The Biking Blog

No Engines Allowed - Team Dave takes on the Mow Cop Killer Mile!

2011-09-14T16:40:00.000+01:00

The newly formed 'Team Dave' - Cycling team has officially entered it's first mega challenge.....The wiggle Cheshire Cat 100 mile sportive in March 2012. This looks a pretty daunting track and includes the 'Killer Mile'..a mile long climb up Mow Cop culminating in a 100 metre 25% ultra-climb at the peak by the Cheshire View pub (an old drinking location of mine strangely). This climb is so steep a medal is awarded if you complete it without stopping or putting your foot down - now that's a challenge to go for! Certainly Andy 'Everest' Hall will be in his element as he no doubt effortlessly powers to the summit in the big cog leaving us mere mortals (Iron-man Haynes aside) to probably run out of gears at the 10 meter point!!

The terrain looks a tough run for sure, both in terms of distance - the 100 miles challenging the proverbial bits n pieces around the saddle region, and also on the legs - the initial 40 miles of climbing looks a monster and includes:-

Mow Cop 'Killer Mile', 15.5 miles in - 1.2 miles ascent x 618ft at
Blacky Bank & Bridestones, 21 miles in - 1.7 miles ascent x 594ft
Gun Hill, 31 miles in - 1.3 miles ascent x 470ft
Barlow Hill, 35.5 miles in - 1.3 miles ascent x 506ft
Barnhill, 71.5 miles in - 1.5 miles ascent x 370ft

Cheshire Cat terrain - Note the first 40 miles!!

The Route - Starts at Crew stadium then reaches out into Peak District toward Buxton

See the full route at http://www.kilotogo.com/libs/google_map.php?distance_id=76

Training Regime

Probably the biggest challenge will be sticking to the recommended training regime in preparation during the dark and miserable UK winter period. Although so far training has gone pretty well with fitness levels growing, the legs getting stronger and most importantly the waistline reducing (!). Distances of 30-40miles of hilly terrain are now being consumed at 16.5-17.5mph average reasonably comfortably and Team Dave has acquired some pretty top notch biking kit which makes a world of difference. However, to be in full fighting trim some serious hill climbing training will certainly be required to combat the first 40 miles and critically, win the Killer Mile medal!

The recommended plan is to ramp up towards 4 rides per week, 2 of which are at 70% (i.e. 70 miles!) prior to the event in early March which inevitably means some some pretty unpleasant cold and grim outings versus whimping out with a mince pie to watch The Dave channel by the log fire! As a back up an investment in a Turbo Trainer is required when the temperatures starts to hit -0 degrees C.

Anyway. Watch this space for periodic updates on Team Dave's progress towards its first 'major' in March - Bring it on....

Cheers

Steve 'Peleton' Long

First race on the R6 as the Stocker burns another clutch!

2011-04-12T23:56:00.013+01:00

Longy's first race on the R6 to 7th spot...awesome!

A perfect day for racing at Mallory park for the first (and possibly last) race of the 2011 season. Biting off more than was possible to chew, both the Yamaha R6 and the Suzuki post-classic 1100 stocker were entered for the day...that's 20 laps of qualifying, following by over 40 laps of racing over four races.....as said, with zero gym time this was always going to be a tall order. However, as predicted the 1100 stocker broke again after a few race laps, so the day was reduced somewhat by some 15 laps of racing.

The highlight of the day was racing the R6, a 'pukka' sports bike, in gloriously sunny racing conditions. Racing a full blown sports bike had been an ambition for some time and needless to say it was a pretty tense affair racing against guys who, let's say, have less concerns about attending work on a Monday morning than me!! Nevertheless, whilst a good bit off the pace of the top three, a 7th place on track finish first time out in the EMRA Roadstocks (4th in the 600 class) from a field of 21 was pretty good, especially as the bike has only been ridden twice before on a couple of track days.

Early-stockers Aidy & Rob's 110mph crash at Gerrards!

The R6 was something else compared the 30 year old Earlystocker where you feel you are teetering on the edge of road holding ability at all times. The 1100 is also HUGE, whereas the tiny R6 far exceeds my modest racing capabilities with razor sharp handling and fantastic power - in reality I am too big for it - it feels minuscule. With winning lap times at Mallory of 53 seconds (nearly 90 mph average) on the 600, I was some 6s a lap off the pace (a modest 59s best lap, or 84 mph average)! However, with practice it would not be hard to shave at least a couple of seconds a lap off to get into the 56-57s, which might secure a top 3 position but still some way off a podium pace in the Superstock 600s...mind blowing. Track day accessibility now means that even the Novices come out of the blocks flying as they have had all the prior track time - so there wee certainly a few quick orange jackets entered! The race itself was a good dice and after 10 laps of nip and tuck overtaking I just managed to hold off a guy on a somewhat faster GSXR750 Suzuki by one tenth of a second to the line to clinch the 7th spot - not bad. However, I'm not sure I breathed from the moment the lights changed and was gripping the bars so tight I could barely get round the hairpin. The seat also needs lowering as the steep rake of the R6 made me tower over the top of the tank - time to cut the seat foam down.

Getting a bit smoother on the R6

Race 2 on the R6 was Ok...for 3 laps, however having got up to 6th spot, I was baulked by another rider who'd run wide at the esses and rejoined nearly T-boning me. Annoyingly this created a gap and the the lack of track time on the R6 kicked and my concentration fell off a cliff edge. Suddenly, the sheer speed of the R6 exiting Gerrards at 130mph, knee down became apparent and the throttle started to roll gently the wrong way to get the rider home safely! A lot more laps are required on the R6 to make it click. A 12th place finish was not so good, but all back safely which was the main thing. Interestingly the lap time had been bettered from the first race - weird.

She lasted 4 laps...burnt clutch #2

The old 1100 stocker managed at least half a race, but stupidly the starting technique on the R6 (revs up, hold on the clutch until the red light goes out then drop it), burnt out the Suzuki's clutch....durr. So first bend the clutch is slipping like crazy. By lap 5, there was zero drive so had to pull in. The whole plate assembly was as black a as coal - just like Cadwell. Nevertheless, there was some action during the 5 laps in the form of Alec Gilfilan taking the win from a somewhat depleted field as Aidy Brennan and Rob Chambers had a major coming together in a spectacular crash on the 120mph exit of Gerrards with Rob's bike cartwheeling over the barrier....those boys were lucky to walk away from this big one. It was spectacular viewing from behind though as I was right in their wheel tracks!

Aidy Brennan crashing his GS1000 Earlystocker
at 110+mph at Gerrards.....!

Anyway...there's the update as the leathers are being hung up....who knows when (or if) the next racing blog will be!

Cheers,
Longy

#223

Testing, testing 123...Mallory Park Track Day

2011-04-03T23:09:00.000+01:00

Two bikes to manage makes for a busy day!

A quick update from the first ride of the Yamaha R6 at Mallory Park on a track day, plus a few laps on the Suzuki GSX1100 stocker.

Conditions were dry, windy and cool and after the tedious briefing session from the track day company the R6 was wheeled out on cold tyres - no time to fit the warmers. A few laps later came a bit of a surprise when the throttle stuck open out of the 125 mph+ Gerrards, but thankfully hitting the kill switch curtailed the beast and with clutch in, rolled to a halt at Edwinas - slightly unnerving. A bit of spannering to check if the throttle cable had dislodged at the carbs indicated there was no problem and on re-assembly the issue seem to have cleared.

The stocker ran - lumpy, but ran...

In the meantime the next session was called so with a few pushes the old 1100 stocker managed to fire up and hit the track. With the fueling mods in place the beast managed to keep going, although the carburation was about as smooth as a hump back whale - going from 3 to 4 cylinders seemingly randomly. On a positive note is kept going in a very lumpy way so maybe with some dyno time, might actually be race-able. In any event, it has been entered into the EMRA round at Mallory on 10th April so hopefully I can get it properly set up before then.

With the R6 reassembled and with moderate confidence the sticking injectors had been resolved, it was wheeled out for another session but this time the throttle stuck at 14k RPM on the main straight - mmmm, time to pull over an park the machine for the day it disappointingly seemed. However it transpired on closer inspection a loose bolt on the quick action throttle had worked loose and was preventing the throttle closing intermittently. The said bolt was removed and then all looking good.

Severe tear on the Racetec - needs sorting quick!

With a semi-race face on it was time to push for a few decent laps and after going past the fastest lady rider at the Isle of Man, Maria Costello, a big near highside out of the hairpin sent a shock wave and the throttle rolled off. Closer inspection of the rear tyre revealed some serious destruction of the Metzeler Racetec indicating some adjustments to suspension and tyre pressures is required. Frankly I'm not sure whether it's cold or hot tear but need to get advice before race day to sort it. The tyre was pretty worn anyway so a new set of Pirelli Supercorsa's have been ordered.

All in all though a good day. A long way off the pace on the R6 and really struggling against fellow club racers and probably only a best lap of 1m - about as quick as my best lap on the 750 stocker. Nevertheless, with some mods to the handlebar position to give more room on the bike, removal of the hugely restrictive inner leggings worn under the race leathers which prevented any leg movement (!), then provided it's dry should be able to get a second or two off the R6 lap when really going for it. The GSX11 will be just a question of suck it and see.

Entry to Gerrards - Where have all the bumps gone?!

New track surface at Mallory was a smooth
as a billiard table!

So...onto race-day and the entry form has gone off for the 600 Roadstocks to race the R6 and also for the Earlystocks 1100, so need to get to the gym quick to be fit enough for 40 laps of racing plus 20 laps of practice on April 10th!!!!

Cheers for now.

Steve Long
#223

#223 Bikes Are Getting Closer...!

2011-03-21T22:25:00.003Z

The Yamaha R6 is nearly ready for a spin at an EMRA Roadstocks race at Mallory Park...plan is to compete in the April 10th round providing some test time can be found beforehand! The R6 has only had one outing in 2010 at Silverstone and since then has been fettled slightly to meet the Roadstocks rules with a rear brake light, working horn, number plate holder and appropriately coloured number scheme.Thanks to Martin at S&M Motorcycles who once again came to the rescue to 'hot wire' the LED light and horn system. In addition a Quick Action throttle has been fitted and just an oil and filter change. All it needs now is the sag set up for a ''chunky rider'' - it was way too soft at Silverstone and grinding out the fairing on nearly every turn - on checking, pre-load was almost at the softest setting - so much for 100% Suspension who were paid £50 at the track day to set it up!!

