After we all had such a good time at last year’s event, the 2009 Hafren Rally was always going to be a ‘must do’ for Club DB. As soon as the dates were announced I booked up the whole B&B, as I knew I’d be able to fill the places. Ben couldn’t make it this year, but Keith stepped up and filled the vacant spot.

Pre-race talk centered on whether we’d manage to win the quiz night at our third attempt, having finished second for the last two years. However I was more worried about an arm injury I’d picked up the Sunday before at the CHEC race. On the Monday my wrist was so swollen my fingers were going numb! Loads of diclofenac helped bring the swelling down and I rested it all week. Luckily, come the weekend it felt fine.

We all made our way to the B&B on the Saturday and Keith took most of us into town to the social event. This meant that I could have a couple of drinks as previously I’ve always been stuck being the driver. We tucked into the buffet, drank beer and bought raffle tickets, as well as paying for the quiz.

getting settled into the B&B

Raffle time came and I had three strips in front of me, Nicky and the others had roughly five apiece. The first umber out was mine! “woohoo” I yelled (several beers in) and went up to collect the prize (take your pick from the table – I chose a t-shirt). No sooner had I sat down my second strip won as well, so I went and picked out a ‘Onfire’ hat. When my third strip won I was getting some funny looks, but when Phil, Rob and Tony also won (some twice) there were some mutterings in the crowd! For my third prize I picked up one of the ‘mystery’ envelopes as most of the good stuff was gone. It turned out to be a scratch card – and I won with that too!!!

Quiz time came and we did our best, but the questions appeared harder this year (too much beer?). Anyway we came finished in a joint first place, so the tie brake question would determine who won. We had guessed at the height of the London eye and were a fair bit out, but the other team got it spot on!? Mmm been using Google on the smartphone eh? Still the second place prize was chocolates, so I was happy again!

nearly time to go - the morning of the race at our B&B.

Keith decided to provide some light entertainment once we got to the venue by dropping his bike!

Rob watches the young' ns mess about - Nicky recons he always looks like a naughty Elf!

The sunny skies that were predicted had a strange dampness to them and the skies were far from clear. What I’m trying to say is …… it was crap weather! The low light made photos an iffy affair and I never bothered getting the helmet cam out all day.

Having ‘signed on’ at the social event the night before, it was a breeze to get the bikes through scrutineering. We still had plenty of time to kill, but I got into a bit of a strop. Coming back from the scrutineering bay I felt the front end was dragging slightly. I had this problem the previous week at the CHEC race and I thought I’d cured it. I found the aftermarket brake lever wasn’t pushing all the way in (only found that out while bleeding the brakes). So with the oe one back in, and a bit of lube all seemed fine. However the front was dragging again.

a view of the pits

doing some pre race prep work

The plunger was getting stuck in the master cylinder when it was pulled hard. This caused the brakes to bind on for a while then release. I’ve had this problem before but it was cured by replacing the plunger and seals (repair kit). But that was less than 12 months ago so why should it be sticking again? A few of the other guys said to check the caliper but I knew it wasn’t that as I could feel the plunger was getting stuck. Several sprays of lube wasn’t improving things much and my mood was as dark as the skies – I’d hoped to do well in the event this year and was fired up. To be on the safe side I pulled off the brake caliper quickly and re-cleaned the pistons and used some brake grease on them. It wasn’t any better so I took off the brake lever and gave the master cylinder/plunger a good spray with WD40, then some lube. It was still sticking but not so baldly. I looked for the extra small can of WD40 I have, but that was in my trail riding rucksack, so I was just going to have to make do. TWD suggested I just use the rear more but while prepping the bike on the Friday I’d noticed that needed a repair kit as well, as it wasn’t working 100%. Piss poor preparation I hear you say, well ok but I wasn’t able to get any work done earlier in the week as my arm was too sore.

