saturday morning saw dangerous and me on the ducati's for a ride up to cadwell park to meet the mz racers, quick 100 mile blast up to the circuit
, pay the £12 entry fee, park up and change out of riding gear into shorts and converse, it's a blisteringly hot summers day, not a cloud in the sky and we soon see the yellow-acid-house-smiley-face flag that marks out the 'zedders encampment, spot des's blue and white ex british airways battle wagon and introduce ourselves, des is one of the nicest blokes i've ever met, genuine and totally dedicated to his racing, he shows us his bike and we stand in awe eating cake and drinking tea provided by mrs des, i can't take it all in, i soon realise some of the basic errors that i have made as des explains that the exhaust system shake themselves to death if not securely mounted, back to the drawing board on that one, notice a lot of the racers have a flange plate beteeen the carb and barrel mounted with springs drilled through the fins because the carb's fall off, bugger, that one needs re-thinking too, i have to get my brain around the fact that racer's really are totally different to road bikes and des summed it up when he said, 'one racing mile is harder than a hundred road miles', des introduces us to some of the other lads and they are a sound bunch, i have a chat with dave bignell and the riders rep chris palmer who gives us some great tips on front suspension mods, we make our way down to the grassy area near the bottom of the mountain to watch the 2nd mz race, bloody hell they are quick and very close, i estimate about 30 riders, you can't throw a coat over them, lap three and they are fying down the start and finish straight into the left hander, must be 90-100mph on a 'zed, everything happens in a blur, i am concious of a rider getting clipped on the entry to the bend but can't see what happens as they disappear into the trees, red flag straight away, it's chris palmer down, he is air ambulanced to hull with head injuries and a chest drain, fuck, we walk back to the paddock, i'm feeling very awkward, the 'zedders hold a meeting, dangerous and i go for a walk and look at the classic racer's who are racing here this weekend, we need to make ourselves scarce, these blokes know each other, they race each other, help each other mend their bikes and get drunk together, i'm still an outsider and this is raw for them...........
, pay the £12 entry fee, park up and change out of riding gear into shorts and converse, it's a blisteringly hot summers day, not a cloud in the sky and we soon see the yellow-acid-house-smiley-face flag that marks out the 'zedders encampment, spot des's blue and white ex british airways battle wagon and introduce ourselves, des is one of the nicest blokes i've ever met, genuine and totally dedicated to his racing, he shows us his bike and we stand in awe eating cake and drinking tea provided by mrs des, i can't take it all in, i soon realise some of the basic errors that i have made as des explains that the exhaust system shake themselves to death if not securely mounted, back to the drawing board on that one, notice a lot of the racers have a flange plate beteeen the carb and barrel mounted with springs drilled through the fins because the carb's fall off, bugger, that one needs re-thinking too, i have to get my brain around the fact that racer's really are totally different to road bikes and des summed it up when he said, 'one racing mile is harder than a hundred road miles', des introduces us to some of the other lads and they are a sound bunch, i have a chat with dave bignell and the riders rep chris palmer who gives us some great tips on front suspension mods, we make our way down to the grassy area near the bottom of the mountain to watch the 2nd mz race, bloody hell they are quick and very close, i estimate about 30 riders, you can't throw a coat over them, lap three and they are fying down the start and finish straight into the left hander, must be 90-100mph on a 'zed, everything happens in a blur, i am concious of a rider getting clipped on the entry to the bend but can't see what happens as they disappear into the trees, red flag straight away, it's chris palmer down, he is air ambulanced to hull with head injuries and a chest drain, fuck, we walk back to the paddock, i'm feeling very awkward, the 'zedders hold a meeting, dangerous and i go for a walk and look at the classic racer's who are racing here this weekend, we need to make ourselves scarce, these blokes know each other, they race each other, help each other mend their bikes and get drunk together, i'm still an outsider and this is raw for them...........
Comments
Post a Comment