The Earlystocker is still really hit and miss. Quite a few bits have been done on the machine with a few still to do; namely: straight bars with different top yolks fitted, some 30mm rear shock extensions to lift the rear end and speed up the steering (thanks Simon), pre-load re-set back to standard to soften up the rear, a pingel hi-flo fuel tap fitted to speed up petrol flow rates; various bolts heli-coiled, oil and filter and the seat mountings sorted. Still to complete however is a refresh of the fork seals, fitting of some trick blanking units to replace the anti-dive units (thanks Nigel) and fresh fluid; in addition the clutch basket needs filing out to smooth up the clutch operation and try to reduce clutch slip plus it needs a run on the dyno to sort the fueling. This shouldn't take too long but ideally the clutch basket needs removing from the primary drive unit and race strength (green) springs fitted to reduce clutch whip and hence reduce slip (a big issue on the Stocker). This requires either a new primary drive or grinding off the existing basket from the primary drive gear and then re-welding with the new springs fitted. In all probability I won't get around to this, so will give it a go with the standard springs to get it running and sort the clutch later.

Anyway. That's the update. Hopefully there will be a race report soon to see how I faired against the various Roadstocks race bikes including R1s, GSXR1000s, R6's and various other modern sportsbikes.

By for now!

Steve Long
#223

New Circuits Galore in the UK...!

2011-02-21T17:30:00.001Z

Some great new developments to the UK race circuit scene are afoot. Snetterton has a completely new track layout with a brand new surface (Snetterton 300) and looks far more interesting than the old circuit. In addition, Mallory Park has been completely resurfaced at a cost of £500 million - all in all adding some much needed upgrades to the UK Club Racing picture.

Mallory Park Upgrades

Here's a look at Mallory taken from YouTube. Looks smooth and Edwinas plus the Bus Stop seem to have been opened out a bit which should make for a faster lap.

Here's a few laps at the target race pace for the new Yamaha R6 Roadstocks racer on the old layout...This is how quick I need to be to stand a chance of a decent finish in EMRA Roadstocks.

Snetterton 300 New Track

Only a simulation is available at this point, but looks a nice layout with a good combination of lefts and rights.

Plans for 2011

Racing is likely to be a little sparse again in 2011 due to budget restrictions. More than likely selected rounds on either (or possibly both) the R6 and the Earlystocks GSX1100 will be competed, mainly at Mallory Park due to its convenience. Hopefully one or two other circuits can be included if possible.

2011-01-17T22:18:00.000Z

A few memoires from the last years of club racing

Seasons Greetings!

2010-12-03T14:09:00.003Z

New Track Tool for S&M as Season Ends with a Crunch!

2010-10-04T11:34:00.024+01:00

Maiden voyage for the R6 at Silverstone GP circuit

The latest acquisition for Team S&M is a 2007 Yamaha R6. The plan is to race this in some rounds of the EMRA Roadstocks championship. Roadstock bikes need to be 'Road Legal' - basically a race bike with a V5, standard footrests, number plate, working brake light and horn! Seems a bit pointless but 'rules-is-rules' and more importantly it keeps out some of the infamous axe murders who run in the Supersport 600 class! Still some very quick riders though - very quick..57s laps of Mallory!!

The Yamaha YZF R6 is a 2007 engine with a 2006 frame and has K-Tech 20mm fork cartridges, full race exhaust but running a standard rear shock. Other than this it's totally stock apart from the body kit. The necessary mods need to be made to make it Roadstocks eligible, plus the V5 (hopefully it's not a nicked bike!).

The plan is to run it alongside the GSX1100 Earlystocker at the same meetings. Having spent a year of endless mechanical problems with the GSX, due lack of knowledge of the old beast primarily, this at least should get some track time in versus spending every meeting in the pits patching up the GSX! Watch this space....

Post Script from Last Race at Mallory
Last round mishap at Mallory Park - first lap of practice, into Edwinas, cold tyres, icy cold track...no grip, into the kitty litter............. How annoying! Couldn't get it running again then for more than 2 laps....as usual!

Happy Xmas

Longy #223

Mallory Park - Earth, Wind and Fire!

2010-08-17T21:43:00.013+01:00

Longy oblivious to #399 Jackson 5's highside at the Esses

Race 1
Right, let's get the excuses out...Apart from the brake lever coming back to the bars when cold, but working perfectly when warm and an air lock in the fuel pipe (cleared at Mallory hairpin with a bang), the big 'ole Suzi 1100 #223 of Longy's was starting to run reasonably well and qualified in 3rd spot - a definite step in the right direction. Moldy basically couldn't be bothered riding, even after hauling his bike all the way up to Mallory, so assumed Team Manager role for the day. And #363 Steelie qualified down a bit in 7th after bedding a tyre in. However it was on the warm up lap for race 1 the fun and games really started!

Fireball #399 as poor old Allen Bowers nurses a broken wrist

A coming down to earth of #399 James Jackson-5 at the lake esses exit caused not only #224 Allen Bowers to swerve and ultimate collide with him, but sent Jackson's big 1100 stocker flying into a ball of flames! Poor old Allen was the victim of being 'wrong place at wrong time' and broke his wrist in the proceedings (get well soon Allen!). JJ-5 whilst escaping with a bit of a Baboons arse from friction burns was otherwise OK - more than can be said for the GSX after bursting into a towering inferno!! Spectacular never the less.

Longy struggling to manage the lump of lard to 3rd spot

Anyway, Longy was pretty much averse to all this as he tried to win the warm up lap heading up the pack, (knowing there would be no chance of winning the actual race!) and it wasn't until no one else appeared on the starting grid did the towering plume of black smoke become evident in what looked like an engine blow up. Inevitably, the race was delayed and the marshalls buggered off for their sarnies whilst the stockers were left stranded on the grid with no one to bump start the buggers - thanks EMRA marshalls!

The re-start after lunch was a pretty frantic affair, with #241 Rob 'money no object' Chambers getting off the line first and then big Rob Eley eventually powering to the front and gapping the field. Rob and Longy were left to dice it out and all the jiggery pokery enabled the Geordie bullet #202 Aidy Brennan to catch the chasing Eley pack. Cat and mouse proceeded and places were exchanged in a battle for second spot until Rob nudged ahead going into Gerrards on the

penultimate lap as Eley blew his engine at Edwinas. Suddenly on the last lap Geordie-Brennan appeared again on the entry to Gerrards and slipped by Longy, but a power drive out of Gerrards got him back in front only then to bottle it whilst going for the lead into Edwinas leaving money-bags Chambers to head the field into the final turns. A final crescendo of overtaking commenced into the bus-stop chicane as all riders tried to swerve around a slower rider and then, losing the plot, Longy missed a gear to enable Aidy B to sneak ahead to the finish line by just a 10th second leaving Longy 3rd. A cracking bit of racing though, if not terrifying with so little bike time this year. All in all not a bad result considering the level of race-rustiness and also the first cup won riding the 1100 - cause for celebration!

Steelie takes the 750 class win

Steelie meantime was flying on his slightly dodgy 750, but still managed to win the 750 class finishing in an excellent 4th spot overall and putting in a cracking lap of 1.01.56 in the process - just 0.5s off the 750 lap record.Unfortunately in the process of this however, he bent a valve and the engine was buggered - but set about dusting off Moldy's spare bike in the van in prep for race 2.

Race 2
This was a slightly less eventful affair. With the Stockers being dismissed to the arse end of the day (race 17 from 18), and the will to get to the bar and sink a pint in the glorious sunshine had become a lot more attractive than racing 10 laps of the Mallory roundabout. Rob Eley's 1100 blow up was terminal so it was back to a straight fight between Rob C, Aidy B and Longy with #216 Alec Gilfilan for some reason being a bit off colour on this fantastic day for racing at Mallory. Longy again won the warm up

Longy get's the big old Suzi reet over!

lap, but then as the lights went out, Brennan powered into first, with Longy just out braking him into Edwinas, only to be retaken again on the exit. Rob C then came past at Longy's achilles heal on the entry to Gerrards (god I must get the big old stocker to turn quicker into there!) and the race was pretty much run until the flying arch rival from last year's 750 championship battle #275 Mad Myatt screamed past riding like a demon. Longy could not lose to a 750 (again!) but just couldn't get the times down and it was only by Mad Myatt's missed gear into the hairpin and the extra power of the 1100 down the start and finish did he regain 3rd spot - phew!

Ian O'Reilly takes a tight line!

Fellow S&M rider Pete Steele was rattling around on Moldy's bike pretty well and whilst someway off his race 1 pace, still managed to finish the 750 Kwacker in 7th spot and 3rd in class to grab some more valuable points to tee him up for a 2nd spot in the Earlystocks championship in his first year of racing.

The State of Play
The Suzi GSX1100 is now becoming quite a passion with the goal of finding a way to shave at least a second off the lap times (at Mallory at least). There is no question these big old buggers take some riding and require a sort of unique riding style and are hell to turn at high speed (like into Gerrards) - but it's coming together and bloody good fun learning. The number of missed gears was a nightmare costing time every lap in race 1 but this is likely poor riding technique and whilst the Michelin Power One rear is an awesome tyre, it was almost worn after the two races indicating the suspension is still wrong for the bike. Maxton (ex Koni rear shocks look tasty but cost £400 quid), Hagon's are cheaper at £230 but not sure how they compare - it might be time however to lose the sexy Ohlins shocks and try some firmer units to calm the rear end under power and improve the bike under aggressive turn in.

Big Dick turns it on for the punters

Then there's the brakes. Zero power until warm does not inspire confidence even though they worked perfect after half lap - something wrong here. One of the discs looks totally warped so could be time to shell out on some new units and dump the crappy EBC HH pads for some juicy Performance Friction's that are in a different league.

See you at the next round!

Longy #223

Double wins for Team S&M at Three Sisters

2010-07-20T22:55:00.004+01:00

A proud Moldy...

