Welsh 2 Day Enduro 2012
More info here on the W2D Website or direct to the Results
Other Year's reports: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004
Of course, those of us who weren't there but suffering the same weather, were all thinking 'what will Strata Florida be like?' Wonder no longer friends. Vess to the rescue. (No prizes for spotting Malcolm, he's made it too easy!)
Ho Ho Ho! - does that mean the W2D was a barrel of laughs or do I refer to the 'HO' appearing in the results meaning 'Houred Out'? I haven't done the in-depth look at the results yet but recognise the pattern of road penalties from a long time ago (ee, it were tough in those days.) Lets face it, any event that Geraint Jones can hour out on has to be pretty tough. (I bet it was a mechanical. )
Update - Roynon was there and confirms Geraint's HO wasn't mechanical, Geraint looked to hurt his leg when restarting the Maico at the Church Farm test. Roy was spectating near the infamous ditch crossings which can steal so much energy and time. only a few did jump them, most of the championship boys but other notables were the winner's brother Robert Jones on the twinshock and nutter Wells.
Looks like young Arran Wells was our star performer with a second in Club E3 and the only Gold. I know we had a number of wyegate regulars besides our locals among the massive entry, so come back later to see what stories/excuses we can drag out of them. Sadly I didn't get there this year so no vids or shots from me. Did any of our support team get anything? update. Well clearly, they did with Vids from Ben thanks to his dnf and pics from Drew.
Drew was there.
Guy didn't make it at all, as mistakenly booked the hotel for the following week and rearranged his work schedule accordingly.
Pete reveled in the worsening conditions, got quicker as it got muddier but thwarted late on D2 with a rumbling bottom end (the bike, that is….)
Mikey W had a good run D1 but left the rest to get on with it for D2.
Anth lost time at a check after arriving early then going into a world of his own until he noticed riders on later minutes going in to the check….
MikeA dug in and got the job done with little bother apart from delaminated goggle lenses.
Talking of eyewear, Arran caused a Goggle-Gate crisis after a new pair of £70 blinged up bints went missing late on D1. Didn't stop a cracking first ride, though, despite a teeth/lip/chin guard coming together late D2.
Ben looked great on the 360 Bully, but thwarted by persistent exhaust / power loss problems that finally saw him retire early D2. A bit more prepping and a finish next year?
Lee Hook appeared to cruise through both days with no problems.
Vess was the usual unstoppable force that bulldozed through everything that was thrown at him, including a drowning on the Strata Florida, which was running a touch higher as a result of the refreshing light drizzle that blessed the competitors and going over most of the two days.
BenF was there.
Arran - full gas, falls off, - full gas at Llaneyre.
(Colin says 'Mike took his stabilisers off too soon.')
This year's Welsh was probably one of the hardest ever, and as the results show, many retired. I was one of them who recorded a DNF.
With all the work that had gone in to the Scorpion for the Pre65 Scottish, we had 6 weeks to get the 250 Bultaco ready for the Welsh.
Given what we'd learned and improved last year, a seal change and rebore at RTS would probably do the trick. Except the piston would take at least 3 weeks to come from Spain. Plan B was activated, in the shape of another motor and it sailed through some fairly stiff tests.
Things started pretty well at the Church Farm test. The bike rocketed off the line and encouraged by Gavin and Drew, and Jim, I caught the 3 riders in front of me on a very slippery test, The bike was pulling like a train. Unreal! Until I missed a gear at the bottom of a hill and 2 re-passed me. A right old dice followed, with a KTM GS, and a pair of SWMs. It could have been 1980.
Arran - full gas, Ben shouts, Arran - full gas, falls off, at Abbeycwmhir
On to Llaneyre and a welcome return to Pistll Gwyn, after a good few years away. Apart from missing a gear at the bottom of the bomb hole which meant balking a quicker rider, bike pulled well.
Stopped at Beulah to tighten up the gear pedal and away to the Irfon Forest where things started to go awry. A sportsman digging a bike hole with a 450 KTM halted all 4 on our minute and the bike struggled. A sign of things to come, on the next really steep climb it took 3 spectators to help get a sick sounding bike to the top.
Then the exhaust note grew louder and the bike stopped near the top of a tricky twin rut climb where I inadvertently caused a minor snarl up.
A handful of sportsmen I'd overtaken got stuck behind me and before we knew it, the over 40s and twinshock experts were on us - chaos!
I hauled the bike out the way, and a marshal and a photographer put their backs in to clearing the queue which caught all the West Glos over 40s. Um, sorry chaps.
