Rally du Maroc Etage 5

Or day 5 to you and me   A quick update whilst our bikes get refueled and washed at the Total garage in Zagora that has a garden and Wifi! (only place I can get my phone online!). Another good day today! (And possibly another stage win in our class!) and much shorter and easier than yesterdays ‘Sea of Dunes’…   Paul and Toby at the top of a dune (with cover over phone lens!)     Yesterday we had a crazy 4.30am rise for the day in the dunes. 320km with nearly 100km liason (ride to/from the start/finish) made for a long tough day. The course was 2 laps of mostly sandy tracks, small dunes and big dunes. Toby and I caught Paul in the dunes as we rode through, Toby’s navigation frame broke at the mounts so we had to use zip ties to make a quick repair (that will probably last the week), The big dunes weren’t too bad once we found a rythm but we all dropped or crashed at some points or just plowed into soft sand and got stuck up to the axles in seconds!   Quick Guide to Dune Riding: There’s a skill in riding the dunes that we honed by gunning the bikes at an angle up the dunes so as not to approach the crest head on as the other side is unknown and can be a drop-off. It’s a balancing act as you need enough speed to make it to the top (in soft sand), if you fall even a few feet short and run out of speed and power you won’t make the top, it’s impossible to push up hill in sinking sand so you have to turn around accelerate downhill (to stop the front sinking in and going over the bars!) and have another run at it. It’s not easy and Toby came over one dune a bit quick and went over the bars the overside and landed badly on the shoulder he crashed on a month before. I stopped on the other side of the bowl at the top (never stop at the bottom of a dune bowl) and saw him in agony at the bottom. The NPO Rally helicopter was overhead filming the action and I was waving at them for help fearing that Toby had broken something when the bikes proximity alarms starting going off warning us that something was coming just as a car crested the dune and narrowly passed us. I helped Toby who recovered well (his shoulder popped out and then back in again!) and like a true trooper was able to carry on. Whilst signalling to the helicopter that we were OK, the proximity alarm bleeping, Toby’s iphone was ringing and the Iritrack tracking device started saying “Bonjour!” as someone was trying to contact us to see if we were OK (atleast we weren’t short of company in the middle of the desert!)   The rest of the lap was OK and we were OK within our time limit this time (unlike day 2) so we could do the 2nd lap. The second lap was harder as we were tired and the tracks a lot more churned up and soft from the cars and trucks, but the navigation was easier. One section that Toby and I really enjoyed was about 20km through a dried sandy river bed. The sand was firm (if you didn’t follow any tracks) and it was a twisty undulating (sometimes jumpy) course that you could do most of at full whack around 90 to 110kph in the sand creating your own tracks and lines. I was whooping in my helmet as we carved up the course and raced another quad through the turns! AWESOME! It was just like a computer racing game (but without power-ups and more consequences if you crash )   Today we had a more reasonable start and we were out for about 4.5hrs in a mixture of rocky and stony mountain passes with sheer drops (which tends to improve concentration on riding!) to gravel tracks with dry river bed crossings (which are more like trying to ride over boulder fields!). The day went well and apart from a few spills and low speed drops was thankfully not too eventful. We kept up a good pace and had minimal stops at checkpoints to refuel. (We also nticed a few other Enduro Cup guys having problems and turning back for fuel so are hopefull of a good result today!)   (Note on Enduro Cup – Toby and I are in the Enduro Cup Class which follows the same course and everything else as the Production or Super Production Classes that the professionals are in but simply has more fuel stops to allow you to use a normal Enduro bike (and tank size) with the extra navigation gear added. You don’t look as cool as thr riders on their ‘proper’ rally bikes (with the extra large tanks in the long fairings) and their bikes a bigger, faster and better, but our bikes are smaller and lighter but we loose time filling up 2 or 3 times more than them around the course.   We finished by 1pm so after a quick dip in the pool it’s time to get the bikes sorted, do our roadbooks and prepare for tomorrow – the final day! Tomorrow is all in the dunes :-{ 4 laps with minimal navigation (GPS directions unlocked?) so track me on the Iritrack website (see link in the post below) and see how we get on!     Cheers Jago!

Morocco Rally Update….

Hi All

I’ll keep this brief as unfortunately I don’t have the internet access I was expecting throughout the week (the ‘organisation’ has now password protected it and we have to troop up to another hotel!) – Basically we have just finished day 3 with stonking results!

Also if you want to to see me racing alongside (all right several hours behind!) world champions Cyril Despres and Marc Coma in real time check out this link:
http:vulcain.iritrack.net/tdcom/eviewer/shamrock2010
(click on Moto and tick my race number 207 to see where I am!)

It’s been a hectic week or two since I decided to go for the Morroco Rally at the last minute and the pace has been even more frantic since arriving!