Just two riders made it the to Three Sisters circuit - Mold and Steele. Long stayed at home to watch The Open, try to get this pathetic 17 golf handicap down and go shopping! Seemed like it was a good meeting - well sort of. Moldy captured his first 750 win on Saturday in the wet - CONGRATS! And Steely bagged a win on Sunday - CONGRATS.

I can't really tell a humorous story because Moldy's description of the weekend was so downbeat I can't think of any related jokes. His summary was:

Rained on and off all weekend
Started great with a win and a trophy
Bike went onto 3 cylinders so didn't start race 2
Slept in the van for two nights covered in oil and smelling like he'd just come off a long shift from the chip shop
Steely wouldn't go for a pint and had an early night cuddled up to his oily teddy bear
Bike wouldn't run again on Sunday (only 3 cylinders....sounds ominous)
Sat in the rain watching, and no one wanted to talk to him because the strange aroma
Long drive home, 300 quid worse off but at least with a plastic cup!

Here's another pic anyway....!

Pete Steele takes the win...!

Major Progress on the Cooley Rep as Steelie Takes First 750 Win!

2010-07-08T23:37:00.020+01:00

Mallory Park presented the first opportunity to ride in anger the GSX1100 Cooley Rep (yes I know the original Cooley rep is based on a GS1000!). To top this though, Pete Steele riding the championship winning Kawa GPz750 from last year took his first win - and beat the Cooley rep in the process! Awesome riding and congratulations Pete!

Longy Exits Gerrards on the GSX1100

Firstly, the on-going saga of the GSX11 reached near breaking point again when, during timed practice, it would only run on three cylinders (basically a 750!). In fact it dropped to zero cylinders at the hairpin and Longy pulled off, but a quick flick of the fuel pipes to clear a fuel block got it running and the marshall obliged with a bump start. Nevertheless, still only 3 cylinders to qualify 8th. Getting to the end of the tether, almost every man and his dog very kindly obliged in to pits to measure fuel flow rates, inspect the fuel tap bore diameters and analyse everything but the kitchen sink. However a flash of inspiration from 750 championship leader Mad-Myatt, arch rival from 2009, who determined that cutting and re-routing the fuel pipes would actually let gravity flow the fuel "down hill" into the carbs rather than up-and-down hill as they were actually routed, might work.... Thankfully it did work - Issac Newton was correct regading gravity going downwards!!

Mad-Myatt and Steely Braking Showdown!

Then there was just the rear brake lever issue, front brake lever coming back to the bars issue and the front wheel being bolted in incorrectly where the discs were rubbing against metal (Oops - my fault!), to fix and the bike would be a runner. Thanks to the amazing commaraderie of the Earlystock racers and spectators they all managed to assemble the bike in time for Longy to make the back of the grid after missing the warm up lap.

As the start lights went off, Longy tentively eased off the line, still terrified of the 230Kg beast, and gradually circulated with increasing confidence to roll in 8th, but at least inspired the bike actually might be a runner - be it the suspension set as soft as a Goldwing and the bike seemed to be pogo'ing like Jonny Rotten over Gerrards bumps! Consequently for race 2, with growing confidence, the GSX11 bike was pushed a bit harder and Longy edged into 3rd spot after Aidy Brennan and Rob Chambers seemed to disappear over the horizon on their 1100's. This meant that Longy was left to battle with the 750s and after a few laps, suddenly old Steely came flying past like a bullet on Longy's old 750.

With insufficient confidence and no sense of ground clearance Longy simply couldn't keep up with the boy Steele and in fact, the speed at which he seemed to be exiting the Devils Elbow was leaving the GSX11 for dead. This chase continued for quite a few laps until old Mucka-Myatt on another 750 came past as Longy ran wide at the hairpin trying to stop the oil tanker. Thankfully, the extra power of the 1100 came into its own down the start/ finish straight and Longy blasted past Mucka Myatt and edged ahead to finish 4th, taking some 3 seconds off the lap time from race 1 - be it still 2 seconds slower than speeds on the old 750!! Congrats go to Steelie however who rode superbly to stay ahead and take his first 750 win of the year - nice result for Team S&M...!

In summary, a great day out and thanks to all the Earlystocks crowd and numerous other people who pitched in and really helped bring the GSX11 on leaps and bounds. This big beast is now becoming a real interesting proposition to learn to ride fast and with some upgrading of the rears shocks and some sorting of the brakes it will be interesting to see how quick she can go next time out. Well done to the other guys out there racing - and looking forward to the next one!

Longy stalls the Engine - Marshall ignores his plea to bump start the big bugger!

Cadwell Park - First Run of the Cooley Rep

2010-06-17T10:56:00.022+01:00

And they're off - Longy blags it to the front of the grid!

First time out on the GSX1100 Cooley rep revealed a bunch of issues, so unfortunately only 0.5 laps of racing were completed all weekend!

On the plus side, Pete Steele - newcomer to the S&M team and riding Longy's 750 Kawa steed from 2009, had a great weekend and is getting quicker all the time. Runner up spot in the Earlystocks 750 championships is well within reach of hunk 'Steeley' me thinks. Moldy, more from apathy and an aversion to the curves of Cadwell Park than
mechanical failings, rode around steadily at the back, driving the bends like he was on his old police Pan Euro bike. Having said this, he was a lot quicker than Longy on the GSX1100 - a new riding technique is required to ride this big lump!

Moldy - Great wheelie over the mountain

Here's a quick list of things to fix on the 1100 Cooley rep before the next run out:

- The rider! (Two new knees should help - just had a double knee anthroscopy!!! But hopefully back for the Mallory round...maybe)
- The clutch: It burnt out to frazzle on the sighting lap of race 1 and I lost all drive to the back wheel; clutch had been slipping through the Friday practice then finally went 'pop'
- Fuelling: Constant dropping to 2 & 3 cylinders was likely caused by an in-line fuel filter causing an air block; this was removed and a new hose fitted

Burnt clutch plates!

- Footrest position: The pegs were positioned so far back you needed a body like an ape to ride the thing and couldn't get any weight through the footrests to turn the beast; fix is reattach the rearsets some 6'' further forward so knees can go down easier to judge ground clearance
- Forks: Severe pattering at the front end did not provide confidence; fix is likely to be soften them up by removing preload and maybe reduce some fork oil
- Throttle play: Way too much cable slack caused difficulty controlling power; this can be fixed by reducing play at the carbs.

Steelie - Racing on no wets!

Longy is feeling confident however for the next run out (if above fixed) and should be much more on the pace - if she runs!

Bit of a short write up this one as too much work nowdays - but well done to the rest of the Earlystocks chaps. A lot of good rides across the board in wet and dry!

Longy struggling with the rearset position - designed for a jockey!

UPDATE on "Season Delayed - A Few Gremlins Hit Team S&M...!!"

2010-04-21T14:44:00.031+01:00

Latest Update on GSX1100 Cooley Rep:

With the S&M team boss totally snowed under as business has boomed at S&M Motorcycles (great!), almost zero time has been available to try and fettle the GSX1100 into race trim. Consequently, Longy has been in DIY mode and whilst managing to get the lump of lard running, the replacement clutch was still dragging heavily. After a couple of almost zero speed offs trying to bump it with a semi-locked clutch, one broken ignition system later and cracked crankcase means she's still a non-runner. In fact she looks a shadow of the original gleaming bike - but we can rebuild her! In desperation, the bike has now been shipped to Straightline Racing, the UK specialists in GSX1100 based drag bike engines and tuning. Fingers crossed they can get it race ready for at least the 2nd half of the season. Bits to fix and sort before being race-able are:

- Resolve clutch drag (worn grooves likely issue)
- Fit new clutch cable
- Repair/ New Dyna Ignition and timing set up
- Repair to broken crankcases
- Weld rear sub-frame at tailpiece for strenthening
- Fit crash protectors
- New race pads fitted
- Set up Scitsu Tacho (stolen off Moldy's bike!)
- Fit rev limiter (depending on costs!)
- Cooley rep tank now repaired (cut, welded, repaired where rotted and pain all cleaned out); Petseal tank sealant ready to go in
- Tank, touch up where paint burnt during welding (Botch job!)
- Fit seat unit
- Painted tail fairing to be attached somehow (not worked out how yet!)
- Fit new Metzeler rear race tyre
- Fill with engine oil, and general health check all round, ready for racing
- Try and buy some starter rollers (bump starting is a right PITA!)

Broken Primary Clutch Drive!

Petrol tank internals were
not conducive to petrol engines!

Awesome Cooley Rep Unveiled for 2010 Season!

2010-02-20T22:47:00.015Z

Bike builder Mike Woodhead, owner of Extrutech, revealing his amazing winter project - the Wes Cooley replica Earlystock race bike.Mick, I cannot thank you and Nic Parry (from Fabweld) enough. Fantastic work!

In addition, a side shot showing the Cooley rep in all its glory. GS1000 tank was adapted to fit the GSX1100 frame and custom made seat unit provide the nice original lines. Mick & Nic had to chop off the entire rear sub frame and re-build/ weld to get the line right.

Not forgetting the new colour co-ordinated leathers and boots.

Rear shot showing twin Ohlins shocks and end can adapted from an R6. Rear swing arm is polished like a mirror. Mick & Nic had to intricately craft and route the pipes under the engine to maximise ground clearance.

The original bike - quite a change aye?!

Team SandM in full action fettling the new beast in prep for Race 1..

Merry Xmas - Collecting the Cups & The Anthill Mob!

2009-11-26T09:37:00.011Z

(Left) Cal Crutchlow, 2009 World Supersport Champion

(Middle) Longy - Some bloke who rides old bikes
(Right) John Reynolds, 3 x British Superbike Champion!

The Anthill Mob after multiple JD&Cokes...!

(click photo)

Mallory Park - We Did It.. Two Championship Titles and More!

2009-09-22T23:03:00.025+01:00

YEEE-HAA....Finally all the hard work and racing of the season paid off - Longy has won for Team SandM both the Earlystocks 750 Championship AND the EMRA 750 Championship - Awesome! AND to ice the cake, Moldy fought his way back up the table to take the runner up slot in both championships too...Double Awesome! Yes you heard it - 1st AND 2nd for the team in both championships....YEEE-HAA!

