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Other: gasgas motos uk, cross country round2-tyfos estate
Wind Direction: n/a
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Surf / Sea State: n/a
Air Temperature: coll
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Weather: fair with drizzle

10 hours of rain before the race could only mean one thing......i arrived at about 10.30am to see vehicles being towed into the parking area, fortunately the old disco did'nt need any assistance and i managed to slide my way into a nice parking place where i waited for col, graham, stevebus and the other steve to arrive..after chatting to two guys that had just dropped out of the morning race, i almost quit before i had unloaded my bike off the trailer.neither of them had managed 1 lap..utter carnage and chaos as they described it...pointing towards a line of what looked like steam coming out of the trees up on the hillside."everyone is stuck there they explained"...1 of them was stuck in the bottle neck for over 30 mins waiting for a chance to attack the hill that was strewn with casulties, blocking the best lines....as people were attempting it, they were falling off and causing even more blockage..eventually after trying to by-pass the hill, they were disqualified!!!and not being allowed past the race control point were forced to retire without completing and a lap....this did'nt sound good for the afternoon race and mild panic was starting to set in. eventually the others arrived and were towed into the parking area with the tractor...this track had been set out days earlier in dry weather with no rain forecast for race day..in truth.we did'nt have a clue what lay in store for us.......we did'nt even know that we would be racing 4 times world enduro champion paul "fast eddy " edmondson.maybe racing is the wrong term..but we were on the track with some of the best enduro riders on the planet......(hmmm .who's idea was this.?..) and other extreme enduro specilalists that regularly compete at international level......basically we were going to be moving obstacles to these guys...as we made our way to the start line i was starting to feel quite confident as there were only 4 people in my class...this was my best chance at a win, at worst 4th. ...that was until i discovered i had non other than gary rothwell..(stunt rider) next to me on the start on a shiny new ktm530. ok, so maybe i won't win. ......there was approximately 150 bikes in the start area split into the various classes. pros up front, expert ,sportsman, clubman, over 35a and then the hobby group, which i was in.
dead engine start, with groups being released at 30 second intervals.....col, graham, stevebus and the other streve went 30 seconds before my group..i got the holeshot and seeing as i was in front of mr rothwell at the first turn.i went for it.just until were out of sight of the small crowd of spectators...i came out of the field onto the fireroad and was aware that a big ktm was closing up behind me....there was a long way to go and i did'nt even attempt to stay with him..the track made it's way across moorland, the wounded and stricken were already littering the track, becoming spectaors less tham 10 minutes into the race....i tried to be as carefull as possible, a fall would be costly. up ahead i noticed graham restarting his bike.he'd obviously had a problem..he was less than 1/4 mile ahead and he was now in my sights.i seemed to be closing the gap on him, but the going was tough if not very interesting with track weaving it's way around some car sized boulders that looked as though they had'nt moved in a while, hitting one would be less than ideal. eventualy i caught graham who was having a hell of a time..slipping and sliding all over the place.(so was i, but slightly less than graham. )..we were riding this track blind without any idea of what lay ahead...just follwing the markers and tape..we entered the woods from hell for the first time...oh dear..things were getting worse, and by this time we were getting caught by the pros..as if looking where you were going was'nt hard enough without having to worry about they guys racing for the money. we eventually cleared the woods...there was a short fire road break before my nemesis would apear..it came out of nowhere. no warning, no sign. it was just there. we approached the hill with it being unsighted...maybe it was visible for anyone looking ahead, i came over and up a deep rutted bank before i saw where the track was going. i had about 5 yards to decide what i was going to do..i immiediately saw 2 lines going up....the climb was slightly off cambered and bending to the right and steep enough to need a run with rocks at the top and few roots half way up..and it was wet!!!...i started to spin out about half way up hit a rock and fell off.....in the middle of the best line up.....(balls).by the time i had dragged my bike around and got myself to the bottom for a 2nd attempt i was so tired it took about 15 mins to recover before i could try again..graham made it up and that was the last i saw if him for a while...it was'nt a nice feeling attacking that hill for the 2nd time.i was sure i was'nt going to make it......fortunately i managed to get myself up and over the top with a massive sigh of relief and wondering to myself "did i really want to try that again"...after riding for a while and getting extremely tired i stopped for a drink,where i bumped into col who was looking extremely hot and bothered..he explained that he parted company with his bike 4 times on the 1st lap..he was now on his 2nd, i was still on my 1st..eventually graham, stevebus and the other steve showed and we al rode together to the pits to take a break.by the time we made it to the pits i was having serious doubts about completing another lap and so were they..this was painfully hard and dangerous....as we were getting our breath back. 4 times world enduro champion fast eddy pulled into the pits to refuel.he did'nt even get off his bike....we eventually ventured back out for another lap........i'm not sure any of us really wanted to...this was just like the first lap only worse. it was now raining and we were very tired....the whole pack of had spread out so bikes were coming past all over the place even though the lap was 7 miles long......as we approached the hill of doom....i should have been prepared after what had happened on the first lap...almost exactly the same thing.....dropped the bike halfway up...it was very hard work getting the bike turned around on the hill and getting it upright again...another recovery break was needed before i was able to attempt it again...i was dreading it.another fall and would'nt have the energy to pick the bike up.....luckily i made it on my 2nd attempt. by now i had decided that i would retire after this lap, if i could make it back. but my woes were'nt over and i was going to have to pick the bike up from the mud several more times before i could get off this damn hill side....i managed to fall of next to a tree with the bike getting wedged against the trunk..so i could'nt pick the bike up..it took about 10 mins of heaving and pulling to free the bike....(as if i was'nt already tired). the pros were'nt having to do this!!!...i came out of the woods again and approached a shallow climb across a very muddy cambered field. the target was a gate about 500 yards ahead..getting there was another matter....i almost made it........the bike started to veer to the right in a diagonal sort of fashion, going anywhere but towards the gate where i needed to go..so near, yet so far. i missed the gate and started on my way back down the hill again......i finally completed my 2nd lap and made it to the pit area where i saw that others had taken their stuff and had obviously retired..i rode through the control point to claim my 2nd lap and retired too..given the extreme conditions i am happy that i was at least able to ride the course and get the bike back in 1 piece. it's got to have 5 stars because everything except the weather went to plan and we were able to test ourselves to the max...and at the same time get to see close up how it should be done by some of the best riders in the world. (where else can you pay 45 quid and turn up try that).i must add that we did'nt know that they were going to be there..and i suppose they did'nt know that we would either. ..the guy that came 2nd, earlier in the year beat last years paris dakar winner cyril despris and regards david knight as his fiercest competion...(col knows about him now though). we;'ve all decided to go back to the drawing board and enter some lower level events, as it will be better value for money and also we won't be getting in everybodies way. ..then we'll be back!

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