SCOTS AWA 2005
News of Scottish Based Riders in Uk and International Competeition
(Send me your results and events please)
Natterjack Campbell Chathams report
Dawn to Dusk Report
UEM Report
Crychan Campbell Chathams report
Otterburn Report
Brefcha BEC round 2 - Campbell Chathams report
Diss BEC round 1 - Campbell Chathams report
Snowrun Enduro - Wales. TThe first event of the year for some Scots. Jim Wightman, Dougal Walker, Murray Thomson, Dougie Meek, Charlie Mackenzie, Jeff McLeary and Ricky Mair all made the trek to Wales. And it was dry !! - A fairly easy event for a change but some great trails to ride - with a very fast test. Read Bob Mullins report for the full story. Liz Millet made the trip up from the South to win the ladies class and place high up the awards. The unluckiest rider must be the chap who revved his engine on his minute to pull away from the start - only for his chain to snap - not the best start to the season.
Snowrun
2005 Report by Bob Mullins - coutresy of www.enduronews.com
The 2005 Welsh Trail Riders Association's Snowrun took place on Sunday the 6th February. The popular season opener has been a bit of a curate's egg in recent years, culminating in a 50% DNF rate amongst the Clubmen in 2004. In response, course plotter Bob Perring & CoC Brian Fallows laid out a more amenable course within the confines of the bony old Crychan forest. The weather also helped with patches of blue sky expanding through the day. The start was in the Old Snowrun quarry which has only been used once before in 1988 not to be confused the Old Old Snowrun Quarry in the Halfway. One rider was so keen to get off road he couldn't wait to get to the start. There was a better Championship entry than there has been for many years with 10 riders signing on & they were given 5 laps, the Expert had 4 laps, the Clubman/Veterans had 3 & Sportsman had 2. Ricky Mair clearly hasn't come to terms with his success as he is still riding on Clubman plates but as it was a KTM, Wayne Mounter stepped in to create an artistic effect with some red duct tape. The first riders were away at 10.01. For the start they climbed the shaily quarry & were straight into a rooty route through the trees. Rugby fans who had been celebrating or drowning their sorrows the night before held on grimly to their breakfast burgers. The course then dropped down the zig zagging Nose-bleed Hill. With Experts like Robert Lynn from Drogheda finding the undercut roots a problem, Huw Watkins, Wayne & I spent the first lap catching pirouetting riders & motorcycles. Husabergs were the most common & strangely the most graceful. By the time the Championship class arrived on their second lap the hill had become a multi-storey car park for Sportsman. Fortunately I had had the foresight to open a new line during last year's BEC Crychan by gouging a groove in the hill with my face & we were able to re-direct the Championship riders straight down it. From 5 Roads the course headed north toward the cattle grid before turning left over Cortina Hill. As the riders dug themselves in there was a distinct whiff of Curate's egg amongst the petrol fumes but it was followed by a sweet run down Pig Hill, around the County Road, out to Cadogan's Loop & up the Rally Climb. WTRA had opened a new route to bypass the slab near Cwm Cadoran. The riders then climbed to the Tube, dropped off the Boy from the Castle & rode the Swimbath Road to the Out Check. From the check the riders rode Geraints Loop to Cwm Cadoran where a rooty climb reminded them that the Snowrun is not a rally. The course the went up the Beeches, down Trout Hill, around the Castle & through Gill's Folly passed the old bridge (more egg anyone?) to the test. Here the organisers had gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. With the possibly that there are still riders in the swamp that passed for a test in previous years at the Culvert, the 2005 test was a blast up Early Bird & along the graded Camber (chicaned with pallets) to Whiskey Alley. The test was stopped for 15 minutes when a rider was injured. Another rider - probably Kurt Luby - stayed with him until help arrived. Off the Fire Tower a steep hill took the riders close to the Army rode. A couple of riders went a little too close. Off the Lasso road the course passed the derelict farm over a mattress of Elephant Tusks & down some 10th rows to the Timberyard road. Old hands would have known that the left turn meant a bouncy ride across the tussocks & down to the stream at Bob's Stick. Usually the course then turned up the ruts on to the Dead End road which took the riders back to finish. Tom Sagar (above) won the Premier by one second from Cornish man Jason Fraser. Gethin Price was the best Expert ahead of runner up Tom Knill. Alistair Bramwell won the Clubman class & Peter Trotman was the runner up. Huw Humphreys was the Best Veteran ahead of Andrew Knapman. In the Ladies Class Liz Millett finished 14th in the Sportsman class but Tamsin Jones' KTM button lost it's magic on the Cortina. Last year's Best Expert - Keith Horsnell - got a late entry in the Championship class. His first 2 test times would have given him another Best Expert award but Championship gold has a warmer glow. Micheal Rees took some time off from changing tyres for Timothy Phillips to pick up an Expert gold. Dean Burke returned to Sanderford with a saga of Viking proportions. Riding in his first event, he arrived late after a puncture on the M25 & then failed scrutineering with an MX tyre. After investing in & fitting a new FIM tyre Dean left the start on his hour only to retire within a mile with a dead motor. He was philosophical & will be back next year as will the Welsh Trail Riders Association who - with an overall retirement rate of less than 20% - got it spot on. Results Feedback Photos available from Keith Bowen . Video: Frank Morgan, Malvern Lodge, Howey, LLANDRINDOD WELLS, Powys, LD1 5RE. Tel: 01597 822642
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