Rob sitting in the queue to start lap 1

Phil with Tony & Rob in the background

just after the start. me followed by Tony & Phil in the rear.

me - nice n clean...... not for long!

Anyway - our start time came eventually and the five of us set off in one group (more or less). At the first Special Test we were waved through and I put on a burst of speed to get my eye in for later. ST1 starts out as a very fast uphill blast along a road. There are some good ruts that can be used to crank the bike over, as well as a few berms on the outside of bends. Once you get to the top of the hill you drop back down into the amphitheater like area and here you do a few turns and jumps before heading back out again on some more high speed roads. Test one is pretty long and it only ends once you reach the forests.

special test 1 - after the high speed road section you drop down into this area.
this is me.

followed by Tony at the 'jump'

Keith hard on the gas

Phil

with Rob bringing up the rear

Once at the end of the first special test I waited around for the other guys and we set off together once again. We didn’t have far to go until we got to special test 2, and I think the time allowance was something like15 minutes or so to cover the ground on this liaison section. Without video to back up my memory I’m having a hard time remembering what this section was like, mostly fire roads I suspect.

Special test two was more single track biased, by that I mean more pure ‘off road’ going, as opposed to what we had done up until now. I decided to push a little on this one to ‘get my eye in’ and very nearly had a whoopsie when the front got out of shape on an uphill turn. The handlebars kicked sideways and I managed to half land on them, knocking some of the wind out of me. That was a bit of a wake up call to concentrate more and to try and be smoother. Once again we chilled out and re-grouped after the test and then set off on the longest non timed part to SP3.

This was by far the best part of the course, alternating between fire roads, off road single track and more difficult ‘green route’ sections. I’d tried one of the green routes earlier and as it was only a short rutted track cutting off one bend of the course, so I never bothered with it again. The next one however was much better and comprised of a gnarly climb up the hillside before curving back down to the fire road. There was more or less one line to take and lots of guys were having trouble getting to the top. As we had plenty of time I hung around until there was a clear run and powered up to the top. Well I say ‘powered’ but really it was more a delicate modulation of the throttle, so as to not spin up the rear and lose grip on the rocks. Good momentum and a steady throttle = easy climbing.

half way up the 'green route'

I’m not too sure if it was before or after special test 3 but we were hanging around waiting for Tony to appear. We waited, and waited and waited some more and eventually he appeared – with a flat front tyre! The rocks had obviously made a meal of his inner tube. He said he’d see us back at the car as he’d spoken to a marshal and was going to make his way back via the road and would more than likely be back before us. With that in mind I set off at a rapid pace so I could get back in time to help him (Nicky and I had the keys to the car). I gave the 450 full throttle wherever I could and was passing loads of people on the way back, drifting into and out of bends on the fire roads. Coming up behind a slower rider I went to his right to pass and then he moved to the right as well. Emergency stopping procedure came into play, at the same time as I shouted “OTHER SIDE” and he quickly pulled left in time for me to just miss him! Another highlight of the ride back was coming into one bend on the last run down off the mountain. I had the bike pushed down beneath me, pressing on the outer peg for grip, when the tyres ran over a rock slab in the road, breaking traction and alarmingly pushing both wheels in a slide right out to the edge of the track – it felt great but there was a ‘ooh don’t want to go down there’ drop-off on the outside of the bend!

arriving back at the pits - not so clean now!

Once back at the car Tony was nowhere to be seen so I topped up with petrol, lubricated the ‘piece of crap’ front master cylinder and re-filled the camel pack. With still no sign of Tony I tucked into some food but eventually he arrived so I immediately hoicked the bike up onto my spares box and set about the front end pulling the front wheel out. Getting a bit of a brain wave I suggested to Tony he go and check to see if the guy selling stuff at the hanger could replace the tube. He jumped on my bike to find out while I finished pulling the wheel out. He came back with the good news so I jumped on the back of the bike with the wheel, then came back to the car for some chocolate birthday cake, mmmm chocolate!