A huge and special thanks must go to Martin Strong from S&M Motorcycles in Banbury. Martin has helped MASSIVELY to keep the bikes running throughout the season, practically rebuilding Moldy's machine and using his mechanical mastery to resolve some real tricky gremlins on Longys bike to keep it out there and winning. He is an absolute top man. Thanks a million Martin!

So to the Final Round race report - a mix of ups and downs, highs and lows for many of the Stockers as championship titles were being won and lost with EMRA offering a "double points" bonanza for the last round, spicing up the competition. That meant all EMRA club class championship titles were pretty much up for grabs...Wow!

RACE STRATEGY
With glorious sunshine beaming down on the Mallory circuit conditions couldn't have been better one would have thought. However crashes seemed to be the order of the day and regrettably for some, costing them not only bumps and bruises but in some cases the championship title!

For Team SandM the plan was to well..basically stay on the bikes to secure the EMRA Club title (Longy) and runner up spot (Moldy). With nearly enough points accumulated to secure the EMRA champ Longy had to basically cross the finish line in race 1 and similarly for Moldy. BUT, this is racing and with a swarm of Longy's close family and friends coming along to watch this grandest of grand finales, the pressure was on to entertain and perform impossible things on a motorbike like a gladiator where nothing but outright 1st over the line would be considered a hopeless defeat. Twenty parade laps to bag the necessary points would simply not be acceptable to the SandM Groupies - pride was at stake! In addition, Moldy (since the last unreported round at 3 Sisters) was sporting a "lucky beard" and whilst making him look remarkably like either a vagrant, Jesus or Catweazle, it seemed to be doing the trick as Colin Young, his closest rival, was missing with a bowt of Sciatica! May god bless you a swift recovery Colin....

PRACTICE
Well, Longy's family hadn't actually arrived for practice so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to sneak in a few moderately paced parade laps before the ante as upped. A fairly sedate 1m 2s lap secured 3rd spot surprisingly with Moldy meantime, getting quicker by the meeting, qualified in 8th spot with a 1m 5s lap. Game on then for the title race....

RACE 1
As the full contingent of Team SandM supporters flowed into circuit the major dilemma began. Cruise 10 laps and bore the spectators senseless so they never came back to watch, or simply "go for it" (as usual) yet risk crashing and burning and losing the EMRA championship at the last fence? This was a tough call....Anyway, no decision was the best decision so Longy sort of adopted a "nearly" go for it approach tucking in behind Tom Benford and the big frame of Rob Eley on their 1100 Suzis and hanging onto a pretty hot pace of around 1m per lap. However after about 5 laps a slower rider appeared rather rapidly and Longy couldn't nip through with the other guys, dropped back and paraded to the finish line. The final laps being a case of crossing everything so the bike kept going to the chequered flag. Yahoo! That was it - title #2, awesome! Moldy meantime was going at it with a bit more vigour and in a closely fought battle with his arch rivals #219 Rob "Bogwit" Paget and #224 Allen "slim-Jim" Bowers, he finished as the meat in the sandwich so to speak but bagging enough points to secure 2nd spot - Yahoo two!

Some however were less fortunate.....

First, racing legend Jacko Jackson #214, unbelievably binned his immaculate Suzi 1100 at the hairpin, apparently turning into the corner too early, hitting the big high kerbing with his shoulder and taking him off...and to top it all, whilst on the deck Rob Chambers #241, decided to run over him! Ouch. Fortunately, Jacko carrying a fair bit of padding nowadays, bounced well, jumped to his feet and started kicking ten bells out of the bike while still on the deck. Must have been majorly entertaining for the crowds!

Another incident had slightly more severe consequences. In the battle for 250LC EMRA title, gay curious "Pinky", aka Mark Emuss, leading the championship, decided to make a move on Alec Gilfillan's bike at the bus stop chicane and an unfortunate coming together happened leaving Pinky on the deck with a busted toe and bent bike. Whilst the bike was OK, Pinky's pinky was judged by the local Doctors as being unsuitable to race with - so that was it - the title was down the tubes. What a bummer....Every cloud has a silver lining however and this meant Dave Barker #317 won the championship - well done Dave and bad luck Mark!

RACE 2
With even more SandM groupies arriving and the 750 championship in the bag, this meant Longy had no excuses. Tom Benford #217 and Alec Gilfillan #216 meantime still had the title to play for - Tom needing to finish ahead of Alec to take his 2nd champ of the season. Tom tried explaining to Longy that he didn't want any fisticuffs like the last Mallory rounds meteoric battle and should give them a wide berth.

As the lights went out, and with the Earlystocks bullet Andy Jackson starting from the back row, taped up leather n'all, Benford hit the front as usual with big Rob Eley #213 getting a poor start. This meant Longy, with huge acceleration disadvantage off the line, managed to keep 2nd slot into Gerrards corner. Knowing Tom wouldn't take any chances in losing the 1300 title at this stage, Longy stuffed it up the inside on the exit of Edwinas to hit the front. This was a somewhat scare experience because as soon as the exit of Devils Elbow appeared, the 750s mere 84 HP was completely dwarfed by the 135 hp of the bigger bikes - so it was just a question of tucking in and hoping for the best. However, no one came past! And then another lap - still no one. Where was Jacko? Big Rob? Tom B? Suddenly a rumble was heard as the dreaded start and finish straight appeared and sure enough slick Jacko, tattered leathers and all, slipped past and immediately started to gap. At this juncture and the dream of an outright race win being over, the energy just sort of zapped from Longy's body and a backwards slide began to finish ultimately 4th as Rob Eley and Aidy Brennan #202 passed on the GS 11s. Hopefully however, enough entertainment had been provided to keep the SandM Groupies happy!

Further down the field, the racing had pretty much sorted itself out and other titles were being decided. Congratulations go to:

- Graeme Acott, 250 champion
- Dave Barker, 250 LC champion
- Cass Beardmore, 500 champion
- Tom Benford, 1300 champion

EPILOGUE
The plan was to retire at the end of 2009 BUT - yes you guessed it, Team SandM has acquired another bike! This time an upgrade (hopefully) - a Suzuki GSX1100. The trusty Kwacker regrettably has been sold :( and the new machine will be unveiled in full Wes Cooley trim next March for some selected rounds of Earlystocks. Should be Cool(ey)

Well done to all. A fantastic seasons racing. And anyone who isn't a member of the Earlystocks reading this - join the club - it seems to getting more popular by the month - you will not regret it!!!

Happy Christmas everyone!

FINAL POINTS TALLY

EARLYSTOCKS CHAMPIONSHIP		EMRA CHAMPIONSHIP
TOP SIX POSITIONS		TOP SIX POSITIONS

STEVE LONG - 200		STEVE LONG - 195
JONATHAN MOLD - 125		JONATHAN MOLD - 118
NEIL MYATT - 112		NEIL MYATT - 93
ALLEN BOWERS - 69		COLIN YOUNG - 88
PETER STRINGER - 58		ALAN BOWERS - 86
BOB GREEN - 57		ROB PAGET - 83

Darley Moor - SandM Play Dirty!

2009-09-08T20:50:00.016+01:00

Dirty Tactics...
With Team Muckas #1 rider Mad Myatt still laid up with a broken collarbone, it suddenly dawned on Team S&M there could be an outside chance of Moldy sneaking 2nd in Earlystocks championship!!! This could be awesome - finishing 1st AND 2nd in the champ would be better than a night with Claudia Schiffer. Anyway, this was not going to be straightforward and some sacrifices had to be made for the team.

A quick calculation meant that Moldy needed to win the 750 class races at both Darley and the next round at 3 Sisters to catch Mucka Mad. With the championship sewn up, this meant that Longy could deviously drop out of both rounds with a mysterious virus, twisted ankle, runny nose or something like that. This gave Moldy a clear run at the title runner up spot.

Race 1
Not having the racing brain in and needing to get up at the crack of dawn to make practice, meant Longy stupidly programmed in any old Darley Moor into the sat nav only to end up at a car boot sale surrounded by sheep in a tiny village, coincidentally called "Darley Moor". Unfortunately NOT the one with the cheese shaped racing circuit - in fact over 25 miles from it! After haring though the dreaded moors at no more than 25mph average in convoy with about 300 campers and pensioners, Longy arrived at the cicuit having missed watching practice but in time for race 1.

At the front race 1 was fairly predictable with Tom Benford (Suzi 1170), Alec Gilfilan (Suzi 1170) and Bob Chambers (Suzi 1100) finishing top 3 - running pretty much like that from start to finish. The remaining riders were also fairly spread but most importantly Moldy WON the 750 class receiving an impressive #1 cup to go on the mantlepiece - finishing 5th outright . All credit as well goes to Mark Emuss on the LC250 #316 - on what is the biggest power circuit in the UK, to finish 4th outright on that tiny machine is beyond belief - amazing! So, a good start to the day for Team SandM.

Race 2
With cloulds looming, the weather, whilst windy, fortunately stayed dry. And having told Alec Gilfilan and Tom Benford to get their act together and lay on some entertainment at the front for the crowds they seemed to take this on board for race 2. Tom once again got a flying start, but Alec taking some very smooth and tight lights around the bends seemed to catch him around the twisty bits. Watching at the hairpin, this was building up to be a good dice when unfortunately Alec's bike went pop - battery, electrical malfunction or something and game over. Same for #202 Aidy Brennan (see right)! Tom carried it to the line with his bike sounding a bit sick to take the race and the 1300cc Earlystocks championship - nice work!

The entertainment however was further downfield with two dices going on: Moldy and Bogwit Rob #219 on the single cyclinder 600cc and also Cass Beardmore #234 on a 400 Yam two stroke and Bob Green on the 750 suz- new to track riding this year. This was excellent viewing as both groups braked and out braked into the hairpin every lap - in fact Moldy and Bogwit Rob almost touching each lap as they converged on the brakes. Great stuff! Ultimately Moldy beat Rob-Bog to the line by just a few hundredths and Cass (the club chief) taking Bob Green #270 by a few seconds in the end.

But importantly...another 750 class win for Moldy finishing 5th outright in the race. This narrows the gap to just 19 points to catch Mad for 2nd!