After 14 hours travelling on Friday (including an 8 hour taxi ride), and then prepping and sorting out the bikes on Saturday.  On Sunday we had a full day of admin checks (all our documentation, licenses paperwork etc) which mostly consisted of paying large amounts of money out! Followed by a timed session to fit all the GPS, Satellite comms and navigation gear we had just bought or hired to our bikes and then present our bikes for scrutineering checks. We then had Navigation and safety talks to attend before getting our ‘roadbooks’ (navigation icons on long scrolls of paper used to navigate like orienteering) marked up and fitted – We were finally done in time for the official dinner and race briefing at 8.30pm!

 

Cyril Depres (World Champion) bike gets inspected at Scrutineering

 

 

Day 1 – was a 6 hour long race with a very varied course with a bit of everything – stony tracks, sand dunes, gravel and river beds etc. Toby and I planned to race together and worked well (especially when my navigation gear packed up – my ICO or mileometer packed up which makes navigation very difficult!) We did OK for our first day and made it back in our allotted time.

 

The Pilots Instruments - (from Top: ICO, Balise ditress alarm, Roadbook and GPS (on top of the Iritrack gps tracker)

 

 

Day 2 – through the dunes! This was a harder day both in terms of riding and navigation. We were due to do 2 laps of 130km, we also picked up Paul (another Desert Rose rider) along the way and ended up as all riding together, but didn’t make it back to the end of the first lap in time. After 4 hours we were 2 minutes over and they wouldn’t let us out again which meant we incurred a 5 hour time penalty overall. But we made the most of the afternoon spare!

Day 3 – Ideal conditions (some rain overnight so less dust, cloudy so not so hot and a bit of wind) Very fast tracks that were mostly well defined so navigation wasn’t a problem and Toby and I were on it only stopping once outside our scheduled checkpoint and refueling stops. As a result we had a blast of a day topping out at 145kph across a chod/dry lake bed and hitting some brilliant tracks. We also managed to win our class for the day! Check out the results at the NPO tracking webpage (Although I started first and finished first today, Toby and I will be swapping places as we take turns starting and leading through out the week and today he took the win but we’re effectively riding together – honest! )

 

So today was great and we’ll see how we do tomorrow! For Fuller reports see Toby’s Site and I’ll try and update you before the end of the week with a fuller report and action photos to follow!

Cheers all

Jago

Jago Takes a Ribbing in Wales

Hi Dakar24 followers

Have I got some news for you! Not one but two rallies to update you on and the second is live as you read this! (If you’re reading this on Monday morning at least, besides ‘nearly live’ doesn’t have the same ring! )

I haven’t been biking since August so have been off my target of ‘at least’ one event a month, but with good reason as my last -the 2 day Brecon Beacons Rally, was a cracking event if you exscuse the pun!

But let’s reverse a bit, as some of you may know, August was due to be a busy month due to a mid week evening ‘planning session’ early in August with Toby, Patsy and Clive of Desert Rose Racing at their headquarters (Patsy’s house!) Which resulted in a packed plan of events (as well as a nice meal and tales of their previous evening entertaining friend and near neighbor Roger Daltry from The Who!). In order to step up our Dakar training we planned the following:

• Brecon Beacons 2 day Rally on the 14th/15th in Llandovery Wales
• The solo 24hr Dawn to Dusk on the 28th at Walters Arena (the ‘BMW’ Off road training school ground, North of Neath)
• Toby would then do a week’s training in Morocco in September and then do the 5 day Morocco Rally in October.
• I would try and do the 10 day Heroes Legend Rally (original Paris to Dakar route) in October, pending finances and the sale of our flat…

So lots of riding planned which lead us to another trip in Toby’s truck up the M4 late on a Friday night to find the Desert Rose Racing crew camp set up in a wet and rainy Rugby club (well this was Wales so a dry football club would never do!) Patsy and Clive had some pop up awening/gazebos up though so after sitting around chatting for half an hour it was off to our sleeping bags in our individual pop up tents.

 

 

Team Desert Rose Breacon Rally Camp

The next day (after struggling to get dressed in a coffin like 2 ‘person’ tent – calling it 2 ‘man’ tent would be generous!) and a welcome full fry up in the team Desert Rose field kitchen we kitted up and the Desert Rose Team rode out about 12 strong! Up to the rally start (with Clive taking the truck and a gazebo to provide pit assistance).

Pics here.

Day 1 was tough enough with the weather but the rain was mercifully not too heavy (more the usual constant Welsh drizzle) and the course was great with 2 well paced ‘special test’ which were only timed after the first lap. As it turned out the timecards (the set times you’re meant to start and complete each section) weren’t being rigidly enforced so although the specials were timed, you could go at your own pace and not worry too much about the sections between.

I had several falls and a few high speed slide outs on the special test fire track gravel roads but I felt pretty good and kept pushing hard to finish the day strong with lower overall lap times despite my special test times still suffering from crashes!

That night we all adjourned to the rugby club for a hog roast and a pub quiz in which we managed to win a couple of rounds!

