Scottish Six Day Trial - Blogs 2009
Results Here.
The Official Scottish 6 Day Website
How did our other Western Centre residents fare
Pre65 2 Day Results Here. Also read about Ian's 2 Day Scottish
Read what happened last year 2008 reports.
The Routes for Each Day, includes Section List and Times Day: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
Intro: Colin Jones. Blog's: Various
Intro
The Scottish has to be the best known and most important Trial in the World for real trials riders. Of course, World championship riders would say the World Champs are best but that is only for about 40 riders who are capable, but this is the best you can get for non-world champions (Ok, a few real world champs ride anyway!)
This year we have 3 club members riding and flying the West Glos flag. Ian Wixon from Monmouth is riding the Pre65 2-Day version of the Scottish on his Triumph 350 on 1st and 2nd May, and Joe and Henry Bendall are up for the full 6 days. Starting 4th May to the 9th.
The Blog
Joyce says: Thank you to all the sponsors and everyone who helped the boys, Rex Bendall who helped with the cooking while the rest were working out how to do the washing. Pete Hughes without him I don't think my lot would manage. A big thanks to Andrew Luff, Ben Falconer and this website of course for all the photos and video links sent.
Something tells me there are a couple of very tired guys at the end of today, And I dare say Henry and Joe will be glad of a rest too! Pete says they are going to be busy this evening so he was only going to phone in if there was any drama. I'm very glad to say there obviously wasn't and the result for today are up showing that they both made it in.
So, well done both and I wonder if Joe has caught the bug and wants to have another go. This can't be the best year to start and be inspired though what with such bloomin awful weather. Anyway, we'll give the boys a few days to recover then give them a grilling and see if there is a 'rosy specs' view of the event.
You can catch up on how the other Western Centre riders got on with the Centre Blog. Andy Luff has been feeding info back to our ace reporter Ben Falconer who has put together a great blog of proceedings.
Daily Tally
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Tot | Posit' | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Joe | 92 | 222 | 76 | 52 | 73 | 81 | 596 | 224th |
| Henry | 73 | 67 | 69 | 34 | 46 | 76 | 365 | 159th |
Today had a different feel to it, both because the rain stopped for about an hour and the first half of the day appeared to be much easier with sensible sections plus a few groups were cut out completely but replaced with some easier sections. The latter half of the day changed to really big boulders with lots of water on them, consequently if you are on the tops of them you are laughing (or Lampkin!) but if you drop off it is going to be a difficult 3 or a five trying to get out of the big holes.
The day started with a fright for Henry though as he meandered down to the start with 15 minutes to spare and was promptly called to the line! What happens is riders drop out over night and the organisers compress the time gaps, and there was about 10 missing. Joe started a bit later and got a move on to try and catch up with Henry, but this means less, or no, time inspecting the sections, but riding together has many benefits.
There is lots of money being spent keeping the bikes together but some of the foreign riders who hire bikes when they come over are paying out in the region of £2000...Yea, but what a holiday and an experience! With the end in sight, and of course more rain to come, the boys are under instruction to go for a finish rather than just try to beat John Luff at all costs!
What we really need, the boys thought, is something to take our mind off the rain. Henry was first to get distracted as when he went to pickup the bike out of the Parc Ferme he found the overnight storms had blown loads of bikes over, loads of broken levers but his Mont had suffered a broken mudguard so that had to be sorted inthe allotted work time before the off.
Oh and yes the organised had delayed the start time, but this wasn't to be a leisureley ride as they still had 5 hours to do and 30 sections too. (How the hell do the organisers manage to change a complete day and still mark out a completely different day's route in such a short time? They are obviously a different breed to us softy sassenachs!)
Anyway Joe still needed something to take his mind off the rain so he broke his sumpguard, and as you may know, this is part of the frame, so riding a weakened bike for half the day made him think hard, and if that wasn't enough then the near £80 bill at the end of the day from Carolyn Sandiford's excellent emporium completed the distraction. The Sandiford team are doing an excellent job and do soften the blow with a supply of cakes though.
Our sopping support crew were pleased to have a few minutes of no rain today and with a reduced amount through the day, some of the rivers had subsided enough to be only ankle deep. It was the wind that has caused most of the problems through the night, Dave Harris had his caravan down near the loch feeling the full force of the wind, he didn't exactly get anything like sleep. So the boys are looking for a dryer and cheaper day for tomorrow.
You could almost say this was a similar day to yesterday, Wet, Rain and Sodden. But the amount of rain raised the river levels so much that 4 section had to be pulled, making today much worse. There is a good side as this means less sections. And also it was good that neither of our intrepid duo got penalised (as far as we know! there are officials keeping an eye on things in plain clothes too!) It looks like one of our Centre riders will be riding for no award thanks to a major internal engine problem and the resulting effort to fix it took him the wrong side of the line. (update: it didn't matter in the end as he had to pull out anyway, phew!)
