15th May 2004 - Lydden Hill

To be honest Lydden really isn't my favourite track, in fact it's probably the one I dislike the most. I've been here three time now and fallen off and hurt myself in two of those visits. This would be my second time racing here and I did reasonably well last year so maybe I could get the hang of the place. Famous last words!

For some reason there wasn't a practice day so everyone was going to have to remember the circuit after just five minutes practice. I would love to write in detail about all the goings on but some of them a re a bit hazy for reasons you'll see later.

Race 1 - Mini Twins

I managed a reasonable start and by some miracle found I could make up a lot of time around the outside of Chesson's Drift and found a new line through North Bend that allowed me to get the power on very early for the run down the hill.

Gary Morris had been riding well since we fought last year, well, he had finished the season so had a lot more practice than me plus he wasn't getting over some major injuries. That's my excuse anyway :-) For the first few laps I could see Gary ahead and slowly caught up so I was right on his tail by the middle of the race.

It was around this point that my fitness, or lack of it, started to show and I started to make a few mistakes. Not being able to concentrate properly meant I soon lost my ability to take the fast line I had found round North Bend. I knew the theory but couldn't put it in to practice and gradually watched Gary pull away.

A couple of laps from the end I missed my braking marker in to North Bend and ran wide letting three other riders come through. There was nothing I could do to keep with them and eased off when I realised I had a reasonable gap over matt Goswell behind me. The faster guys managed to catch up with Gary by the end but he held them off to take 19th place leaving me down in 23rd.

Although I was disappointed at not being able to keep with Gary I was over the moon at having lapped in 46.98 seconds, over 2.5 seconds faster than last year. The bike worked well although the belly pan did start scraping but I'm sure I can remedy that once my knee starts working a bit more and I can hang off the bike a bit more.

Race 1 - Clubman 400/650 Shoot Out

Made a pretty good start and made up a couple of places through the first corner. A good run up the hill gained a couple more places. Had a good fight with John Moult until I was able to get by at North Bend and pull away a little. Had to take a little avoiding action as Nigel Voyce came through in his usual erratic style pushing me wide.

I managed to keep with him but every opportunity to overtake was blocked and given Nigel's habit of taking me out, or at least trying to, I was almost glad when I started tiring and allowed him to pull away. At this point I think I was in 14th place which was going to be my first points of the year. Well, it almost happened! Once again I missed my braking marker at North Bend and allowed John Moult, Sarah Jordan and Paul Judge through. Doh!

I managed to get Paul back quite quickly but Sarah's bike was much faster and despite getting alongside I just wasn't able to make a move stick. I think it was a combination of exhaustion coupled with being very wary of still getting over my previous injuries meant that I wasn't willing to be as forceful as I needed to be. On the penultimate lap I slipped through on the way in to Devil's Elbow only for the red flags to appear shortly afterwards.

After a big incident on the way out of Chesson's Drift the race was stopped just as the leaders crossed the line. Those of us that hadn't crossed the line had our results put back to the previous lap, i.e. when Sarah was still in front of me! I ended up in 17th place just inches from John Moult in 15th.

Slow lap times but gradually inching up in to the point scoring positions. Just need to keep it together and stop making some stupid mistakes!

Race 2 - Mini Twins

I had a good start and managed to catch and pass Robin McKee and Sarah Jordan through the first couple of corners although I soon found I was getting held up by Paul Judge.

On the very last run through North Bend I made a small mistake which cost me time on the way down the hill. James Holland had moved up close behind and came underneath me on the last corner but ran a little wide. As I had the inside line I got the bike upright and got hard on the throttle to pull along side James on the run to the line. As James changed gear he pulled ahead only for me to overtake when I changed gear.

It was at this point that I realised I didn't know which part of the bike or rider needed to cross the line first. Assuming it was like athletics I figured that it was my chest so whilst still on full throttle stood up on the pegs and leant as far over the bike as possible. It must have looked most bizarre with both James and I trying to lean far enough forward to take the place. It turns out that the finish is defined as the front wheel spindle crossing the line and I had done just enough to beat James to the line by 0.27 seconds!

Okay, so it was only 19th position but that last corner fight really made the race one I will remember for a long time despite the much slower lap times. Must work on my fitness and get down the gym!

Race 2 - Clubman 400/650 Shoot Out

A bit hazy on this one but I believe I made a good start and managed to pick off a few riders each lap. I soon found myself on the back of a long train and gradually picked off places, usually at North Bend of Chesson's Drift. I had found a good line round the outside of people at Chesson's and made an excellent run up the inside of Garry Stephens ont he way in to North Bend.

For some reason Garry seemed to take ages to turn in so I simply didn't brake until I was alongside and just got underneath him as he tipped in. Don't think he was too happy at having to pick the bike up and threw it underneath me at the bottom of the hill to take the place back. Nice to know where he was faster than me as I got good drive on the way in to Devil's Elbow only for Garry to stay out wide longer than expected.

I don't usually need asking twice so I went up the inside on the brakes and took the line. Well, I took the line for less than a second as Garry promptly let go of the brakes and turned in on me. I had nowhere to go so grabbed a hand full of brake to try to avoid him. According to some friends I did a huge stoppie with my rear wheel in the air only for Garry to then take my front wheel out from under me!

Not a nice move but the last thing I remember is going for the brakes. Turns out that I was high enough that without the front wheel on the ground I went straight over the bars and had the bike come down on top of me. Don't remember any of that as I came round in the A & E department of the local hospital! Doh, would much rather have had the 14th place instead!

Have to say thank you to Becki 'Red' Cartwright for playing nurse and answering the same questions for a million and one times due to my having concussion. I also managed to break my collar bone and, it later transpired, my fibula, scaphoid and a transverse process in my back. Bugger!

A very positive return to Lydden as far as lap times go but a frustrating one in terms of unfulfilled potential that showed a distinct lack of fitness. Nice to be racing with people again rather than just riding round but, once again, that's my season over :-(