The next day was drier and faster! The course was also reversed and we were joined by some more one day riders (some on vintage machines). I saw Tamsin Jones (2010 Dakar finisher) with her Dakar bike. She was there to join one of her sponsors around the course (a septargenarian who rode her big rally bike!) I was having a good day and feeling fit and fast and wanted to push for a good result. On the last lap I lined up with Tamsin (on the smaller enduro bike whilst her sponsor was off on the rally bike) we said hi and that we’d go off for the last lap together.

I though ‘this might be interesting’! As Tamsin is a Dakar vet and a BMW Off Road Skills instructor so she’s not only fast but knows what she’s doing! We started off at a quick rate and I followed Tamsin and hit some slower traffic that we overtook, one of whom later overtook us again as we came to a bunch going quite quickly but not at our (or at least my!j pumped-up-last-lap pace, but they were more tricky to pass on the narrowish track. Tamsin was jockeying for position looking for a gap. I didn’t want to push past but the gaps were slim and the track we were on wouldn’t last for too long before we’d be in tighter woods sections again and stuck behind for a long time. So I took a creative line off the track (burning up the grass verge/ditch )to overtake 3 or 4 ikes and pull into the clear to chase the other guy already gone.

Tamsin got past and I was now catching up and battling the other guy who I recognised as someone I had overtaken and swapped positions with on this part of the course during previous laps. Eventually I let him go and waited for Tamsin who told me he was another BMW ORS instructor!

I was really enjoying the ride with a good fast pace and the fun of riding together, swapping between leading and following is much better than riding alone. Tamsin also asked why I didn’t go for the next Dakar as I was fast enough! So that made my day

But after overtaking 2 bikes and chasing Tamsin just before the first special test I got cross rutted (front wheel in 1 rut + back wheel in another = stack!) Thrown down hard I was a bit winded (and probably more bruised or injured than I realised). It turned out I had just overtaken Vince (Dakar24 subscriber and Desert Rose’s Special Attache) and another guy who pulled up asking if I was OK. Not pausing, I jumped straight up with a “That’s what I get for trying to keep up with Tamsin!” comment. Tamsin was half a minute away at the start of the special test. She and Vince went before me and I went tearing off in my minute time slot trying to catch them. As I was behind they didn’t see me go down hard on the same side as I just crashed on a few minutes ago. There was no jumping straight back up this time though – I knew I was hurt as I felt liquid seeping around my back and side and wondered if I was bleeding externally or internally……

Until I realised the cap had come off my camelbak water container and I was loosing precious drink! I then tried to jump up and had a soaring pain in my ribs and sides and knew I had probably cracked or broken them. Trying to lift the bike up was a killer but I wanted to finish the lap and the rally as it had been going well up until then. But riding was a big (and painful) effort now and I could forget about a good time on this test at least so I cruised to the end where Tamsin and Vince were waiting and before heading off to the next special.

At the next special test Tamsin let me go first and told me to go for it, So roaring with pain over the bumps and evertime I jolted, stood up or sat down! (Pretty much all the time off road) I was determined to give it some, for the 6 or 7 minutes on the special test but was screaming into my helmet at certain points! I did well considering my condition and the fact I briefly went the wrong way and dropped the bike turning around – AAAaargh – literally and figuratively) but I got to the end of the special.

After the special I limped back to finish the lap and took it nice and slow helping Tamsin escort her sponsor back. I even had to turn down a ride on her Dakar bike as I was afraid I’d drop it because of the pain and being only just able to ride my smaller lightdr and more familiar bike.

The rest of the afternoon and evening was a struggle – I managed a shower back at camp but was little use packing up. Toby gave me (and Alaistair) a lift back to battersea and I got a taxi home around 11.30pm.

The next week was painful in more ways than one as I was alaso due to do the 24hr Dawn to Dusk two weeks after the Brecon. For one moment (through the haze of pain killers probably) I thought I was improving fast enought to do it. But the small injuries unit confirmed they were broken or fractured (they don’t even X-ray now as it doesn’t help) and movement (especially sudden movements and jolts like those you get riding) remained painful for a few weeks so I had to give the D2D a miss . Toby, Patsy and Zippy did very well though all being top 5 finishers so congrats to them!

So the last couple of months or so I have been off the bike and off the exercise as I couldn’t even bike to work (although I did start again in October and got a few runs in too). But the time has been productive as I joined Lucy on an extreme (for me) diet. It’s a low calorie diet with sachets and shakes and an evening meal etc. But we’ve both done quiet well in about 5 weeks Lucy lost about a stone and I lost a stone and a half!

All of which is handy as I jumped to get a last minute place on the Maroc Rally!! The original plan of the Heroes Legend Paris Dakar Rally didn’t come off as it’s too expensive but I managed to scrap enough for a last minute place (signed up on the final day) on the Maroc Rally! So I’m actually this from in the palm tree shade of a hotel terrace in Zagora in South East Morocco (about an 8hour drive from Marrakesh).

