This is our account of the Hafren Rally 2008
For more info about this site, me (RBJ) or the club check out the homepage and the Club DB page.
Don't forget to check out the Gallery for photos of the event (600 available -free!)

After having so much fun last year I was keen to get some more Club DB members to take part in the 2008 event. So with a little gentle prodding from Rob and me, Phil, Ben, Tony (plus my girlfriend) made the trip down to Wales for this year event. There was much talk on the forum of what tyres to use and whether to run mousses or not. Scott-rider made a last minute change of heart and brought a set of mousses round to be fitted but the rear was too large for the tyre (140 into a 120) so that made for an interesting workout in the gym - I mean garage - until the bead cried enough and Scott came back the next day with another tyre in the correct size, plus a C&S kit! Somehow I managed to fit in a chain and sprocket replacement on my bike as well but the oil change would have to wait till afterwards.

With all the concern for the weather flying about I decided to leave the Kenda rear tyre on. I had planned to swop it for a part worn metzeller six days, as I think it would be harder wearing than the intermediate/soft Kenda. In the end I’m glad I stuck to the Kenda as it hooked up great on the rocks and mud, only spinning up on the fire roads when feeding in too much gas. In my mind it’s a really good tyre for £42. The journey down was a wet affair as it started raining near the M42 and never stopped but there were some lighter moments during the road trip. Watching “Special Needs Tony” trying to close the lid on my rather complicated (for him) coffee flask was a riot and in the end I let go the wheel to make a grab for it before it got broken, but Nicky came to the rescue and demonstrated how it should be done! Secondly we got stuck behind some old fossil in a newish BMW 750. The amount of things he nearly hit was amazing! The bus coming the other way was the closest one and we all sucked in our breath as he got back onto his side of the road just in time, then bounced off the curbs on the near side!

 
The follicly challenged dirt bike club! Social event the night before the Rally

After we all got settled into our B&B’s we met up in Llanidloes for the pre event social night. Last year Rob and I managed to score second place in the Pub Quiz, so with extra backup this year I hopped to go one better. While we didn’t get first place we did at least up hold the Club Dirt Bastards reputation by coming in second again! I must admit that it was wholly a team/club effort as I didn’t answer many myself! Andy from the forum came over to say hello and we chatted a bit about his underpowered (!) 540 KTM.

The Pits, cue old country 'n western song - "how high's the water momma"

While tucking into our full English breakfast at 6am it was still pouring down outside so it looked like we were in for one hell of a day. Nicky was worried that she’d be unable to take any photos in conditions like that. We got to the event center with plenty of time to spare and managed to sign on and get the bike through scrutiny before the queues started. I must say signing on was a slick affair. You started on one side of the table and very quickly moved to the right as there was a separate person to deal with each bit of paperwork and to hand out the complimentary Hafren 2008 coffee mugs. I was a little concerned about parking down in the car park as the gentle stream was a raging torrent by this stage and it didn’t have too far to go before bursting its banks! My sister had been due to pop down and say hello but I thought there wasn’t a hope in hell of her venturing out in this sort of weather! Without a marquee it looked like we were destined to get changed in the rain, but luckily Ben had a large van we could use. As usual everyone was helping out where ever they could and I managed to get a KTM going for someone that wasn’t having much luck kicking it over. It fired in the end but didn’t sound too bright, popping and banging a bit like it had a dodgy plug cap so I turned the idle up to help it stop dying. We spoke later in the day and it was running fine so maybe it was just water that had got in somewhere it shouldn’t have.

For those that are unfamiliar with the event it is either a two or three lap (dependant on class) timed event. Laps are normally about 45 to 50 miles. There are three special tests per lap that are timed on the second and third lap. Your results are based on these ST times. Times to these ST are very slack so anyone can enjoy the day without going flat out – not that it stop loads of guys going balls out on the liaison sections with the inevitable crashes that follow, but believe me, on some parts of the course you really don’t want to fly off the corners, as you’ll have time to wonder if it’s going to hurt when you hit bottom!

Me (RBJ no:53) - First lap special test no:1 - as you can see from the clouds it was pretty grim out there!

followed by Tony no:54

Rob was next no:55

Phil no:56

Finally it was Ben no:57

First bike away was at 9am and as our starting numbers were in the 50’s we were due off at about 9.17ish. Rob and I had done the 2007 event so we knew there was plenty of time to do the course and we all set off at a relaxed pace. On the first lap I like to ride the technical stuff at speed, getting into the grove a bit but I take the fire road stuff at a slower pace as there’s no need to go mad and it’s all too easy to overcook a bend and fly off into the trees/logs/rocks below! As normal the first lap isn’t timed and on this occasion the first Special Test’s wasn’t manned yet so I rode through the ‘start’ and got a feel for the bike on the roads before dropping down into the small mini mx part of the test. I built up the speed a bit but then managed to stall the bike braking into a bermed corner.

