Joined Nov 2001
17K Posts | 774+
Ely, England
did a two day with the chiltern hills club this BH weekend. went down on the saturday for a 1pm start but i was stuck in nose to tail traffic on the M25 and missed the first 1.5 hours - so some bad luck!
i went out for a 'jolly' and although everyone else was on a time card i just threw in as many laps as i could. the attrition rate was quite bad on what was a fairly easy going course. we really are a bunch of desk jockeys nowadays aren't we?
i had a top end raucious roar coming from the machine which i had no idea what it was. didn't stop the bike or make it run badly but it was there all the same.
an XR400 got me once but the rider was a little desperate and looked like he was going to hurt himself or someone else pretty soon.
i completely forgot the fuel situation because i'd made a mental note that i would probably be back within 2 hours knackered. well it is 8 weeks since i last rode it! - so came in and there was about 1 pint of fuel left - so some good luck!
i was roughing it in the back of my picasso that night and the idea was to have plenty of guinness and use an eye cover for sleep aid. first though i changed air filter, softened front and rear for the hardedned summer ground by 3 clicks off the comp and on the rebound at both ends, top middle seat bolt, loose gearlever. i also 'improved' the seal of the centre to rear pipe.
that night about 40 riders and committee were in the local, the band failed to arrive (hands up those that think the land lady never thought we were coming!) they did a lovely chilli and then i got in with 6 lads who love a drop. we got drinking fairly hard and when i went back to the car i slept like a babe.
the track on sunday was still damp from overnight rain so i had to make a choice: let air out the tyres and struggle when it dries whilst also knowing that the farmer had used whole bricks for hardcore on some of his roads and one of them could lead to a puncture?
those of you that follow my scribblings will know that i have a slightly chaotic style and usually turn up late etc, so to be all ready with an hour to go was errie! i trotted up to the 6 lads and they were so phuqed that only 1 - yes 1 was going to attempt to ride! i had nailed the lot 'o them!
wimps! we only had a gallon for chrissakes!
i was dropping on the rear from 15 to 10lbs whilst pete was going down to 6lbs. na!, i said, i don't want a puncture on that rubble!
got going and the bike was in lovely shape, the top end noise was still there so i just short shifted. this is what i had to do:
2 laps in 56 mins of the regular course
1 lap in 36 mins including the SS section (an extra loop within the lap)
1 lap in 33 mins including the SS section
2 laps of the regular course in 42 mins
1 lap in 30 mins including the SS section
1 lap of the regular course in 18 mins
1 lap of the regular course in 25 mins
so that's exactly 4 hours.
i did the opening two laps, clocking in with the electronic wristband after one and as i finished the second Special Stage, an organiser said that i didn't have to ride the SS's at all on the first two laps! we'll i never heard him say that at the breifing!
so i came in with 6 mins to spare but now i REALLY knew the SS course!
did the whole lap in 24 and had 12 mins in the paddock, did the next in 24 and had 9 mins in the paddock.
i then did a straight two laps (w/o the SS loop don't forget) and at one point i tried to outbrake a backmarker and a rider i was struggling to get by. i locked it sideways and went what seemed like 20-30 yards sideways through all the bikes and eventually hit yet another bike at the front, by now i had been sideways on for ages. NEEDLESS TO SAY I HAD HIM OFF AND MYSELF! on the second llap, with about 10 mins to go i got a puncture in the rear! (bad luck?) i managed to ride it to the end of the lap and decided to clock in the 3 mins early so i had a finishing time. so that was it for the weekend.......
as i rolled up to my kit in the park ferme barry (from UHE) kindly offered me his rear wheel but i run 14/51 to barry's more usual 13/48 so that was no good!
colin spicer-one of our quieter UHE members had fallen and sprained his wrist the day before and kindly offered me his bike-you know-the WHOLE BIKE! THE MAN'S MAD! (now that IS good luck!)
so while they went to get it from his motorhome i had a word with the CoC about my early signing in etc and what would it mean?
