Member's Adventures

Contents:

• February 2006
  Jan Organises a Piss Up in a Brewey!
  
  
• October 2005
  Alice Looses Her Racing Virginity
  
  
• February / March 2005
  Mike's Charity Trip to India
  
  Jan Organises a Piss Up in a Brewey!

  Jan Smith and a discerning group of beer swilling Leeds MAG members decided to lift the February gloom and pay a weekend visit to the Theakston's brewery at Masham. Saturday dawned bright rather than gloomy and the eager beer tasters gathered at the brewery that afternoon. The brewery tour was informative and, thankfully, not too long so the free beer sampling session at the end of the tour was fully appreciated and savoured.

  

  A few purchases were made in the brewery shop then the serious business of checking out the beer in Masham's pubs started. A splinter group did the rounds of tearooms and shops but were quickly reigned back in. So in the interests of research, and a bloody good time, the group visited The Bay Horse, The White Bear, The King's Hotel, and finally The Bruce Arms. The beer (plus food, cider, lager and wine!) was found to be more than satisfactory in all. You have to be careful about your beer in Masham though. One member of the group made the mistake of asking for a pint of Black Sheep in a Theakston's pub. The barmaid's frosty stare said it all. The evening ended early as all were back at their B&Bs by 11 pm. So much for roughty toughty bikers!

  Sunday morning involved a full fry up and a few slight hangovers then we were on our way home. Cheers to Jan for organising the Masham trip -Leeds MAG can now pride itself on having organised a p*ss up in a brewery!

  Alice Looses Her Racing Virginity

  The Cast:

• Alice - Leeds MAG member, does the occasional track day, never done anything this silly before.
  
• John - her husband
  
• Keith MacKay, aka Keef, aka Mad Dog MacKay - Scot who has been resident on the Isle of Man for 8 years. Regular participant in road and track races on the Island as part of Team Aardvark
  
• Janice - his partner
  
• Fozzy - Racer from Macclesfield. Entered his first Manx Grand Prix this year and did rather well. Keith's race partner.
  
• Cherie - Racer from down sarf, Alice's race partner
  
• Paul - Her partner, sometime racer and Cherie's mechanic
  
• Andy Cowie - Another Isle of Man racer
• Flymo - Named for his tendency for gathering grass in his fairing, an ex-racer living near London
• Anne - A wannabee racer from Bristol

  This weekend I finally took up Keef on his offer of a ride in the Jurby Endurance Race on the Isle of Man.

  I sloped out of work at lunchtime on Friday and hit the M62 which was thankfully dry. John met me at the docks in Liverpool and after a rather unpleasant ride down a wet sheet metal ramp onto the Seacat we were aboard. Sailed on time, sea was a little rough but nothing too bad and we docked in Douglas more or less on time.

  Located Aardvark Towers and let ourselves in. Shortly Keith turned up with Cherie and Paul who had flown. Swift progress to the pub for the consumption of ale. Bed about 2am.

  Staggered down to the kitchen about 8:30 to be ordered out of the kitchen as Keef prepared a fantastic fry up. After breakfast Paul was co-opted out to the garage to help fettle the bike that Andy Cowie was riding.

  Cherie and I were dispatched in one of the (seemingly endless) spare Aardvark vehicles to collect Anne from the airport. That took rather longer than anticipated as Keef got the arrival time wrong.

  Next due to arrive were Fozzy and Flymo on the ferry from Liverpool. Flymo had broken down on the way to Fozzy's in Macclesfield but had managed to get the 748 to Liverpool somehow as it was supposed to being got to the Island to get fettled anyhow. The van that Keef is currently borrowing had gone back to it's owner for a house move so another local got roped into picking Flymo and his 748 up. Fozzy made it under his own steam, Japanese motorcycles win again!

  Paul & his accomplices finally finished in the garage with the bike just about managing to run on 4 cylinders. The van was loaded. Food, a little wine and an early night were had.

  Sunday dawned dry but overcast. John and I jumped in the van with Keef and drove the 5 miles or so to the circuit. One of the better aspects of racing on the island is the civilised start time. We got there a little after 9 and were certainly not last.

