beacons rally 21st-22nd august
i'm still buzzing from 2 incredible days riding in the brecons. although jago has cracked or broken a rib or two and cannot ride for a few weeks, we both had a fantastic time riding in the beacons rally with patsy and the team. as you can see from the photo below, there were a few bikers!!
jago and i arrived at the llandovery rugby club at 1230 saturday morning after a 4 hour drive down the m4 in the rain. and the rain continued through saturday until the following evening entertainment, a hog roast and blockbuster quiz; we even won a round and without cheating ; )
climbing out of my (slightly crooked) portable cave, care of desert rose : ) these tents are very efficient as they pop open, are self standing and there is no wastage in unused space, no mess!! only problem i had was climbing out of it at 2am to find somewhere to piss, then standing in my boxers in the pouring rain, oh what joy!!
setting off at 0830 we headed out of llandovery for about 20 mins to the start of the rally. registering and collecting our start times patsy, myself and sean set off at 1123 - sean completed one lap before receiving a very important call, his wife was having contractions and he raced back to london to meet child number 3 or 4 (i think??).
not only was the course a fantastic mix if twisty fire roads, goat tracks, hills and streams, i was fortunate to be with patsy and another dakar vet for most of the 2 days. although pats sent me on ahead a lot of the time, it was great to follow, watching her line, position on the bike and just trying to keep up!!! furthermore i was on a 2010 400exc as pats reckoned i should try out a later model in preparation for the morocco training and rally next month, with a view to buying one!
here's a first, tracking my racing on day one via my garmin watch! you can drag the map, zoom in to see more, or even go to satellite view.
day 2 was another early start, it was a longer course with an earlier finish, which meant an earlier start time, 0923hrs. although we had left our kit out to drip dry under the awnings, most of us climbed into wet kit, not a pleasant experience. the only consellation was knowing that very soon we would be very wet and muddy again = ))
but the sun finally shone later on in day 2, allowing me to dry out some of my kit after the days racing, although it will soon be wet again when i power wash it!
desert rose packing up the bikes, tents, cooking equipment etc etc and the team saying their farewells.....until next weekend where we return to the brecons for the 24hour dawn2dusk dawn 2 dusk
anyone fancy coming down to support? gonna need something to keep me going for 24 hours, it's gonna be redbull tastic!!!
jago and i arrived at the llandovery rugby club at 1230 saturday morning after a 4 hour drive down the m4 in the rain. and the rain continued through saturday until the following evening entertainment, a hog roast and blockbuster quiz; we even won a round and without cheating ; )
climbing out of my (slightly crooked) portable cave, care of desert rose : ) these tents are very efficient as they pop open, are self standing and there is no wastage in unused space, no mess!! only problem i had was climbing out of it at 2am to find somewhere to piss, then standing in my boxers in the pouring rain, oh what joy!!
setting off at 0830 we headed out of llandovery for about 20 mins to the start of the rally. registering and collecting our start times patsy, myself and sean set off at 1123 - sean completed one lap before receiving a very important call, his wife was having contractions and he raced back to london to meet child number 3 or 4 (i think??).
not only was the course a fantastic mix if twisty fire roads, goat tracks, hills and streams, i was fortunate to be with patsy and another dakar vet for most of the 2 days. although pats sent me on ahead a lot of the time, it was great to follow, watching her line, position on the bike and just trying to keep up!!! furthermore i was on a 2010 400exc as pats reckoned i should try out a later model in preparation for the morocco training and rally next month, with a view to buying one!
here's a first, tracking my racing on day one via my garmin watch! you can drag the map, zoom in to see more, or even go to satellite view.
day 2 was another early start, it was a longer course with an earlier finish, which meant an earlier start time, 0923hrs. although we had left our kit out to drip dry under the awnings, most of us climbed into wet kit, not a pleasant experience. the only consellation was knowing that very soon we would be very wet and muddy again = ))
but the sun finally shone later on in day 2, allowing me to dry out some of my kit after the days racing, although it will soon be wet again when i power wash it!
desert rose packing up the bikes, tents, cooking equipment etc etc and the team saying their farewells.....until next weekend where we return to the brecons for the 24hour dawn2dusk dawn 2 dusk
anyone fancy coming down to support? gonna need something to keep me going for 24 hours, it's gonna be redbull tastic!!!
Labels: desert rose riding academy dakar, tydakar, tydakar desert rose riding academy dakar
posted by youngerelagagesavoie at
01:07
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