Chicken by name......
 

Apologies for the length of this post as I’m covering several topics. I should also apologise for the way this post jumps around – there are just too many thoughts in my head that I have to get down.

Firstly, some of you already know of my plan to step down from the DD series. I made the decision as I was coming back to the pitlane in the back of the recovery van. So what happened? After about four laps in the untimed practice session I went into Quarry too tight and ended up running wide on the exit and slid onto the grass. Only damage to the bike was to the screen and a bent clipon, while I survived completely unscathed (in fact, since the grass was still wet, my leathers ended up cleaner than when I arrived!). There was no blaming the bike for this one – purely down to rider error.

Why am I quitting? It boils down to my competitive streak, or rather lack of it in this case. All my life, I have had to fight for everything I wanted (you don’t need to hear my sob-story here) and have always been fully committed to my goals – I assumed that this would be no different. However, I’ve never done anything where serious injury might be a possibility. Some of you know that my wife and I recently adopted our daughter, Morgan, from China and I don’t want to risk her growing up without a father, especially after what she has been through already. Every other DD racer must have similar thoughts but the difference is that they know where the limits are and I don’t think I do.

This is not going to stop me riding. I’ve come to realise that my love for motorcycling is as great as it has ever been but that I want to ride well within my limits. I’m still on for ride-outs and trackdays and as many socials as I can fit in.

If you are thinking of entering DD in the future, please don’t let my experience put you off. There are other reasons that I don’t want to go into here that contributed to my decision. Look at Phoenix and Psychlist (and many others) who are showing that you can do it – of all the people on the grid, these are the two that I have the most respect for and they are the ones I will be cheering for at the next rounds.

So there it is, I was a bike racer for 10 minutes. I can’t say that I’ve ticked that particular box of my life ambitions but I can at least remove it from the list and move onto the next one.

Now that that’s out of the way, I can fill you in on the rest of the weekend. Some of this relates to Antonye as well but since he’s nursing a swollen hand and is probably having a hard time typing, I’ll list the catalogue of disasters that we experienced.

On the way back from Tec-moto, Antonye breaks one of his tie-downs meaning we miss our planned 1pm leaving time.

As we are loading up the bikes on the trailer, his daughters pull off the rear-view mirror in the car. We turn a molehill into a mountain by trying to force it back onto the mount and end up cracking the windscreen.

45 minutes after heading off, Antonye feels the car go squirrelly and sees the lorry behind us flashing us frantically. I look in the side mirror in time to see a shower of rubber pellets come off the back followed by a black hoop spinning off – we’ve had a blowout. Coincidentally, Antonye gets a call from Ericthered who offers to bring the spare wheels from Antonye’s house. Unfortunately, one of them has a puncture and the other one has perished sidewalls. Fortunately, Eric manages to persuade the tyre garage to open up again and fit a couple of new tyres.

As we know we are in for a bit of a wait, we sit up on the embankment on some folding chairs. After about 20 minutes we come back down again as we both receive a big dose of hay-fever.

Once Eric arrives we change the wheel in record time. It was starting to rain at this point and, as I only had one spare t-shirt, I stripped down to my vest. I did not appreciate Antonye’s “ladyboy” comment. ¾ of a mile down the road we hear another bang – we’ve blown the second tyre. Fortunately, Eric was right behind us. Further investigation shows we had put the tie-down on the wrong way so the hook was right next to the tyre….

Upon arriving at the circuit, we regale the group with our woes. We get to the point where we describe the backwards tie-down hook only to see that it has come away altogether.

After a bit of work to the bikes, we head off to my mate Darren’s house for a few hours kip. Wake up at 5am with throbbing pain in my left jaw – swollen gland – great! When I pointed it out to Antonye he wondered what I was talking about, until I turned my face so he could see both sides at the same time. “Oh….” was about all he could say at 6 o’clock in the morning.

I’ll stop here and leave my detailed account of the day for another post but I would like to say a few “thank you’s”;
Martin (748Mart) – a true gent who pitched in whenever anybody needed help.
CK & AK – for the loan of the brake lever. I only used it for 10 minutes but returned it clogged with grass. Charlotte was polite enough not to mention the ball of grass at the end of the peg.
Eric (Ericthered) – for making a 100 mile round trip for a couple of knuckleheads, and the moral support. Star.
Annette – for being there, and supporting my decision.
The Perrin kids – for laughing at my jokes.
Antonye – for putting up with my mechanical incompetence.
And to everyone else that made the day so enjoyable for me. I won’t be riding in future rounds but I will be there supporting a fantastic bunch of people.

Cheers, Chi

Chi,

far from Chicken mate, thats 10 minutes longer than a lot of people will ever truly be involved in racing fo.

You have my respect.

See you for a ride out and Dim sum soon .....

Pietro

Respect to you Chi, for your decision:)

C

It takes more courage to be true to yourself

I agree - you've given it a go. A lot of people don't get that far. You've got nothing to be ashamed of and I'm impressed with the way you've taken this decision.

Chin up fella and it will be good to have your support at future rounds :D

TP

Chi its good to see you stand by your decision and give what I find a enjoyable but dangerous hobbie a miss. It takes guts to make that sort of decision when in a paddock full of your peers so all credit to you for doing so.
It reminds me of another rider I have a lot of respect for, he always wanted to race at the IOM and after spending a lot of money to get there he did one lap of practice then put the bike in the back of the van and said NOT FOR ME.
Sometimes you just have to strike the right balance in what you do.

