Wyegate Trial 29th and 30th March 2008

Results: Full Results, and Pre 65 (Day 1 ) Results.

Photo Gallery: Day 1, Day 2 - Also guest galleries by: Maggie Smith, Matt, Tony & Ben

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CofC attacks the Somme on Day 2

Press Officer Ben Falconer on the Test

Yoshi's Close Encounter!

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Want to see what happened in previous Years? Then go to the Past Winners List and click on the year number.

Also have a look at our Wyegates Remembered Page

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Photos by Maggie Smith

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Clerk of the Course says

Before the event several people asked me what the weather forecast was. I told them that weather was booked. I wasn't wrong! What a contrast. First thing Saturday morning and it looked ok. By the time half the riders had left the start the first drops were falling. And then it came down by the bucket. Oh well, the glorious sunshine on Sunday meant that those riders who had dragged on sodden gear on Sunday morning could take it home nice and dry.... Read Matt's full report...

Snippets

A celebration 25th Anniversary Mug for all the riders and Marshals is now available. We will endeavour to get a mug to you at up and coming events or you could pick one up at a club meeting or if you are passing through. Loads of them were given out at the Sphinx Trial. The next event where you can pick yours up is our Trailbike trial at Rockfield. Someone will also be taking some to the Ivor Morkot LDT too.

Oops! Time: I always get something wrong - Luckily Stan spotted that we don't have the Pre65 Awards listed. Sorry Guys. This is now shown on the Day 1 results and of course Sam King won the coveted Bush Shield, and was also lucky to scrape in at the end of the day with a dying bike. Even luckier was Steve Gindle who promptly started swapping bits onto his B40 and even borrowing some from young Ben Bowkett's steed, it obviously paid off with his class win in the amalgamated trailbike 2 day class. Whilst in apology mode, I missed Colin Hedges out from the over 60's class which he only remembered himself on the day, Once entered, it demotes David Eeles as the class winner. So, congrats to Colin on a superb ride winning the over 60's on a heavy beast over a gruelling 2 days and as Matt said, 'At your age you should know better!' and I will add, '...than show up these younger riders on lighter bikes!'

Our Chief Marshal Peter Neale says many thanks to all those who helped out. It was great to have so many prizes brought in on the day for our Marshal's draw. Jackie has published her list for those who have yet to pick up their prizes or may not have realised below.

What an incredible range of ages we had and a great equalising event for all to have a competitive ride. 14 over 60's, 34 over 45's and 7 under 25's and 4 ladies too. A True family event what with fathers and daughters and sons riding together. We almost had a Grandad, his son and his grandson entered too, but Bryan lent his bike to Steve instead!

Yoshi probably was robbed but chose not to protest when he had to avoid a marshal on the worst step at Pant-glas.(as Maggie Smith's brilliant photo shows, see right.) We have all abilities of both Marshals and Riders so it is nice to see the 'Spirit of the Wyegate' continuing - C'est la vie! Keith Wells knows all about that from last year's event. Our no inspection rule does make it difficult to offer baulks and some of our sections have limited space for marshalling. (Incidently, if he had cleaned he would only have beaten his Brother, Ben F and Venn! C'est la vie!)

Speaking of Spirit of the Wyegate, surely the first person to inspire the phrase was Doug Clarke who was at our Saturday night celebration. Doug bravely rode the first Wyegate on his converted sidecar. Converted because Doug lost the use of his left arm in an accident and had to control clutch, brake and throttle all with his right hand. The hardest part was pushing the chair when it did go wrong, good job he had Martin Gerrish with him as passenger.

We thought Wayne Hewitt had the fastest Special Test on Day 1 but slowed down a bit on Day 2 after damaging his front brake on Pant Glas and still finished the trial with only a back brake! But a second look reveals that Steve Grindle beat Wayne with 24 seconds, and that is on a pre65 not tuned for speed, brilliant. Everyone standing at the start of Day 2 test knew within 20 feet of Courtenay James leaving the line that he was about to put in the fastest time, and all eyes were glued to the finish line to see if he could hold it together. He did, 29 secs, and we have a video clip to show the end - coming soon.

You would have thought all the Bendalls and entourage would have supported young Henry, but the photo on the right looks like they were using him as skivvy and puncture mender, cruel lot! I bet 83 winner Jim Delahay, looking on, is thinking 'perhaps I had it easy in my day!'

Marshal's Draw - Thanks to some very generous donations from riders we were able to offer an excellent marshal's draw this year, winners as follows: Phill Hodges, Ian Beard and Steve Biddle are drying out with a hot toddy of whisky. Lucy Davis and Sue Hill are having a nice hot cup of tea with their biscuits – hope they're not on diets! Rod Jones is waking up to a free breakfast – well there's no such thing as a free lunch! Dave Pinney, Owain Jones, Nick Lord and Stan Howitt are all fast becoming wine connoisseurs. Andrew Brassington and Gavin Bailey are making sure their bikes are well maintained with the chain lube and filter oil. Whilst Darren and Glenn Thomas are planning a quick getaway with the cash.