  Bike scruted, signed on, clothing scruted and I was straight off to the race school that Keef had signed me up for. No time to be nervous :-) Got talked at briefly by the instructors and then led out onto the track, half way round the first lap the bike spluttered to a halt and I spent a little time peering at it with the help of a marshall before we worked out the petrol tap hadn't been turned on. D'oh. Fired up OK but now I was finding my own way around the course which was...interesting. Jurby is an airfield, it has a mixture of purpose built track and track laid out across the runway. They can't put any permanant markings on the runway so it was laid out with cones, sounds OK until you approach, you just see a sea of cones with no obvious path through them! Still I worked it out after a few laps and then an instructor found me and led me round for a few more. Comments at the end were limited to a 'that was getting better', I understand the Manx people to be a little taciturn.

  Sidecar practice, then solo practice which Cherie did, then sidecar race and the second race school session, finally the race...

  The Jurby Endurance is a four hour race run on the Club Circuit at Jurby Airfield. Teams of at least 2 riders, three classes are run together 400cc Solos, 251-600cc Solos and 601-1300cc Solos. The winning team is the one to complete the most laps in the 4 hours. I was riding with Cherie on Keef's NC30, which has a long pedigree of being crashed by Keith's mates. Keef and Fozzy were riding on a ZX10 belonging to Slick Bass. Slick is a superhero of the engine tuning world, Carl Fogarty's mechanic, we are not worthy. The NC30 was fettled by him too. I am so not worthy, and very lucky :-)

  In the pits were Flymo, Paul and Miche (Keef's neighbour). John and Anne were on marshalling duty with Rebecca, another local. Chad was doing timing, you get the idea, everyone who was anyone was there and they all got given a job!

  I had declined the chance to try a Le Mans start, where the riders start away from the bikes and have to run over to them, jump on and ride off. It was the idea of the first corner melee that scared me, I'm far to used to the trackday, "No, after you" mentality. So Cherie did it and we were off. We were riding 40 minute sessions so that gave me a bit of time hanging about in the pits.

  Before I knew it Flymo was waving the pit board at Cherie and I was putting on my lid. In she rode, a quick refuel and I was on my way, the first few laps were pretty scary but I was suprised to find myself unphased by the superbikes powering past me at an uncanny rate of knots. I stuck to my lines and gradually sped up as I got more familiar with the course. Before I knew it the pit board was out again and I was coming back in to switch back over. Cherie went back out and gradually reeled back in some of the distance I had lost us. The chaps in the pits were really nice to me, boosting my ego and telling me how good I was riding.

  My second session I really enjoyed, got the hang of the circuit and the bike and was having a ball, still being passed by everyone but now when one of the other 400s came past I at least *tried* to keep up for a bit. Started hitting my left footpeg on the ground, must hang off more :-) Had one interesting moment when a chap tried to take me up the outside when I had let my line run all the way out to the edge and there just wasn't any track left. He ran up the narrow strip of gravel between the edge of the tarmac and the grass and chucked gravel back on me. I have a fetching bruise on my right boob. By the time I came in the tiny size of the bike was starting to tell and my knees were rather sore.

  Cherie's final session had a big chunk of time under a full circuit yellow (no overtaking) whilst the ambulance cleared an injured rider out of the way. So Flymo hatched a cunning plan and left her out for an extra 5 minutes (she'd had an easy few laps!) to make my last session easier.

  Did I need it! The last session was really hard work, focussing for that length of time is really tough and my body was starting to complain too. Rode OK, not unhappy, had one very interesting moment when two of the fast boys tried to make a sandwich of me and one of them ended up going over a kerb and was thrown several feet out of his seat in front of me. Thankfully he managed to save it. By the end of the race I couldn't feel my feet because of the vibration and my knees were smarting somewhat but as I went through the chequered flag there was a grin a mile wide on my face. Rode a lap round being clapped at by the marshalls, good for the ego even if they were doing it for everyone. Then back to the pits to a wonderful greeting from the crew.