Respect to you for being honest with yourself.

thank you all for your support.

I also feel it is appropriate at this point to change my avatar.

A tough decision to make but ultimately the right one if you're not 100% committed to it.

As the others have said there is no shame in not continuing (it's not quitting...) the racing as you've been there and given it a try.

Thanks for the help and support over the race weekend and also the testing trackday. Make sure you come along and a bit of support my way wouldn't go amiss at future rounds :D

BTW, anyone want any spares off his bike before I give it back? :lol:

you big baby! ;)

no, as everyone has said totally respect your decision and you should only have to answer to one person; yourself.

if its what you wanted to do, then its the right decision.

Can't add any more to whats been said hun - major respect to you for making the decision.
Hope to catch up with you for a natter next time :)

Just orderd all the chicken tee shirts for the fan club, just have sell them of cheep-cheep on fleabay.:lol: nice to have met you on wk/end all the best Chass.

I can also confirm that junction 25 of the M25 is a rubbish place to have a holiday....

I know Antonye is a motor head, but find a beach next time!

Quality pic :lol:

Stay true to yourself Chi, can't argue with your reasoning one little bit. It takes more nerve to stand up and say no than to go with the group.
No face lost mate, much respect gained. Thank you for all your encouragement, you're a good mate to have :biaggi:

normal blokes holiday.............."look at the t*ts on the one! time for a swim to cool off!"


chi and ant's holiday................. "oooh look a 2005 focus cmax!"

Chi
As we discussed on Saturday and has been said here, all power to you for making a decision based on facts.

You've now tried racing and its not for you, many don't get that far.

Good on ya for giving it a go, maybe its the rest of us aren't as smart as you!!! ;)

Look forward to seeing you at future events.

Tim

The most dangerous thing would to be racing with a half heart so you have defo done the right thing.

all credit to you matey.

This was one of the reasons that i gave it up after a few years.In my last yr racing, our club had 9 deaths which is a high price to pay for what boils down to a hobby.

Still miss it like crazy though!!:D

well done Chi, sorry to loose a competitor but I would be the first to say that you know when something does not feel right, and if it does not, when it comes to being on a track, - get out of there. And the reason I choose to get into photographing my mates on track rather than doing it myself 20 years ago!

Please keep coming to the rounds, you seem to have a certain knack for entertaining the kids, - my son was also amused by you when playing with TP's youngest. Seriously though you are already part of this series (as are many of the non racers) so please keep coming back to the Paddock, -bring your wife and daughter next time?
:)

Sorry it didn't work out for you Chi, but you've done the right thing.

It's a crazy place when your heart IS in it. You have my respect no question.

I'm foolish enough to keep riding and look like a bum :lol:

You're always welcome in our paddock dude :D

No shame in doing what your heart says is right. Good on you for having a go though -

a good man knows his limits.

Chi, sounds like you've made the right decision for you. And think of the bonus points ...

"I sacrificed a career in racing for you and you're saying you won't tell this boy to get lost" (directed at your daughter when she's 16 and dating some oik you can't stand).

And then, based on your write up, I'd say Anytonye jinxed you completely. He's clearly threepence short of a shilling on the luck front!

:lol::lol::lol:

Chicken I salute you and look forward to an evening of dim sum instead of the huge portions of adrenaline we have sheared until now.

Tell you what standing on the M25 in a thunderstorm of biblical proportions changing them tiers, with forty foot Artic’s passing Ant’s back by a foot scared the S**t out of me. I was just waiting for the whole lot of us to get sweep away by one of them mothers. Remember the one that gave me the Mary Poppins moment with the brolly.

You take care now fella and enjoy your biking and your family in the way that makes you happy.

I will see you soon

Respect pal.
;)

Glad you were OK after the 'off'.

Cant really add to the good words that have gone before - the decision is yours alone to make and with so young a daughter I cant help feeling its the right one.

But Hey! YOU HAVE BEEN A RACER - much respect in my book.

Hope to catch up one day???? Maybe Donnington ????

Cheers - Frank

[Edited on 6-6-2005 by Iconic944ss]

Hey Chi, good call-better to be able to say 'I gave racing a go and it wasn't for me', than 'I wish I had tried racing-but I'm too old now'.............

John

'I wish I had tried racing-but I'm too old now' :(

Not sure I agree weeksy (but I havent raced so qualified to say??) but sometimes things 'arent for me' and it looks like thats the case with racing for chi...

muchos respectos for doing it so early and I disagree chi, if its not for you it is a tick in that box, just that this box is not wot you thought it would be.

now then - how much for the bike;) LOL

[Edited on 7-6-2005 by bradders]

good point - goosebumps...a good gauge of excitement

u want a dd race bike bradders.......i might know of a big bored 600ss for sale..ready to race.?

:P

...will p/x for a 620ie eh Phil?

:lol:

no goose bumps at chez dickie

I think Weeksy should ride Chi's bike at Snett :D

(Fil2's idea - but a good one)

:lol:

GET IN THERE MY SON!!!!!

no goose bumps at chez Fil2 either......:biaggi:

That's what he was doing wrong :lol:


Think I better retire :(

:lol:;)

you know it makes sense.

I'm sure there would be a looooooooooong line of people happy to chuck a fiver in a pot to get a racing lesson :lol:

I'm in ;)

:D

I'm in for a fiver.

How about, as it's an endurance race... We'll let you and R1 Ian change riders :D

:lol: