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From The Saddle

An occasional series

Hello to everyone involved with the Scottish Enduro scene. I for one can’t wait for the new season to kick off. I think it will be one of the most competitive and exciting seasons for some time.

Whilst 2003 was a year to disregard for myself, it was a year that Murray Thomson will never forget! After many years of trying and many times coming very close, he finally achieved the title he longed for – "Scottish Expert Enduro Champion". Well done Sir! He really stepped the pace up and found another gear in 2003, but still managed to maintain his consistency. That is what allowed him to win the championship. The only people with bigger smiles on their faces at the end of the final round were Tracy and Scott – the very proud wife and son!

The really hard work for Murray will start in 2004 when he comes to defend his title, and there are many who have set their sights on his orange machine’s number 1 plate – I for one have a space in the garage looked out for it!

For the new year I will again be riding the Yamaha WR450F through the continued support of Ride-On Motorcycles in Glasgow. They have been so supportive of my racing, particularly in 2003, that I cannot begin to explain my gratitude. They are sponsoring a rider in Enduro’s, Adult MX and now this year also in Schoolboy MX. That really is giving something back to the sport!

Hopefully, I will manage to get longer than 10 minutes on the bike this year before taking early retirement. I am really excited about the prospect of two day events this year and I feel that this will be a great step forward for the sport. I only hope the weather for the campers is as good as last year!

Who else will be snapping at Murray’s heels then?

One of the biggest challengers this year will come from the brilliant and charming Crawford Carrick-Anderson. Although new to Enduro’s, CCA has loads of trials experience that combines with his fearless downhill MTB skills and make him a very neat, tidy and devastatingly fast rider. When he passed me over the moors at Selkirk, I felt like I was going backwards – I felt worse when I found out he had a front wheel puncture at the time! His attitude to racing is amazing and really shows the strength of a positive mental attitude. Having won some events in ’03 and shown steady consistency, he won’t let his other MTB commitments get in his way this year. Look out guys, Crawford will be taking the determination that has given him success in the past to the start line of every event in the ’04 season!

Richard Hay will make some guest appearances in 2004 I’m sure. Having won all the events he entered in 2003, Richard has shown that being away from Scotland hasn’t meant he’s forgotten how to ride in heather and peat bogs! Due to family, financial, work and sponsor commitments, Richard has decided not to take part in the 2004 World Championships, but will instead be concentrating on the British Champs, Fast Eddy series and other Enduro and Hare & Hound type events. Again riding for Yamaha UK, the true "Ironman" will show his class at the Dawn to Dusk 12hr event and I can think of no real challengers for him. If any rider wants to gain maximum points from an event that Tricky Dicky rides in, they’ll certainly have to push themselves very hard.

I think the "young apprentice" that is Ricky Mair will open a few eyes this year. He secured support from GasGas UK in 2003 and for ’04 will be riding the 125 in Fast Eddy’s as well as British Expert & Scottish Enduros. Still only 17, Ricky has the devastating speed of a top motocrosser and having started life riding a trials bike, he’s pretty handy over the tricky stuff as well. His maturity, confidence and determination are actually quite scary – success will come to this young man I am sure! As a member of the ACU Enduro Training Squad he will be attending schools all year and I have a strong suspicion he will be called up to the ACU Junior Team for the Polish ISDE. If he continues to improve at his current rate we will have another Paul Edmondson on our hands!

There are also some other fast guys moving up from Clubman class, making the step up to Expert. Like Joe Gilroy has already shown, they will have the speed to upset a few of the established riders when they mix it with the big boys! It’s great to see these guys moving up and keeping the sport competitive at the mid and top levels, while still being fun for the novice riders.

Grant Smith is another name we are becoming familiar with, through his consistent and top placings throughout the year. A close friend of Crawford Carrick-Anderson’s, they will no doubt be "encouraging" each other in the pre-season.

Nicky Beavitt and Ian Harkes made the odd guest appearance in 2003 and were able to throw their bikes around the forest with characteristic "flair". If their fitness holds out they could pull off a surprise result on a few riders.

Malcolm Bissett has been in the Expert class for a number of years now and is looking to get a good overall placing in 2004. I hear he’s been practicing his endurance training and fighting fatigue by allowing wife Karen to stay in bed when new baby Rachel is screaming at 3.30am!

There are many other riders in the Expert and Clubman class that are hungry for success and they will all make the season very exciting.

A special mention has to go to the stalward that is Iain Bell. Older than many of the hills that he rides over, he has always been part of the scene. I’m sure that many of the riders who pass him won’t realise that he was Scottish Motocross Champion more than 50 years ago – to me that is just incomprehensible! He is a true gentleman and always tries to get out of the way of faster riders, apologising if he doesn’t. So next time he holds you up for a few seconds or you see him stuck in a bog, have some patience, park up and give him a hand – he is a living legend after all. I know how bad I can feel after a hard event, but can you even begin to imagine how Iain feels on Monday morning! I hope he makes it along to some of the events, as they just don’t seem right unless he’s there.

That rounds up my thoughts for the 2004 season and the riders I’ll see at the startline – one thing is for sure – I can’t wait for Lossiemouth!

World 2 Day Enduro Championship 2002
Round 2 - Portugal 23/24th March

Richard Hay on his new Husky 570 4 Stroke.