  Here's a picture: http://davidkneen.fotopic.net/p20985744.html

  Final results? Out of 27 finishers we came 22 and 7 out of 9 in the 400 class. I will get a finishers medal so I am delighted, I wasn't hoping for anything more than that. Especially after everyone massaged my ego and told me what a bunch of serious racers where there, it is the only track on the island so allegedly some pretty awesome people race there. Needless to say I don't recognise any of the names but the list is here: http://www.andreas-racing.iofm.net/endurance2005.pdf

  Keef and Fozzy did stormingly well, they won their class (601-1300cc Solos) and came fourth overall. They were both bouncing about what a great bike the ZX10 was.

  Packed up, quick shower and then for curry and beer. I was absolutely shattered and had to give up about 11:30, just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I sent John back to the pub to buy beer on my behalf. Uneventful journey home yesterday and today I am still aching and hobbling around the place.

  I can't thank everyone on the Island enough. It was a real team effort and all the extras we couldn't have done it. I just hope I managed to get all the names right in the above, I met rather a large number of people in the weekend. Cherie was a wonderful team mate, endless enthusiasm and a completely positive attitude. The pit crew were suberb too, our swift changes giving us a real advantage.

  The biggest thanks go to Keef who is a superstar who gave loads of his time not to mention assets for me to have this opportunity. Thanks mate, I really appreciate it.

  If anyone else gets this chance...grab it as fast as you can.

  Mike's Charity Trip to India

  Leeds MAG member Mike Guy recently rode across India on an Enfield Bullet, in the process raising money for charity. Mike was supported in his efforts by Leeds MAG, here are some more details.

  The Enduro India expedition has established itself as the number one motorbike tour of India and is up there amongst the truly great biking experiences. The main aim of the expedition is to raise money for three charities, The World Wildlife Foundation to help prevent tiger poaching, The Rainbow Trust for terminally ill children in the UK, and The Pain and Palliative Care Society to provide clinics for the terminally ill in India. Together we hope to raise over £150,000.

  In February 100 of us will set off to take part in this great adventure, riding 2000 kilometers across rural India through some of the world's most awe-inspiring scenery. The expedition involves 7 days of 'dawn to dusk' riding on Royal Enfield 350 Bullet's and is a real test of ability and endurance. Completing it is a serious achievement. The final destination is a tiger reserve where the bikes will be handed over to the Game Wardens who cover thousands of miles a year patrolling the reserve to protect the few remaining tigers from poachers.

  

I first heard of the expedition at the BMF rally in Peterborough last year. I stopped to have a look at the Enduro India stall and after talking to the organiser, Simon Smith, I headed out into the spring sunshine in search of beer and bikes convinced he was completely bonkers. Two months later I wrote a cheque for £500 and secured a place on the '05 tour. I now had less than 6 months to raise the minimum sponsorship of £3200. I definitely needed help with this! I had recently joined MAG and Dave Nash, the Leeds Rep., suggested I talk to the rest of the group and see if they could come up with any ideas for ways in which they could help with the challenge ahead.

In the end I talked to anyone that would stay still long enough, and put together a list of fundraising activities. I wrote letters to as many people as I could think of, badgered everyone I knew for sponsorship and even ran a 10K race to raise some money. By the time I crossed the finish line I was £1200 closer to my target. Friends rallied round and pestered their families and friends into helping out. Raj talked his mum into cooking up a massive curry buffet, Andy raised £200 as well as getting me a test ride on his dads Enfield and Dan got a mate from the Yorkshire Evening Post to run a small feature.

However, it was the continuous help from Leeds MAG that made the real difference. Everyone in Leeds MAG was brilliant, and without their support and enthusiasm, I wouldn't be going on the tour at all. They introduced me to the other MAG groups in the district and bike clubs in Leeds, listened to me talk endlessly about the trip and then suggested they help organise a gig as a grand finale. They came up trumps with 3 bands, the PA, the venue, the raffle, the face painting and the cuddly toys we used as promotional prizes. They ran the night and helped me and everyone else who turned up have a blast. A special thanks has to go to Dave 'the rock star' Taylor who not only provided the PA gear for the bands and did the disco, but also played in two of the bands we had on that night - a real star!

By the time the dust had settled, the evening had raised £500, and the sponsorship cheque to Enduro India was in the post. All I had to do now was sort out equipment and wait. With less than 48 hours before I set off to join the others flying out to India It still amazes me at the level of excitement, enthusiasm and willingness to get involved of the people around me, and would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has helped in any way.

Michael Guy