Rain rain go away

Sheesh kebabs! What a torrent we've had up here in Sheffield.. I think everywhere has had it bad, but if you been watching the news at all you'll have seen how bad someparts of Sheffield were. I feel for the businesses that have suffered, the homes destroyed and the possessions of some people taken away from them. And the few that died, mother nature is one tough bitch when she wants to be. Pretty awe inspiring but puts into perspective how weak we are against it.

Another thing I want to mention is Stephen Murrays awful crash at the Dew Tour this weekend gone, I've never met Stephen, but I know his brother Martin a little, and watching these guys ride is inspiring. Stephen had a tough time in the states when he first moved there, plauged with injury in all of the contests he entered, then a few years back everything clicked into place and he nailed everything, X-Games, Dew Tours, the lot, he killed BMX dirt jumping. He took it to another level. He then went off to pursue other things have time with his young family and just chill on it. But came back last weekend to compete in the Dew Tour dirt comp, he qualified 4th, which was amazing against the riders that hadn't left the scene. In the 1st of his final runs he attempted a double back flip, a move he has dialled, but something went wrong and he came short, he landed on his head and crushed 3 of his vertabrae. Completely paralysing him from the waist down, Doctors also feared the injury could worsen rendering him paralysed from the neck down. But over the last couple of days and after some extensive neuro-surgery he has been moving his fingers, his shoulders and his hands. The BMX community are united over this and are all sending positive vibes to the Murrays, especially Stephen, who is an amazing bike rider, and person. I will him to get through this thing.



The weekend over in these shores was alright, heavy rain nailed Bolehills again, but I had an awesome day up there on Saturday digging and riding and hanging out with a few people, i was up there for almost 8 hours and i got a lot done, it was looking pretty awesome! I had a cool day and it set me up for a good session over at Coppull track on the Sunday, the track was riding great, although the gate was slippy as hell - (damnit!) The first straight is nuts with quite possibly the biggest step up ever built, i had a few runs and felt like i had enough speed, i jumped it and landed so short it was a surprise i didn't fold my bike in 2! I attempted it again and i was spinning like mad! I hit the jump faster and pulled hard on the bars and i was over - it was awesome! Apparently only 10 or so have done it, i feel stoked to be in the 10! The natioanl is there next weekend and i'm glad i got the track dialled in already, its always good to have one less thing to worry about!

Sunday night I went to see my brother from another Will, we just hung out had a couple of beers and watched a movie, pretty awesome to see him, and he got a 2:1 in his mEng degree, so i was well stoked for him! Then it rained.

And rained and rained and rained! I went to Bolehills on Monday and i've never seen it so bad, it was like a lake! Sheffield got done. I rode down to the Wicker this morning one of the worst hit places and checked the damage, it was pretty extensive!

Another 4 hour dig thern ride at Bolehills got the first turn (a lake the previous day) back to its former glory, if not better! And most of my work from the saturday held up - so i was happy about that! Bolehills lives on!



My hand is proper torn up though! You reap what you sow.

Peterborough Nationals Rounds 3 & 4

You can read my race report from the event and check out some pictures here:

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/bmx/EventReports2007/20070616_relentless_national_series_r3_r4.asp


I thought the track coped well with the rain. From Tuesday night in Sheffield until the time I left for Peterborough it'd rained solidly, and it continued to rain the further South I went. Once I got toward Stamford it cleared and I couldn't believe my eyes, it was like a whole different weather system! I arrived at the track and got my bike out and had a few laps as it was getting dark, the track felt good and my legs felt strong as i hadn't really ridden since Tuesday nights gate session at Mansfield.

Friday night I stayed at Lauren's and we just had some food and hit the sack, it was going to be an intense weekend of racing!

Saturday morning we woke to clear skies, we headed to the track after breakfast and hung out with a few people before our practise session. Practise went well, i didn't feel like i needed much practise on the track, so i took it steady and just got a bit rad on the big doubles sending them as high as i could.. For the fans, like.

We had a little wait until our gate session, and in that time we had several heavy bursts of rain, the track seemed to be holding up and the work crew were doing a great job of getting the water off the track as quickly as it came down. The main issue was the concrete pad on the start hill, basically its a really old, really flat piece of smooth concrete, so any sort of power transmittal resulted in a wheel spin, i went for it on gate 1 as i have had a bit of practise on their gate and as my weight went forward and I snapped my wheel just span, i catapulted forward hanging over the front of my bike, I have no idea how I stayed upright!

The pro guys were stressing, but i just changed my tact, rather than throwing my weight completely forward i just tried to keep back until my back wheel went over the mesh, this seemed to work okay and i managed to stick with that for the weekend. It was rubbish having to change my gate on race day, but i couldn't risk wheel spinning in a race, one mistake in 19+ is enough to see you hit the showers early.