Joe's bike started to develop a bit of a misfire today but luckily seemed ok later. Henry reported that riders were helping one another to get across rivers safely with a few to each bike in rapid waist deep water. Waterproofing clothing is a complete joke in conditions like this and preservation of riders and bikes is the order of the day.
As I type this up the organisers announce that tomorrow's start time is to be delayed 3 hours as there is even worse weather coming in and it would have been the longest day with 108 miles. There will be many thinking their prayers have been answered tomorrow! I don't think Joe will know 'til the morning as he was so tired he's already asleep.
Interesting to note that loads of people beat Dougie today but his bad day of 10 still keeps him at the front.
The crucial bit is they are both back in and in time, well, only 5 minutes to spare though.
Joe started the day off badly with getting his head down to hide from the rain, he missed a turning to the first group of sections. The rules allow you to miss a section but for a heavy penalty and 150 marks were the cost. If it weren't for that he may have been only 10 marks adrift from Henry's day total of 76. Continuous rain up until the last section meant the moors were getting even more difficult to cross and even between sub sections was a struggle in places. One river crossing was so bad Henry resorted to virtually carrying the bike across.
One of the major challenges is to get enough riding gear dry for the next day, so a big learning curve was hit and our support crew sought outside assistance, Joyce to the rescue. Everyone needs extended multi-tasking support crew skills of a mum, even at the end of a phone! Now Alf and Pete have passed their basic skills certificate for Tumble dryers and washing machines.
It is lunchtime and the first drama has unfolded, Henry attacks a 12 foot step in usual style and the handlebars broke. As he is running at the back of the entry the course closers are right behind, so no time to get to BVM and back for spares! Luckily he managed to change them and carry on. Oh, and did I mention that Ben had the video going and caught the break on film? It should be below.
Evening update is here: Pete Hughes just called in to tell us Joe and Henry are in, both soaked to the skin and with the likelihood of the same tomorrow. Today Joe set off at 7:50am and Henry at 12:01. After Henry's bar breaking episode he was chasing after the closers and they had locked one of the gates on the moor so he was lucky to catch their attention. Riders at the front of the entry can spend longer mending things and catch up again, but when you are already at the back there doesn't seem to be much time. However, Henry did catch up and in fact came in an hour early with time to repair a bent brake lever. Joe was learning all about the big rocks here and on a tough day but also came in 20 mins early.
Tomorrow they should be starting within 20 mins of each other which will make it much easier for the support crew.
Congrats to Joyce who beat me to finding where the results were on the official website - I can only cope with Welsh and English logic, Scottish seem to use different rules. Clicking 'Results' on their navigation menu will get you nowhere fast so use this (It was hidden inside posts in their forum!) Real time results, Well it was worth waiting for, as you will see.
Ben Falconer won't be back until later tonight to update the centre site but we know John Luff and Craig Talbot are back OK but Brett King Cracked a Water Pump but some how crept in.
A wet start for day 1 didn't dampen the enthusiasm for the Pre65 event. Our Ian Wixon was seen to get all the way up Pipeline with no 5s!.
Ben has just come away from the Pre65 Presentations and Ian had a pretty good result being the best of our Western Centre riders. He dropped 116 and came 102nd. The top 3 were Paul Heys, Neil Gaunt and Robin Luscombe on 2,3 and 4 respectively. Update: Pre65 Results Here
Joyce updates us on the Bendall trip - Joe and Henry have both been sponsored by Bendalls of Lydney Metal Recycling More info....
Joe has also been sponsored by the Gwent Schoolboy Trials Club and has been promised from the following Simpson Motorsport (www.simpsonmotorsport.co.uk) and Hunter Signs (www.huntersigns.co.uk) both on Lydney Industrial Estate
It has been a manic week what with all the bike maintenance, tyre changing etc. Thanks to Pete Hughes for help as well.
Joyce just told us the great news that Henry has now got a ride and will be able to wind Joe up all Week, hopefully it will work both ways and they will both come out with better rides. The spanners will now be flying in the Bendall household as they race to get the extra bike ready.
Ian has built up a new bike (Well, for him anyway!) to ride the Scottish on. His Triumph 350 has had a couple of rides in small trials and a few minor changes ensued, but now it has had a real test with completing the Wyegate. 90 miles and some pretty big rocks and steps to reveal any shortcomings. His results say everything is looking good for the Pre65 2-Day on 1st and 2nd of May.
The first Hurdle is crossed for Joe as he passed his Riding Test, so can legally ride the Scottish. Sighs of relief all around!
Henry Bendall stirred up enthusiasm for a trip to Scotland and the SSDT after his ride last year. But we only have one rider lucky enough to get an entry this year, Henry's younger brother Joe. There's always some reserve entries that get a ride anyway so Henry has fingers crossed, Oh and Joe is crossing his too as he has to pass his riding test yet!
In the Pre65 event, which is the 25th anniversary year, we had more luck as Ian Wixon is riding under our banner and Wyegate riders David Eeles and Chris Harvey are both in. Here's wishing them all the best of luck.