Welsh 2 Day Enduro 2004

How We all Fared...  Day 1... Day 2... Results from Cambrian Timing... Other Year's reports: 2005, 2006, 2007

Thursday and Friday during the last full week in June doesn't mean Glastonbury or Wimbledon but something far more important - the Welsh 2 Day Enduro.

The traditional Lakeside, Llandrindod Wells start saw 490 riders fire up their machines on Thursday morning.

Many more ran round with cans of fuel, maps, food, cameras and programmes to follow this special event.

Around 20 club members joined the party. Here's how they got on…

There's more than a few tales of woe from this year's Welsh 2 Day yet virtually all of us will be back next year in one way or another.

There's just something about it that magnetizes all types of bike enthusiasts - the Lakeside start, the bogs, foreign entrants, the massive route, plenty of sidecars, crowds of spectators at the tests, and lots of experts who aren't competing for championship points or cash.

Arrive as many of us have done at the Welsh for the past 10, 20, 30, or 40 years and it seems like we've never been away. "Llandod" becomes Endurotown for half a week.

Over the years it has become primarily a clubman's event - someone once said it's like a trail ride with the gates open - but this year it was a little tighter, tougher and faster than before.

Did I say fast? Well, Pete Neale undoubtedly set "FTD" with a 20 minute trip from just outside Beulah to Hereford in a helicopter. As most of you now know, Pete's front wheel disappeared from under him on a stretch of tarmac, sending the 525 KTM down the road and Pete to hospital.

Anthony Moore sacrificed a near-certain gold medal to get help for Pete, while club members and medics ensured a swift response to his injuries. Mike Allen's dicky wrist was up to holding a camera and has captured the air ambulance for posterity.

Anthony probably won't need a picture to remind him what happened - having had a little moment himself, he glanced behind to see Pete and the bike skittering along the tarmac and he probably won't forget that in a hurry.

X-rays revealed a broken clutch lever, damaged handguards and scuffed bodywork. Pete will be OK too - he's "just" in a lot of pain. Get well soon.

How we all fared…  Top...

Success came in equal measure however - Mark Harris (Yamaha WRF250) was 23rd and Ben Falconer (KDX220) was 76th, claiming gold medals in the near 200-strong clubman class.

Julian Bishop (KTM 200) took home a solid bronze in the sportsman class, while Steve Venn (Honda CRF250 X), at exactly 50 years old plus 2 days, finished third in the over 50's with a gold.

Club president Roy Breakwell reckoned his new CRF250 X was very forgiving and took him round for a sportsman bronze.

Retirees included Paul James whose CCM 404's clutch gave out on day 2, Dave Smailes (KTM 450) who found the only four inch nail in the Irfon Forest but rode on very well but out of time on day two, Mike Allen (KTM 525)  whose other wrist gave out on day 1, and Dave Harris (CRF250 X) who may have suffered an adverse reaction to Welsh cuisine on Thursday evening.

Day 1  Top...

For some of us the Welsh started on Saturday but come Wednesday evening, all the above riders were huddled round a map of the course with Fuel Strategy Manager Anthony Moore and the fuellers, under the cover of the Lakeside café.

All four stops on the first day were well manned - at Beulah, Strata Florida, Sweet Lamb and Abbey-cwm-hir we were looked after by Drew Moore, Rod Jones and Guy Calderwood; Tony Falconer; Angela Neale; and Drew and Rod again.

The depression from the Atlantic brought rain on Tuesday night which didn't bode well. Wednesday was the same and those who walked the tests at Pistll-Gwyn and Abbey-c-h' feared the worst.

At Abbey' though we did witness the most spectacular piece of action for some years, when a Mercedes Sprinter barrelled in to the soaking wet grassy field at around 40 mph, went on to full opposite lock and span round 180 degrees to park up 20 ft from the nearest car. With a former winner of the event at the wheel perhaps this was no surprise.