Toby and I flew out yesterday and arrived at midnight after the long car drive (450km of mountain roads for 8 hours in a taxi for €225!) We have spent today sorting out the bikes that Martin and Colin our Team Desert Rose mechanics trailored out this week. There are 5 of us on the team and we start the circus/pandemonium that is registration tomorrow, before the rally racing begins on Monday. So from Monday log on to www.npo.fr click the Maroc Rally (Oil d’Libya) link then the Union Jack for English and you should find a link (it’s usually only posted once the race starts) to track me on line in real time as I race across the desert!

I’ll try and blog a few times this week so look out for some short twitteresque like updates…

Thanks and have a good week (I know I will!)

Pics from Brecaon Beacons Rally below…

Team Talk from the manager

 

Brecon Beacons start line

 

Some of the guys on the team

 

Tamsin on her Dakar bike with her sponsor Charles

 

26th & 27th of June Irish Enduro Championship Round

The first Enduro!   

Our trip begins several weeks earlier when Dakar Vet (and DakarRally24 subscriber!) Philip Noone invited us over to do a ‘proper’ enduro that he was competing in, which was organised by Trail Off Road Club - TORC ar Mt Leistner, Bunclody, County Wexford, Ireland. I rode with Philip in the 2008 Maroc Rally (he’s a sound guy who did the 2009 Dakar  with Team Desert Rose and then went back to finish the job this year with Tamsin Jones) and he was great helping us out with arrangments, entries and even got a deal on the hotel room!  

Leaving Tobys Cottage next stop Ireland

 

Toby and I left London on Friday night and stayed over at Toby’s place in Bibury before heading off about 9am Saturday to get the ferry from Fishguard, West Wales.  

Fishguard Rosslare Ferry

 

It was a lovely day – sunny and a calm crossing.  

"I am Sailing" - The album cover

 

We managed to get Toby’s truck parked out of the way with the bikes locked to together on the back. We met Philip who rocked up a Guiness or two later and after a bit of Blue Peter number plate making to get Toby and I legal(ish), we spend the night gathering Dakar tips and tricks from Philip (e.g. extra support crews never a bad idea!) and getting the heads up for our first enduro!  

Yup, although Toby and I have done quite a few ‘Hare and Hounds’ we hadn’t done a proper Enduro. Hare and Hounds is a simple 2.5 to 3.5hr race around a marked circuit of a few miles taking between 10 and 20 minutes per lap. Usually with (fun!) mass starts the riding is usually fairly technical and challenging with busy racing but a simple aim of doing as many laps as possible.  Enduros are more like rallies in that they are over much longer times and distances (up to 30 miles and can be lapped or not), the course isn’t as obvious (but doesn’t require maps or navigation like rallies) with a mix of fire break tracks, single track and some technical/tough bits.    

But the big difference is the timed element and staggered starts. The field is started in pairs and given a set target time to get to the first ‘test’, then a time to get to the second test and so on with 2 or 3 tests per lap and overall lap target time.  Each test  is timed and goes towards the overall results in addition you have to meet your set times, if your late for one you need to adjust the remaining times accordingly and if you become too late you may ‘time out’ and be disqualified. With penalty points, fuel stops and other things to figure out it’s more tactical, more of a thinking mans off road race.    

Philip and Toby, fresh at the start after registration.

 

The next day we got to the start and registered and filled in our time cards with our target times etc.  We had 3 laps in the clubman class with two sections per lap with the second section getting shorter per lap. Philip set off just in the senior class just before Toby and I in the Clubman class. The course was a fairly hard across forestry commission land and a lot of forest tracks, fire breaks and single tracks up and down the mountain with some tricky but not unrideable bits (thankfully it was mostly dry otherwise it would have been a completely different story!)   

We rode most of the first lap together but Toby was having a tough time with clutch problems (and I found out later that he had lost the valve on his camelbak drink which makes it a lot tougher!) We made the first check point in plenty of time. Waited for our next start time and then set off for the second half, but you don’t know if how long or tough the section will be so it’s very difficult to pace and I think we had a false sense of security from making the first check early as the second section was harder and longer. I wanted to push on and make our lap time but wanted to help Toby as well.. In the end I left Toby as he wanted to go at an easier pace  but I left too late 10 minutes before the end of our time and finished the lap 10 minutes late.  

The next lap I managed to get in on time which I was pleased about but the last lap I had  big ‘off’ on the second timed section.  I was making good time down a particularly debris laden track (logs and bits of tree everywhere!) until one log/stick lanced my bike stopped me dead and sent me straight over the bars. That’s not unusual in my races as I tend to crash a lot but it was the first time I had been properly concussed!  

I tried to get up and everything was seriously out of focus! I felt like a cartoon character with stars whizzing round my head. Luckily someone helped me up, I sat down for a few minutes as I had also hurt my wrist and had to get myself together before setting off.  The last lap was hard and seemed to last a long time, especially as I could see my end time drawing ever nearer and now knew the course a bit more and new I had to push hard! I finished the last lap about 15 minutes over and was pretty whacked! I think my total time was just over 5 hours and when I got back to the truck Philip was already back after 4 laps!!  