This mini mx bit was where Nicky stood to take pictures and the exceptionally bad conditions forced her to use a smaller lens to let in more light. However this meant she was right up close to the action! Every time a rider landed in the puddle on top of the ‘table top’ she got splashed! She worked out that if she clicked the shutter and then spun around fast she took it on the back instead of getting a face & camera full of muddy water! If she wasn’t fast enough it was frantic dabbing of the lens before the next rider came along. That’s dedication for you – I hope you like the photos! She did mutter something about starting to charge people for photos from now on! Due to the rain I left my clicky camera in the car, as I just didn’t think I’d be able to take anything half decent.

no:29 clearing the water

and no.41 (?) not clearing it!

Andy from the TBM forum - what happend to the shorts?!

Exiting the mx area I carried on up and over the ridge into the woods again, eventually coming to two logs in the road. I think this was supposed to be the end of the test but I wasn’t sure as this was also unmanned. Anyway I decided to wait for Tony to arrive and we set off together. Within ten feet there was a small puddle that turned out to be a lot deeper than it looked, and I ended up with a helmet and goggle full of muddy water! I found out later that Ben had fallen into the same trap.

It wasn’t very far to the next Special Test (no.2) and strangely I can’t remember exactly what the terrain was like but I think it was fairly easy going, alternating between fire roads and single track. ST 2 started out with a bit of fast road work then turned onto a sandy track that had loads of mini jumps that was already getting cut up on lap one. The track rejoined a road before turning off into an area that had been cleared of forest. Afte

r a steep down hill the test was over as soon as we reached the next fire road. The best bit of the course was between ST2 and ST3 as this had more ‘off road’ sections i.e. single track and rough tracks through woods and up slopes. Twisting and turning up and down hillsides. One part had a steepish climb up a hill that had a torrent of water running down it. The water had cut a rut into the single track that was gushing water and at one point a large tree stump was making its way down the hill!

Once we got to ST 3 the rain had stopped and it was starting to clear up nicely. There were a lot of bikes gathered at this point as the organisers were stopping everyone and setting you off as per a proper timed test so we had about 30 minutes to wait until our turn. The five of us all met up and generally spoke about the fun we were having and the great trails we had already covered. Starting the test as if it was the real thing it was a few fast blasts down some fire road before dropping into a rutted track that was used last year only from the opposite direction. However this year it was more like a river as the rainwater was flowing along its course. I caught the rider in front of me easily in this section but struggled to get past as I had got trapped in the same deep right hand side rut. The water must have been two foot deep in some parts but the 450 KTM roared through without a hitch. Mmm I can’t remember the rest of the test after that lane.

Once again we gathered about at the end of the test to regroup, and set off for ‘camp’ to get ready for the next lap. A far as I recall it was mostly fire roads from here onwards until we reached the pits. The sun was fully out once we got back to the pits and there was time for a quick re-fuel of the bike and I. Super unleaded for the bike and pork pie for me, washed down with a cold coke. Nicky was there having rushed back from her advantage point on the approach road, where she had been taking some more photos. It was a quick ‘are you enjoying it’ before she had to set off again to get to the mini mx part of test one. She was half way up the hill as I came wheeling past and I must say it looked hard work walking up that hill!

Start of the second lap and me wheeling up the hill past Nicky (note Tony ducking his head to avoid roost)

Lap 2 - Special Test 1
I made a good start, riding fairly well on the fire roads and managed to catch the rider in front of me before the mx section. This part also went ok, no dramas of any kind and I was soon back out into the woodland roads. After a while I started to think I had made a mistake somewhere as I’d not come to the end of the session. I thinking I’d missed the end I eased up a bit but then I reached the logs laying across the road and realised it was just an extra long test.

