Daryl smoking round the BSEC course on his Crescent KTM...so quick I thought it was sped up, but it's not...
Sunday 12 February 2012
Friday 10 February 2012
BSEC Paddock Walk 10/02/12
I rocked up in the paddock of the BSEC today to sign in for the racing this weekend. Little bit of video below shows who turned up early. Knighter and Sagar were there already, no sign of Taddy yet, but it looked like there were some Polish fans in attendance...
Monday 6 February 2012
Fast Eddy Enduro-X
Enduro X - Fast Eddy 29th January
Enduro X video by 1144DRC
Buoyed by my previous 'mini' race experience I spotted an interesting event being organised by Fast Eddy Racing (Paul Edmondson, UK enduro OG). The event was Enduro X and it was intended to test a midlands venue in anticipation of running the final round of the British Extreme Enduro Championship. Running the event allowed Paul and his team the opportunity to test organisational type stuff like car parking, track access and race turnaround time, while giving the opportunity for budding racers to bounce off the floor using their heads for cushions and flip their bikes onto other people...(or maybe that was just me).
The race was run in what is now known as CMX motoparc, formerly Wildmoor Quarry. Just off the M5 it was easy to get to, despite a couple of attempts at finding the quarry as some comedy genius had put luminous green signs with 'MX' written on, pointing away from the circuit. I arrived about 5 minutes after registration had finished, but was greeted with a no hassle attitude. I signed in, to cheery faces despite the cold, literally, in seconds. I was furnished with a transponder for the princely sum of my ACU licence as deposit and then toddled off to pull the 150 out of the van and try not to look at all the 'proper' racers. As I walked back to the van (parking it turned out was not the venue's strong point) I had a look at the track. The pit area was perched at the top of the quarry giving a birds eye view of the circuit.
The Enduro X circuit was literally Enduro with MX.
Steep declines and inclines built on a sand base, mixed in with some MX jumps, a railway sleeper section and some tyres to hop over with technical rutted areas, made for an interesting looking layout (see video at end of post). The format for the day was one timed practice/qualifying session followed by 4 15 min races for each class.
By the time I'd got back to the trusty van, 9.30 had rolled around and it was time to go qualify.
Sitting in the holding pen waiting for my session, I had the feeling that I wasn't quite ready for this.
I was in no way confident about turning in a fast lap, but thought i'd be able to get by on a mix of riding experience and 'having a goability'..
Watching the tail end of the Pro and Expert qualifying session it looked like the pilots were making short work of the course. Tom Sagar and Danny McCanney (who won all 4 pro races on the day, after Sagar was sidelined with an injury jumping a full bore table top).
were ripping up the place in fine style. The higher ability level classes seem to make it easier for themselves by flowing through the obstacles
and avoiding the stuttering indecision that I'm cursed with at present. When in doubt flat out and all that. With this in mind I vow to flow round, smooth stylee and go flat out if I'm scared.
In fact as it comes to my turn to 'flow' what I actually do is get arm pump the likes of which man has never seen before and bumble my way around.
I don't turn in one clean lap and end up qualifying one from last on a 3.01. At least I wasn't last!. To put this in perspective, McCanney popped in a 1.46 during his first race.
All in all, a stunningly crap way to qualify...but it gives ALOT of room for some progression through the day.
I learnt a few things after practice, answering some of the questions I posed myself after the holeshot hot lap event:
You can practice on half worn tyres.
I need a much, much higher level of fitness. Immediate arm pump is not a good way to start the day. Next time I race I WILL warm up before getting on the circuit.
Racing in January is cold (see above).
Going racing on your own is more boring than I thought!
Sportsmen are faster than I realised.
How good am I? Not very!
How good is everyone else? Better than me...for now at least.
Practice is a good wake up call, I thought I'd be OK, but I'm far from OK. I'm stiff on the bike, uncomfortable and nervous.
I looped the bike onto someone elses head. Not cool...they carry on like I asked them the time, not dropped 100kg on their swede.
I make myself a goals of completing the races and going faster through out the day with the aim of getting under 2.30 for a lap.
Waiting for race time, it was cold and foggy (a new breed of midlands fog called 'fog-ice' composed of icy fog) and I was getting ready to deploy the crying baby and flip open the book of 'Britain's Best Racing Excuses, Vol.2.'
When you're waiting on the line it's an odd place to be for the first time, a lot of aggression is required to blast into the first turn like you mean it. It's a great part of the race and I start looking forward to getting going as engines start bouncing off rev limiters.
Race 1: The race got underway in a cloud of unburnt 2 stroke oil and went better than practice. The course was more cut up than during the first session, but I felt a little more comfortable on the bike. I got stuck on one of the hills near the start and lost a lot of time.
Once I got going again things started to smooth out a bit. I tried not to death grip the bars and managed to relax a little.