But I was quite happy with my effort for my first enduro – I think I could have made the first lap time if Toby hadn’t had problems, I made the second and only just missed the third with a big off and my fitness was up to the job (but could be better – as always!)   

Toby happy after 6 hours of hard enduro!

 

Toby rocked up a while later -knackered but pleased he finished!  

We then went back to the hotel where we waved off Philip and Toby and I got cleaned up and enjoyed the spa facilities! (If only all enduros where topped off with a hot tub and sauna!) We had a bite to eat and then headed off to catch the 9pm ferry. Toby wisely booked us a cabin and we got our head down for a couple of hours before landing in Wales at 12.30pm facing a 5 hour drive back to London and work the next day!  Toby and I shared the driving and after the ferry congestion all the way through Pembrokeshire and Carmarthen to the M4 it was pretty clear until London which arrived at dawn.  

Just as we were approaching the M25 we had one more high octane experience – we were in the outside lane just moving over to the middle doing about 90mph when we were overtaken like we were standing still on the inside by a grey Aston Martin. No sooner had we seen it than two more went past us on the outside before screaming off in tight formation! We reckoned they were doing about 140 at least!   

We got back at a more reasonable pace about 5.30am to finish a great weekend (and had a quiet day at work the next day! )  

A big thanks to Philip who was a great host and made us very welcome, taught us the ropes and made it a special weekend! (He even sent us our finishers medals even though I’m not sure we appear on the results list!). So thanks Philip!   

Cheers also to Toby for his truck, doing most of the driving and putting me up on Friday!

Family Fun on the Farm

SUMMER IS HERE!

And the football is over (for England anyway ) so it’s down to the tennis and enduro where Britain has existing world champions in the form of David Knight who’s on his way to do it again this year!

The last few weeks have been lovely in the UK and I think it started when we had a half term holiday/training camp at Wheeldon Farm in Devon in the first week of June. We had a great family holiday in the Devon countryside, with the kids enjoying the usual holiday fun like swimming, playing on the beach and racing round on dirtbikes!

Wheeldon Farm Adventure Cottages (about 20mins from Totnes) are a collection of 4 or 5 converted farm buildings nicely done into self-contained cottages around a grassed courtyard.

Great facilities at Wheeldon Farm...

There’s entertainment for the kids with a playroom, little footie pitch, commando zip wire and an indoor swimming pool! But the icing on the cake (and no small reason for booking ) Is that Wheeldon Farm is also Wheeldon Suzuki Off Road Training School with an indoor motocross track and off-road training for adults and kids!

 

That’s right – an indoor motocross track! OK, it’s designed for beginners so it’s no supercross track, it’s pretty compact and looks looks like a farm building from the outside (wonder why?!). But at about 16000 sqft it has everything you need with flat and bermed turns, whoops and (small) jumps and doubles. Certainly enough to practice various techniques and knacker you out after 15minutes.

Weather proof motocross!

Under the same roof there’s also a small starter track for kids. Wheeldon do kids motocross courses from 7 years old upwards and if you stay at the cottages you get a free trail lesson.

We had been here about 5 years ago with my dad and brother Kirk and his family. The three of us had a weekend training course. We had a lot of fun starting off with the basics on a field before progressing to the track and then trail riding on Sunday. We all had ‘offs’, but my dad had the worst – getting cross rutted down a tight trail and going over the bars. He did his ribs in and had to retire early. But at 64 years old with no dirtbike experience he was a star!

That holiday was the second step that led me here and on the mission to Dakar. The first was the awesome 30th birthday present my lovely wife Lucy got me – a 10 day BMW off road experience tour of New Zealand’s South Island (with Lucy also secretly training & taking her motorbike licence so she could ride!) That trip with the amazing scenery and adventure riding re-awoke my dirtbike and Dakar dreams. So I did a few courses (including Wheeldon) before I started racing in 2007 with Martin Chappell through his AJP Enduro Experience Days.

 

N-eeee-way, back to the point we knew Wheeldon would suit us all well – some nice accommodation and the kids could amuse themselves or we’d go swimming and I could get some bike time and tuition on the track

 

So after an all day drive (with a couple of stops at Glastonbury Tor and Pizza Hut!) We arrived on Saturday night. Exploring the next day saw the kids running/racing around the track on imaginary bikes to Brrmmm Brrrmm sounds!

The kids ready to ride

Sunday we spent exploring the farm and local area with a trip out locally but on Monday the kids wanted to ride! Jed was a little small as he couldn’t get his feet down on the mini bikes,  although they are small they are wider than expected (I might look into getting the kids a mini Osett electric trial bike but that’s another post!). So it was left to Teagan to fly the mini Pickering flag! She got kitted up like a cyborg and headed to the mini track where another family were also being introduced to dirt biking. Kirk (not my brother this time) his wife Tanya and their teenage son. Kirk had was a road rider (and racer) and had done some off roading but hadn’t been properly taught and Tanya and their son were on the mini track finding their feet!