Me exiting the mini mx area in ST1

Tony getting a move on in ST1

Phil making it count too

Rob still in 'unshaken' mode

Ben exiting the mx part of ST1

We stopped to regroup and have a chat about the test when Ben arrived and told us Rob had been taken out by a rider passing him on the special test and they had both gone down at high speed, maybe 40 to 50 mph! Ben had stopped to help and explained that Rob was ok but had taken a really hard fall and slid along the road for quite some time but he had been more concerned about the other rider as he’d cart wheeled through the air. We were all a bit concerned for Rob and his iffy back when low and behold he rides up and stops next to us. Eyes wide and shaking he could hardly get his helmet off. Once he did he lunched into a “fuckinghelligottakenoutbythisotherebikeandhadabigoff” breath “ithinkimighthaveknockedmyheadasIdidn’tknowwhereiwasforawhile”! Translated and slowed down a bit he said that he didn’t know where he was when he stood up and looked around wondering where he was and what he was doing. It sunk in after a bit that he had fallen off his bike during the Hafren! We all had a bit of a joke and a laugh then I cleaned his goggles for him as he was still shaking a bit. It was then that I noticed that his helmet was smashed in at the rear! He seemed fairly lucid (as much as can be expected from a dirt biker) so it looked like he’d got away without serious head injuries. His jacket was a bit torn up as well but thankfully no broken bones. We set off for the next special test. feeling very comfortable i was making my way up a hill that had a succession of small puddles so I swung to the left to skirt round the worst of it (no idea why - it's not as if we weren't wet already) and I caught my leg on the banking. It twisted my foot out and pulled my leg back violently almost pulling me off the bike. Very painful at first and I thought I might have torn/broken something but I rode along with it dangling for a bit and then flexed it several times and realised everything was working ok, so if it was going to play up it'll be the next day (turned out fine though).

I like this one with the sun catching the water

?! - not to worry - they all do that sir

Lap 2 - Special Test 2
Once again we stood around having a chat before setting off at our allocated start time. Like the first test I caught the guy if front again but it was on a tight part of the course and had to sit behind him for a while losing time. I eventually got past and took off but then there was a fork in the road and the tape had been knocked down by a previous rider so I mistook the road for the path instead of turning off to the right. As soon as I did I realised I’d gone wrong and had to turn around. Rider 52 sneaked past at this point and I had to sit behind him again in a tight section but managed to get by on the downhill before the road. Not a good way to get a result and I was a bit pissed off with myself for making the mistake.

I’m not sure if it was part of the special test section or not (I think it may have been in ST2) but there was one tricky bit where you came out onto a road and turned right quickly followed by a left turn off the road. You then had to negotiate bank followed by a turn to the right. The bank part was running deep with water and it had cut a very deep groove, complete with a large step, into the path. There were several people there motioning to us to keep to the side but as you couldn’t see this bit from the approach it was hard to judge what to do. When I first arrived at this obstacle there wasn’t enough time to take avoiding action, and I ended up in the gully that had been washed out by the stream. Faced with a large step I just gunned the KTM and hit it hard, bouncing up high into the air I just managed to keep it all together and didn’t stall the engine. The next time I came round I remembered to keep to the left and it was even easier this time round, partly as we weren’t ridding in a stream any more!

Lap 2 - Special Test 3
While waiting at test number three Rob caught up with us again and we were pleased to see that he still appeared to be ok and had calmed down a bit by now. Once again I caught up to no 52 quickly and as in the previous un timed lap I got stuck in the bloody right hand side rut again. I managed to get out several times but every time I moved to another rut, so did the rider in front so I really struggled to get past. I managed it in the end but was a bit pissed off. I must add it’s not his fault as he’s trying to do his own thing but I just caught him at the wrong time. More worrying for me was the fact that my brakes had ‘gone off’ and had a lot a leaver travel. I had another problem as well and that was the ktm’s speedo had stopped working due to water getting in. When I’d previously repaired the micro switch inside I’d noticed that the tags on one side of the cover had been damaged so I had to silicon seal it closed. This had obviously not worked very well as water had got in and the display had died.

So who was going to sell Tony some petrol? gosh the price of fuel in the Welsh hills!

Refueling in the pits again I drained my ten ltr can into the ktm and looked over at Tony as he poured the dregs of his 5ltr can into his tank. Recalling back to the phone conversation several nights before, when I told him to get more fuel. I asked, knowing full well it wasn’t – “5ltrs enough then”? Luckily for him Rob had more than enough in his 25ltr Gerry can.

Final lap:
Phil was pointing out that it was a short lap but having done three ST’s in last year's event I told him he’d got it wrong and that the ‘finish time’ had to be the start of the last (third) special test.