Dirt Tactics Continued
Longy will be bowing out of 3 Sisters (golfing in Norfolk beckons!), so Moldy needs to close the deal and gain maximum points in both races there to nudge into 2nd spot by 1 point ahead of Mucka Myatt. Then it's down to the final round at Mallory. Will Mad Mucka make it? The old bones don't seem to be knitting too well..... Can Longy get the few points he needs to take the EMRA Championship as well as the Earlystocks? Can Moldy hold the plot together to finish the job....s

The tension is building for the final two climatic rounds at 3 Sisters and Mallory. Book your tickets now!!!

750 Modified Championship Points

STEVE LONG - 180
NEIL MYATT - 112
JONATHAN MOLD - 93
PETER STRINGER - 58
ALLEN BOWERS - 53
COLIN YOUNG - 52

Mallory Park - Apathy and Ecstacy....

2009-08-18T20:43:00.024+01:00

Moldy doing a post-race burn out

After sunbathing for over a week in Portugal apathy had completely set in - both for Blog writing and riding the bike....However Race 2 was a different matter!!!!!!!

Practice and Race 1 Apathy
1. Couldn't be bothered fixing the electrical issues from 3 Sisters, (but thankfully our major sponsor S&M Motorcycles chief, Martin Strong came to the rescue - thanks a million Martin!!)

2. Couldn't be bothered changing the 3 Sisters gearing even though it was obvious it wouldn't work for Mallory (was revving out in top before exit of Gerrards in practice but couldn't be bothered changing it for race 1...)

3. Couldn't be bothered ringing Moldy to go up to Mallory in the van together, so we went seperately

Flat out on the back straight at Mallory

4. Moldy couldn't be bothered getting his bike out the van since the last round at Mallory!!!

5. Race 1 results reflected the apathy with Longy finishing 3rd (gifted after Bob Chambers binned it a Edwinas) and Moldy finished further down - whatever that was - I'm too apathetic to look at the timesheet but he said he beat his best lap time - congrats Moldy.

6. What I did see though was a great battle up front - shame Bob binned it as he may have won the race...

Race 2 - Ecstacy!

Pete Scott somehow inspired Longy to try and get out of the apathy bunker and give it a go in Race 2.

Gearing was changed to Mallory set up (thanks for the help from Banbury Police Force attending).
Under-arm deodorant was sprayed on (thanks Bob Green for the loan - looks like race 2 was a cracker for you with Dan Bullin?!).
The battery was charged (thanks Pete Stringer for loaning the Genny)
The brakes were bled (thanks to Dan Bullin)

And all hell let loose...Every lap was elbow bashing, touching of bikes, cat and mouse overtaking and amazingly the final lap plan worked to take an outright win at the chequered flag - without a doubt, a CAREER BEST victory over the bigger bike.

On the tank gassing it into the last lap for 1st spot...

Fantastic Race - Longy & Benford battle for 1st spot

..into Edwinas, elbows bashing Longy goes for the inside line

Longy has to back off as it's clear it will all end in tears...

..at least for one lap!

...But Benford has to ride Moto-X style to make the exit of Edwinas...!

With one lap to go, Longy figured he could sneak underneath Tom on the exit of Gerrards -then run out wide on the exit to block him going into Edwinas...(slight hitch as we had to swerve around Pete Stringer through the esses)...then planned to block the inside line going into the hairpin...then take the bus stop flat out which meant taking off over the exit curbs....And then tuck in like crazy for the final run to the line out the Elbow whilst gassing it up until the rear end was sliding......phew!

Touching elbows and bikes nearly every lap...it went down to the wire...

Helped a bit by Tom missing a gear on the exit of the bus stop - must have been the extreme pressure :) The old Kwacker 750 stayed ahead to the chequered flag....Awesome! An outright race win for S&M!

Moldy had a bit more of a parade lap race as he had gapped the bikes behind and in front to finish 4th 750 - BUT getting some good championship points to secure his current 3rd place overall.....come on Moldy!

Alec deserves a mention as he hit the grass on lap 1, then dusted himself off to carve through the field to finish 3rd. Nice one!

Tight racing around Gerrards

Anyway. Bit of a brief (apathetic) blog this one). In actual fact, according to Team S&M's calculations that could be the Earlystocks Championship sewn up now poor old Mucka Mad Myatt is still off with the 3 Sisters broken collar bone. When I get some energy I'll tot up the points.

Cheers!

Longy
#223

Three Sisters - Absolute Carnage...!

2009-07-13T16:42:00.019+01:00

For a circuit measuring just 0.93 miles, with average lap speeds of less than 60 mph, one would think Three Sisters Racing Circuit near Wigan (basically a Kart track) would be pretty safe for motorcycle racing - but how wrong can you be! Factoring in the 12 bends, no run offs, broken surfaces in parts, extreme tyre wear, damp patches and a tricky inverse cambered hairpin and you end up with three seasoned Earlystocks visiting the Accident & Emergency ward with broken collarbones, ribs and shoulder blades! At a ratio of one broken Earlystock rider per sister, plus some mechanical breakdowns, the grid was looking pretty depleted at the end of the weekend.

For the survivors however, the weekend represented a superb riding challenge and aside from the numerous painful mishaps, the prior comments of..."Mickey Mouse circuit ".."miserable unfriendly organisers"..."The Earlystocks are treated as Lepers"...couldn't have been further from the truth. In fact the organisers were superb to the point of allowing extra practice, extra races for a tenner and they even laid on an evening trophy awards cermony with photographer where you got to kiss the hostess!. What a great venue. ...apart that is from all the bloody crashes!!!

Incident #1
After practice, which was just an opportunity to learn the circuit more than anything timed, things got pretty messy; (Note the club operates a ballot system where you pull numbered clothes pegs out of a bag to get grid positions - basically they run on a shoe string budget and this keeps the costs down). The messiness all started with an opportunity to enter the Formula Odd-Balls race....this did not mean you needed to walk with a limp and possess asymmetric testicles, but more spend a tenner to enter. Neil-Mad Mucka- Myatt, had decided against this, but on hearing Longy had invested his tenner to get more track time, and not wishing to be disadvantaged in the championship challenge, decided to lob a note into the entry box too...

Well race 1 was a reasonable competition, although starting from the back of the grid having pulled peg #12 from the bag, meant Tom Benford got into turn 1 first and with overtaking extremely difficult, held it to the line; Longy and Mad-Myatt finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively. However, things went sour in the Formula Odd Ball race.....an event hosting bikes up to 750 ranging from classics, to SV650's to ZX7's - a good combination to be honest.

Anyway, after a traumatic start where Mad, Longy and Rob all, (again from the back of the grid), ended up sandwiched and banging elbows off the start line, Longy got up to 5th spot from 20 or so starting, and in hot pursuit was Mad-Myatt and a couple of modern 750's. Anyway, Longy stupidly changed down rather than up to exit the double right hander after Lunar Bend onto the start/finish, nearly high-siding it, at which point Mad-Myatt got through with another rider - which is where things went pear shaped.....because a bit further into the lap at the ultra tight left hand hairpin (The Valley), the 750 made a move on Mad who, not to be out done, squeezed the brakes a tad extra just as he hit an inverse camber mid track...at which point he went down like a sack of spuds shoulder first snapping just about every bone in sight. Lying pretty motionless on track, Longy thankfully took avoiding action and inevitably the red flag came out....Mucka Myatt was then slowly, very slowly in fact, scraped up and eventually whisked off to the local Cuckoos Nest for a heavy dose of Plastic Padding.

Race 2 was pretty similar to race 1, albeit Tom only just fending off Longy by 1/10th of a second at the line. The track is in fact so unbelievably tight, but amazing fun, that overtaking seemed almost impossible when you were lapping at a similar pace to someone - but I'm sure with more track time there would be one or two viable spots, but nowhere is obvious. Longy did try a few moves on The Boy Benford including coming into the righthander after Cowards Summit, but Benford had the race line and Longy lost the front to avoid a collision. And then, after a desperate move into Lunar it was over, but very close never the less. A good tight race....for some at least....

Incident 2
After a huge downpour the night before, practice was on a surface with numerous damp patches. Most of the Earlystockers weren't allowed out, but Aidy Skaife #313 on the LC250, had only entered Sunday's meeting so was out in the mix. Unfortunately just 2 laps in at the right hander after Cowards Summit, his front end let go and he hit the deck hard - another collarbone gone!

Incident 3
Race 3 on Sunday's proceedings, was a good one for Longy. With both Benford and Longy running on totally knackered tyres (the circuit absolutely kills your tyres!) and with Longy starting a row ahead of Tom after fixing the ballot (sorry Tom, I bribed the official to give me a better starting position....this is the truth!!)...Longy actually managed to get into turn 1 first for a change and held it to the line to win by 5 seconds. It actually felt great to get an outright win - the last one being at Mallory in April.

Unfortunately, it was not the same story for Ian O'Reilly #366 riding the immaculately turned out Moto Guzzi 950 Le Mans. Once again at the ultra tight, inverse cambered entry at The Valley where Mucka-Myatt hit the deck, his front end let go on the brakes and the ribs of Reilly took a severe battering. To make matters worse, Longy had tipped Ian off earlier there was a huge trophy to be won for the best turned out bike of the meeting - and his bike would certainly have been in the running. Longy will know when to keep his mouth shut next time.....!

Incident #4
This incident was nothing but trivia in comparison...basically Longy's bike wouldn't start - which was actually pretty devastating as Sister Long and partner had travelled all the way to the circuit to watch the race 2 action! What a bummer - sorry sis! And Ed Wright had painstakingly serviced the seriously binding brakes on the GPz 750 Kwacker. Root cause was possibly flat battery or fuel starvation - not exactly clear yet - but mysterious. A trip to the S&M garage is now on the agenda. Anyway, another win for Tom who rather bizarrely had fitted Longy's worn out rear tyre to make it harder for himself???!! followed by a great 2nd spot from Rob Paget #219, who rode superbly all weekend on his Yamaha SXR600 (I'd never heard of one before this!) and our cockney friend Alec Gilfillan #216 on the Suzi GSX1100.

