debbie does dunkirk!

don't know who debbie is? i'll explain later. anyway....

arrived at the motocross track in dunkirk at about 11am this morning and hit the sand with a gusto....... well, rather tentatively in fact!! 2.9km of v dry and v soft sand, with woops(?), bumps and berms to challenge us sand and motocross track virgins. with no warm up we were all back at the truck after the first 2 laps with arm pump! but we were soon back out on track creating lines in the sand.















journey over was very funny. arriving at dover we split up, patsy, zippy and ben went ahead in the truck while myself, billy (bike truck) and ross (noble!) went on foot, but we were repelled by a miserable, officious bitch at check-in who said we were 8mins late! the bus to the ferry terminal would not rtn until the next ferry was due, so we decided that if we cant walk, we'll hitch a lift to the ferry terminal.... and thanks to ross we were escorted in a police van straight to the truck!! i'll re-phrase that, ross asked a policeman, who was driving a police van, if he would assist...... much to everyone's relief we climbed out of the police van and into the back of the desert rose truck; it must have been a peculiar sight for the rest of the ferry goers!















the sun was high, blue skies and warm breeze, we were building up a pretty good sweat through the day, so drinking plenty of water back at the truck. but before we knew it, we were loading the truck back up at about 4pm and heading back to port. the day flew by, but it was brilliant sand and fitness training. back at heathfield by 9pm we were all looking pretty dusty and tired.....it was an awesome day!!

oh, debbie does dallas, not dunkirk!!

day 2 kielder rally

what a weekend! it was not just a weekend riding, but a weekend with friends, camping, drinking beers and doing something we all love in an amazing location. so a big thanks to pats and clive and the desert rose team.

pats and clive are awesome team, and it was fantastic to have their support throughout. from the bacon butty handed to me moments after entering the tent in the morning, through to clive filling the bike up with fuel at the check-point, it was brilliant!

so followed another awesome day's riding! pretty much survived intact, although my right thumb is pretty swollen after a little off-piste action ; )

following the same circuit, we rode 2 laps covering another 120 miles. i took on the 2 main hard sections as well, and with the overnight rain, which continued to poor down made this quite a challenge. pats wasn't too impressed that i hadn't tackled these routes yesterday, but i was enjoying the free flowing riding over the fire roads too much. it is the first time since the trip to spain in february that i'd had a chance to ride like that.

other than passing a few riders, i spent the day riding on my own and i was in my element. that was until a cricket ball sized rock flew out from a rider in front and hit me square in the bollocks...again?! as the pain rose as it does, i slowed down and pulled over to a stop. crouching down and yelling into my helmet, i thought i have to find some way of protecting my nether regions in the future!!

having been shivering with cold yesterday, i wore a thin rain coat over the top of my gear. it made all the difference today as the rain came down in horizontal sheets. although the lines were clear to see, it was a lot wetter than yesterday and with low cloud the fire roads could catch you out. i overshot a number of turns, breaking hard and spinning the bike round i was always back on track quickly. however, at one particular turning, one poor lad disappeared off the fire track and broke his pelvis!

arriving back at about 1430, we had to clean up and strike camp swiftly. pats road each bike into the truck, straight up the wooden ramp like a stunt rider, she caused quite a stir among the other riders! i loaded my bike into the desert rose truck so that it could be prepared for the next installment in a fortnight, a day on the beaches of dunkirk!

we were gone just after 1600hrs and headed south down the a1 - not via carlisle this time!

the bbq!

day 1 kielder rally

not a bad night sleep in a compact tent with chobe's bed as base! a
nice lie in until 0730, bacon butty and a coffee, then a leasurly prep
as my departure was not until 1057. 25 mins liaison to the start, then
4 x 60 min legs and the final 70 mins to the start.
a fantastic day, pinning it along fire roads over a 57 mile lap.
travelling along fire roads between 50-80mph it was a complete
contrast to the irish enduro and the hare & hounds.
arriving well in advance of each check point was v satisfying and i
was back in 4 hours rather than the allotted 435. just found out i
came 11 out or 40 in the sportsman over 250 with guys who should be in
rally. more importantly pats is leading!
now having a few beers and a bbq in the sunshine!
just returning from the days riding - it pissed it down a lot of the
day, so don't think it has always been sunny : )

pitching camp, billingham, northumberland

8 hour drive from london and setting up for the 2 day kielder rally,
260 miles of riding in some of the most beautiful countryside. the
wind has died down and the skies are blue (ish)! bbq is about to start.
a great crowd of riders whose passion for the sport is infectious. a
small community, everyone knows one another and the banter starts from
the off!
being part of pats' desert rose team has many benefits including a
mobile shop front, garage, kitchen and a great team.