came back and the bike was fuelled up and ready. i had about 27 mins left to do something i'd been doing in 24 and i had to do the SS as well within the lap on a strange bike! the bike stalled and wouldn't run! omigod! thank god i've only gone 5 yards, how much blame can colin attach to me for this!
ok so i turned the fuel taps on and got going (look, they said it was ready to go!). let's talk about the differences between colin's and mine. both FE400e's from 2002.
his dellorto was spot on and even had a violent jump from no-to-go, the sussies were well set but the dellorto throttle was as heavy as i remember it. the handlebars were 5 degrees from true as they still hadn't been straightened. colin has had the rear end lowered and the forks sunk through 15mm to suit his small frame and to be honest it all felt good! his front brake pads were the business (despite the squeeling!) so i'll let you know what he runs.
two things though were killing me, one, he is yet another rider (so that's everyone in the world bar me) who likes his gear lever UP so i was hitting neutrals all the time, secondly, he has had the guts removed from his seat so that when i sat down i was being debilitated very rapidly.
so i did that lap in 26 mins and sat at the gate for 60 seconds whilst i waited for the lap that i knew would have to be bloody quick-the regular circuit in 18 mins.
i went off like a scalded cat and called all riders "CWM BI", this phrase can usually be heard in the Uk on a programme called "one man and his dog" which is about all the sheep farmers herding the sheep around an alloted course. trouble is, riders aren't sheep!
i fell on a loose gravelled steep section where you had to turn left at the bottom and broke colins 'high/low' switch.....
got back to the gate on exactly 18 and then did the run down lap in 23 taking it easy but, due to that blinkin seat, making it hard on myself by having to stand a lot.
i was only overtaken by that XR400 in 6.5 hours of riding, i may even have a decent result but for clocking in 3 mins early and of course did anyone spot the change of machine? well see!
report on the changes made and how they've worked can be found in 'moving on'.
drove the 110 miles home, showered, up to the 'townhouse' quiz. prizes were: 8 pints for first, 4 for second place and because nobody has had a good team name for 8 weeks 2 pints had become 18 for the best team name. we won the 18 pints!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (3 of us)
wife: if you did more around the house we could get rid of the maid
husband: if you took it up the arse we could get rid of the dog
anon
Taffy
i went out for a 'jolly' and although everyone else was on a time card i just threw in as many laps as i could. the attrition rate was quite bad on what was a fairly easy going course. we really are a bunch of desk jockeys nowadays aren't we?
i had a top end raucious roar coming from the machine which i had no idea what it was. didn't stop the bike or make it run badly but it was there all the same.
an XR400 got me once but the rider was a little desperate and looked like he was going to hurt himself or someone else pretty soon.
i completely forgot the fuel situation because i'd made a mental note that i would probably be back within 2 hours knackered. well it is 8 weeks since i last rode it! - so came in and there was about 1 pint of fuel left - so some good luck!
i was roughing it in the back of my picasso that night and the idea was to have plenty of guinness and use an eye cover for sleep aid. first though i changed air filter, softened front and rear for the hardedned summer ground by 3 clicks off the comp and on the rebound at both ends, top middle seat bolt, loose gearlever. i also 'improved' the seal of the centre to rear pipe.
that night about 40 riders and committee were in the local, the band failed to arrive (hands up those that think the land lady never thought we were coming!) they did a lovely chilli and then i got in with 6 lads who love a drop. we got drinking fairly hard and when i went back to the car i slept like a babe.
the track on sunday was still damp from overnight rain so i had to make a choice: let air out the tyres and struggle when it dries whilst also knowing that the farmer had used whole bricks for hardcore on some of his roads and one of them could lead to a puncture?
those of you that follow my scribblings will know that i have a slightly chaotic style and usually turn up late etc, so to be all ready with an hour to go was errie! i trotted up to the 6 lads and they were so phuqed that only 1 - yes 1 was going to attempt to ride! i had nailed the lot 'o them!
wimps! we only had a gallon for chrissakes!
i was dropping on the rear from 15 to 10lbs whilst pete was going down to 6lbs. na!, i said, i don't want a puncture on that rubble!