It still wasn't good, but it was better.
My body positioning was poor and I couldn't work out why. I felt really tired and struggled to look up, where I wanted to go. All keep techniques that help you to go faster with less effort.
I also found I was being far too polite, waiting for people when they are stuck, letting people through, it's supposed to be a race, not a tea party! I ask for 'Milk with one please' as someone crashes past me.
All told, race one is pretty uneventful. I found that I could get through the small tyre section OK and enjoyed trying to rail through some of the turns,
but the ruts were causing me some problems. This will go on my list of things to work on.
Another area requiring immediate work is 'race face'. It's very difficult to switch straight on to race mode, I remember this problem from circuit racing. Coming from a few years of trackdays it takes a little while to get conditioned out of taking it easy and warming yourself up for a few laps. But this is the idea. To find these things out. I didn't feel particularly out of my depth as I hadn't seen anyone else really. I finished 11th and a couple of laps down on the winner, with my best lap a 2.12. A big improvement on practice, but still a way off the quicker sportsmen who are dipping under 2 minutes.
I hoped that in race 2 some fast would rub off on me and I'd be able to actually race with someone to drag the times down. From race 1 experience, the track didn't seem to be lending itself to racing very well as the deep sand had created some single line sections.
Between race one and two I cut the sleeves of my body armour to see if it helped to ease the chicken choking arm pump I was suffering.
In doing so I got really cold as it was close to minus a lot centigrade. Note for future: try to stay warm!
From race 1 I observed the bike was working OK, it seemed to be stalling a lot, but I needed to be wringing it's neck. That wasn't happening.
The sand was tricky to ride. Like deep wet mud with a much more vague feeling. Despite the lack of feel I found there were some nice corners cutting in with solid berms.
As I'm writing this I recall some advice I was given about lowering the rear of the bike and raising the forks in the yokes while riding sand to stop the front wheel digging in so easily. I'll be trying this out next time!
Race 2: I set off on the front row of the grid and get into the first nadgery rut in about 6th, from here I go backwards to tenth.
On the way I get my goggles run over. I had them on the back of my helmet because they'd steamed up, they flicked off and became my first racing casualty (after Sagar's
sore behind from seat dropping the biggest tabletop on the course).
The cut sleeves on my body armour seemed to help the arm pump issue quite a bit. It's difficult to tell, as once you have done a bit of riding under your belt for the day
the blood starts flowing and you don't seem to suffer as badly.
I had an enjoyable race, managing to slide past a couple of guys on a fast section that approached the small tyre hops. Goals were clicking off OK. In race one I turned in a best lap of 2.12, under my 2.30 goal. In hindsight this was probably a bit slow for a 'goal'! Race two I nipped a 2.03 putting the 2.30 to bed. Ideally I'd have liked to go under two minutes which would have put me in the mix. but that wasn't to be.
Race 3: I got away OK again. People were jumping the start. Eddy told everyone to wait until the flag drops before dropping clutches, but people were
off as soon as it was raised. It wasn't a problem for me as I wasn't going to win one on the day (or anytime soon) but it would've been nice to get in the mix for a holeshot!
So race three is ticking away. I'm riding smoother and managing to get through the ruts better than the previous outings.
I came up behind a slower rider on the table top, hit the gas in a fit of Carmichael aping foolery and head planted into the ground. Bugger. The bars and front wheel were pointing in
opposite directions and the guys I had previously passed came back by me as I flopped about in the mud hoping the tweety birds would go away.
I said a few words to myself that Grandparents shouldn't hear, whacked the bars close to straight, fired up the KTM and put some more laps in. Surprisingly I felt pretty good,
carrying some OK corner speed until Jack Edmondson came past me like the true beginner I am (I'm not sure how old he is, but I'd guess between 10 and 15, nearly sucking the graphics off my bike as he blitzed by...).
Lots more gears and brakes later and I was back in the pits. I go to check the results and find I'm tenth again with a slower lap than last time round 2.06. Considering the
whack on the head I'm not too disappointed. I broke out my emergency can of generic energy drink for race 4...
Race 4: Ready to right the wrongs of the previous attempts, I necked some of the energy speed juice (Rossi said it works so it must be true) and cruised down to the holding area.
With no throttle applied and the bike pinging off the limiter, I thought something might be a miss. Adding some slack to the throttle seemed to help and the bike briefly idled normally.
Waiting for the start I wasn't sure if it was a great idea to race with a sticking throttle, but I was already there and one of the marshalls gave me a reassuring 'it'll be alright' nod.
As I piled into the first turn on full gas, which was meant to be no gas, I thought I should have listened to myself. The KTM pinged its head off to a suitable resting place through the tapes.
DNF! Balls. That was my shot at getting it right. Race 3 had been pretty positive, despite the whack on the head, the track conditions were getting better through the day and I ended up getting sidelined by a sticky throttle.
Investigation is required in a hurry as the following weekend was to be the Fast Eddy XC at Stoneleigh where I'd try and put some of the lessons into practice.
Results were posted up on Enduronews.com the following day. To my surprise I was 7th overall. 11th in the first race, 10th in the second race, 10th in the third race (with head plant), 4th race DNF, but points for starting (bonus!). There was a reasonable attrition rate as a few people didn't complete all the races on the day (including me).
Some people only completed one race, others dropped out after two.
So with my first full meeting behind me I'm excited to get out again at the Fast Eddy XC for my first taste of that competition.
I'm anticipating it to be significantly different to the Enduro X, with a different type of terrain and a different mindset required
to ride for 2 hours turning in the laps, instead of a 15 min (relative) dash.
Below are some notes I made through the day. A learning brain dump that I'll try to digest before the next outing:
More positive throttle application required. More gas all the time. I need someone to compete against...
Feels frantic.
Downhill off camber corners? Where is your technique. Weight pegs, weight in the correct position.
Tricky downhills into ruts, look up, out of rut, not into it! Stand up, strong and forward.
Jump off bike, push and clutch to get going when stuck on sand hills.
Fitness is super critical!!!!! Cardio required. Any trainers available for this?
Enduroland is not real racing...
Arm pump is the main problem, aggression, put the bike where you want it to go, look where you want it to go.
A few notes on going racing with Fast Eddy
My first experience of racing with Fast Eddy was about as painless (in terms of organisation) as I could wish for.
I emailed Mandie Edmondson to enter the race and was given my race numbers. Any information I asked for was responded
to within 24 hours. It's possible to call as well.
On race day I arrived just outside the prescribed time for rider registration but there was no fuss. I was able to sign in
and receive my transponder (just my ACU licence for a deposit) within about 5 minutes.
All the races were announced by loudhailer, plus the current race category was shown on the live timing screen so
it was straightforward to work out when my next race was. Races were turned around super fast with minimal waiting around
and Fast Ed himself even helped me out when my throttle stuck open. A big double thumbs up to the Fast Eddy crew.
Enduro X video by 1144DRC
Buoyed by my previous 'mini' race experience I spotted an interesting event being organised by Fast Eddy Racing (Paul Edmondson, UK enduro OG). The event was Enduro X and it was intended to test a midlands venue in anticipation of running the final round of the British Extreme Enduro Championship. Running the event allowed Paul and his team the opportunity to test organisational type stuff like car parking, track access and race turnaround time, while giving the opportunity for budding racers to bounce off the floor using their heads for cushions and flip their bikes onto other people...(or maybe that was just me).
The race was run in what is now known as CMX motoparc, formerly Wildmoor Quarry. Just off the M5 it was easy to get to, despite a couple of attempts at finding the quarry as some comedy genius had put luminous green signs with 'MX' written on, pointing away from the circuit. I arrived about 5 minutes after registration had finished, but was greeted with a no hassle attitude. I signed in, to cheery faces despite the cold, literally, in seconds. I was furnished with a transponder for the princely sum of my ACU licence as deposit and then toddled off to pull the 150 out of the van and try not to look at all the 'proper' racers. As I walked back to the van (parking it turned out was not the venue's strong point) I had a look at the track. The pit area was perched at the top of the quarry giving a birds eye view of the circuit.
The Enduro X circuit was literally Enduro with MX.
Steep declines and inclines built on a sand base, mixed in with some MX jumps, a railway sleeper section and some tyres to hop over with technical rutted areas, made for an interesting looking layout (see video at end of post). The format for the day was one timed practice/qualifying session followed by 4 15 min races for each class.
By the time I'd got back to the trusty van, 9.30 had rolled around and it was time to go qualify.
Sitting in the holding pen waiting for my session, I had the feeling that I wasn't quite ready for this.
I was in no way confident about turning in a fast lap, but thought i'd be able to get by on a mix of riding experience and 'having a goability'..
Watching the tail end of the Pro and Expert qualifying session it looked like the pilots were making short work of the course. Tom Sagar and Danny McCanney (who won all 4 pro races on the day, after Sagar was sidelined with an injury jumping a full bore table top).
were ripping up the place in fine style. The higher ability level classes seem to make it easier for themselves by flowing through the obstacles
and avoiding the stuttering indecision that I'm cursed with at present. When in doubt flat out and all that. With this in mind I vow to flow round, smooth stylee and go flat out if I'm scared.
In fact as it comes to my turn to 'flow' what I actually do is get arm pump the likes of which man has never seen before and bumble my way around.
I don't turn in one clean lap and end up qualifying one from last on a 3.01. At least I wasn't last!. To put this in perspective, McCanney popped in a 1.46 during his first race.
All in all, a stunningly crap way to qualify...but it gives ALOT of room for some progression through the day.