Lap 3 - Special Test 1
I really nailed it away from the start with the rear spinning up on the tar road. I took the first tight left easy but then really nailed the bike through the following dirt roads. I was screaming the nuts off the 450 and caught the rider in front much earlier this time and never got held up, but I did have to endure some rather mean roost from his rear tyre in doing so! I flew into the next couple of corners sideways but managed to drop into the ruts formed by previous riders and everything went great. The 450 did feel a bit out of breath going up one long incline and I never thought I’d need more grunt out of it! The mx bit went real well and Nicky caught a fantastic shot of me on one corner. I waited for Tony to catch up and then carried on. The sun was making it a bit tricky in some areas as the roads were steaming, add in some dazzling sunlight filtering through the trees and it was hard to make out the turns. On several occasions Tony and I both thought that the steam were bikes in trouble and backed off for a bend only to realise it was the sun playing tricks on us. It’s not often that you see these wonderful Welsh mountainsides in the sun and some of the views were amazing. Dark, moody, cloud laden skies made the mountains seem harsh in the early morning, with ragging torrents were streams were before. But this all changed into a bright, colourful landscape that once again had charming little streams crisscrossing the hillsides, complete with freshly washed sheep frolicking about. Pity our twice yearly club trips to the area have been stopped by the powers that be.

Me trying to set a good time in ST1 Lap3

Tony on the same corner
By the way Tony's bike (crf250x) is now for sale and once cleaned up will be appearing in the new 'For Sale' section of this website.

later he caught his foot on the ground and nearly had a whoopsie

Ben at the same bend as well

Rob was next - still riding after his 'big one'

Phil bring up the rear - he must have run off the track somewhere?

Lap 3 - Special Test2
Once again I absolutely nailed the 450 for all it was worth as I caught 52 coming into a left turn and this time he heard me coming and paused very slightly on the bend so I shot through calling out “thanks mate” as I passed. Everything went well and pretty soon the test was over.

I waited for Tony before carrying on, and set off at a good pace but slowed down a bit after a while. I knew the times were slack so being late wasn’t likely. Tony came past so I sat behind him for a while until we turned into the woods on a technical bit so I hit the ‘go’ button again and overtook going up the tree covered slope and enjoyed the jumps and bumps that followed. I caught up to 52 again I follow him for a while not bothering to overtake until the mud getting flung up got annoying. Once back on fire roads I slowed back down and cruised alone until all of a sudden Tony came hammering past me. I wasn’t sure why he was in such a hurry so I looked at my wrist watch that I’d put back on my arm after the KTM’s speedo gave up the ghost. I looked at the time then looked at the last time on the duck tape on the tank. Bugger I’d been day dreaming following some guy on a 640 KTM when I should have been cracking on!

I caught back up to Tony and sat behind him for a bit thinking the next test was just round the corner. Only it wasn’t – so now I got confused about distances and thought they had set a really tight check. Ok time to hit the afterburner I nailed it to pass and set off to make up lost time. Of course we had it all wrong – there was no third special test and after a while it all sunk in as I realised we had bypassed the test stage and were on the 'home straight' so to speak. On the last downward road heading towards the finish I quickly caught a rider in front as we came into a tight left hander. I was just setting up a pass when he got the bike completely locked up, skidding sideways towards the edge and the part of the road where I was going to be if he dumped it. I had visions of me riding over the top of him when he got control at the last minute. A close one for sure.

Cruising down to the finish I noticed two high viz-jacketed people taking down numbers so I changed direction and headed over to ‘clock out’. I think these guys should have been further forward as a few riders were going straight to their cars & vans without clocking out. So another fantastic day was had by all. Even Rob enjoyed the day on some level but he was still a bit hyper and full of adrenaline when he was drinking a tea after getting changed! His underarm bruise was already starting to blacken up nicely.

Rob's helmet took a bashing! (quote Ben)

Rob lamenting the loss of his jacket - at least you've still got the seventies mx shirt eh Rob!
(See and hear more from Rob at the end of this report)

The journey home was fairly uneventful. I popped into ET James as normal on the way and picked up a new pair of Scott OTG goggles and a double glazed lens to go with it. I managed to get excluded from the coffee run in the services somehow but as I made such a fuss at the time I’ll let that one go (for now Tony). Unloading the bike in the dark I managed to clunk my shin bone into the trailer’s sharp angle iron front and I’m sure the pain was worst than anything Rob had inflicted on him (well maybe not - but it felt like it!)