Riders Say

You are welcome to send us your comments: wyegatesec@wgdfmcc.org.uk

Absolutely amazing weekend, you all did a fantastic job in organising such a large event to run with no problems, thought the sections were spot on and didn't make a wrong turn so the road map was good too!! Looking forward to next year, will be trying to get Henry's brother Joe involved and try to get the team award!!!!! Thanks again for all your efforts. Jase Bendall
It probably will take a 3 strong Bendall team to prise that trophy from CHG A but they would still have a moral win as their total age would be 165 and your team would be about 69 and don't forget 2 Men and a boy, who do sometimes pull it together! PS Team results are now up too.

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for an excellent weekend. The route on Saturday was hard enough to wake us all up and the weather made it even more challenging and Sunday's route was just classic Wyegate. Where do you find all this private land from? Absolutely spot-on. And the night's festivities were first class. Thoroughly enjoyed the whole weekend and please make it 2 days from now on. I do think it is now only slightly second in enjoyment to the Welsh 2 day. Thanks again from all the Caerphilly Club. Nigel Smith

Having never done a 2 day event before, the elation of coming back to the start at the end of the second day, felt like a job well done. When I was asked about a 2 day Wyegate, my reply was 'I think I might be about 20 years to old for that, but will give it a go.' I am very glad I did, a wonderful well run event again. Many thanks to all.
No real problems, just the lack of fitness. The only breakdown was sunday, I accelerated away in Tintern to turn left by the hotel, and got overtaken by an o ring chain............. mine. Quickly fixed, however. Just heard that the Wyegate winner Henry, has been offered a late entry in the SSDT. 2 day Wyegate next year? Fine by me. Andrew Luff

Thanks very much for a well organised and memorable event. Please have a word with God regarding the weather on Saturday though! Hope to see you next year. Martin Ward

Fantastic thank you for your efforts we had a great weekend. Bill Brown

Thanks to all the team for the massive amount of work you obviously put in to pull off a great event, if I wasn't already hooked, I am now, so hope to make it back again next year. Please could you pass on my thanks also to the now infamous Martin Worgan, not only for entertainment value on Saturday night, but for his kind offer of fuel, without which I'm sure I wouldn't have made the finish. It's people like Martin who make the spirit of the Wyegate what it is. Steve Masters

Congratulations on a fantastic 25th anniversary event. The whole week-end was brilliant, thanks all round to all the hard working club members who not only put on a fantastic trial but also an enjoyable social on Saturday evening. Please also say a big thank you to the ladies at Berry Hill Rugby Club, who provided such excellent nosh for the duration.
Really nice to see so many pre 65's, lets hope they all turn up next year, although I won't mind if Sam King decides to give it a miss!! What a rider, us mere mortals can only wonder how he does it. Paul Farley and Maggie Smith (observer)
Thanks Paul and especially Maggie as a valuable observer. Your other suggestion will get brought up at next club meeting.

Once again thanks for a great event. Saturdays rubbish weather was more than made up for on Sunday which was a really good day although one third of Team Beachball had unfortunately deflated on Saturday. Thanks for all making a great effort for this event and thanks to all the landowners who let us use their land. Long may it continue. Pat Longland

Thanks from all the Clevedon crew for yet another great trial. We thoroughly enjoyed both days despite Saturdays weather, and as trial organisers ourselves we can appreciate how much work goes into it. It's a shame some people did not start day 2, but if they had, they would have gone home happy, especially as the weather was perfect. We'll be back next year for sure. Andy Leahy

A big thank you to everyone behind the running of the latest Wyegate, it was truly a glorious weekend. The quality of the organisation, the number and quality of sections, the wonderful sights to be seen along the route, all go to make this one of the top UK long distance trials. I'm sure I won't be the only competitor thinking how nice it would be if you could continue with the 2-day event! But I realise that the extra day must involve a huge amount of work, so once again a big thank you for the club's efforts in putting together this very special event. Graham Smith
Oh, go on Graham, go the whole hog and ask for a Six Day. That nutter Neale will probably start thinking about it!

Many thanks for a great Wyegate as usual and I am indebted to all those that help organise it. One day is hard enough but 2 was a logistical masterpiece and as a rider I can say it went without any hiccups. Shame about the weather on Saturday but it did add some further excuses to my already burgeoning book of off-road excuses. Sunday's weather was just perfect. Many thanks once again. Pete Dunckley

Firstly, many thanks to all of the team for an excellent weekend. To have 2 great trials on the same weekend was a fantastic testament to the hard work of the organisers and observers – particularly coping with the bad weather and easing/omitting some of the sections. Any chance of seeing that particular video clip? Martin Worgan
You bet Martin, you know we just wouldn't miss a chance. If you weren't at the evening do, you will have missed dramatic evidence of how much grip his new Pampera can get when others are getting none. Video clip here later.

Just a quick note to say thanks for the day(s). Despite appalling weather on Saturday all the sections were still there and people were around to marshal and struggle with the horrors! Great effort all round! I broke a paw on the Saturday so didn't get to benefit from the great day on Sunday that my fellow members of Team Beachball enjoyed. Bizarrely though I still enjoyed the day and will be back next time with a mended hand and a lighter bike! Congratulations to all organisers and helpers. Jeremy Longland
There are 2 hopes there, Hope you heal ready for next year and hope there will be a next year!

The Programme

For this year we had support from the following to produce the Programme. As we had less than our full entry, we have some spares so if you have drowned yours we may be able to replace it. Contact our Wyegate Secretary - Jackie using wyegatesec@wgdfmcc.org.uk

	Tel: 01594 835440 Or 07976916189

Section Statistics

Day One

Section Statistics

Day Two