Well...
All in all a crazy weekend....a great little race track, run by a fantastically friendly club but marred with some pretty nasty off's. It remains to be seen whether Mad Myatt will be appearing on the grid at Mallory in a full body cast to keep the championship alive - I wouldn't put it past him...!!!!

Footnote
It must be mentioned that Peter Stringer #229 aka Rumpole of the Bailey, won the 750 class in race 2 and gets maximum championship points!! Congrats Pete - all that gym work, dieting and power napping is paying off. Keep it up...!

Cheers!
Longy #223

Cadwell Park - The Race Of The Year..!

2009-06-23T20:43:00.043+01:00

Cadwell was Awesome!!!

With the best, biggest and most competitive grid of the year on arguably the best bike racing track in the UK with great weather- this is about as good as bike racing gets.

Ex-champions galore made come-backs and the star line up included:

Andy "Jacko" Jackson (#214 Suzuki GS1000)
Simply Red look-a-like Jacko (only joking Andy!) is a legend in Earlystocks racing. With the best looking bike on the grid, and in spite of being on the pies during his lay off, he is "as Fast as FCUK!".

Rob "aka-Tom" Eley (#213 Suzuki GSX1100)
Eley is big lad and a Cadwell expert to boot. Famous for his amazing jumps over the mountain. Like Jacko, this man is super quick on the big bikes.

Karl Scott (#215 Yamaha XJ600)
Ex 750 champ Karl was renowned for going "balls out" to win races regardless of class. Riding a pretty standard XJ600 he was no slouch.

Clive "The Bike" Wadey (#206 Katana 1170)
With a smooth, knees in style like Mike Hailwood, you would need a Cray Computer to keep track of the number of races and championships legend Wadey has won. Head Honcho of Paxford Garage, his firm is in fact arch rival to none other than S&M Motorcycles in Banbury....!!!

Party in the Pits....!
Minus one rider (Swiss-Moldy), Longy headed north to Louth, Lincs Billy no Mates style. Deciding to give the local Hilton a miss, this was a wise decision as the "party in the pits" on Saturday night was a blast! Blagging beers like Scotsman, as Mrs Team Mucka's Sioux pointed out.."Longy, you haven't got the first clue about camping!!"....Never a true word said.

As the party and beer consumption progressed, (note free beer in Longy's case!), nearly 30 stocker groupies had squeezed into Team Muckas awning for a Parkinson style interview with Mad Myatt on the mike. A fascinating Q&A proceeded as Myatt quizzed everyone on why the hell they had gone into the crazy world of bike racing and in general answers were kept short... with one exception; Solicitor Pete Stringer (#229 Kawasaki 750) clearly confused from drinking the Lucozade, had mistaken this as a Judge-and-Jury proceeding, subsequently launching into a very long and rambling description of how his parents had rejected him as a boy which had ultimately led him into the dark side of motorcycle racing. Needless to say, Mucka's awning emptied quickly at this juncture...

As Longy scrambled around outside looking for a tree to sleep under, he had vaguely heard a comment of coffee and my place..and before he knew it, Ed Wright (#220 750 Kawasaki) had him all tucked up in his caravan bunk!

Cadwell Park Circuit
For those who have never visited Cadwell Park, it is renowned for its near vertical "Mountain" section, where bikes literally take off (if the rider has the bottle to keep it pinned..). However, beyond this, it is a narrow and twisting track made up of very fast, very slow and winding sections that leaves next to zero time to relax. It is a phenomenal track, but one to be respected as you can very quickly run out of road as Moldy found in 2004 when he made a hash of the tricky Gooseneck section which resulted in multiple broken bones!

In general, this has been the bogey circuit of S&M through: 1) lack of circuit knowledge (only 2 previous races on the Mountain circuit is just not enough) and 2) fear - it's bloody scary!! Longy therefore had mixed feelings coming into Race 1, as warm up had only confirmed these issues!

Race One (Championship Points Race)
The two straights at Cadwell give the bigger bikes some advantage, however the number of corners means there is ample opportunity to make up ground and make a move to overtake. As the lights went out, inevitably the big bikes got into Coppice first, then it was a question of holding onto their tails around Charlies and the Park Straight, trying to make it up on the brakes into Park and out manevour them around the rest of the twists and turns. This was going to plan until literally at the end of Park Straight, Allen Bowers (#224, Kawa 750), appeared up the inside absolutely flying. With new high lift cams fitted, his bike was going like a train and with his love of the circuit he was riding the absolute wheels off it.

Longy had given up the ghost on catching the big bikes with enough on his plate keeping in Bowers tow...and in the process scaring himself senseless as he nearly ran out of road entering corners too fast. This was exciting stuff, but Longy had wished he's done a bit more testing there to know the lines. "Geezer" Bowers was pushing so hard, his road compound rear Dunlop RR was at breaking point - literally....nearly every few bends it was sliding out until an almost major highside coming out of Barn let Longy through. This was short lived however as the slick riding of Geezer-Bowers slid through again at the Gooseneck running a great tight line. To make matters worse as Longy struggled to keep with Geezer's pace, ex champ Karl Scott (#215) snuck through and at this point it was game over.

How strange racing can be however... Alan, clearly riding his tyres to the limit, just overstepped the mark going into the Mountain and lost the front end, resulting in what appeared to be a pretty monster crash. Inevitably the race was Red Flagged and thankfully, albeit some pretty hefty bruises, Alan was OK and the race result was re-calibrated to lap 3 meaning an (un-deserved) class win for Longy. Geezer-Bowers had definitely deserved that one!

Race Two (Trophy & Points Race)
For Longy - this WAS the race of the year...

With grid positions now determined by finishing slot, this gave Team S&M a chance to get off the line with the big bikes and try and hang out with them. Trying to "up his game" knowing that Kark Scott (#215) would be up his proverbial jacksy, getting a fast start was key - and this worked out. Ignoring some heavy clutch slip, Longy managed to get away with the leaders so now it was a question of trying to hang on - and not run out of road!

Jacko (#214) and Rob "Tom" Eley (#213) started to gap the group immediately, although it should be said Eley's Suzi 1,100 bike was not a great deal quicker than my 750! Possibly connected with a fair bit of ballast being carried around the track...?? Anyway, these two went off to play as Wadey (#206), Alec "Cockney" Gilfillan (#216), Aidy Brennan (#232) from Team Geordie and Longy chased in the preceding pack. Man of the meeting at the Anglesey round Brennan (still unbelievably a novice!) is a tough competitor with nerves of steel when it comes to close overtaking. Inevitably, his (only slightly) more powerful standard Suzi GS1000, appeared alongside Longy at the end of Park straight and it was playing chicken to see who was first to hit the brakes. Thankfully, Longy won this little tait-a-tait for the first 4 laps but then Aidy managed to get by and make it stick... the chance of some silverware (and more importantly a Cadwell Park Cap prize!) was slipping away as Alec and Clive Wadey extended their gap....

As Longy rode practically on the rear mudguard of Brennan's bike down through Mansfield and through the chicane, he could sense he was gaining a lot of ground which meant only one thing....a major buttock clenching move had to be implemented over the mountain!!!!!!!!! For Longy (not being a wheely demon like Mad-Myatt #275, right), this was the equivalent of climbing Everest....! But, it had to be done - and with eyes closed and breathe held, the throttle was pinned and the big green Kawa was airborne....And then landed - Longy was still in one piece!

Keeping it nailed to cut the nose of Brennan's Suzuki going into Hall Bends, the move stuck - awesome! The first ever overtake up the mountain...!! Then like magic, through the sweeping section of Hall, Longy was catching Alec on his 1170 Suzi. The temptation was too much and the Kawas big green nose was stuffed into the apex of possibly the tightest bend on any UK track - but the move worked! Wheelying out of Hairpin with only 1 lap to go, the smooth riding machine of Wadey was in sight....team orders of "You have to beat Paxford Garage or you're fired", from Team S&M boss Martin Strong started to ring through Longy's ears - this was now a chase to the line to win the Cadwell cap - Go for it!!

Wadey's superb Katana 1170 pulled a gap down the start and finish, but then as they hit the top of Charlies Longy had closed to deficit but just didn't have the line to get around Clive's smooth exit line. Wringing its neck along Park Straight, once again a size able gap appeared - this left only the ultra fast Chris Curve section and the dreaded Gooseneck - notorious for big offs - to get past Wadey - but there was a "Cap" at stake!! The buttocks clenched again as the throttle was pinned to the stop and surprisingly coming out of the Gooseneck, Longy had caught Shadey-Wadey's silver machine..which left only one final chance to get by....the chicane..and as Clive shifted left to take a smooth line in, a tiny door was left ajar to stick the nose of the Kawa in for a sniff.

Admittedly a very tight move, peripheral vision allows you still see the effect of such a move on the other rider, and Longy, whilst committed, was ready to back off on the brakes if T-Bone city was pursuant - however, the move stuck - with Clive having to hit the grass verge (sorry!!) and the S&M Kawa had a clear run to the line. Amazingly, ultra-talented Earlystocks photographer Mucka-Sioux, captured the exact overtaking moment on Digital (see the photo left - brilliant/ fantastic work Sioux!!)

Only a few moments in your life give a high when you want to leap up and shake your fist in the air- and this was one. Probably one the most exciting races ever had - the testing Cadwell circuit making it such a high......! More importantly, The Cadwell Cap was won and will be treasured for ever more...

Race Three (A Spare Race)
Unusually the organising club provided three races - result! Whilst hard to get motivated for a race that means nothing other than pride, inevitably when the Red light went out, all this was forgotten and male testosterone kicked in! However after a lap, Longy though his chain had dropped off as he couldn't get a gear out of Barn corner so pulled into the pits. Unsurprisingly, the chain was still there and it was just a false neutral..however on rejoining the race and with nothing at stake it gave a great opportunity to witness some superb riding on smaller, less powerful machines. Of note was:

Adrian Skaife (#313, LC250) and David Barker (#317, LC250) who were having an absolutely mental ding dong of a battle. These guys were literally keeping the throttle pinned around the entire circuit is seemed and the entry speed into Coppice was phenomenal! Fantastic to watch. In addition, Ian O'Reilly (#366) on the shaft driven Moto Guzzi 950 Le Mans was riding superbly - bear in mind with shaft drive it lifts the rear end when you apply the gas - I don't know how he does it??!! Then there was my sleeping partner Ed Wright (#220, Kawa 750) on his first proper outing of the year looking very good - until, regrettably his 4 year old front Avon AM22 (yes 4 years!) broke free going into the Mountain (see photo above).

