ROWRACIN 070805 Maiden Newton

[oldboyonrgv]

Another weekend, another race.
It was over to Mands Mum and Dads to pick Row up then off to the track for Saturday evening, the track was just 6 miles form Manda’s Mum and Dads place so Row and I went over Saturday evening, Manda and the gang came over Sunday morning .

Once set up Row and I walked the track, well field with a steep dip in it, the track clearly hadn’t been used much because it was under an nice lush coating of fresh grass, however under the grass were some pretty deep potholes, we tried as best we could to suss out the smoothest lines and called it a day.

Sunday
I had refreshed the bike with a new set of handlebars and grips (after Row had done his best to destroy the last set!)

Practice was despatched with Row reporting no problems apart from the fact that the track was a lot bumpier than we had sussed out and that some of the larger ones were right where he needed to ride.

Race 1
The start was situated on the side of a hill so we lined Row up at the highest point, he pulled peg No1 !, But the start was on freshly cut grass so nice and slippery, GO- Row pins it and the bike rotates 360 degrees ! along with about another 5 who did exactly the same, I leap over and pick Row and the bike up, get him straight and he sets off – 3rd to last out of 31, it takes him a lap to latch onto a group of five then another lap to get through em and clear off ! he starts to catch up to single riders, He is flying, passing riders every lap then on an uphill sweeper he tries to cut inside another rider and gets caught out by the bumps and gets thrown off of the track through the guide tapes, he keeps it going without falling off and rejoins the track after losing a couple of places, back on track he cuts the gaps on the next lot and gets home in 20th place.
Not a bad run but the important thing is that he is riding how I know he can so it’s a big slap on the back from me for riding so well.

Race2
This time Row gets peg 13 and learning from our first start we get into a gate nearer the middle, now that the big bikes have started there are ruts cut by the start gate so I line him up in the best one I can find.
10 second board Row snicks it into gear and let’s clutch to bite point – 5 sec- revs rise Row lifts his elbows up to ‘attack’ position - GO – Row hits it and gets a flyer – no one gets past him until he shuts down for the first bend , 5th out of the first bend and 8th and the end of the first lap, he keeps getting taken out of the slower hairpin bends because he is making the turns too tight instead of letting the bike drift, but he’s storming fast down the straights, no problems this time and Row finishes the race in 13th place, he’s full of the race when he comes back in and is well keen to get back out there, we have a little chat about where he is losing time but I keep it very upbeat, I am so chuffed his confidence and thus riding is back to nearly his level of a few weeks ago, he recons he can go a bit faster yet.

Race3
I line Row up in the same place as race2 - Go Row hits the throttle and the back spins a bit, he gets away in the top 3rd,into the first bend and another rider losses it in front of Row taking Row down with him, its riders and bikes everywhere as they try to avoid Both Row and Darren, I meanwhile am doing the 100yd dash to get to him, Row is up and just pulling the bike up I get to him as he is trying to find neutral “DON’T!” I tell in his ear “drop the clutch” he does and I push him and the bike to bump start the engine, it starts and Row hits the throttle and wheelies away, 2nd to last! I catch my breath and get myself to a safe position inside the track, Row meanwhile is putting together some mean riding and is flying through the pack with some excellent manoeuvres, the track is now so bumpy that all of the field are struggling and its getting pretty mixed up with both fast and slow riders, if you pick the wrong line it really slows you down, Row keeps going regardless and has managed to suss out some of the better lines, the race leader catches Row to lap him but Row is having none of it and matches him for pace down one of the long straights and into the following corner – excellent, into the next corner another (faster) rider catches Row for a position but Row holds his line and forces him out onto the rough stuff, I am all smiles and I don’t care what position he is in cause he’s riding like a trooper!, into the last lap and Row gets another few places with a nice up the inside sideway manoeuvre taking two on the way in and one on the way out, he’s still battling with the other rider as they come round to the last few corners, the other rider takes the outside and Row gets baulked by a slower rider who moves out and hits Row’s front wheel, Row goes cart wheeling for the second time in the race jumps up and gets to his bike which has been picked up by a marshal, bikes are passing him all the time and he’s right by the finish line and is screaming at the marshal to push it over but the marshal is trying to start it! Row pushes him out the way jumps on and manages to get it over the line after losing god knows how many places, he’s really p****d off when I get to him at the end (to the point of tears of frustration) ,it takes a while for Row to calm down and both myself and Manda are full of praise and tell him to forget about the end bit (as it wasn’t his fault) he slowly cheers up and we talk through the race after which he has brightened up to his old self, I worked out that he was up the top 10 before the last corner incident which is some performance give that he had handlebars pointing the wrong way for all of the race after the first corner crash!

So its off home for the Miller clan and Row won’t have done his championship any harm so really its mission accomplished, the bike is starting to look decidedly second-hand after all the recent crashing and I have some hours in the garage again this week to prep it for next weekends two day meet at Foxholes Mx track near Salisbury – lets hope Row continues improving and cuts down on the crashes eh!?