I learnt a few things after practice, answering some of the questions I posed myself after the holeshot hot lap event:
You can practice on half worn tyres.
I need a much, much higher level of fitness. Immediate arm pump is not a good way to start the day. Next time I race I WILL warm up before getting on the circuit.
Racing in January is cold (see above).
Going racing on your own is more boring than I thought!
Sportsmen are faster than I realised.
How good am I? Not very!
How good is everyone else? Better than me...for now at least.
Practice is a good wake up call, I thought I'd be OK, but I'm far from OK. I'm stiff on the bike, uncomfortable and nervous.
I looped the bike onto someone elses head. Not cool...they carry on like I asked them the time, not dropped 100kg on their swede.
I make myself a goals of completing the races and going faster through out the day with the aim of getting under 2.30 for a lap.
Waiting for race time, it was cold and foggy (a new breed of midlands fog called 'fog-ice' composed of icy fog) and I was getting ready to deploy the crying baby and flip open the book of 'Britain's Best Racing Excuses, Vol.2.'
When you're waiting on the line it's an odd place to be for the first time, a lot of aggression is required to blast into the first turn like you mean it. It's a great part of the race and I start looking forward to getting going as engines start bouncing off rev limiters.
Race 1: The race got underway in a cloud of unburnt 2 stroke oil and went better than practice. The course was more cut up than during the first session, but I felt a little more comfortable on the bike. I got stuck on one of the hills near the start and lost a lot of time.
Once I got going again things started to smooth out a bit. I tried not to death grip the bars and managed to relax a little.
It still wasn't good, but it was better.
My body positioning was poor and I couldn't work out why. I felt really tired and struggled to look up, where I wanted to go. All keep techniques that help you to go faster with less effort.
I also found I was being far too polite, waiting for people when they are stuck, letting people through, it's supposed to be a race, not a tea party! I ask for 'Milk with one please' as someone crashes past me.
All told, race one is pretty uneventful. I found that I could get through the small tyre section OK and enjoyed trying to rail through some of the turns,
but the ruts were causing me some problems. This will go on my list of things to work on.
Another area requiring immediate work is 'race face'. It's very difficult to switch straight on to race mode, I remember this problem from circuit racing. Coming from a few years of trackdays it takes a little while to get conditioned out of taking it easy and warming yourself up for a few laps. But this is the idea. To find these things out. I didn't feel particularly out of my depth as I hadn't seen anyone else really. I finished 11th and a couple of laps down on the winner, with my best lap a 2.12. A big improvement on practice, but still a way off the quicker sportsmen who are dipping under 2 minutes.
I hoped that in race 2 some fast would rub off on me and I'd be able to actually race with someone to drag the times down. From race 1 experience, the track didn't seem to be lending itself to racing very well as the deep sand had created some single line sections.
Between race one and two I cut the sleeves of my body armour to see if it helped to ease the chicken choking arm pump I was suffering.
In doing so I got really cold as it was close to minus a lot centigrade. Note for future: try to stay warm!
From race 1 I observed the bike was working OK, it seemed to be stalling a lot, but I needed to be wringing it's neck. That wasn't happening.
The sand was tricky to ride. Like deep wet mud with a much more vague feeling. Despite the lack of feel I found there were some nice corners cutting in with solid berms.
As I'm writing this I recall some advice I was given about lowering the rear of the bike and raising the forks in the yokes while riding sand to stop the front wheel digging in so easily. I'll be trying this out next time!
Race 2: I set off on the front row of the grid and get into the first nadgery rut in about 6th, from here I go backwards to tenth.
On the way I get my goggles run over. I had them on the back of my helmet because they'd steamed up, they flicked off and became my first racing casualty (after Sagar's
sore behind from seat dropping the biggest tabletop on the course).
The cut sleeves on my body armour seemed to help the arm pump issue quite a bit. It's difficult to tell, as once you have done a bit of riding under your belt for the day
the blood starts flowing and you don't seem to suffer as badly.
I had an enjoyable race, managing to slide past a couple of guys on a fast section that approached the small tyre hops. Goals were clicking off OK. In race one I turned in a best lap of 2.12, under my 2.30 goal. In hindsight this was probably a bit slow for a 'goal'! Race two I nipped a 2.03 putting the 2.30 to bed. Ideally I'd have liked to go under two minutes which would have put me in the mix. but that wasn't to be.
Race 3: I got away OK again. People were jumping the start. Eddy told everyone to wait until the flag drops before dropping clutches, but people were
off as soon as it was raised. It wasn't a problem for me as I wasn't going to win one on the day (or anytime soon) but it would've been nice to get in the mix for a holeshot!
So race three is ticking away. I'm riding smoother and managing to get through the ruts better than the previous outings.
