Chris Foster takes over the crib: Well I arrived fashionably late at the venue (around midnight) to find something reminsent of an old
NAMBS race. A few fires and a few daft arses keeping the campsite awake.. for
once not me though! It would have been rude of me to ignore the atmosphere so a few rums were necked and I was off to
bed.
Up for an early morning and a brisk track walk. Quote of the weekend
goes to newby racer Peter Woods for 'You could hang a hoodie from my nipples', it were a wee bit cold y'see! The track was simple, fast and a safe option considering the weather at this
time of year, it was taped by Lewis Buchanan, and he sure knows his stuff, so yeah, Mike Marsden got himself
a good track.
Practice was kept to four runs for me, having not been on the bike
for a while I wanted to stay fresh. It was slow going at first but started to get there
by the end of the day, the track was enjoyed by most and it was great to see a lot of first time racers
there. All seemed pretty stoked to being part of it, if not a bit nervous. We had an
early night and found the party folks from the previous evening must have learned their lesson as it had all thankfully quietened down.
After another cold night, up early (for me anyway) and out for a practise
run, just the one as it's a long ride along that Inners road, especially in the
bleedin' cold weather. Got my race lines all sorted I had a wee walk up the bottom of the
track for a little entertainment... only to find I would spend the next hour
looking after a potential spinal injury, great!
Racing soon got underway and the times rolled in as most
people stayed warm in their cars. The track was hard up top for my race run but
grippy as can be, awesome... if only my riding was too! Had a sketchy first run,
trying too hard to put a good time in after so long off the bike took its toll
and I hit the deck, not far from the end of the track.
(Photo copyright of Ian Linton)
Second run came around quickly, as I spent the most of my time trying
to sort a brake that failed on the first run. Big thanks going out to Jamie Johnson for
taking some time out to get that sorted for me, Boshed on up the hill with
my bruised arse and to make matter's worse I fell out of the uplift bus and bashed
my arse again, bugger!
(Photo copyright of Ian Linton)
The plan for run two was to take it easy, conserve energy and get all my lines sweetly dialled in, that was a conscious effort not to pedal aside from
the start and finish straight. At the
top of the hill light was fading fast and we were blessed with snow, this made for some interesting possibilities on track. I found it really good though and managed all that I wanted, absolutely
class! Well apart from the brake which I guess has to go back to Hope, It's new
and just doesn't wanna work! So yeah, steady as planned and not too bad a time
considering.
(Photo copyright of Steve Wyper)
The race was won by Lewis Buchanan, with an awesome time, Jack Reading second followed closely by Adam Brayton and then Pete Williams who are
both coming back from injury. So good times for them two. Dave Wardell put in a
stonking time in Masters, showing all the young lads how it should be done and indeed showing that the old school
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