Wentwood Enduro 2011

Photos and results on Bob Mullins' EnduroNews.com

Update: Ignore all the whinging below - Vess came 2nd!

Vess's report:

Wentwood 2011. For some reason I thought that having a sidecar class would make an enduro run in Wentwood easier than past events. When scrutineering, Nibbs hinted that this would probably not be the case. However, having entered the Over 50s and running on the Sportsman schedule, I thought I stood a reasonable chance of finishing, something I had failed to do in my previous attempts many years ago when the event was run by the Gwent Police. At least the overnight rain had stopped.

It was a bit muddy and slippery though. No actual stoppers anywhere, but just relentless going through mud and over roots, with only about a mile of the 13 mile course on firetrack.

After lap 2 (of 4), I started to fade. Cramp started to creep in, and I was definitely starting to feel my age. Lack of any reasonable excuses meant that I had to go around lap 4 as well, although by this time, my legs had given up and the bike was starting to do more steering than my arms. Have to say thanks (I think) to Nibbs, who found me a couple of miles from the end and offered kind words of encouragement like "Stand up on the pegs you old bar****d!", and "A woman could go faster!" He then re-appeared several times by navigating through the trees on his trials bike, to continue to assist verbally, and also by throwing sticks!! Cheers! That'll be a five somewhere in the Wyegate in a couple of weeks!!!

Seriously though, a great event put on by the Caerphilly Club, brilliant course (if only I could ride it properly), definitely a Proper Enduro. I know Anthony finished his 6 laps in the Over 40 class, but I've yet to find out about the rest of the West Glossers.

Martin's report:

A small local contingent participated in this cracking event, this included Craig Jones and Gary Standen both from Coleford, Nick Vaughan from Bream and Cheltenham based Jim Watkins and also myself. All of us entered the Clubman Class so therefore had six 11 mile laps of pretty relentless but mainly enjoyable riding to contend with. With a varying degree of success.

Starting at the sharper end, Gary took top Honours out of the 5 of us completing his 6 laps incurring a 36 mins o/t penalty and some quick test times on laps 2 and 3 around a pretty slippery root ridden Special Test, 17th in class Bronze Award. Next up Craig 35 mins o/t penalty but slightly slower test times = 18th in class, Bronze also.

In fact Gary & Craig were the only 2 to card a finish out of us. Nick had an off on lap 2 colliding with a fairly solid tree twisting his knee in the process. Jim and myself stuck it out for 5 laps but in the end, with course getting more cut up, both of us dipped out on the last lap. At the end though we all agreed, a tough but enjoyable traditional timecard event.

A big thanks to the Caerphilly MCC.

Anths's report:

I looked at the time schedule, saw that Vets A had 6 laps to do instead of Vets B having 4 laps, then saw our lap times allowed a drop from about an hour to half an hour, and knew it was going to be all about finishing for me. My last event was our summer Chicken Farm Enduro and as I got into the first few laps, it started to show!

Getting used to a 2 stroke after the 250 4t last year felt a bit lively at first but thankfully I started getting into the event after a lap or so which was still slack. One of the best things about the Gasser 250 was that it would pull almost any gear and refuse to stall. It was also nice and light for an unfit rider. (This sentence was brought to you by ........ you know the rest. ed.)

By the middle of lap 3, I was beginning to question whether or not I could finish, as some of the more technical climbs were starting to hurt! I tried to keep my feet up to try and save energy and by the end of the lap I had lost 3 minutes. The last two laps were so tight on time that I didn't need to worry about checking early, so it was a case of riding as fast as possible to finish. Mike Roberts who was marshalling from the Caerphilly club helped keep spirits up every time I saw him at various parts of the course by yelling at me and waving his arms, and before I knew it I was handing my time card in at the final check having lost 28 mins.

Even though it was a tough enduro, it was very enjoyable, and I was impressed by how little the course had cut up. The going was interesting and the conditions spot on. Thanks to all at the Caerphilly club for an excellent event. Definitely one for next year, but a few rides before it will be needed!