Tony's already gone to find out if the dealers can fit a new tube while i start to take out the front wheel


hey stop laughing - this is serious work!


oops - tyre levers are inside the box!

Once the cake was scoffed I filled Tony’s bike with petrol and asked Keith to go and see if Tony and the wheel were ready to be picked up. As soon as they got back I hurriedly popped the wheel back in as time was ticking away. The others left for the start of the second lap just as we were hurriedly hurling everything back into the car and gearing up.

In a bit of a panic I hammered the bike up towards the start of SP1 as I could see I was already late. What a day this was turning out to be! Getting to the start of ST1 I had to push my way to the front (being late) and the panic still had a hold of me as I absolutely nailed it away from the start, leaning forward to keep the front down and no doubt showering everyone in crap. I was in a real hurry now, but I think I slowly calmed down a bit when somewhere along the line I remembered you weren’t penalised for being slightly late. I don’t remember the test very well to be honest so I think it must have gone ok.

Once we got to the second ‘special’ we were reunited with the other three guys and could once again start in the proper sequence. Sitting waiting my turn the guys in front of me turned to say hello and we chatted for a bit. He mentioned that looking at last year’s test times he knew I was faster than him, so he’d try and make some room for me to get by. Starting the test I nailed the bike as hard as I could, mindful that there were a few spots in this part that could catch you out. Everything was going well and I was putting in a quick time so I easily caught the rider ahead of me (who I’d been talking to). As he heard me coming he obviously started putting some extra effort in as he wasn’t holding me up too much, but it all looked a bit frantic and pretty soon he threw himself over the bars in quite a spectacular ‘off’! It looked like the front had got away a bit, then he got flicked over the bars by the back end. I pulled up next to him asking “you ok” and seeing as I got a “yea” I carried on. The ‘yea’ was squeezed out somehow via an obviously winded person who was none too happy at the time! Mindful that I’d now lost some time I tried to claw some back, but that only resulted in me tipping off myself. It was partly not my fault really. A previous rider had knocked down the tape blocking the pathway (tight right turn) but I didn’t spot the additional orange markers until it was too late, and the doggy brakes couldn’t stop me in time so I overshot the turn, then managed to drop it trying to turn it round in the narrow track. I wasn’t too please with myself and it started to occur to me that maybe we’d used up all our luck at the social ‘do’ the night before!

waiting at the start of a 'special test'

Like I said earlier, the liaison section between sp2 and sp3 is a long one and has lots of varied riding mixed into it. We enjoyed riding as a group again and had plenty of time to enjoy some of the best sections on the rally. One of which was the tricky ‘green route’ up the single track, rock coated climb. However when we got to it there were a few riders struggling about half way up. Stopping just at the foot of the climb I watched for a while then saw a faint mark to the left and I was sure I could squeeze past. Gunning the bike up the hill I switched to the outside line and shot up the track passing the two stricken riders. About halfway up I stopped on a flat bit and jumped off to take some photos. I shot a couple, then walked down to help a rider on a KTM 690. He was having a hard time of it and his face was cherry red under the helmet. Tony was helping to push but the rider looked shattered. Jumping on the bike I said ‘stand clear’ and with a little help from Tony powered the big bike up the hill, grip was hard to find and the engine liked to stall too much for my liking (fueling a bit too lean maybe?) but I got it up to the flat spot for the rider and handed it back to him with some advice on how to tackle the last bit – i.e. ‘momentum and a steady throttle’.

zoomed in with the new clicky cam - mr 690 on the green route


"peddle Forest.... peddle!"


Tony following


check out the guy in the background ...riding up the side of the bank!