I came up behind a slower rider on the table top, hit the gas in a fit of Carmichael aping foolery and head planted into the ground. Bugger. The bars and front wheel were pointing in
opposite directions and the guys I had previously passed came back by me as I flopped about in the mud hoping the tweety birds would go away.
I said a few words to myself that Grandparents shouldn't hear, whacked the bars close to straight, fired up the KTM and put some more laps in. Surprisingly I felt pretty good,
carrying some OK corner speed until Jack Edmondson came past me like the true beginner I am (I'm not sure how old he is, but I'd guess between 10 and 15, nearly sucking the graphics off my bike as he blitzed by...).
Lots more gears and brakes later and I was back in the pits. I go to check the results and find I'm tenth again with a slower lap than last time round 2.06. Considering the
whack on the head I'm not too disappointed. I broke out my emergency can of generic energy drink for race 4...
Race 4: Ready to right the wrongs of the previous attempts, I necked some of the energy speed juice (Rossi said it works so it must be true) and cruised down to the holding area.
With no throttle applied and the bike pinging off the limiter, I thought something might be a miss. Adding some slack to the throttle seemed to help and the bike briefly idled normally.
Waiting for the start I wasn't sure if it was a great idea to race with a sticking throttle, but I was already there and one of the marshalls gave me a reassuring 'it'll be alright' nod.
As I piled into the first turn on full gas, which was meant to be no gas, I thought I should have listened to myself. The KTM pinged its head off to a suitable resting place through the tapes.
DNF! Balls. That was my shot at getting it right. Race 3 had been pretty positive, despite the whack on the head, the track conditions were getting better through the day and I ended up getting sidelined by a sticky throttle.
Investigation is required in a hurry as the following weekend was to be the Fast Eddy XC at Stoneleigh where I'd try and put some of the lessons into practice.
Results were posted up on Enduronews.com the following day. To my surprise I was 7th overall. 11th in the first race, 10th in the second race, 10th in the third race (with head plant), 4th race DNF, but points for starting (bonus!). There was a reasonable attrition rate as a few people didn't complete all the races on the day (including me).
Some people only completed one race, others dropped out after two.
So with my first full meeting behind me I'm excited to get out again at the Fast Eddy XC for my first taste of that competition.
I'm anticipating it to be significantly different to the Enduro X, with a different type of terrain and a different mindset required
to ride for 2 hours turning in the laps, instead of a 15 min (relative) dash.
Below are some notes I made through the day. A learning brain dump that I'll try to digest before the next outing:
More positive throttle application required. More gas all the time. I need someone to compete against...
Feels frantic.
Downhill off camber corners? Where is your technique. Weight pegs, weight in the correct position.
Tricky downhills into ruts, look up, out of rut, not into it! Stand up, strong and forward.
Jump off bike, push and clutch to get going when stuck on sand hills.
Fitness is super critical!!!!! Cardio required. Any trainers available for this?
Enduroland is not real racing...
Arm pump is the main problem, aggression, put the bike where you want it to go, look where you want it to go.
A few notes on going racing with Fast Eddy
My first experience of racing with Fast Eddy was about as painless (in terms of organisation) as I could wish for.
I emailed Mandie Edmondson to enter the race and was given my race numbers. Any information I asked for was responded
to within 24 hours. It's possible to call as well.
On race day I arrived just outside the prescribed time for rider registration but there was no fuss. I was able to sign in
and receive my transponder (just my ACU licence for a deposit) within about 5 minutes.
All the races were announced by loudhailer, plus the current race category was shown on the live timing screen so
it was straightforward to work out when my next race was. Races were turned around super fast with minimal waiting around
and Fast Ed himself even helped me out when my throttle stuck open. A big double thumbs up to the Fast Eddy crew.
Sunday 22 January 2012
Into the fire...let's go racing
To be fair, fire is a little strong. It was more of a smouldering ember, but none the less, it came to pass, my first foray into off road
racing. For the past 18 months I have been thoroughly enjoying riding enduro bikes with like minded dirtbike fiends with only a hint of friendly rivalry sprinkled in the mix. However, due to a previous life of intermittent UK supersport club racing (600cc road bikes) and a general affinity for competition, it was always in the back of my mind that at some point I would take dirt bike play and turn it into a slightly more serious affair.
This was kicked into action at the slightly unexpected venue of an Enduroland event nestled above the M25 at Northaw, near Potters Bar. A significant number of Enduroista were in attendance so I imagine some of you reading this would have been as intrigued as I, when you saw the words 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' in amongst the events regulation info.
The concept was simple. As many riders as possible were gathered for a sighting lap of, what is normally, a point to point horse racing course to 'cut in' the course.The venue provided a super fast circuit with a mix of flowing corners and some stop and go hair pins, plus a grip laden semi-wooded section and some ditch jumps thrown in for good measure. Lap times were around the 8min region. Following the sighting lap was the opportunity to race a one lap sprint for £50. Everyone could check out the course at the same time, then race it out next lap round..