I made it on through Strata Florida, despite 2 stoppages in the water and a very sick sounding bike. Then the kickstart refused to rotate out. I managed to kick it on the end to get it going got through to the rally school, where Gavin and Drew set about curing the kicker problem.
Gavin's backup gets ever more efficient - not least for the sportsman who couldn't quite believe his eyes when Gav produced the necessary front brake pads and retaining pins and lockwired them in! Later on in the day, Gav sealed the exhaust port and we set off for Steve Plain's. You can't knock a shop where they are getting ready to head home, but boot up the computer and find the part to connect the exhaust and silencer. Great service.
There were a few quizzical looks when I put the bike back in parc ferme for day 2 but this is the Welsh. Sadly the fix lasted only to check 1, so we spent the day following round in some truly horrendous weather. Flooded roads and swollen rivers showed just how much had fallen. It made for a major spectacle on the tests (see the videos) but took its toll on the entry.
Gethin Price wrings KTM's neck but wipes out the palings at the end.
Top marks to all those who finished. including Duncan Shaw and Dave Johnson from CHG, who were also well represented and enjoyed a bit of a social with the West Glos crew.
Next year? Definitely. Probably on something modern until the Bultaco is burnished for a real test like the Welsh.
Thanks to all the fuellers, fixers and followers, and of course the organisers.
Vess was there.
Well what can you say? We knew it was going to be wet. Then it got wetter.
Vess engages brain and allows for 2 days of this and rides to finish.
The first half of day one was very pleasant, both the Church Farm and Pistyll Gwyn tests being reasonably dry. By the time we got to Abby-Cwm-Hir (Home Farm), the test there had turned into a slippery muddy grease-fest, and back at Church Farm - for the second time - it was just evil.
Vess starts the Irfon check but camera suffers.
I put the bike in the parc-ferme fairly well resolved to not bother on Friday if it was raining. On Friday morning it was raining. But on the way into Llandod, we could see by the arrows that the Church Farm test had been cut, so a second day start was in order. On reaching Abbey-Cwm-Hir, we also found that the test there had been severely modified and I actually managed this time to get around without a 'lie-down'!
Daryl Bolter gets the right line on the green stuff at Llaneyre.
All the real nasty stuff had been cut from the Abbey check, so by the time I reached refueling with Gavin and Drew I knew all the hardest going had been covered. The battle now was just with the weather - cold horizontal rain and a fierce wind. Over past the wind-turbines on the Tarenig check, the track in many places couldn't be seen for the surface water. The water splashes at Strata had been cut as the river had turned into a raging torrent, but the Irfon forest was still rideable and a thoroughly enjoyable check. On the last check, on the way back to the Pistyll Gwyn test, a small river had to be crossed. A marshal was standing in the middle with the water well over his knees (bloody hero!). He couldn't stop me finding a nice big rock which knocked the front wheel out, and me and bike went under. Luckily I hit the kill switch in good time, so 20 mins later had the water out of the engine and was back on my way to the test which I largely just paddled around.
By the time I got back to the Lakeside, I had the biggest grin ever for a Welsh, and was well chuffed to finish. The results suggest that half the entry didn't bother with day two, which is a shame as it was an excellent ride.
Top marks to the CoC for the course adjustments, and to all the marshals who went out in the atrocious weather!
Huw Too.
With the banter between the O40 and O50 team reaching a subtle climax the day before the start (Weds) KC and I were looking forward to supporting Vess in our efforts to be the premier team at the club.
The start on Thursday looked promising, and two tests in quick succession without my ass hitting the deck seemed promising. The Irfon is always my fave check and I set out to enjoy the varied going. Sadly, passing a sportsman (Sorry #174) who fell into my rut and I hit first him, then his bike before departing with mine into the trees! I ran to pull him out and good job! He was well and truly stuck under the both bikes. A quick check, and him back on his feet had me back on the way in time to clean the check.
All was looking good through the day until we got to the Abbey check. I was full on, and another tumble and a winding saw me drop 3 minutes before going into the back-to-back tests (Huge sense of humour failure at this point as the sportsmen only did 2 - over 50's 4!)
I had the same thoughts as Vess (sod day 2) as we returned for the night. The bang I had, had by then developed into a dead right arm which kind of forced the issue. A day fuelling for me and KC on the Friday was only softened by a reunion with mates from the 80's and 90's who had come to Wales from their new homes in Australia and France. I was delighted to find an English flag duct taped to the front of my van by the N Soms crowd!
Oh well, next year...
And very finally. I wish I'd taken this shot.