Watching the start in the spitting rain with Vess and enduro sadist Colin Jones, I had to admire the pluck of the 3 BMW riders whose cylinder heads were to leave their mark over a fair bit of mid-Wales. Also starting was veteran John Davis on a Fantic 50. I believe he reached top gear just before he left the Lakeside gates.

Thankfully the worst of the rain had disappeared by around 10am by which time all club members were on their way.

A nice little bit of new off-road going got the adrenalin pumping before the first special test, then on to fuel up with Rod, Guy and Drew.

After a 24 mile first check including a cracking moorland blast re-introduced last year, we were in to the Irfon Forest.

Probably the tightest check of the event, the general consensus was that the route-plotters had found a little bit more to go at which made getting in on time just that bit harder. A quick check on the direction markers meant I used my spare minute here, while the quicker clubmen got in by 3 to 4 minutes. Many didn't make it however, which jumbled the field up nicely.

Single track had to be taken decisively and the fire roads with plenty of throttle - too much from a rider on Julian's minute saw him exit the event in an ambulance. Julian was one who stayed with the victim of a broken leg until the ambulance arrived. Its crawl out of the forest and his stricken bike reminded me that some risks aren't worth taking.

Strata Florida lived up to its reputation for drowning bikes but it has been deeper before, and with 22 minutes for clubmen to cover the 6.8 miles of enduro heaven, there was no need to dive through the water splashes at great speed.

I even had chance to chat with the Mansfield-Smith clan for a minute or two and make it in comfortably.

Fuelled up by Tony Falconer at the rally school, the rest of the day went by in a blur of exquisite going through Geraint Jones's enduro school territory and not quite so exquisite going across Tommy's.

After riding for most of the day on my own, the sight of hundreds, maybe even around a thousand spectators at Abbey' was a nice change. Set in the rolling valley bottom, it's superb for spectating.

Here Steve Venn high-sided on a flat corner, right in front of a delighted Colin Jones (Unfortunately I pressed the shutter 1 second too soon! ed.). Most of us were desperate to keep the front wheel planted and stay upright but Steve had the bit between his teeth. That fall probably cost him overall victory in the over 50s.

Clubmen had 75 minutes to get to the last meaningful check so keen to get a move on, I almost completely missed Rod and Drew's fuel stop. Luckily Rod managed to collar me before I charged off to run out of juice in the middle of a forest.

Day 2   Top...

If the first sin of Enduro is to fall off in a special test, the second must be to follow the rider in front of you instead of the arrows. I did both on day two. And I nearly committed the third sin - forgetting my time card.

But what a day, all the same. Perfect weather combined with a drying course made for top quality going that was a real joy to cover.

The first special test at Abbey' was well attended and it was useful to see Drew and Rod for fuel afterwards, as they untangled yards and yards of test marker tape from the KDX's back wheel and sprocket.

Paul James was really enjoying his ride in the over 40s class, losing a respectable amount of time before the CCM 400's clutch gave out towards "Tommy's" on Friday morning.

Managing to navigate his way back to a lift home, the clutch started to grip again but second thoughts of returning to ride the course were dashed by a travelling marshal who reckoned the light road riding had cooled his clutch temporarily.

Maybe the concrete block in his rucksack during Matt Neale's epic North to South Wales ride had come back to haunt him, or at least his poor overworked clutch.

Usually where there's Matt there's muck and this can be a bad thing (he's led you to it) or in this case, it can be a good thing as he'd found a deep bog and was pointing out a lovely clean line through the hilltop going between Beulah and the second special test.

He was the only soul for miles but he'd sniffed out the bike swallowing bog and saved us a whole load of hassle.

The first tight check of the day was in the Hafren Forest, easily recognised by anyone who has attended a Geraint Jones enduro school.

This was where I committed the first enduro sin of the day. With half an hour to cover 13 miles there was no time to hang about. So I wasted three minutes by cutting off the fire break after the rider in front of me! At the time I thought I'd been really smart by taking a long cut around the "stopper" where a few riders were stranded. Then it dawned on me as we rejoined the fire break that we were back where we'd started. I say "we" because the guys on my minute had followed me too.