A cavalcade of riders set off to scope out the course and it reminded me somewhat of a road bike track day. There were some nerves, even at this stage, but you could see who ranked themselves as contenders for the hot lap crown as riders jostled to get near the front, check out some lines and understand the various obstacles.
I can admit to getting a little swept up in this and was soon nudging my way through the pack to get a look at the fast(er) boys and mark my intent to get in the mix. As we rode the course though, it was apparent that the ground was frozen solid. As each corner rolled by and acceleration was replaced by frantic wheelspin and tyres scrabbling for grip,I started to think that the going wasn't in great condition to race on. I plugged on, taking in the obstacles, with the words of the clerk of the course in the front of my mind, 'No easy routes are open, make sure you know where the obstacles are'.
A couple of guys got stuck in a ditch on the way round, the marshalls were helping them out, so I took the slightly more scenic easy route and tagged on the back of about 5 riders behind the quad mounted path finder.
Cruising up the final hill on the back of the group, I'm not sure about this at all. The course looks fun but is hyper-slippery in a jellied eel sort of fashion and I'm not sure I can remember the course, plus I don...then a chequered flag wielding guy shouts 'are you racing!!!?' Damn straight I'm racing, let's have it.
Staying calm on the start line is difficult when you have a hyperactive, CRF250R mounted, 14 year old loonbag revving his bike until it boils over. I tell him it's a dead engine start and he makes a face like someone jumped on his Wii-Box. Apparently they don't start so well when they're boiling hot...
So, I'm in amongst it. Lined up with a full on tape start with approx 30 riders, I have a glance around a see a range of machines. The start straight is pretty long, so I'm not hopeful about getting the little KTM 150XC I'm sporting into the first corner near the front. With this on my mind the start sequence begins. Fortunately this just involves not staring at a rotating duo of pit girls holding boards in hot pants and waiting for the flag to drop. I muster up my best race face (a bit like a mad face but faster) and wait for the flag....
Flag drops, KTM fires on it's first kick, whack it into first, fistful of throttle and a binary clutch
dump sees me away in to the first corner in sixth. I'm enjoying this already. Everyone is battling for traction, the 150 hooks up out of the second corner and I pip another rider into a tricky off camber left. Unfortunately a few of the guys put some extra effort into their race faces so a little gap opened between me in 5th and the leading four. Until the frozen ground bit back. Their enthusiasm earns two of them an epic double pirouette at a 90 degree right and I'm up to 3rd. They'd score high at dancing on ice though..
I cook up all the race beans I can muster to hang on to my position through some fast sweeping bends. The chase is on so I pin the 150 and try to keep some semblance of tidy technique. The gap to the leading pair stretched out at about halfway into the lap, then the frozen sighting ride comes back to bite me.
On full gas autopilot, I overshoot one of the hard route ditch jumps and have to take a meandering easy route to rejoin the track. This costs me about 5 places. I take some positions back with a couple of cheeky moves but come unstuck through a tight wood section, lacking the cojones to be super aggressive and force my way past a slower rider (it was only supposed to be for fun after all). I finally sneak past on the brakes into a tight hairpin and run full bore into the section of course comprised of ditch jumps in about 8th.
Cracking open my novice racers book of excuses (racer in the making edition) I found a page that reads 'the bulk of my riding has been in the Catalunyan Mountains surrounding Barcelona, this prepared me for rocky climbs and techy descents well, but slippery, sharp faced UK ditches were conspicuous by their absence' I'll use that.
I saw a guy jump the ditch on the sighting lap, so I unload full gas on the 150 with a sniff of clutch and pop over the ditch. All is good until I land, see how close I am to the approaching
hairpin, grab a monster paw of brake, tuck the front on the frozen floor and washout into the course tape. With race adrenaline engaged the bike is upright in a couple of nanoseconds, left hand guard and clutch lever take a bit longer to whack into position, then we're off again. I guess everyone else had been practicing ditch hopping as this little escapade pushed me back to 13th. I take another couple of places on the fast corners approaching the end of the lap and finish off 11th. Elated to have 'raced' and survived, annoyed about my mistakes, and shocked that I had so much fun in a one lap blast round a horse racing track.
The general consensus for the day was that the Enduroland 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' is a cool concept, well delivered. It was a success so I imagine it will be coming to an Enduroland event near you. Give it a shot if you want a little feel of what it's like to race, but without the pressure of big events.
The experience answered a few questions for me:
Do I want to compete in some more serious events? Yes, for sure.
Is offroad racing going to provide as much fun as circuit racing? From this snippet, I think so, but I kind of expected that. All the adrenaline with a fraction of the cost.
Can I expect to do OK? The level of competition wasn't as high as what I'd imagine you'd find at a Fast Eddy or WOR event, but I found some race attitude (need some more) and kept pushing after my mistakes. I can only improve from here. Results will tell the rest.