Ready for action!

Teagan did fabulously from her first wobbles to quickly getting confident and quite impressed Andrew Savery who runs the centre and coaches the riders. She got the hang of the little track and soon progressed to the big track over the whoops and bumps! In fact the one thing Andrew had to tell her was to slow down! She forgot that she should also stop as well as go, she came into a few corners a bit quick and couldn’t make the turns so rode up the banks and dropped the bike a few times! No drama and no tears so no biggy and overall she was excellent (even without the ‘proud dad’ hat on!)

Round of applause for Teagan!

Teagan setting a new lap record? !

She rode for about 40 minutes then decided that was enough (done that – next!) she hasn’t been begging me to get her a bike since so I’m not sure if she’s a convert but she enjoyed it and showed she could do it (she probably thinks ‘I don’t know what dad  makes all this fuss about!’)

That evening I also got some track time and some one to one tuition with Andrew which as great – he gave me loads of pointers to and a few things to concentrate on lap after lap such as how to seat bump over certain jumps to compress the suspension on the jump and give you extra lift off the top of it and which corners to sit or stand for etc. I was doing 10-15 minute sessions full on then stopping for a breather and a debrief for 10minutes before repeating and after 3 or 4 round of this I was whacked!

The jumps weren't big but in true motocross style immediately after turns!

 

Jed, Teagan and Tate at work

 

On Tuesday and the rest of the week were out and about in the Devon country side, we went into Totnes, found nice pubs and went to some good beaches! We tried to meet up with my mate Jim in Salcombe a few times but couldn’t manage it for various reasons but we managed to get Andrew’s son to babysit (very good service!) a couple of times so Lucy and I also got out for a couple of meals together (Crab Shack! for fresh lobster and crab!) which was good.

 

 

Jago on the trail at Wheeldon

 

On Wednesday afternoon after a nice morning at the beach I went out trail riding with Andrew, Kirk and another guy Adrian who was a regular yearly visitor to Wheeldon but didn’t off-road in between. We were out on the new Suzuki RMX450Zs which I found to be very good (probably because they are very similar to my KTM4oo exc and an excellent tool for the green lanes and trails around Devon. The routes were a bit tame for me, Andrew was surprised (and disappointed) that some had actually been graded and maintained by the council (taking all the fun out of them!) But I really enjoyed the afternoon as it was just nice to be out in great weather and getting some bike time in and it didn’t stop me having a little close encounter with the grass when I was admiring the view too much! I know Adrian and Kirk found it challenging enough and as the novice Kirk did very well especially as no one wobbled or dropped it in the famous ford crossing in front a pub garden full of onlookers!

Thursday and Friday we were out beaching it and playing again,  but I managed to squeeze in one more track session with Andrew (concentrating on brake turns and and bermed corners!) on Friday evening. It was another good session and I got a lot out of it.

Super fast (camera movement - not me!)

It’s inspired me to get more motocross track time in and Andrew recommended a track/practise day at a motocross track as well so I may see if I can get the time (from somewhere!). So it was a good fun packed adventure week which didn’t stop there, as late that night Lucy and I were watching a film/snoozing on the sofa when a van drove past the cottage (bearing in mind this is an isolated Devon farm with no through traffic!) 20 minutes later there as a semi regular thumping sound coming from the barns…. Wondering if someone was trying to break in I went up to the barns and found at the back of the mini track an enclosed space I didn’t see before complete with an indoor ramp set up for push bikes/bmx! It was professionally kitted out by Redbull and there were three local lads there practising all kinds of gnarly stunts over these ramps at midnight in the middle of the Devon country side – bizarre (but pretty cool). I watched with another guy Ian who turned out to be the manager of Suzuki GB and down with his son for his first race inthe GBXC round that weekend!

Overall we had a great time at Wheeldon. Plenty to do for the kids (who actually enjoyed the large see saw obstacle on the motorbike trials course as much as any ‘real’ toys at Wheeldon!) and they had some playmates around as well. So it’s possible to combine a family holiday with bike training if anyone fancies it!  A big thank you to Andrew (his son for babysitting!) and all at Wheeldon Farm for a great week!

Lance's Lobster Lunch!

We came home Saturday morning and broke up the journey by stopping at Lucy’s parent’s in the New Forest overnight – we also brought a belated birthday present for Lucy’s dad Lance, who was a surprised when he opened the box to find a live lobster and two live crabs going for him! But they did make an excellent lunch to finish the week!

I’ll try and keep my updates briefer and punchier going forward as I am getting behind with the long versions! I need to tell you all about how Toby and I got on at our first international event! Our first proper Enduro and and Championship level one too! So stay tuned for that and a few smaller titbits as I am launching ‘Dakar Data 24′  24 bits for facts and figures about the rally to educate you all!  (Maybe the Dakar vets who read this or anyone who know any interesting titbits could also comment?)  - as always feedback, ideas and comments welcome!

