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30th August Check out the new video on here in the video section, it's was kindly done by a friend (digger) its just a round up of me in the sprint enduro series where i finished 3rd overall. Cheers Digger! 19th August Last weekend was the penultimate round of the BEC held in the Dyfi forest in mid Wales, last year was a great event so the organisers had a hard job to try and make it different but still as good, and I think they done a brilliant job. The only thing that annoyed me was that we all paid are entry fee's and then we got charged £10 to get a transponder that we haven't used all year and then the timing clock wasn't working anyway. Anyway the event ran really well, they had changed the test in a few places and made it more flowing from last year, added in a few logs and a big jump, it was really good to ride and very good for viewing with lots to see. The lap was better with it being shorter and more laps made it very enjoyable. Prior to the event I was quite ill which prevented me from riding and then we had a holiday planned so I didn't ride my bike for 2 weeks. After the first test I thought I done OK but then everybody seemed to up the pace and I just couldn't, I was feeling rusty and it was showing in my riding. I couldn't click with the bike and ended up 4th overall and 2nd in class which wasn't where I wanted to be, I really wanted to win the class both days to give myself a bit of breathing space for the last round but I just couldn't match Paul Eddy's pace. Saturday night and we sat down and analysed the days riding and the team told me where I was going wrong so we changed a few things on the bike to try and help and Steve put a new tyre on which definatly helped!! Sunday morning and I felt different before I even got on the bike, I was confident we could do better and I knew I had to have a good first test so I put all my efforts in and everything worked perfect, made no mistakes and set a good time. The second test was OK as well but Paul was a lot closer so I knew I needed to up it for next time but again I couldn't, I don't why but the other guys were gradually getting quicker and I was staying about the same, which was really annoying because I couldn't figure out what I needed to do, can only put it down to feeling rusty. The good news is that I am still leading the class championship and with the Natterjack to go I really enjoy the event so hopefully we can wrap up the E1 title there, thanks to all who helped out at the weekend. Daryl
2nd August 2010 A couple of weeks ago I raced the BEC at Knighton which was a good event for where I won my class both days and was 3rd and 2nd overall, but not long after the event I thought I had a bit of a cold which I left and then before I knew it I had severe Bronchitis, the doctor told me that if I was unfit and over weight then I would of more than likely got pneumonia, I was told to rest which I did up until yesterday where I raced the last round of the British Cross Country Championship. Going into the event I knew I wasn't full fitness and with Jason Thomas riding I really wanted to try and do my best to stay with him, all hopes of that vanished on the first lap when I went over a jump and saw Ollie Moyce going down and I had no where to go and went straight into the back of the Husaberg which flicked me over the bars. I picked the bike up to find the front end slightly twisted , a broken hand guard and the worst of all a broken de-compression lever, and being a motocross bike it was something I needed. I watched all the championship class go past before it fired up and then looking at the dust realised that running with Jason was out of the question, after the first lap I was about 8th and really struggling in the dust to pass people, Jason already had 2 and a half minutes on me, the dust was horrendous. I knew then I just had to concentrate on beating Ollie and Ash to secure the championship, I pushed for about 3 laps to try and catch up to them and just as I caught them it was like somebody turned a turned my lungs off, with being ill and breathing in all the dust I was struggling to breathe and consequently got very tired very quick, I passed Ollie and Ash and gapped them a little bit and that was all I could do, 1st and 2nd were gone with having a clear track for a few laps it was enough of a gap that I couldn't close. By half way I really didn't feel good and all I kept telling myself was 'do it for the team and the sponsors' my pit crew were really good and kept pushing me as they knew I was struggling, It was the first time I was looking behind making sure I wasn't getting caught rather than trying to push forward. I stalled the bike a couple of times which didn't help as it was hard to start after my crash but the main thing was I beat the people I needed to and won another British Championship, now I just need to concentrate on winning the British Enduro Championship. Daryl 30th June 2010 I think I'm just about sorted out from the last few weeks of racing, it's been a busy time with the Hafren enduro, second round of the British Cross country championship and the Welsh 2 Day. The Hafren went OK for me, I was 4th overall both days, 2nd and 1st in class. The event itself was brilliant but I wasn't so happy with my riding, with the competition being so tight and there not being so many races I need to be at my best all the time and on Saturday I was winning the class but allowed Paul Edmondson to catch up and beat me by 3 seconds. Apart from that everything else was OK. The 2nd round of the BXCC meant a long drive to Scarborough but with all the talk about how good Harwood Dale is, it wasn't so bad. We arrived in time to see the start of the morning race so I walked round and it was looking really good. Actually riding the event was good too,it wasn't to hard nor to easy but had the perfect balance to make a very good hare and hound track. At the end of the race I won by about 3 minutes, I was pleased with that as I was riding my new motocross bike and it took a while to get used to, overall I think it was a cracking event and for those who missed it, missed out. Thanks to Wayne and his Ride Off road team. Onto the Welsh, the event was good as it always is with the only problem being the dust, I don't think I have ever seen a welsh forest so dry and dusty as they were, there were parts that I can remember from previous years and events that I was either off pushing or stuck, how ever this year I was having to slow down because you couldn't see for dust, the organisers done a great job with the event and kept everybody safe. I ended up winning the event for the 4th time but by the closet margin, after 2 days and 5 special tests I won by 1.5 seconds from Tom Sagar. That's all for now as I got work to catch up on but I will write a more in depth write up when I get some more time. Thanks Daryl |