Is a mass start like being in a mechanical beehive? Yes...in a washing machine of adrenaline.
Do people get a bit loose in 'race' conditions and think they have never ending grip despite riding on ice? Yes, this is a scientific phenomenon known to racers as 'redus mistius', I have met this character before, no doubt he will show up again.
Am I going to be the next David Knight/Taddy Blazusiak? Signs point directly to 'no', but that doesn't stop it being great fun and allowing me to learn and improve as a rider.
Some others have arisen following the acceptance of the racing challenge:
What's the best club to race with?
What class do I enter?
Which events are the most fun?
Am I fit enough?
How much does this all cost?
Exactly how good are the other riders?
Exactly how good am I?
Is my kit good enough?
Well, I'm going to find out one way or another this season. I'll put my money where my mouth is and find out the answers.
So now the decision is made, what will I do?
At the moment there's a such a wide range of easily accessible events going on you could be out each weekend if you wanted to. This is fortunate as I need as much practice as I can get, but also makes for varied experiences. In the spirit of this I will be trying my hand at Enduro-X with Fast Eddy at Wildmoor Quarry, Junction 4 of the M5 motorway near Bromsgrove. I have applied for my ACU license online, I need a day licence for Fast Eddys and then I'm good to go.
As part of the blog I will be detailing my training and practice sessions, hopefully I'll be able to track improvements and make some progress. I'll need it as the, not significantly less short term goal, is to compete in the British Sprint Enduro Championship this years (from great pressure diamonds are made, or something like that...) So if anyone knows where I can buy some luck, let me know. I'll be in the garage, I need to get the bike ready...
Thanks to Dave Burton photography for standing in the cold all day taking pictures of the riders!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveburtonphotography/
www.enduroland.co.uk
To be fair, fire is a little strong. It was more of a smouldering ember, but none the less, it came to pass, my first foray into off road
racing. For the past 18 months I have been thoroughly enjoying riding enduro bikes with like minded dirtbike fiends with only a hint of friendly rivalry sprinkled in the mix. However, due to a previous life of intermittent UK supersport club racing (600cc road bikes) and a general affinity for competition, it was always in the back of my mind that at some point I would take dirt bike play and turn it into a slightly more serious affair.This was kicked into action at the slightly unexpected venue of an Enduroland event nestled above the M25 at Northaw, near Potters Bar. A significant number of Enduroista were in attendance so I imagine some of you reading this would have been as intrigued as I, when you saw the words 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' in amongst the events regulation info.
The concept was simple. As many riders as possible were gathered for a sighting lap of, what is normally, a point to point horse racing course to 'cut in' the course.The venue provided a super fast circuit with a mix of flowing corners and some stop and go hair pins, plus a grip laden semi-wooded section and some ditch jumps thrown in for good measure. Lap times were around the 8min region. Following the sighting lap was the opportunity to race a one lap sprint for £50. Everyone could check out the course at the same time, then race it out next lap round..
A cavalcade of riders set off to scope out the course and it reminded me somewhat of a road bike track day. There were some nerves, even at this stage, but you could see who ranked themselves as contenders for the hot lap crown as riders jostled to get near the front, check out some lines and understand the various obstacles.
I can admit to getting a little swept up in this and was soon nudging my way through the pack to get a look at the fast(er) boys and mark my intent to get in the mix. As we rode the course though, it was apparent that the ground was frozen solid. As each corner rolled by and acceleration was replaced by frantic wheelspin and tyres scrabbling for grip,I started to think that the going wasn't in great condition to race on. I plugged on, taking in the obstacles, with the words of the clerk of the course in the front of my mind, 'No easy routes are open, make sure you know where the obstacles are'.
A couple of guys got stuck in a ditch on the way round, the marshalls were helping them out, so I took the slightly more scenic easy route and tagged on the back of about 5 riders behind the quad mounted path finder.
Cruising up the final hill on the back of the group, I'm not sure about this at all. The course looks fun but is hyper-slippery in a jellied eel sort of fashion and I'm not sure I can remember the course, plus I don...then a chequered flag wielding guy shouts 'are you racing!!!?' Damn straight I'm racing, let's have it.
Staying calm on the start line is difficult when you have a hyperactive, CRF250R mounted, 14 year old loonbag revving his bike until it boils over. I tell him it's a dead engine start and he makes a face like someone jumped on his Wii-Box. Apparently they don't start so well when they're boiling hot...
So, I'm in amongst it. Lined up with a full on tape start with approx 30 riders, I have a glance around a see a range of machines. The start straight is pretty long, so I'm not hopeful about getting the little KTM 150XC I'm sporting into the first corner near the front. With this on my mind the start sequence begins. Fortunately this just involves not staring at a rotating duo of pit girls holding boards in hot pants and waiting for the flag to drop. I muster up my best race face (a bit like a mad face but faster) and wait for the flag....