Tony and I headed off once more but it wasn’t long before we came across a stranded Rob and the others. Rob had managed to pick up a puncture somehow (nail I think?) so we parked up and I climbed down the hillside looking for a log to prop up the bike, while rob worked on loosening everything off. A few marshals stopped while we were in mid fix and one must have taken a photo or two as it ended up in the official report on Enduronews. Unfortunately by now my right arm was once again badly swollen and hurting like hell (the left over injury form the CHEC race). I managed to get Rob to part with one of his special pain tabs and knocked that back. Phil in the meantime had developed a starting problem and while Rob worked on his bike, Tony helped Phil find and repair the loose connection on the battery. Keeping an eye on the time, Keith offered to stay with Rob (at this stage the tube was already out) so the rest of us carried on to sp3.

Once again we were late to this one so we rolled though the group and I tackled the test, which must have gone ok as I can’t recall anything going wrong or getting stuck behind anyone. Heading back to the start/finish was also uneventful and once back at the car we did another ‘pit stop’ of refueling the bikes and having a bite to eat. By now the wind was really pumping and I’m not too sure if it had anything to do with it, but a marshal went off the side of the road and crashed down a very steep slope, which resulted in him being airlifted to hospital.

Riding up to the start of the first special test on lap three I nearly got blown off the bike myself, as a gust of wind came up and pushed me three feet off to the left while I was traversing the road near the water. Starting SP1 for the last time I was bouncing the 450’s engine off the ceiling and quickly caught and passed the rider who started in front of me. I carried on giving it everything and was rapidly catching the second rider when all of a sudden we were confronted by a shut gate, just as we made our way down the hill to the mini mx section!!!!

off the bike and opening a gate - during the special test!!

trying extra hard now!

Tony

I was a little confused at first and even though I knew this was the correct route I had a quick look for markers. The other rider was trying to unlatch the gate without getting off his bike but I knew he’d never be able to open it with the wind blowing like it was so I jumped off and pushed the gate open, jamming it into the grass bank. Jumping back onto the bike again I rejoined the test but the other two had got ahead. I gassed the bike and guy I’d overtaken first moved to one side letting me by (thanks a lot mate). However the rider in front of him had other ideas and was doing everything to keep me behind. I tried to go up the inside on a tight line at a left turn but he got better drive and filled in my goggles with slush! Riding almost blind I tried to wipe them clear while hitting the gas one handed but as I was riding almost totally blind I started to go off track so I had to slow down and pull my cloth out the front of the bike to wipe the lens clear. Hitting the gas again I caught the other rider again but as soon as I went to overtake he’d squirt the bike throwing up loads of crap so I had to bide my time and pick a stop where I could get by on a wider line with space to protect my vision. Mini rant – look mate, the very fact that I’ve caught you up means that I’ve already beaten you by over a minute, why make it harder for me to get by?

me going for the inside line.... it didn't work

Keith in sp1 lap 3

Pulling up at the end of the special I had a bit of a rant at the marshal standing there ref the shut gate incident. Sorry mate, it wasn’t your fault, but I was pretty frustrated by this time! Luckily Nicky caught the gate saga on film, so I was able to successfully appeal for some lost time back. We regrouped once again but we were one down for some reason, Tony hadn’t made it to the end of the test. We waited for a while but had to move on in the end. It turned out that he managed to get another puncture, the rear this time. If there was ever a case for mousses then this was it!

Sitting waiting for the start of the second and last special test (SP2), I was having a chat to Phil about the course etc but I had my helmet on. We chatted for a while then he wondered off. About a minute later he was back and said “where have you been – I’ve been looking all over for you” ??!! Looking at him a bit strange I said “err sitting here talking to you”! His excuse was he was tired and with all the mud he didn’t recognise me! SP2 went ok’ish – I caught and passed the first rider in front fairly easily, but once again the other rider wasn’t having any of it and not wanting to ‘put a move on him’ I followed him for a while before slipping by near the end of the test but it lost me a fair amount of time.

