| desmodue cadwell metting report........................
before i write anything else, the first thing i must say is that racing is brilliant. if you are thinking about doing desmodue maybe next year, stop thinking about it and start planning it.
you dont need to spend loads of cash or to be one of the top riders to enjoy yourself, so just do it!.
after a few nights of last minute preparation, the bike was trailered up and ready to go on friday night for the three 3 hour drive up to cadwell. its quite incredible how much stuff you need to take up with you, and we weren't even camping and i had no spares! myself and my pitbitch (emma, my wife)
arrived around 8.45 and went staright to our b and b and out for something to eat.
saturday morning greeted us with grey skies and heavy rain. nice! we trunddled off to the circuit and tied up with some of the others who were there from friday nigh. tp, mike and lizzie, dave and annette, and later on mike atack. we sheltered in dave and annettes vast 'marquee' resplendent with strip lighting, heating, and most importantly hot tea.
the drumming of the rain on the roof didnt raise my already soggy spirits. when there was a break in the weather we did manage to get my modest awning up, and get the bike off the trailer and under cover.
scruitineering was the next step: took the bike and myself all kitted up down to the bay to get everything checked over. all was fine apart from one loose screw which had to be done up. i had made a big effort to ensure everything was done by the book and a cursory glance and check from the scruitineers gave me my necessary sticker and all was ready for our unofficial practice later in the day.
as the time for our practice approached so the weather improved and as we went out we were greeted by a dry track and warm sunshine. it was my first time out on the woodland circuit and the much talked about first bend hairpin didnt actually seem too bad. i took it easy at first and although it was unofficial they did give us some times and i put in a 55.30 i think. nothing special but felt happy with the layout so i was content with that.
back to the b and b that evening, out for a meal in louth and early to bed before my first race on the sunday. woken up a couple of time during the night and greeting in the morning by heavy thunderstorms. got ready and went downstairs for my light 'racers' breakfast. cornfllakes, 4 x o.j's, pot of tea, 4 slices of toast, sausage, bacon, 2 eggs, beans. sorted.
arrived back at the track about 8 am to get ready for first practice at approx 9am. rain had stopped, nothing much to do to bike apart from just check over everything and re check tyre pressures.
1st practice: went ok, track still wet, but drying and had stopped raining. no times given.
quaifying practice :
10 mins quaifying ,3 laps needed to be completed to get on grid. took the first 3 easy to warm tyres up avoid any mishaps and ensure i made the race. then tried to up the pace a bit. got stuck behind a group who were slowing me down a bit so hung back to try and get a couple of quick ones in. there were a couple of incidents, first at barn where (and i stand to be corrected on any of this) nick, phil and duncan all went off at the same time and at the old hairpin where michael winter went down.
i didnt manage to do a good lap as it turned out and actually went slower than saturdays practice with a 55.7 to put me 21st on the grid. all the fallers barring duncan were ok along with their bikes and would make the grid. my heart went out to duncan who along with the rest of us had spent alot of time and money getting ready for this day, and now wouldnt make the grid. after clearly being gutted he did seem to be in slightly better spirits later in the day and i'm looking forward to seeing him out there at the next meeting.
was i happy with 21st? yes. i hoped i wouldnt be in last spot on the grid and i had skidlids, dave harris and dominic alongside me so i was in good company.
race1:
no idea if i had a good start or not at the time but i recon i lost maybe a couple of positions, i could have gone into the first bend quicker but wanted to get round so didnt push as hard as i could have. noticed an incident on the start as someone wheelied and hit someone else. no idea who it was at the time as i was concentrating on my own riding. later found out chris butcher had lost it and knocked into tony perrin. both riders ok. had a bit of a battle trying to get past skidlids, i could get past him on the straight due to having more power from my 620 to his standard 600, but he could use his better skill to always get it back at the hairpin.
he eventually pulled away but lost it on hall bends a couple of laps later on. again rider ok. i did come up behind michael winter but was again struggling to get past. thought i would have a go coming out of barn for the line but it was not to be and he beat me by 19/100th of a second. dominic outbroke himself into the hairpin and unfortunately took mike atack out in the process. dominic had passed me earleir at the old hairpin pushing me wide, which was not a problem as far as i was concerned but he put his had up in recognition which was a really nice touch. very much appreciated.
with a couple of fallers higher up the grid i ended up 19th.
second race:
again a so so start, was passed by dave harris and spent the next few laps trying to pass him, again having the legs on the straigh but losing out at the hairpin, eventually got past and made it stick. could have pased quite a bit earlier i recon elsewhere on the circuit but wasnt sure if i would have made it. with hindsight and speaking to dave i should have gone for it. after passing dave it was fairly eneventful for me till the last lap when to my surprise i coulsd see michael winter about 8 bikes lengths ahead of me. i would get him this time. i was closing down all the time until arriving at barn i was only about 3 bike lenghts behind. i took a wider line in to try and cut in, get on the power quicker and outdrag him to the line. i was closing fast but it was not enough and he beat me this time by 4/100th's of a second!
ali, chirs butcher, and dave reilly had off's ahead of me thus moving me up to 18th.
so a 19th and an 18th. not ground breaking, but i finished both races with myself and my bike intact and even overtook one person. that was my aim before the meeting so i will settle for that.
aims for next time: qualify better
improve on 18th place
beat michael winter
be more aggresive on my passing.
NO MORE MR NICE GUY!
N.B the moment i realised i was a racer? race 2 first lap, going up the mountain and through hall bends everyone made it through and we were all snaking through single file equally spaced. looked superb back from where i was in 20th or so. would have made an amazing picture.
[Edited on 5-5-2005 by dickieducati]  | 
30-Jan-2005, 21:39 
domski
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