Motos came about and i managed to get 4 2 3 i think, there was some tight racing, but for me the highlight of my motos was smashing Hibbert in turn 2 then running him up and over turn 3.. I was stoked. John can pull, but he leaves himself wide open, and hasn't the greatest amount of skill on a bike, so through being smooth and relaxed I managed to catch him on the remaining straights. He did seem to open it up in the semi later on and in the final but Scott Waterhouse pulled him down the final straight for the win. I placed 6th in the main after getting caught in the pack, then caught up with Tuffy and his crash. It looked pretty bad, but he was up and about straight away.



So i had made the main, albeit a 6th wasn't great i did feel good to be in there. It moved me from the dismal 18th after Cheddar to a more fetching 11th.. I'd like a top 10 finish this year and i'm ceratin i can do that.

Sunday we were blessed with good weather, the track was a little soft and draggy in places but it was drying up by the minute. The club did an awesome job of getting the track safe for racing.

I had similar motos from the day before all of which were pretty stacked i managed a 3 2 5 which gave me a safe 10 points so i was into the semi. My semi looked to be the better of the 2, but i still had Graham Strickland, Andy Shaw, Ben Godfrey, Andy Little, Bromfield, Andrews and Roberts, so still pretty stacked!

I got a great gate and felt good down the first straight i was in 3rd going into and coming out of turn 1, i hit the new step up right on the left and it pinged me up and to flat - Damnit! I tried to pedal and boosted the big doubles, I just went up & up! Andy Shaw and Scott passed me, but I passed Scott again and dived into the last turn right for Andy, I hit him shoulder to shoulder but he saw it coming we tangled and basically drag raced down the final straight, Andy got the 4th spot and was in to the main.. I'm stoked i rode it to the wire and gave it my all, but after making the main on Saturday i was pretty pissed. At least it wasn't Hibbert though! ha.

Below is Andy and I coming to blows, I'm number 6.




In the B final i felt the squeeze between waterhouse (the previous days winner) and Andrews another day 1 main maker, so i got boxed out for 3rd, i rode my best lap of the day smoothing everything and managed to finish in 3rd, so i was reasonably happy.

The highlight for me was seeing Hibbert get put over the final turn in the main by Ben Godfrey - it was textbook! haha. Callum won day 2, and a deserved win it was too.

Lauren did great too perfecting both days with wins across the board - this puts her into the number 1 position in the national rankings - Awesome! You made it look easy!

I felt pretty good about my racing, although I know in myself that I have a lot more to give.. I just best find out how to give it before the season is over again!

The van has been approved for repair too - so I should have that back next week, which is awesome news and a massive relief - The Vito lives on! :)

T'ra! x

Weekend's tribulations, perils and disasters!

Well a great weekend.. Sort of!

Friday night after my last late finish at work i hit the Bolehills on my new Standard 125r, its absolutely wonderful! Felt just like the MX20 although a bit stiffer and noticably lighter but i also had the shimano DXR cranks and brake set up fitted, so that have shaved off some weight too - it looks big pimping! Lauren over and we hung out and watched some TV and had some good food, just a chilled one I seriously needed it after the heavy week at work, man 11 hours days suck!

We woke up Saturday morning did the recycling for 51JR and hit Tesco for big shop, then headed over to Rotherham for a session, its really good, Jim Batey and some of the Rotherham local yoots have done an amazing job, smooth as silk, fun, fast, deep and technical, everything it needs to be! We ended up doing almost 5 hours in the sun, i got a bit burnt, but it'll brown off right?!

Saturday night not a lot went down, Lauren headed back to Derby and i hung out with Alec and tried to steal photoshop CS3 with no luck.. haha, the sods. I went to bed feeling tired but happy, i'd had such an awesome ride and it's what i needed!

I got up Sunday and headed over to Peterborough, and met with Dave Ives, Twarn and Speedy Ready, these guys together are comedic geniuses! I had such a funny day! We rode hard and i felt super fast and got the straights dialled in. The national is there this weekend and Peterborough track has been good to me before in racing, so i'm hyped to do well. I raced there 2 weeks back and my gates and pull felt alright but i felt much better this weekend. Guess the time off the bike in the week helped me a little!

Come and get it Bishop!

Lauren came over and we had a couple of hours riding with everyone, I have her down for the national double win next weekend. Don't let me down! ;)

Her mum and dad hooked us up a nice BBQ afterward and it was exactly what i needed - Thanks guys!

I stayed at Laurens in Derby on Sunday night and after the mad dog attacked me on numerous occassions and we had a little walk it was time for bed, which happened to be sketchier than John Hibbert on a BMX bike, it collapsed in the middle of the night, but you know when you wake up and there is no way you can be bothered to get up to fix it, well it was like that so we slept at 45 degrees for the night, i felt a little stiff the next morning!

I then drove back to Sheffield and at junction 27 I thought to myself i'd call in on Mansfield and have an hour, so i did, literally at the slip road to the round about some silly old mare pulled off and then proceeded to stop, i rear ended her, smashing my bumper, crushing my rad and doing a few more bits too.

ARGHHHH!!

My insurance were hot though and they stepped in real quick, hooked me up a courtesy vehicle and took the Vito in for repair, i'm hoping to get it back within 2 weeks which would be awesome. I just can't believe it.

I spent the day sorting that out, and had 2 hours at the Bolehills which cheered me up a treat, and the messages. Thank you.

So, a wank end to an awesome weekend, but it'll be reet i'm sure.. Bloody hell.

This week gates at mansfield tomorrow, Rotherham Wednesday, Bolehills thursday then super chill out to get my A game in faction for Peterborough.

T'ra x

A flat spot..

Well it's been a while since my last blog, things have been difficult as late. A lot of changes in my life and a lot going on here, there and everywhere. But I feel as though I have clambered over what was in front of me and things are looking okay again. The Bournemouth weekend was a complete wash out, in more ways than one. Heavy rain caused the double header national to be cancelled both days. Saturday night was no clips racing which still had the good weather on it's side. The racing was fun, although my heart wasn't in it, i made it through motos easily with a 2 and a 3. Into the quarter i drew a pretty hard one, and an outside gate, the odds were against me, and from the get go i struggled, into turn one i was no where near a vital top 4 spot, i still rode it hard and gave it my all until the line, but i finished 6th. So that was me out. The racing was good and i'm happy that Bournemouth got to see all there hard work get some good use. They did well as a club and put many hours into the prepartion, but we do live in England, and sometimes the weather can put a stop on things. I hope they come back and put in a for a national again, as its a good vibe down there.

So the rest of the weekend was a nightmare, rain, high winds, more rain and a tent in the middle of a water logged field. Lauren and I made the best of the bad situation and we got along and kept ourselves occupied during the days, the drive back to Sheffield monday morning wasn't too long either, which was a bonus.

My riding i feel has taken a back seat recently, i've been pre-occupied and my heart doesn't seem to be in it. Even my life coach can't cheer me up!

I did however sort myself out a van and she's a beauty, a V plate Mercedes Vito and it's an absolute pearler! I picked her up on Friday and i'm so stoked with it! :)



This weekend I had a works do playing paintball on Saturday and it was real good fun, although i think i've decided its not good for you! I have many a bruise a dead leg and a really sore elbow from all my action man diving and hero moves! it was good fun, and i'm glad i went! I got to shoot up some shit! Braaap!



On sunday i burnt some Merc rubber and headed dowen to Peterborough for their regional it wasn't that well attended (140 riders) considering they have a double header there in 2 weekes time, but in masterclass there were 27 riders so by no means an easy ride. I was exhausted and struggled through the day, my legs felt as if they were going to sieze up on me! I managed a 2 3 2 in motos and made it to the semi final, I think they were quite evenly balanced, and neither were going to be easy, I drew lane 1, got a good gate and Tuffy was in 2 he pulled me into the first turn and Jason Jessop was on my outside and he was pulling hard, Jonny Roberts was in the mix, but they went high in the turn and i swooped beneath to pull in the 4 spot behind Tuffy, Alan Hill and Shaun Andrews, i held my line and rode a smooth lap to make the main. This is what i neeeded!

I felt a lot better after that. So i was in the main, i got lane 7 which was poo and i had Andy Shaw in lane 8 and shaun Andrews in 7, 2 guys with great gates and a lot of power. I gave it everything but Shaun got loose as a goose on the step up and squeezed me out i was in about 6th here, i rode the first turn, boosted the new big set and was feeding off the dust at the back of the pack! Awesome! I had a good 3rd straight and railed into the last turn where i thought i'd nail the rider in front and get a 7th, but then i noticed it was Andy so backed off, he's a cool guy and being a regional and the 7 spot, i thought i'd chill on that one!

So 8 out of 27 and a place in the main with 4 elite riders and some heavy hitters from the 19+ class, so i was stoked.

Lauren rode great all day even though her thumb is giving her some grief still from that nasty crash at Cheddar. She rode strong though and in the B main in 15-16 boys she surprised everyone by nailing the step up and pulling a considerable lead, she ended up taking the win from the lads, and from Ria, emily and Katie, who currently lead Lauren out in the national series. Peterborough nationals will allow Lauren to claw back some vital points and show dem girls how ting is done!

haha

So, things have picked up over a course of a few days. My head hurts still, and i ache. This week in work will be hell and i doubt i'll get much riding down, but it'll give my body time to recover, i've been on the limit for a while and burning the candle at both ends is never good over a long period. We'll see how things go!

Dan, the yellow van man.