Thanks once again to the Hafren Dirt Bike Club for laying on another great event and I’m already looking forward to next year. As you’ll see from fellow Club DB member’s comments below they universally enjoyed the day even though it started out wet. There was more than one person that called it the “best day they’d had on a dirt bike”.
Result: I came in 29th in the overall standings (bearing in mind there were 250 -300 entries) and 12th in the O40 sub class so a good results fo me!

Take Two: Written by Phil

Really enjoyed the event. It was good to meet up at the quiz night the evening before and the Hafren club put on a great buffet spread of food and I enjoyed the light hearted fun evening that set us up nicely for the day ahead. The Rally itself was superb. The course was brilliant with a mix of fast open fire roads with drops off the side, technical rocky single tracks, and knarly forestry sections - all mixed in with a generous dose of water in places. I thought it was a great mix of terrain with a lap of about 45 miles and stunning views around every corner. It was great to crack on in the special tests and also superb to ride round the liaison sections in a fast convoy with my riding buddies. What really impressed me as well as the course was the organisation by the Hafren club. Everything ran like clockwork and the whole event had a nice friendly and sociable feel. Before going I had thought it might be a bit of a 'tame' event but I was seriously impressed. I reckon it's one of the best day's riding that I've ever had on a dirt bike!
Scott_rider a.k.a. phil

Phil in action

Take Three: Written by Ben

Arrived in Llanidloes at about 5 ish I think on sat evening!? After locating the B&B then set about finding the town center and the club where all the rally’ers would be congregating for the quiz. After a narrow miss at winning the Quiz after a few beers we retired at a reasonable time for a very early start (for me 6 am is silly o’clock) on Sunday to get to the site in time for about 7.30 for scrutineering / signing on etc… Organisation was very accomplished – as was the pure egg fart that one of the guys in the front of the queue inflicted on all of us and the poor girls that were doing the paperwork!!!

After signing on (and getting my now treasured MUG) I took the bike to be scrutineered, - 5 mins in the heavy rain meant I was already getting soaked through my “waterproof” jacket – not a good omen for the day. I decided on purchasing some new gloves to combat the cold and wet – great idea as it turned out and glad that the guy was there selling bits n bobs at very reasonable prices. So before we knew it, it was start time and mild chaos (amongst ourselves) as to when we start!? So instead of all starting together in our little group (of 4 guys) we were split up 1st thing – so I just blasted round most of the 1st long lap on my own after passing Rob on the 1st timed stage. I rode on to find Phil (who was actually behind me) and John / Tony ahead as everyone was corralled at the beginning of the 3rd timed stage (although not timed on this sighting lap)

 
Ben in action

We all congregated at the start of what would be the 3rd timed stage and chatted about the course - which was more technical in places than I was expecting – a great variety of mud, rock, shale, fire roads and tracks through trees. A stunning mix of fast and slow, technical and easy stuff that kept me interested all day – the more technical steeper and bumpier sections became my favorites by the end of the day after I familiarized myself wit them and knew there was nothing that couldn’t be attacked with a modicum of speed / aggression / stupidity!!

After the 1st “sighting “ (!) lap we re-grouped, fueled up and got ready for the 2nd lap with proper TIMED sections – the rain had stopped by now which was welcome (although riding through the mist was pretty amazing on the 1st lap and the flowing water was great fun to ride through on some of the gulley’s). So the aggression was up as we all set off to start on stage1 – and it showed. I was passed by a few guys as we entered the “mx” course section – I was in no hurry to bin it here so stayed at my pace and followed the guys as they passed. Shortly after exiting the actual MX track there was a fast climb up a hill where everyone was going for it – I was closing on Phil and Rob when I looked down, looked up and saw two bikes flying down the road – one was Rob, pirouetting / tumbling UP the hill on the trail, the other bike was cart wheeling over the edge of the trail – shortly followed by the rider and down about 20 feet to the shallow bank of the hillside!!.

It was certainly very spectacular to see – like something on “when sport goes wrong” - I was expecting broken bones and bikes, but was glad to find Rob standing by the time I got to there and off my bike. He was very dazed but seemed in one piece and functioning (physically anyway) he seemed more concerned about the bike and if it would run again. I then ran down to the guy still lying by his bike to see if he was Ok as well – by some miracle he was fine – looked rather winded / dazed but all functioning. So I then headed back to Rob, his bike was running – so I re-joined the race – although by now my time was in pieces as I was stopped for a good few minutes, never mind – its only a race!?!?!!? So off I blasted and decided to use my next laps time on stage one as my guide to how I was proceeding that day. Stage two and three were great – and plenty of “competition” minded guys going for it – so I tried to give as good as I got now I was slightly more familiar with the course.