got going and the bike was in lovely shape, the top end noise was still there so i just short shifted. this is what i had to do:
2 laps in 56 mins of the regular course
1 lap in 36 mins including the SS section (an extra loop within the lap)
1 lap in 33 mins including the SS section
2 laps of the regular course in 42 mins
1 lap in 30 mins including the SS section
1 lap of the regular course in 18 mins
1 lap of the regular course in 25 mins
so that's exactly 4 hours.
i did the opening two laps, clocking in with the electronic wristband after one and as i finished the second Special Stage, an organiser said that i didn't have to ride the SS's at all on the first two laps! we'll i never heard him say that at the breifing!
so i came in with 6 mins to spare but now i REALLY knew the SS course!
did the whole lap in 24 and had 12 mins in the paddock, did the next in 24 and had 9 mins in the paddock.
i then did a straight two laps (w/o the SS loop don't forget) and at one point i tried to outbrake a backmarker and a rider i was struggling to get by. i locked it sideways and went what seemed like 20-30 yards sideways through all the bikes and eventually hit yet another bike at the front, by now i had been sideways on for ages. NEEDLESS TO SAY I HAD HIM OFF AND MYSELF! on the second llap, with about 10 mins to go i got a puncture in the rear! (bad luck?) i managed to ride it to the end of the lap and decided to clock in the 3 mins early so i had a finishing time. so that was it for the weekend.......
as i rolled up to my kit in the park ferme barry (from UHE) kindly offered me his rear wheel but i run 14/51 to barry's more usual 13/48 so that was no good!
colin spicer-one of our quieter UHE members had fallen and sprained his wrist the day before and kindly offered me his bike-you know-the WHOLE BIKE! THE MAN'S MAD! (now that IS good luck!)
so while they went to get it from his motorhome i had a word with the CoC about my early signing in etc and what would it mean?
came back and the bike was fuelled up and ready. i had about 27 mins left to do something i'd been doing in 24 and i had to do the SS as well within the lap on a strange bike! the bike stalled and wouldn't run! omigod! thank god i've only gone 5 yards, how much blame can colin attach to me for this!
ok so i turned the fuel taps on and got going (look, they said it was ready to go!). let's talk about the differences between colin's and mine. both FE400e's from 2002.
his dellorto was spot on and even had a violent jump from no-to-go, the sussies were well set but the dellorto throttle was as heavy as i remember it. the handlebars were 5 degrees from true as they still hadn't been straightened. colin has had the rear end lowered and the forks sunk through 15mm to suit his small frame and to be honest it all felt good! his front brake pads were the business (despite the squeeling!) so i'll let you know what he runs.
two things though were killing me, one, he is yet another rider (so that's everyone in the world bar me) who likes his gear lever UP so i was hitting neutrals all the time, secondly, he has had the guts removed from his seat so that when i sat down i was being debilitated very rapidly.
so i did that lap in 26 mins and sat at the gate for 60 seconds whilst i waited for the lap that i knew would have to be bloody quick-the regular circuit in 18 mins.
i went off like a scalded cat and called all riders "CWM BI", this phrase can usually be heard in the Uk on a programme called "one man and his dog" which is about all the sheep farmers herding the sheep around an alloted course. trouble is, riders aren't sheep!
i fell on a loose gravelled steep section where you had to turn left at the bottom and broke colins 'high/low' switch.....
got back to the gate on exactly 18 and then did the run down lap in 23 taking it easy but, due to that blinkin seat, making it hard on myself by having to stand a lot.
i was only overtaken by that XR400 in 6.5 hours of riding, i may even have a decent result but for clocking in 3 mins early and of course did anyone spot the change of machine? well see!
report on the changes made and how they've worked can be found in 'moving on'.
drove the 110 miles home, showered, up to the 'townhouse' quiz. prizes were: 8 pints for first, 4 for second place and because nobody has had a good team name for 8 weeks 2 pints had become 18 for the best team name. we won the 18 pints!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (3 of us)
wife: if you did more around the house we could get rid of the maid
husband: if you took it up the arse we could get rid of the dog
anon
Taffy