Flag drops, KTM fires on it's first kick, whack it into first, fistful of throttle and a binary clutch
dump sees me away in to the first corner in sixth. I'm enjoying this already. Everyone is battling for traction, the 150 hooks up out of the second corner and I pip another rider into a tricky off camber left. Unfortunately a few of the guys put some extra effort into their race faces so a little gap opened between me in 5th and the leading four. Until the frozen ground bit back. Their enthusiasm earns two of them an epic double pirouette at a 90 degree right and I'm up to 3rd. They'd score high at dancing on ice though..I cook up all the race beans I can muster to hang on to my position through some fast sweeping bends. The chase is on so I pin the 150 and try to keep some semblance of tidy technique. The gap to the leading pair stretched out at about halfway into the lap, then the frozen sighting ride comes back to bite me.
On full gas autopilot, I overshoot one of the hard route ditch jumps and have to take a meandering easy route to rejoin the track. This costs me about 5 places. I take some positions back with a couple of cheeky moves but come unstuck through a tight wood section, lacking the cojones to be super aggressive and force my way past a slower rider (it was only supposed to be for fun after all). I finally sneak past on the brakes into a tight hairpin and run full bore into the section of course comprised of ditch jumps in about 8th.
Cracking open my novice racers book of excuses (racer in the making edition) I found a page that reads 'the bulk of my riding has been in the Catalunyan Mountains surrounding Barcelona, this prepared me for rocky climbs and techy descents well, but slippery, sharp faced UK ditches were conspicuous by their absence' I'll use that.
I saw a guy jump the ditch on the sighting lap, so I unload full gas on the 150 with a sniff of clutch and pop over the ditch. All is good until I land, see how close I am to the approaching
hairpin, grab a monster paw of brake, tuck the front on the frozen floor and washout into the course tape. With race adrenaline engaged the bike is upright in a couple of nanoseconds, left hand guard and clutch lever take a bit longer to whack into position, then we're off again. I guess everyone else had been practicing ditch hopping as this little escapade pushed me back to 13th. I take another couple of places on the fast corners approaching the end of the lap and finish off 11th. Elated to have 'raced' and survived, annoyed about my mistakes, and shocked that I had so much fun in a one lap blast round a horse racing track.The general consensus for the day was that the Enduroland 'Holeshot Hot Lap Race' is a cool concept, well delivered. It was a success so I imagine it will be coming to an Enduroland event near you. Give it a shot if you want a little feel of what it's like to race, but without the pressure of big events.
The experience answered a few questions for me:
Do I want to compete in some more serious events? Yes, for sure.
Is offroad racing going to provide as much fun as circuit racing? From this snippet, I think so, but I kind of expected that. All the adrenaline with a fraction of the cost.
Can I expect to do OK? The level of competition wasn't as high as what I'd imagine you'd find at a Fast Eddy or WOR event, but I found some race attitude (need some more) and kept pushing after my mistakes. I can only improve from here. Results will tell the rest.
Is a mass start like being in a mechanical beehive? Yes...in a washing machine of adrenaline.
Do people get a bit loose in 'race' conditions and think they have never ending grip despite riding on ice? Yes, this is a scientific phenomenon known to racers as 'redus mistius', I have met this character before, no doubt he will show up again.
Am I going to be the next David Knight/Taddy Blazusiak? Signs point directly to 'no', but that doesn't stop it being great fun and allowing me to learn and improve as a rider.
Some others have arisen following the acceptance of the racing challenge:
What's the best club to race with?
What class do I enter?
Which events are the most fun?
Am I fit enough?
How much does this all cost?
Exactly how good are the other riders?
Exactly how good am I?
Is my kit good enough?
Well, I'm going to find out one way or another this season. I'll put my money where my mouth is and find out the answers.
So now the decision is made, what will I do?
At the moment there's a such a wide range of easily accessible events going on you could be out each weekend if you wanted to. This is fortunate as I need as much practice as I can get, but also makes for varied experiences. In the spirit of this I will be trying my hand at Enduro-X with Fast Eddy at Wildmoor Quarry, Junction 4 of the M5 motorway near Bromsgrove. I have applied for my ACU license online, I need a day licence for Fast Eddys and then I'm good to go.
As part of the blog I will be detailing my training and practice sessions, hopefully I'll be able to track improvements and make some progress. I'll need it as the, not significantly less short term goal, is to compete in the British Sprint Enduro Championship this years (from great pressure diamonds are made, or something like that...) So if anyone knows where I can buy some luck, let me know. I'll be in the garage, I need to get the bike ready...
Thanks to Dave Burton photography for standing in the cold all day taking pictures of the riders!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveburtonphotography/
www.enduroland.co.uk
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