mud at the foot of the jump and was spread eagled in the middle of the track!

Rob still shiny side up!

Tony once more

and me

JazzyJeff taking off!

closely followed by G-Dub

Lap six (21 min) seven (35?)

I tried not to go too mad as that just ends in crashes, but as I hit full throttle coming onto the field the bike refused to shift into third gear. I tried several times but it was stuck. Atxjohn came past and called out ‘everything ok?’ but was gone before I could answer - I was still trying to shift up and down to free the box. Oh well I was stuck in second for the reminding laps! This was ok in the woods but I did need first in some of the sections. The fields were another story though. I felt like I could get off and walk faster! I’d lost a bit of speed and motivation now as I knew any hope of a good result was well and truly gone. I entered the mx track and Nicky was giving me the ‘twist the throttle harder’ signals and all I could do was shake my head and shrug my shoulders pointing at the bike. I got back to the check point late of course and set off to do another full lap in second gear. Like I said it wasn’t too bad in the woods but I felt like a right tit on the open going. I didn’t want to scream the nuts off the bike and risk blowing it up so I just had to hold it steady and wait for the woods again. Amazingly I made it back on time and pulled up to the check point still thinking I had another lap to do!

take off! - well maybe a little one

So my first time card enduro was over. What did I think of it? Well the course was well laid out and marked, so full marks to Sidcup for that. For some reason I thought the going would be more flowing - no idea why. Anyway a top event - it was real good fun. It was also the first time I’d ridden in sand as well, I’m used to the clay and chalk of Berkshire so it was nice to have some grip for a change but I never got my head around using all that grip as I lacked the confidence to really power it round the bends or nail the jumps. The timecard thing turned out to be easier than I thought it would be though. All in all a great day (breakdowns aside) so thanks very much to Sidcup for on a fantastic event.

Husky 240 4T

I got a test on the new 250 four stroke at the end of the day. I’ve been thinking about 'down scaling' for a few months now, so I though it would be nice to give it a quick blat round the special test course.

First impressions were that it was almost like a Japanese trail bike as it had a key, clutch deactivating starter system (need to hold clutch in to start it) and it also has a push button for engine on/off button that stays pressed in.

Riding: now being a standard bike meant that nothing was set up the way I liked it so I struggled to get the gear lever to engage a few time but that was only down to its position. The bars were also a bit too low compared to my raised bars so that was another thing I’d alter. Getting used to a bike in ten minutes is not easy and being used to a very grunty 450 meant that I really need to change my riding style to suit the bike. I found myself in the wrong gear a lot of the time. However the overriding impression I got from the test was the suspension. I nailed it along the back straight of the special test and I was amazed at how well it floated over the bumps. I've had my springy bits re-worked by DrShox and I thought it went over bumps well but the husky knocked spots off it. Would i buy one? I'm not sure - I'm so used to having a bike with loads of grunt that it would take me ages to adjust my riding to suit a smaller engine. I was told that the engine was in 'road spec' so maybe once it's been enduro'd it'll be better. Can I have another go?

once again JazzyJeff does a low fly-by

Rich-C

G-Dub again

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