Cheers

Jago

Pickering’s Podium Place!

 Hi folks  

It’s been a while since I’ve had a chance to update you all but now I have some stories to tell!  

After the disaster of the last outing (blowing up tyres on the A3! see the previous post below) I thought I was going to lose out on riding in May but luckily there was a convenient race on the following week – Sunday the 24th with Chiltern Hills Enduro Club (CHEC) at Tunbridge,  Kent. It was an eventful day – crashes, tactics, racing Dakar and my best race result result so far!  

Jumping Jago- getting the (hefty) weight back over the larger jumps!

 Toby very kindly picked me up bright and early Sunday morning and after loading up his truck with the bikes we made our way down to Kent in nice sunny weather having arranged to meet The Desert Rose crew (Patsy, Zippy and Vince) at the course. We arrived at the course to find that it was the same place that Toby, Patsy and Zippy had been practising at the week before (but in reverse). After catching up with Patsy, Zippy and Vince we got down to registering and sorting the bikes and kitted up ready for the 10am off. 

  

Instead of a single 3hour race CHEC events are 2 hours long then break for an hour before the final 2 hours. This is good and bad! They say it decreases accidents due to fatigue in the last hour, gives everyone time for lunch and then 2 hours more riding. Which is good as you get more riding in, but bad as you have to race longer! (And as I found out that’s not easy after an hours break). You are also penalised if you come in later than the 2hours each race (so you have to make a call whether to go for that last lap!) 

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Jago keeping it low

Rather than the fun but frantic mass starts, we were called to the starting line in groups of 10, in order of registration number, which meant that Patsy and Zippy were off a few minutes in front of me (and I turn a few minutes in front of Toby) so unfortunately we wouldn’t get to race each other directly (well not until I tried to stay with Zippy for half a lap when he passed me near the end of both the first and second races! The course is  described on the CHEC site as a novice friendly, easy going course which was accurate as none of it was too challenging. It was a mixture of open fields and several woodland sections with a couple of boggy, rutted and muddy sections in the woods, interspearsed with tight single track and some very dusty open trails. One of which was so dusty and loose that it was similar to a desert conditions making passing very difficult. Desert training in Kent! (all we need is a few camels!) 

  

Getting past these guys (and the quads) was a challenge! They kicked up a lot of dust on the fast tracks and are pretty wide through the trees!

I had a good first race apart from the third lap by choosing one rut in a muddy wooded section that immediately gulped down the front wheel up to the forks and threw me off! I tried pushing , heaving and revving the bike through the rut with no luck. The rut was a glue pit that would not let go of the bike! Panting like some weekend-warrior-dad-of-three and going red enough to attract the attention of a kindly marshall who helped me heave it out, I lost quite a few minutes on the lap. Otherwise I was going well, passing a lot of people and getting fairly consistent lap times around 15minutes. Unfortunately getting stuck stopped me from doing 8 laps as I finshed my 7th with about only 4 minutes left so it wasn’t worth trying for another. 

  

Dusty Riders Right Hand Turn - Not the dustiest of places but shows how dry it was!

The hour break was spent resting, refueling and trying to eat something (an unusal job for me as I didn’t really have any appetite, but know I needed to). |Then we were back out for punishment/fun! Now familiar with the course Race 2 was more about endurance. After an hour I began to cramp up badly – getting dangerously cramped hands (trigger thumb preventing me holding the bars and sometimes cramped fingers refusing to brake or pull the clutch is not what you want whilst approaching a 90 degree right hand bend after a flat out straight!) Trying to drink often from my camelback I was getting excruciating pains in my legs that wasn’t just cramp but actually a stinging pain (I presume similar to hitting ‘the wall’ of lactic acid overload or something similar in a Marathon?) My trainer Tim has given me some advice and stretches etc that I will post up on the fitness page soon. 

But Race 2 went well with good consistent lap times of mostly under 15minutes (apart from the slow 4th lap!) and a flying last lap of 10minutes helped make it  8 laps. I thought it had gone well becaue I only saw a few people pass me (including Zippy again- grrr ;-) but I was surprised how well as it meant - leading to a very pleasing SECOND PLACE RESULT! ! !!!   (Second in Clubman Class out of 65 and 6th Overall out of 140 riders is my best result to date!   ) It seems it as a good race for all as Zippy came 2nd overall (and 2nd in the Expert Class) and Toby was also in the top 20 Clubman. Patsy may have come first in the ladies (hooraa!) due to being the only entrant! (Aha) but unfortuately her thirsty two stroke run out of petrol in the first race costing her lots of penalty point placing her 105th overall (aaah!) All the stats and lap times are here if anyone wants them (or for proof! )

  

Toby getting air

 So  look out for the next installement shortly as the following week I took Lucy and the kids to Wheeldon Farm in Devon for some family motor bike training, some one to one tuition on their indoor motocross track and hit the Devon (green) lanes!  

