Corinium 2008
Reports by: Ian Vessey
Snippets
A small entry of locals for us. Who entered: Steve Biddle in Expert class, BenF, Vess, Gavin and Martin in Clubman and Jim, Glenn and Dave in Sports.
The Vess Report
If it's dry, it's brilliant. If it's wet it's not difficult to hour-out on the first lap!
The morning of Sunday 13th April 2008 was wet. At least it was at home in the Forest, but at Cirencester Park it looked like most of the rain had stayed on the other side of the river. So far so good.
Ben Falconer was wondering if he needed his jacket, Steve Biddle was worrying about doing the expert schedule (5laps), Dave Pinney appeared to have terminal flatulence (Later to retire with food poisoning.) and I was a bit bothered by the fact that Ben and Steve Venn were on the minute after me.
Being the 13th, something had to go wrong and it did at the start. The time ticked over, the 200 started first kick, then stalled when I put it into gear. The clutch was stuck solid. It refused to budge and the next minute came around so I had to push out of the start. From there it was easy, start in neutral, push down the slope from the start and knock it into gear, and the clutch had freed within a few yards. At least I didn't have to worry about Ben and Steve as now I was chasing them.
The first lap was excellent. Usual Corinium going, wriggling in and out of the trees, along tracks and ditches, in and out of dips, up and down banks, a few climbs and descents, not a lot of flat out stuff, but quick and flowing with loads of roots and stumps to focus on. A bit of mud in places, but not enough to get stuck in and plenty of time to get around. The second lap was a bit quicker, the going had dried a little with the passing of the bikes but we had to queue for a few minutes for the two tests, timed only on this lap. The third lap was getting even quicker until about two thirds of the way round where a small shower had made the ground slippery and greasy. Luckily that's all there was and the fourth lap was dry and fast. Brilliant.
Many thanks to Swindon & District MCC and landowner Lord Bathurst for an excellent 30th anniversary event.