A Great Day All Round
This was bike racing at its best and a true challenge of man, machine and nerve. Team SandM has a couple of weeks respite now to regroup, check the machine and most importantly "BUY SOME BEERS!" in preparation for the next round at the Go-Kart circuit of Three Sisters in Wigan - a track never been seen or ridden before. Let the games commence.....!

Cheers!

Longy #223

Mallory Park – Swiss Tony Brings Home The Silverware!

2009-06-17T00:05:00.010+01:00

Moldy – aka Swiss Tony look-a-like, rode like a demon at Mallory Park to bring home a 3^rd spot trophy for the Team SandM cabinet and beat his PB lap time by well over a second. Bring it on Moldy...!

A Twist in the Tail
There was a twist in the tail however and the EMRA 750 Earlystocks Championship tightened up considerably as Longy's machine took a turn for the worst and was unable to start Race 1 with a major oil cooler leak. This means Team Mucka-Myatt has now narrowed the gap to just 12 points in the EMRA champ and meaning every race counts with only two rounds to go – the last round worth double points for each race! The pressure is on.....

Pre-Amble

With the British BBQ summer continuing, the conditions were almost perfect for racing – in fact nearly too hot! And racing at the SandM home track it was great to see the Team SandM supporters out in force including "Puppy Dog" Carol (Moldy's Lurva), the Great Dave Waldo-Walley himself (ex major sponsor from Arena Group) and the Long family amongst others – it made it a superb day despite some major setbacks!

Practice was well...Busy! With so many bikes out there including the 400's it was nigh on impossible to get a decent lap in and consequently the times were down a second or so. Nevertheless, this was the least of Longy's worries as he returned to the pits to find the adapted Turkey Roasting Tray (adapted for use as an Oil catch tray under the engine) sprayed entirely with oil. This was pretty serious as it was spraying all up the swing arm and onto the rear tyre so had to be sorted. The amazing camaraderie of the Earlystocks racers came into full force as everyone tried to fix it – although "Skinny Pete" from Team Mucka was spotted trying to saw through Longy's brake lines with a hacksaw which was a bit against the grain...! Unfortunately on reassembly just seconds before the first race was called, the leak was actually worse and Longy had to sit it out – and believe me it's not an easy task watching the bikes circulating when you should be out there – in fact IT'S A BLOODY NIGHTMARE!!!!!

Race 1

Longy having eventually calmed down after throwing all his toys out of the pram and into the Mallory Park lake, could at least take pride in the fact Moldy had a great ride to take 3^rd in the 750 class and 7^th in the race putting in some stonking lap times with Team Mucka-Mad Myat taking the 750 win to gain some serious points back. Right up front however, there proved to be a titanic battle as Tom "The Boy" Benford had relaxed so much whilst taking an early lead, he practically needed incontinence knickers and Alec "cockney boy" Gilfillan #216 snuck past him into the lead on his GS1100. The happened a few times but Benford #217 just held him off to take it. Amazingly, not that far behind on just a 250LC, the Pink Panther Mark Emuss #316 was once again flying putting in a 1m2s lap to take 3^rd spot. Incredible riding!

Lunch Break

Whilst "loved up" Swiss-Moldy wandered off arm in arm with Puppy Dog Carol to make daisy chains, Longy was confined to sitting in a large pool of engine oil in a desperate attempt to fix the damn oil cooler. Unfortunately with a spares kit comprising of one Band Aid and a small bottle of Au De Cologne, there was nothing to hand to fix it easily...however miraculously the Pink Panther Emuss came to the rescue being the only person in the entire Leicestershire area to have a spare box of oil seals – two of which actually fitted Longy's cooler flange to stop the leak. What a result. Thanks Mark!

Race 2

Dave Waldo-Walley, last year's Arena Group chief, 08 sponsor of Team SandM, Caterham Racer and a self made multi millionaire big shot (note some serious sucking up going on here!) had mumbled during the break over a crusty cheese sandwich that he was planning on building a new empire in 2010 and if the deal comes off Team SandM could once again be in the sponsorship frame. Waldo is renowned for being a "Man of His Word" so this could change the landscape for '10! However, this put some major pressure on the SandM boys as they desperately needed to put on a show to keep him interested and with Longy starting from grid position 21 (the back of the grid) this was going to be harder than England qualifying for the Europeans!

Anyway, by the time the Red start light went out Longy pulled a ginormous wheelie off the line to start the process and took to pit lane in hot pursuit of getting to the front runners. Swiss Tony aka Moldy, could be seen from a distance so the red mist came down....hammering into Gerrards way to fast on cold tyres Longy had that sudden feeling of running out of road as everything hit the deck and the tyres slid - but then just as things were going pear shaped, the stealth like figure of Moldy appeared up the inside and somehow dragged Longy around the bend. Nice team riding! From here on it was mental as Longy tried every move in the book to get past the rest of the field to the front. By lap two he'd got past Bob Chambers #241 on the Suzuki 1100 into 3^rd with only Cockney Alec # 216 and Benford ahead.

The braking into the Mallory hairpin were pretty scary as the forks were objecting violently at the abuse, to the point where they eventually let the front tyre go – fortunately saving an off as the bike was retrieved on the right knee again! Good entertainment for the potential new sponsor though! A move past Alec Gilfillan on the brakes again into the hairpin got Longy into 2^nd spot by lap three and then it was only the white streak of lightening of Tom Benford to catch on his Katana 1170 bullet which proved too much of a task as on the start and finish straight ½ second was lost and Tom was riding well. Nevertheless, a good batch of points was notched up for the EMRA championship. Surprisingly, even though Longy felt like he was pushing the bike like never before, the actual lap times were slower than expected highlighting that riding smooth and feeling slow is actually faster!

Meantime, Moldy was having a gladiator battle for 7^th and 8^th spot with Mad-Mucka #275 on the 750's. Mucka once again stalling it off the line as his concentration lapsed in the sunshine had it all to do and as he breezed past Moldy thinking the job was over, he'd forgotten old Swiss has turned the racing corner so to speak as was taking none of the S**t! Moldy, still wrestling with his scraping Kerker exhaust fired back up the inside of Mucka-Mad into Gerrards sparking his way around the curve at full lean. This cat and mouse routine went right the way to the line and eventually, in the dying seconds of the race Mucka made a move that stuck and just beat Moldy by a minuscule 8 x 100ths of a second- What a race!!

Onwards and Upwards

Overall it was a great day out despite some major set-backs and points lost. There is no margin for error now as things hot up into the last half of the season. The next round is Cadwell – where apparently the guy in the picture (right) is making a come-back! Although Moldy will be in Bournmouth at the old people's home making arrangements for his forthcoming wedding ceremony - but as a good mate, has offered his steed as back-up in case any more gremlins kick in at Cadwell. Pray for good weather - on the other hand, the rear tyre is shot again and needs replacing! These things are only lasting 3 races in the hot weather! Now where's that new sponsor....."Dave Waldo...........where are you?!"

Longy #223

Whale Watching in Anglesey...!

2009-06-16T14:32:00.004+01:00

Orcas Hit the Beach!

Armed with loose fitting Wellies, Team SandM headed up toward the sheep of North Wales on the Isle of Anglesey for the next two rounds of the championship. With the promised British "BBQ" Summer officially arriving it was so hot the Stockers actually stripped down to their Watney's Red Barrel one packs and headed to the beach! Unfortunately, as the stockers entered the sea a Whaling Ship was alerted and everyone quickly retired back onto to sand to avoid being harpooned.

Anglesey is almost a brand new circuit with smooth tarmac, a mix of super fast and tight undulating bends - the UK's equivalent of Philip Island in Australia and located right on the coast line – Awesome! There is a "major" down-side however – it takes flippin 13 hours to get there and back and the nearest town to stay with any life is Bangor – without doubt the most boring night out on the planet! Basically Bangor is a youth club comprising thousands of under-age drinkers checking each others acne! However, the Team SandM riders being slightly more mature in their years (like a good wine), did appreciate the amazing views of the Menai Straight whilst they consumed their half pints of Pale Ale. Joining the North Wales rambling club could certainly be on the agenda for 2010 methinks….??!

Warm Up Session

Team SandM riders basically did not have a clue which way the circuit went having never even seen a photo of the track before. However, grid positions had been determined on a "bribing the officials" basis anyway, so the big bike boys on their 1,170's with wonga to burn were inevitably on the front row and the 750's confined to the cheap seats at the back of the grid. (To be honest the grid size was only about 10 bikes, pretty disappointing, so it made no real difference anyway).

The actual track was pretty awesome – but killed tyres in a major way. The bends comprised some really tricky tight ones combined with some fast and frightening flat out sections! On a modern bike with proper forks and handling, this would have been great, but on these 1980 designed dinosaurs with antiquated suspension and big 18" front wheels the lack of technology was really starting to show its ugly head; stopping and turning the buggers was nigh on impossible with everyone missing apexes left, right and centre.

Running on the full International Circuit, many bends sort of drew you in late on the brakes from which it was hard to get the bugger turned in quick enough – sometimes causing the front end to slide as you held on too long on the front brakes. Grip levels though were phenomenal making you want to lean the bike well beyond the max - with ground clearance actually an issue as the pegs ground out and lifted the rear wheel.

Anyway, after 10 laps of mixing fear, uncertainty and bumbling around trying to anticipate lefts and rights everyone returned to the pits to get on with the more important business of topping up the sun tan in preparation for the racing...

Races 1, 2, 3 and 4

To be honest the racing itself was a fairly lonely affair all weekend and the most fun seemed to be in the mid pack with the 750's of Alan Bowers #224 (making a come-back after a lay-off) and Mucka Mad #275 battling it out. Longy on the other hand couldn't live with the 1170's of Tom Benford and Aidy Brennan et al on this power hungry circuit, in spite of getting right up their "Jacksies" on the early laps. The main straight was just too long and on a 750 over a second was lost just on this section alone because of lack of power – then being unfamiliar with the circuit, Longy just wasn't quick enough around the twisty's to make a serious dent in the gap.