As ever feel free to comment with any advice, feedback questions or suggestions! (on biking, dakar or the blog instalements!) 

Cheers – Jago 

Jago 'pin-ing it' to second place!

What a Blow

Hi and thanks for tuning in - 

Just a quick one this week  as the plan was to do a Hare and Hounds 3 hour race down in Dorset on Sunday as we’d all be down in the New Forest for the weekend, but  frustration, frayed nerves and disappointment took hold and prevented any riding happening! 

Lucy had agreed to help her school with a Duke of Edinburgh weekend expedition in the New Forest very handy as staying at her parents meant she didn’t have to camp and we could all join her for the weekend too! 

So after an 8am drop off for her to get the coach down with 70 odd girls, Jed and I went off to do ’boys stuff’, like going to a couple of motorbike shops and a computer shop! After a brief visit to the park to meet my mum who had Teagan and Tate, I set off with the kids and bike in the trailer about 12.30pm. The traffic was bad getting out of London and we ended up down the A3 just past Guilford  - when the trailer weaved and I realised we had a flat! 

Gonna need a few patches I reckon!

The A3 at this point is pretty much as 3 lane mortorway, but with only a soft verge and no hard shoulder,  I was lucky to find a hard standing spot.  With no trailer spare (and no match with the car spare) a call to the AA put us on the high priority list (dangerous locaton with 3 small kids) and a half hour wait for recovery. 

2 hours and several calls later (with only one text from the AA!) the cavalry arrived in the form of a recovery truck and Police patrol car. But all they could do was escort us half a mile down the road to a parking layby! 

Rozzers Rolling Road Block

As I had previously tried to explain over the phone – the recovery truck was no use as they don’t fix tyres! So only then did they decide to call out a mobile tyre repair service (which I suggested 2 hours before! – not that this whole blog is turning into a rant or anything! The closest they could find was NORTH LONDON! (for those that don’t know this is the opposite side of London to Guilford and a good hour and half to 2 hours away!). 

The kids had been pretty good up to this point (thank god for handheld games!) and had lunch just before we left so were managing. Before we got to the layby they had been in the ca for about 3 hours  (apart from a few roadside toilet trips whilst waiting for the AA). Letting them play in parking layby by a three lane road would probably be frowned upon by the polite parents of the kids school friends! So after getting confirmation from the tyre service that they would about 90mins I decided to unhitch the trailer and drive the kids to Lucy’s parents in the New Forest and then come back for the trailer. 

I was still a good hour away from Lucy’s folks so this was gonna be tight! But in true Dakar style I burned down to the New Forest, dropped the kids off, said hi and bye to Lucy, Penny and Lance and turned back around to get the trailer (as I was worried about leaving it there overnight and the tyre service wanted me present before they changed the wheel). I got back with a few minutes to spare before they turned up. They changed the wheel (note to trailer owners out there – make sure your tyres are ‘C’ for Commercial rated on the side of the tyre as car tyres aren’t as strong, will deform and may burst!), I re-hitched and drove back to the New Forest arriving after 8pm.  So what should have been a 2 hour journey took 8 and wiped out a day! 

Repair man notices possible cause of flat - running someone over.

So having lost a day, messing Lucy around (who was expecting us to arrive at lunch time and rescue her from the D of E camp) and not doing anything nice for the  kids, the trailer and I took the brunt of the heat and things weren’t too harmonious that night and Sunday morning.  I felt bad that everything had been messed up and thought that buggering off to go motorbiking on Sunday (and having to borrow Lance and Penny’s car to do so) might not go down so well! 

It was very disappointing and frustrating not being able to race just due to a flat tyre. I had set myself the goal to do at least an event a month and thought that if I can’t even manage that then maybe the Dakar is biting off a bit more than I can currently chew with family, work and other commitments.  It was a time to reflect as the continuity of training and riding frequently is important in progressing my skills and once the time has gone it’s difficult,  if not impossible get back or make up.  

I am also considering doing the Paris -Dakar in October! Not THE Dakar but a rally called Heroes Legend that follows the same route as the original Dakar in about the same time but with less support/infrastructure/media frenzy and cost and therefore gets back to the original adventure spirit of the early Dakars. This is still a BIG event, 15 days riding and average of 500km off-road though Europe and Africa to Dakar and so takes a lot of physical and bike training. It’s now only  4 months away and I am struggling to get out once a month! 

But that low didn’t last long! (another worthy Dakar skill – head up and move on!)  A few calls, emails and arrangements later have secured a place on the Chiltern Hills Enduro Club (CHEC) Hare and Hounds at Tunbridge Wells in Kent this Sunday! Toby, Patsy and Zippy are also signed up! So with good weather forecast it should be a great day! So what with this and with the first week of June booked up at Wheeldon Farm off-road centre (for me and the family!) I’m back on plan!  

Race report and update to follow next week. 

Cheers and have a good weekend…
Jago