Full Metal Wheelbarrow

Yesterday we went racing again, this time to Bath.

Rob had done a little more work on his fairing and improved it some more (and put a new pair of tyres on the front wheels!), which really paid off - he was fourth overall and as a result is currently 3rd in the national championships, about which he was well chuffed.

We were lucky to get into the track at all though - the unfortunate chap whose job it was to open it up for us had had a nasty accident the day before and broken both his arms. despite this and having been in A&E until the early hours of the morning, he still turned up, with a friend to assist him, to let us in and explain what was where.

I was much impressed with his devotion to duty - it wouldn’t have been at all surprising to me if he’d forgotten all about work after an accident like that - I’ve suggested that the club might say a word or two in his praise to his bosses by way of gratitude.

Getting in and out of Bath was a little technical, but not as bad as we’d feared, so though it was a long and tiring day, it was no worse than our last trip, down to That London.

The plan for today was to go cycle racing at Castle Combe in Wiltshire.

Well, we went to Castle Combe…as far as the racing was concerned though , the weather had other ideas.

I have this to say about the weather :- Blargle. Also, ick. It rained. A lot. And the wind blew it sideways. Several different sidewayses, in fact, sometimes simultaneously :(

The valiant organisator went out for a spin round the track and was much dismayed. He proposed that folk might go for a test lap and see what they thought of it all. Rob duly went out and trundled round and reported that neither the wind nor the rain was any hindrance to him, but the inside of his windscreen fogging up so that he could see neither the track, nor his fellow riders was somewhat more problematic. At this point he decided that actual racing would be an exercise in not being at all sensible, and we packed in for the day.

So I have no race photos for you today - instead, I offer a Red Thing :-

( Cut for photographicals )

Some consolation for lack of racing was derived from having passed through the gloriously named villages of Cockadilly and Tiddleywink. And on the way home we paid a brief visit to Slimbridge Wildfowl and Wetlands Centre where we had a cup of tea and watched the flamingoes. It's not every day you get to do that :)

Glad to be home after all that driving in the rain and spray though.

Yesterday we went down to That London for the first BHPC race of the year.

Fun was had on the M1 where the utter inability of the British driver to merge properly when lane restrictions occur was once again graphically demonstrated, meaning that the half hour earlier start we'd made was absorbed by the delay. Bah!

Once at the track things were further enlivened by a nasty crash in the first fast race which rendered three of the fastest unfaired riders hors de combat for the rest of the day. I hope they're all feeling rather better today, poor chaps. In the same race, our friend Ian, in the orange machine behind Rob in the picture below, lost the lid of his machine to the wind and also retired for the day in a state of disgruntlement.

<

And then, just as folk were lining up for the second slow race, some numpty decided to drive their car onto the track…Fortunately they drove off again without any problems other than holding up the race. They were insisting that our organisator tell them where the barbecue they were looking for was being held - because of course, he knows the details of every social engagement in a five mile radius, doesn't he? Honestly, you really have to wonder what some people use for brains….

Aside from that the racing went fairly well, although I seem to have failed to take a picture of the enterprising bloke who made himself a tailbox out of copious amounts of cardboard and then sellotaped it around his torso for each race.

Rob did well - he was eighth overall and averaged 25mph in both races, so he was a happy bunny.

Twas a long day though - the delay meant we didn't get home until nearly half past seven. Zzzzz!

Sunday was race day again and boiling hot down in That London, despite it being October. Somebody has been messing about with the weather methinks.
( A picture or two )

Yesterday we went racing again at Shrewsbury this time.

( Trike! )

 Trike all mended and returned to her owner, so I can stop going to Sheffield for a while now :-)

This weekend we has mostly been cycle racing.

Saturday was at the Salt Ayre track in Lancaster. I took my trike with me, not to race but because it's a blimmin' long way from the track to the loos there!

It's quite a nice track, but has lots of access points and is popular with dog walkers, many of whom don't seem to understand how much it would hurt if they were hit by a streamliner doing 30+mph, so it's necessary to post marshals at strategic points around the course during the racing.

It was very hot - much hotter than the forecast 20 centigrade - which meant Rob didn't go as fast as he'd hoped this time.

( Racing pictures )
After the racing we toddled off to our hotel which was, as advertised right next to the canal. After checking in and having a leisurely drink in the beer garden we went for a stroll along the canal path before dinner.

( Other pictures :-) )

Yesterday was race day again. Less travelling involved this time as the track was our "local" one at Darley Moor. This track has the unusual feature of a livestock field in the middle of it. The inhabitants looked quite interested in proceedings too :-
( Cut for photographicals )

Yesterday we toddled down to That London for the first BHPC race of the year at Hillingdon. I was concerned that the closure of junctions 1 to 4 of the M1 would make the journey slower and more tedious than usual, but things weren't actually too bad, apart from the inevitable roadworks on both the M1 and the M25.

Rob had added a "tailfin" to last year's fairing to improve the aerodynamics as last time out people were able to "draft" him, a sure sign that things could be improved.



It seemed to help - he clocked an impressive average speed of 23.9mph and came 10th overall out of 48 riders. His bike computer records the temperature among other data and he noted that once the temp inside the fairing gets above 27 Celsius, his average speed starts to drop... So next job is to try to improve ventilation without messing up the aerodynamics...

I wasn't expecting a great deal from today's racing as Rob was so tired and poorly yesterday. In fact I wouldn't have been all that surprised, if, when the alarm went off this morning, he'd told me to turn it off and gone back to sleep. But he didn't - we got up and set off for Hayes, where the track is with his newly completed fairing on his trike in the back of the van.
( Trike pictures )