Ben making a splash in ST 1

By the time I got back to re-fuel I was starting to feel a bit tired after 86 miles of virtually flat out riding (but was loving the scenery and the varied terrain) so I was glad to be going out for the final (half) lap. By this time the sun was out – I was down to my MX top instead of jacket, and the speeds were up somewhat after confidence / experience on the previous two laps. Stage one was great – fast and no one overtook me – until way after the MX track section, no one was cart wheeling in front of me this time and I progressed through at a good speed loving the weather (extreme weather warning!?!? What DO we pay the weather men for these days!?!?!?)

Stage two was fun – and I was pushing harder than before getting more air over the bumps and whoops – really soaking it all up (those darn welsh are so spoiled for great riding terrain) and enjoying the last miles of the race / rally, I passed Rob on a watery uphill climb as he toppled over on a corner – I was carrying too much momentum to stop in time, so steered to the right of him and the bike, by the time I did stop I was pretty much beside his bike so thought I’d be better off just gassing it past and used his wheel / tyre as a launch pad – shouting my apologies as I accelerated away up the hill. . . (“that’s racing” I guess is the saying!??! - sorry again Rob)

I nearly rode (again) into the little waterfall at the end of the lap through target fixation, but managed to miss it, and blasted off down to the finish for a well deserved cup of coffee!!! It was positively hot by now and I was soon de-kited and into T-shirt / jeans to pack the van and bike away. I had a last chat to the guys about the days riding, and any “get off’s” that were had. Rob’s helmet took a bit of a bashing (if you excuse the terminology) and looked very much fit for the bin – as did his jacket! But he was in high spirits and rode the whole day after the crash at a good pace, which impressed me immensely – I’m not sure I would have carried on for the last lap?!?!

I was very pleased to get though without any punctures. . no injuries (just a lightly pulled hip from dabbing a left foot at speed) and no breakdowns, The Berg was amazing – plenty powerful enough to light up the rear, the new AC10 rear tyre gripped well and meant I wasn’t struggling on the climbs and wet sections. The only bad point was the starter solenoid packed up on the sighting lap – full of mud, so I was on Kick-start for the rest of the day. Running higher pressures than I normally do was a little odd but not to bad and meant no punctures (phew) which I was REALLY glad about as the thought of changing a tyre mid race fills me with dread quite frankly. . . but then I’m a lazy so and so !!

The drive home was better than the drive up (as now I could SEE the stunning scenery on the way, but after a days racing I was pretty tired and glad to see the Severn bridge knowing it was 2 hours to home (even more glad knowing I wouldn’t have to pay 10.60 to cross the damn bridge again!?!?! A great race a great weekend – some “interesting” weather and some great company – cheers guys. I’ll be back in 2009 if I can make it.

Take Four: Written by Rob

For me, Hafren 2008 started OK with a relaxed lap1 with no problems other than the rain and lots of water. Lap 2 contained the first timed test, (ST1) and I upped my pace, determined to improve my dismal 2007 performance and keep up with the other Club DB lads. I was concentrating on keeping Scott rider in sight and BANG! I came down in ST1, after being hit when doing about 45 - 50 mph by another rider. Fortunately I was dazed or knocked out so don't remember the crash, actually I can't remember much more until the end of the 2nd lap, however I got mega bruises & abrasions all over my bod, wrecked most of my kit including my helmet which has cracks & holes in the outer shell and the poly liner has cracks at the point of impact! I think I was lucky.....

The other bloke cartwheeled off the track down the grass bank , thus avoiding the hard rocks. Blather who was following, saw the whole thing, stopped to check me out, picked me up & sat me down off the track, then once I was coherent went to look at the other bloke. Apparently I then jumped up and rode off! Anyway, the rest of Club DB waited at the end of ST1 for me and checked me & the bike over, so I carried on - a bit more dazed than normal!! Didn't feel great but decided to complete the event, albeit very slightly detuned. The bloke who knocked me off came over & apologised at the start of a later ST. I've got no complaints - it's part & parcel of any competitive sport. Got a bit of a shock when we inspected my helmet at the end. Anyway, other than that - it was a great event, well organised and a good course. The wet morning weather certainly added to the interest.We also managed to come second in the saturday evening pub quiz - Yey I now have got to get a new Bell Moto 7 - designed by a genius, tested to destruction by ME!

More of the aftermath!

A few interesting pics of the day - all these and more in the gallery

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