Mercian H&H 13th July 2008
Words by Steve Biddle.
Steve's Report from the saddle
I travelled down to Mercian's round 3 Hare and Hound at Aberbeeg, the same venue as last time, but just better weather this time.
Originally it was going to be at Pandy but was changed due to bad weather. We used the new transponder system which worked quite well, Gail and the team rushed to get a 5 mile course set for us all and did an excellent job as usual.
The course had everything, flat out fields, old quarries, tricky woods and old buildings to ride through. 3hrs of really good riding. It's rare these days to ride tracks with a lot of thought put into them.
I had a good start, I was in 3rd I think then when I got to the first woods I caught a low branch and it took me right off the bike, I was out off it for a bit but got back on and carried on. I was then lying about 5th I think and then towards the end I clawed back a few places.
I had to pit after 1.5 hrs and lost a bit of time, the last two races I've been in the lead and had to pit and lost my position. Neal gets in front because he's got a big tank so that's my next investment I think.
I managed a 2nd position in expert again, same as last two races so very pleased with that.
Everybody else I spoke to said they enjoyed it. Nathan (Looks like he was only 9 mins behind you Steve, he's coming on. ed.) and Arron had good finishes, Kingsley DNF'd because of bad blisters. Gary and Richard had good rides Phil was 2 laps down on me so he must have had a bit of trouble as he usually does same laps as me. And James had a bit of trouble with his back shock sticking, we both tried to sort it at the beginning but couldn't, so he rode the whole event with solid suspension, so fair play to him because he still managed 9 laps and he's riding his new bike so still getting use to it. Next ride for me and James is Midwest at Warminster.
Many thanks to Gail and team for another good event.