Portugal....what can I say but hot, hot and you guessed it more hot. Reckoned to be 36deg Sat and 32deg Sun it was a bit of a culture shock from Aberdeen where there was sleet when I left!! The event was set high up in the mountains, about 60km inland from Coimbra. Very mountainous region with huge rock slabs. There were 3 test per lap, 2 fantastic MX and one very long and fast ET. (Circa 9mins) Saturday came, all hyped up about starting the big girl, and she fired first kick....only problem
was it was a minute before I was due to leave...oops. The organisers ignored me so all was well. Saturday was kind of up and down...fell off 3 times and stalled twice. However 8 hours riding took its toll on everybody so towards the end my results improved as everyone else's faded so I ended up 12th. Sunday was slightly cooler than Saturday...and only 6 hours long...but Saturday had taken its toll. My results steadily improved with some decent test times appearing towards the end of the day, good enough to garner another 12th in class. All in all the event was not far off a 14 hour fast Eddy! Very good event (one of the most challenging in a while), Huskysport Husqvarna behaved itself impeccably,
Thanks again to Wyn Hughes meticulous preparation...before I got my hands on it that is. Never missed a beat...the only work I did on it was tyres and air filter during the whole weekend. It's taking a while to come to terms with the "big girl" It grips where it shouldn't, doesn't turn where it should....but then turns when you believe it would be
impossible....in fact it excels at everything a 2 stroke does badly...but does badly everything a 2 stroke does well.....so I can tell this season will be a steep learning curve....but I predict that by the end of the season I will be faster on the 570 than a 250 around a special test!!!

Richard Hay

Three Virgins in the Welsh Everglades. - SNOWRUN ENDURO - CRYCHAN FOREST 3/2/02

A team of four Scots riders braved driving rain and high winds to compete in the first true Enduro of the year. Held in the Crychan Forest near LLandovery - Wales. Organised by the WTRF - it was run over ground previously used for some British rounds and was just like home to the Scots lads. A 26 mile lap over forest roads, stoney climbs and fast, flowing tracks through the forest it also had it's fair share of rutted, mud filled "tracks" through tight trees. It didn't seem as slippy as Scottish events and there was usually plenty of grip, no off cambers either - the Welsh seem to go straight up or down hills - not across them ( good idea).

Stu Young - Not as bad as I thought it was going to be but very tough. I fell off a couple of times but really enjoyed the event. Hardest part was the special test. I went straight through on the untimed lap then fell off (of course) on the timed test. The worst part of the track though was the MUDDY SLIDE. A near vertical descent which I tried standing up till I got my feet knocked off the pegs. There were slide marks on both sides of the track so I just used them all the way down. Nobody passed me - until I fell off - and I only lost a couple of minutes on time - not bad considering the course. Only my second event but my speed is getting better.

Dave Donald - My big thing is that I was 19 minutes late at the first check. I think I need to get on the throttle a bit more. I was riding everything like a trials section. Making sure I got up or through each obstacle without doing so in the quickest manner possible. I didn't really have any stops. A couple of stalls that I recovered from pretty quickly.

I got in to it a bit more on the second check and started to flow a bit more. I was getting used to leaning back a bit on the going and not having the front wheel dig in to everything. Really happy with the bike. Definitely more bottom end oomph than my old 250.   Will promise to carry about five NEW plugs for each race.

I was really pleased with the way I felt on Monday. Not really knackered at all. A bit sore on the legs. I think the theory about drinking on the going seems to work.

As for next year. This is now on the list of events that I want to enter and finish in the results. This list contains the Scottish Six Days Trial, Loch Lomond 2 day

Charlie Mackenzie - I was feeling good, if a bit nervous about riding in the dreaded Welsh Forests. At least the rain had stopped and it was an ideal day for riding.The ground was soaking - but the wetter it is the more grip. Grip was never really a problem on the track ( the test was another matter entirely). 10 secs after starting I was in the test. All the water from Wales must have been settling there. The 4 stroke was still cold on lap one and kept stalling as I threw it into rut after ditch after rut. By the time I escaped from the test I was filthy and knackered. But the rest of the course was fantastic. Great rides through the forest tracks and brilliant rocky climbs with plenty of grip. Then came THE TREE. It seemed to block the entire course so we scattered around looking for a new route. Carrying the bike across some ditches I finally got back on the road. By this time I was way off course for a clean ride but the course opened up again with some fantastic views of the Welsh hills.

Then the test again. This time I was tired - but the ruts were deeper. Ta to all the Marshalls - they kept on throwing riders and bikes around the course and got us going again. At last back out on to the course - where a couple of snotty bits had been cut out. A flying lap saw me reduce my time from 35 minutes over on the first check to only 6 minutes. ( Next year - clean).

Near the end of the lap I met a rider having a wee breather as he dropped his bike back down to the road. None other than the famous Webmaster Bob Mullins. A quick chat and we were off again. We finished the course - out of time - but with big smiles on our faces.

With names like Misery mile and Dead End Road it sums up the course, but they should also have Fantastic Fast Track and Nice View. Finally - as Bob Mullins said - check my test time  if you want to see how long it takes to walk 1 1/2 miles carrying a bike.

And Malcolm Bissett - our Expert class rider - finished clean with some good test times. And he still looked clean at the end.

2003 - We'll be back - we all recommend the event. Lets get a bigger party next year. Our thanks to all the officials for a great Enduro. Now come to Scotland and see how we do it!

Richard Hays comments on the TONG HALL Fast Eddy Sept 2001

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