The day started at about 07.15 when Tim arrived at my place and we embarked on our short trip to Decoy where we met up with Rom, Mike and Craig. All signed in and a "Quick" check over the bike by a scrutineer and we were ready for the off, 180 riders in total but we all managed to start within a minute or so of each other and it was off to the first section via some fields and a wood, im not going to go through every section and lane we rode that day but a couple of highlights and lowlights were we all sailed through the first section with no dabbing so i think that was a boost and maybe a sign of good score maybe .
Alas the very next section we all got a 5 except Rom with a 3 (well done mate) the rest of the day was a mixture of scores for all of us, the first hill climb was great, all of us apart from Craig making it up with not to much bother.
Craig had bit of a mare with his Suzuki 350 kicker which refused to start after a little lie down, luckly merlin came to the rescue and Kicked her back in life, although he was walking a bit lop sided afterwards
The sections we rode were a mixture of private land and some familiar lanes we all know and love, we headed towards Widecombe on the moor and the rain /mist/fog came down and we all got a soaking but i think we were all having to much fun to worry !
A quick stop for a bite to eat at Tesco Metro in Teignmouth and we where on the homeward run. the afternoon highlight was the hill climb although my effort was totally rubbish Tim Mike and Rom managed to get a respectable way up before bailing out !
A speed test around a little track in the woods and we were done !
Back to Decoy for some Beef stew and the sun finally decided to come out a great end to a great days riding,
The results arrived today and are as follows
Rom - 53 points 25th place Timus - 77 points 47th place (also his start number ! ) Merlin - 86 points 57th place Two Thumbs 88 points - 58th place Craig (V fun Twinster) - 105 points 69th place
I only have a couple of worthy pics , im sure Tim will post his at somepoint
Got a few pictures, but have come to the conclusion that little digi cameras, outside in bad light take crap pictures. Or they do if I'm in control of them anyway!!
Was a really good day out, as expected. Fell off more times than I care to remember, got too many 5's on too many sections, got wet, hot , sweaty and cross, sometimes all at the same time, but none the less I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Nice one Rom ( through gritted teeth!!) I knew it was only a matter of time before you started showing us all how it should be done. And maximum respect to Craig, who battled on , despite nearly dying of exhaustion less than 10 miles from the start after kicking his DR for ages trying to start the awkward beast. In the end he was saved by The Magic Leg - dont know how we'd manage without you, Mike.
Did some riding on lanes we all know, but the high points were the private land where you'd never be allowed normally. There were some spectacular sections through the woods, and a big chunk on the edge of Dartmoor that was excellent. Made some stupid mistakes that I'm kicking myself about now - unexpectedly cleaned a whole tricky, rocky, slippery section, only to put my front wheel the wrong side of the finish marker, and collect 5 points instead of 0. Stalled the bike in places where I should have given it some gas and gone for it. Put a big dent in my front rim and gave myself a slow puncture coming up out of Trendlebeer, enjoying myself far too much. Rode the last 5 miles with a flat front tyre. Had a large and spectacular off on a lane up behind Bovey somewhere - I think Rom saw most of it.
Bring on the Tamar - Rom cant make it so I'm going to get some much needed practice - going to kick his arse on the Ten Tors!!!!!
-- Edited by Timus on Tuesday 13th of October 2009 08:58:05 PM
Is it just me, or is the whole attaching photos process ridiculously slow and complicated???
No, not just you Tim. I tried to put some of Terry's Africa pics on his thread but apparently all that showed was the HTML code. You've done better than I. Bob.
-- Edited by Captain Slow on Tuesday 13th of October 2009 09:07:17 PM
Nice one for the pic's and reports chaps, it was an awesome day out. Highlights-Craig effortlessly lofting out of Ruby Rocks, Timus wacky races fishtail in Stonelands, cleans in unexpected sections for all of us I think. oh and the sun coming out for the beef stew afterwards.
Timus, you know anything I may have learned about this stuff I've picked up from laneing with you guys- Merlin and Twothumbs big up! Kick my arse in Tentors? Bring it on!!!
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