Phil - after talking to some 'stranger'

I teamed up with Keith and Phil for the last run back to the pits and spent a lot of the time mucking about pulling wheelies, lifting the front up at 40 mph. The only problem was the amount of muck coming off the front wheel. Yup - unlike last year it had never really cleared up at all and the strong wind never managed to dry the road surface as rain showers constantly came through on the wind. When we got back to the car there was a lonely looking KTM sitting there with a very flat rear tyre (Tony has now bought a mousse).

Tony - having sat out most of the last lap keeping himself warm by eating chips!

pulling into the pits for the last time (Keith in shot too)

everyone loading up - not looking forward to the drive home!

So another Hafren Rally was over, a very ‘up and down’ weekend was had by all, but I definitely think we used up all of our luck the night before! The only downer of any Hafren Rally is that bloody long drive all the way home. I finished 38th in the end, which is not as good as last year so I’m a little disappointed really. However seeing as it’s out of over 200 riders I should be happy with that.

Second opinion - Phil, aka Scott_rider

I thought this years Hafren Rally was even better than last years - and that's saying something because last year I said it was one of the best day's riding I'd ever had on a dirt bike. Once again the organisation by the Hafren Dirt Bike Club was excellent and the fact that we could sign on the evening before the event was a real bonus and meant that we only had to go to scrutineering on Sunday morning rather than stand in a large signing on queue as per most other events.

I got to Llanidloes at about 7pm having traveled up from Aylesbury in the afternoon which took about 4.5 hours. I met up with the other Club DB guys at the social club and then headed off to the B&B to unload my trailer before returning to the club about 30 minutes later. Thankfully, the B&B was really good and in a different league to the hammer house of horrors that we stayed in last year (although the owners were still very pleasant, as were the owners of this year's B&B).

The quiz night on Saturday evening was very entertaining and I even won a bright orange Maxxis T-shirt in the raffle although it was in a small size so I can't wear it (but it does look good on my girlfriend who has been wearing it around the house without anything else on and it shows off all her...but I digress, back to the Hafren!).

After the quiz night and a really good buffet that was put on by the Hafren Dirt Bike Club we returned to the B&B, watched a bit of football on the TV (which didn't please RBJ) and the first few minutes of 'School of Rock' (which did please RBJ) and then retired to our rooms for a good nights sleep.

When I say a good night's sleep I mean as best you can get when you are woken every few minutes by Zulu's snoring coming from the other end of the corridor. Man, his snoring was like the sound of a Boeing 747 taking off. I feel sorry for his missus...!

The following day we had an excellent cooked breakfast at 6.30am and then drove down to the Sweet Lamb Complex with loads of time on our hands. We then went through scrutineering and tried to work out our lap and check times which although really easy to do, was actually a complete nightmare to work out and everyone had a different opinion on what the times meant - so in the end we all agreed just to follow RBJ, as per normal, who had it all sussed out! What else is a 'leader' for except to follow?!!!

The rally itself was awesome - a mix of fast open fire roads with hairpin type corners and sheer drop offs down the mountain sides combined with tight nadgery forestry tracks and three special stages per lap. An absolutely bloody marvelous course is all I can say about it! Each lap was 44 miles and we rode 2.5 of them in about 6 hours with plenty of time in between to rest at the special stages and also before starting each lap. On the liaison sections between the special tests (one of which was 1 hour and 5 minutes in length) I had my 400exc throttle pinned to the stops in 4th and 5th for most of the lap and I could probably have gone faster had I been a bit braver on the corners. It was like a long fast trail-ride and as I say absolutely awesome. My problems during the event were very few and only related to falling off once on a steep climb on an optional part of the course, and my bike refusing to start on the button (again) which Tony quickly diagnosed as a loose battery connection and we had it fixed in about 3 minutes. Other than that no problems for me, thankfully.

So, another fantastic day's riding in the glorious Welsh mountains with my regular riding buddies and a truly marvelous event. I shall be back next year for another go without fail!

Over 700 Hafren Rally Photos

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