Well Happy New Year,
that is that bit over and done with. I guess it is a time of retrospection and anticipation for the up coming months. Last year was quite a year for me. Starting back in March on a cold drizzly day at Lydden with Allie and Tricia. We had gone there for a test day, Allie, having talked me into passengering her on a sidecar, had got herself a ride on an F1 and was now badgering me to try to get a ride on an F2. This was ostensibly the reason I was there. Tricia was just there for the hell of it as she was already racing solos.
There didn't seem to be many F2 outfits there and when we signed on I was told I was going out on an F1. Oh well, what the hell? Allie introduced me to the guy who would be taking me out and ran me through what to do. When we went out it was quite physically hard. I found that my left leg ached like mad from trying to support my weight against the g forces. Because it was wet I didn't go out to the left at all that day just clung on and hung over the right side thinking my leg would collapse any moment. I went out again later that day with another rider. His passenger tried to get me to assume a different position on the platform. I found this particularly uncomfortable and hard to do in the space as I have long limbs. This time I had to tap out after about 8 laps as I was dangerously close to falling off due to physical fatigue. I wondered just how these people managed to do what they did. I wondered how Allie would cope. She seemed just fine however. Could she really be that much fitter than me? Anyway that is where I met Tony and became his passenger on the classic outfit. I was going to be a racer. No longer just someone that hung out around the paddock being a mechanic and unqualified to say anything about racing.
A month or so later and it was time for me to actually be this passenger on an outfit in a race. I wondered if I had talked myself into something more than I could do. I know I can be a bit gobby and mouth off at times. Here I was approaching my 55th birthday, a history of low bone density, not as fit as I was by a long way and I am about to start sidecar racing! Am I mad?
As I described in an earlier blog, I nearly threw up before the start of the first race. I hyperventilated and got in a right old state. That disappeared as soon as we got going to be replaced by intense concentration and an inability to move to where I should as we hurtled around the track.
Those feelings of panic slowly subsided as I became more experienced and I learnt how to move better. We made changes to the outfit to better suit my needs and I started to enjoy myself. Unfortunately Chimay in July was to prove our last meeting of the year. I found myself feeling rather down. Due to other circumstances, Allie bought the F1 she had been racing on and intended to drive it and asked if I would passenger for her. Once again my brave mouth volunteered me for it. So my season switched from classics with a front exit to the massive feeling F1. This was fun too, but in a very different way to the classic. It was intense but also somehow more remote. It felt less involved with the driver and to some extent superfluous to requirements. I guess as Allie gets quicker that will not be the case so much. It was certainly not the case when I went out with James at Pembrey for a couple of practice sessions!
As you may be aware from earlier blogs it all ended abruptly at the last meeting of the season when we spun at Paddock Hill and rolled. I was hit by another outfit and carted off to hospital with a rather broken body. Now as I write this all the broken bones are sorted and I am pretty much back to normal and ready to resume a fitness programme for this years season with one exception. The one injury no one took any notice of at the time was my right shoulder. No broken bones and every time I mentioned it they seemed to turn a deaf ear until one day they wanted to compare how my left shoulder was doing. Then they saw just what a mess my right shoulder was. Now three months later I have an ultra sound scan due in a few days time so they can try to see what is wrong. It is also about three months to the start of the season.
Allie and I talked about what I should do this year. When we originally talked about the F1 we agreed that the Classic and Tony would be my priority as I had committed to that already. Now we discussed whether I could do both and agreed that it wasn't the best idea in the world. I also quite freely confess to having some doubts about racing with Allie after the accident. I have gone through things in my mind to see what has and hasn't been affected by the crash. The classic outfit - no problem in my mind. Tony - no problem in my mind. F1 outfits - no problem. Allie - hmmm, not sure. I have my concerns. She is one of my best friends and I find myself not trusting her. That makes me feel guilty. It makes me wonder if I am just finding an excuse for being scared. Then I think about the statements above and realise I am not scared of any of those.
Allie said she would ask another friend to passenger for her and I could be her 'dep'. I have agreed to this but I wonder if I will or not should the need arise. I tell myself I will see how she gets on and make a decision at the time. I feel quite guilty about all of this and have to remind myself that it is a potentially life endangering situation I put myself in every time I race and I need to have total trust in my team mate and they need to trust me. If I have doubts for whatever reason the sensible thing is to not do it. It doesn't make me feel any better about it though.
So that was last year. From paddock rat to sidecar monkey. I feel like I am quite the veteran racer already (I know I am not that by a long way). I think the highlight of the year for me was racing at Chimay. I rode out there on my road bike, had a fantastic weekend with amazing weather. I loved the circuit and the atmosphere. Tony and I were both bitten by the road racing bug and we want to do the Czech TT this year at Horice. (Maybe a few others if funds and commitments allow.)
My old leathers were cut off me so I guess they are no longer of any use which is a shame as I really liked them. My body armour vest was also cut off but I have repaired that. Now I need to get my new leathers altered so that I can move about in comfort with my armour on. I managed to replace my race helmet with an identical one so I shall still have the 'hellrazor' nonsense on my head when I race. It was a mad looking helmet but I really liked it for comfort and protection. I have bought a less conspicuously painted version of the same helmet for road use as well, my old Shoei is now well past retirement age.
I look forward to the end of my first race next season as I shall be able to finally remove my orange novice vest. That objective being thwarted by the crash last year. It is no big deal I guess. Once I start racing I am no longer aware of it but it is a bit of a pain having to remember it each time. At Chimay I raced without it as it is an ACU thing and only applies to the UK and there was a psychological niceness to it somehow.
I look forward to this year with anticipation. Tricia is changing from the 400 series to Mini Twins as the anti-2stroke regs of the 400 series were getting too much. The strokers are so labour intensive too. She wants to race so I tried to persuade her that this would be the way to go. Ditch all the riding from a position of disadvantage and hard work to one of setting up at the start of the season and just race it with minor tweaks along the way in a field that is pretty much equal. Let her race skills shine through. I don't know how much influence I actually had on her decision but I am glad she has made it and look forward to her in the role of 'cat in a field of pigeons'. It will hopefully be a great year for Allie too. With only two meetings under her belt and a practice day and half a race of a third meeting, I think she has a lot of learning still to do. She has targets to achieve and I am sure she will do so. I am interested to see what the new colour scheme will be and how she improves. As for myself and Tony, we are going to field a 750cc engine in the revised categories of the CRMC and see how we do. Initially it will just be a slightly overbored SOHC Honda but we have plans to utilise the 836cc stuff if we decide to commit to the 750cc class. More on that if we do it.
I also have an old F2 chassis in the workshop with an ever increasing amount of bits and pieces. This is a long-ish term project started by Allie and me. It was what we originally intended to go racing on. maybe we will stick something outrageous in it and race in the North Gloucs club's unrestricted class for laughs. Maybe we will put it on the road. We haven't really decided as yet.
This year promises to be an interesting one and it has already started so I can't sit around here chatting at you, I things to do, places to go and races to race :-)