Kicking myself, I knew I would have to get a real move on to make it in on time, so I gave it everything on the fire breaks to the check. Due in at 12.41, I glanced at the clock: 12.39 and no sign of the white flags.

Over the top of the hill and I knew the check wasn't far away and with the white flags in sight, I shot through the pack of waiting riders, past the yellow flags and shouted for 12.42. The marshal looked at the clock, looked at me, then it flicked round to 12.43. I'd made it in by around 15 seconds and just like day 1, I spent the rest of the event riding a minute back on my allowance. Phew. (For you newbies out there, he is allowed to lose one minute per check without losing any penalties. Ed.)

On to Sweet Lamb where Mike Allen had given Angela the afternoon off. He fuelled me up, gave me the pep talk, adjusted the carb jets, bunged a new back tyre on for me and sent me on my way.

Presumably here Pete wasn't tricked by Anthony's ruse the day before when Pete claimed Anthony had purposely lost two minutes shoving grub down his neck at the Sweet Lamb fuel stop, just so Pete would lose four minutes.

More fuel shortly afterwards at the rally school with Drew and Rod, who helped out my minute man, Keith Craske with some water and we were on our way.

Strata was out of this world with sun shining and water levels a bit lower, so I actually slowed down a bit to admire the view and peer at the bothy half way across, and made it in about 17 minutes.

Stan Howitt had joined the Mansfield-Smiths on a walk in to Strata from the Nant-y-Stalwyn end and were watching at the final river crossing. 

I'm usually pretty good at remembering each check but I'm sure someone will remember a lovely bit of going along a hilltop track with some water splashes thrown in for good measure.

Overtaken, again, by an ex-motocrosser on a KXF 250, I thought I would stick at his pace once he'd passed me. Approaching one of the water splashes, he made the mistake I did last year and shot towards the bogs, lifted the front wheel and came a cropper when the front didn't quite make it.

Still, being a motocrosser he charged off again out of sight. Until we passed him on the other side of a water splash - the KXF was dead. Keith and I had to pass him and press on but Dave Smailes, riding without the pressure of time, stopped to assist. Apparently he was lying second in the over 40s until then.

A long wait preceeded final tight check of the day in Irfon Forest, which proved a little easier than before but my mate Keith decided to make it a bit harder for himself by starting off 2 minutes early. Only 3 minutes down from the previous day, he passed the yellow flags and had his time card filled in. All I could do was watch him spurn a certain silver and possible gold.

Still Dave Smailes was 3 minutes up the road, so I made him my "hare " and started the chase. Passing several chairs tanking back down a few tough climbs to have another bash, I then got impatient behind the German outfit with the sidecar on the wrong side an it nearly cost me.

Planting the bike in a deep rut, I used all my strength for one big heave to get the bike out and off again. I'm not going to get in to blaming chairs though - they're there and it's up to us sane people to ride around them. They looked like they were having a very hard time anyway. If Karl Heinz Klenk and Monika Winter happen to read this - come back next year, it's just like the old days with the chair on the other side of the bike.

Then of course we checked in and rode off to Beulah for fuel with my Dad, who kindly reminded me that the jacket I'd discarded had my time card in it. Don't know what I'd do without him.

Then the rest is history - a tight bit of road going saw Pete's hopes of a tidy finish dashed. It didn't get much better for some at the special test either.

I returned to the test after handing my time card to Trevor Hunt and his daughter Sue, to see how the experts do it. Watching at the ditch after the exit from the wood was spectacular to say the least. Sadly not for Andy Frost, whose attempt to leap the ditch ended with a broken collarbone.

At least the ambulance was about 20 yards away.

And that was that - another "Welsh" done and dusted. Many thanks to the organising committee and land owners and of course the West Glos support crew who rode beyond the call of duty to make the ride round a real pleasure.