Moldy too had a fairly lonesome set of rides – what he referred to as a weekend of "Parade Laps". Again lack of circuit knowledge coupled to his Kerker exhaust decking out, kept him out of the mix. In fact rather amusingly, both riders commented on the fact many spectators actually had their backs to the racing in Race 4 – The Earlystock Club must do something more to impress their followers at these events…!!! Ultimately, due to some good fortune for a change, Longy still managed four class wins and some outright seconds to keep the points flow going with Moldy some mixed results.

Having said all of this some riders really stood out – the star being Aidy Brennan #202 on his Suzuki GS1000 (note – not even an 1170!). He was awarded no less than "Man of the Meeting" by the Marshalls on Saturday with some fantastic riding whilst battling with Tom Benford for 1^st and 2^nd spots. Longy could not quite keep with them on the 750 – but witnessed some great overtakes through the duration of Races 1 and 2. Unfortunately, Aidy had a catastrophic engine failure in Race 3 – Longy being directly behind him when the Conrod decided to exit out through the crank case depositing oil all over the racing line.

Another mention goes to the "new boy" – well not so new in that he's been racing Earlystocks before amongst other machine for years –Mark Oldroyd on an immaculately turned out Kawasaki GPz 1100 – big brother of Team SandM's steeds. Mark knew the track well apparently having taken 6 months off work to complete over 50 track days in preparation for this first outing on the big stocker and it paid off as he won Race One convincingly but then blew a gearbox in Race Two and had to retire from the meeting.

Fat Boy's BBQ

For Team SandM, Anglesey turned out to be more about the Craic than the racing and The Bowers' Hospitality was in full flow on Saturday night with Fay laying on a great "spread" for the boys and girls. Without a Hog to roast, it was burgers and dogs to the tune of a Geordie anti-Rossi rant emerging from the Aidy Brennan pit crew!! In a quite bizarre conversation where it seems that North of the Border, Valentino Rossi is deemed to be the Anti-Christ the Earlystocks crew had their hands full in balancing the banter with a near "tar and feather" moment! Thankfully it was all in good spirits and Team Geordie (if that's what you can call men from County Durham?) stories were some of the funniest on record and a night of hilarity was had by all.

Game On

Well onto the next round at Mallory – our home circuit. With a healthy championship lead in both the EMRA and Earlystocks the main thing is now to keep the bike running on all four cylinders, and keep on the bike…..but then again, someone has got to put a stop to that Benford guy!! Maybe Mallory could be the place where the only power section is coming out Devils Elbow and down the start and finish. Bring it on!

Mallory Monsoon...!

2009-06-01T11:25:00.005+01:00

Monsoon conditions hit Mallory Park in Leicestershire for Rounds' 3 of the EMRA & Earlystocks championships. A true test of rider skill and nerve to navigate these big 1980's designed lumps around the track without full wet racing tyres - this was no trivial task.

Championship Points Explained
The separate EMRA (East Midlands Racing Association) championship is run over 6 rounds, all at Mallory Park with the last round counting double points and the Earlystocks championship over 13 rounds at various circuits - of which two of your worse rounds can be dropped - Get it!! Both championships have classes for 1300cc, 750cc, 250cc and 500c. The EMRA champ is well worth winning because the winners get their cups handed out at the gala night by the likes of racing super stars John Reynolds and Cal Cruthlow - awesome. Team S&M is really after this one.
Current standings are:

EMRA 750cc EARLYSTOCKSCHAMPIONSHIP -TOP 6 POINTS
Steve Long	90
Neil Myatt	68
Jonathan Mold	48
Colin Young	44
Rob Paget	36
Daniel Bullin	21

RACE 1
For the outright win, even though Longy qualified nearly a second fastest in practice than Tom "The Boy" Benford. Ex moto-crosser Benford is a like the Rainmain when it comes to wet weather racing. And as the heavens opened for race 1, Longy knew the odds were stacked against him so decided to focus just on a 750cc class win. Moldy impressively, improved massively on his best lap time by over 2 seconds as he's starting to get the hang of riding the big metal GPz750 dinosaurs. Results were pretty much as predicted, although another demon wet weather racer and ex-crosser, Rob Paget on his Yamaha 600 (racing in the EMRA 750 champ) has erroneously been overlooked and Rob played a great hand to just miss out - Longy just holding him off by 2 seconds to the line ahead of Neil "Mad" Myatt and Moldy on the other 750's. Moldy had been having a great dice with the Pink Panther Mark Emuss- reputed to be "gay curious", flying on his little Yamaha 250LC....and Mark just whipped Moldy to the flag but a 7th place finish was step in the right direction.

Race 2
With conditions drying, the road legal Avon wet rear tyre was swapped back to the dry Pirelli rear. However, in true blighty fashion, the heavens decided to open just before the start of the race - not quite the monsoon of race one but pretty grim nevertheless. Moldy, feeling much more confident after his earlier performances decided he was going for gold and as the red lights went out he nailed it on a soaking track. Regrettably on a soaking track, he gassed it a bit too much on a wearing rear tyre out of the esses as he lined up Mad Myatt and Longy for an overtake and nearly high sided the bugger - this gave him a serious spell of the jitters and from then on he was a shadow of his former self.

Again the star of the show was Rob Paget #219, on his rumbling Yamaha 600 twin. Nipping constantly at the heels of Longy for the duration of the race, Longy had to literally bite his lip, move way out of his comfort zone to hold on for a win to the line. This resulted in a race quickest lap of 1m 10s, (amazingly Andy "Jacko" Jackson race pace - who is the Rossi of Earlystocks racing) - which was pretty awesome and some 2 seconds quicker than previous wet laps of Mallory on the stocker. Rob being very close to this with a 1m 11s. Moldy, much like Mad Myatt running 2nd in the champ, unfortunately had both been freaked by sliding rear ends leaving Moldy in 12th spot.

Edwina Bites Back
Edwina's esses are notorious for throwing people off at the exit. The road drops away on an inverse camber just when you gas it up to full throttle for the Lake Esses - unfortunately poor Pete Stringer #229 was bitten by the Wicked Lady of motor sport. Thankfully Pete surfaced smiling but dusty with some bent bits to repair but we should see him out soon.

Thanks Ed..!!!
A major, major thank you goes to Eddie - who, after Longy had actually retired from race 1 thinking his head gasket had blown - pointed out it was just a bit of WD40 that had been sprayed on the engine and to stop worrying and just get out there and race it! It worked...and the points were saved. Thanks a million Ed!

Mucky-S&M! A Bleak Day at The Moors...

2009-05-07T09:18:00.042+01:00

In an effort to keep warm at a bleak, windy and extremely grim Darley Moor circuit, the 750cc Earlystock Team's Mucka and SandM decided to snuggle up together in the pits, share hot Bovril and perform group hugs whilst shouting favourite black country terms like.."Yeaw Awlryte Mucka". For the day at least, the team was rebranded "Mucky-SandM" to acknowledge this merging of resources. Needless to say there were numerous enquiries throughout the day from the locals about our Mucky-S&M "Party and Jacuzzi nights" - many leaving despondent after realising we were a bike racing team rather than a team of bikes...!

Darley Moor does have that spooky kind of Myra Hindley feel to it with facilities and track layout dating back to the Boer War of 1902 - Not Team SandM's favourite circuit. The track (whilst resurfaced a few years ago), is shaped like a big cheese with a couple of ultra fast chicanes - completely favouring bikes with lots of horsepower - the mega long Pope Straight allowing very high speeds to be achieved. Similarly, the esses seem too narrow, fast and tricky to overtake through and the other corners are at the end of longish straights, which the antiquated forks of the GPz750 struggle to cope with when pushed to make up big yardages.This leaves probably only one corner to pass a bigger bike - The Hairpin, which unfortunately has about as much run off area at the approaching left hander as a gnats proverbial. [Anyway, enough of the excuses and on with race day...!!!]

Practice
Surprisingly practice was pretty good fun even though by this time a continuous drizzle was settling on the track. After a small hiccup when a fuel pipe decided to drop off Longy's bike in the holding area, he tentatively edged around the track - then one lap in, Moldy, a rain-racing meister akin to Michael Rutter, slipped up the inside of Longy on the brakes into Park Corner -leg out Rossi style ...then started to pull a gap - Moldy was looking smooth and fast and 10 years of riding those Pan Euro's in the Police Force chasing drug dealers was coming its own. Tagging onto Moldy's considerable tail, Longy managed to build some more confidence in the wet conditions and put a decent time in to get pole whilst Moldy qualified 6th after slowing a bit for a burger and chips.

The Intermission
To make matters worse on this gloomy day at the moors, the Earlystock races were confined to the proverbial arse end of the proceedings - races 10 and 20, and with the wind now blowing at force 10 across the flat plains of Derbyshire, there was considerable time to kill before the first 6 lap race.

Fortunately, the newly merged MuckyS&M team resources proved beneficial as everyone dived into Team Muckas hospitality suite for tea, buns a lie down and some reminiscing of classic Earlystock races of old. In fact, the party was swinging so nicely, everyone lost track of time and Longy nearly had a heart attack when he spotted fellow Earlystocker Bob Chambers' Suzuki 1,100 bike #141 had disappeared from the pits thinking the race had been missed!...Thankfully Sioux, (aka Mrs Mucka), highlighted the guy had gone off to race in the Pre-90's (Race 7) so panic over! This seemed a good juncture to visit the salubrious open air toilets in the Darley pits to calm the race nerves - (note, apparently if you camp and visit the "traps" at night, the lights go out when you are engaged in your business - and you have to finish the job and find your way out in the pitch black!!)

Race 1 - Blaster Bates!
For Longy, fending off the 135bhp Blaster Bates 1,170's of Tom Benford and Alec Gilfillan seemed an impossible task from the get go and the only slim chance was to get in the lead into the first fast chicane before Park Corner and then keep swerving across the track to prevent over taking on the straights! Moldy meantime, with his sights set on 3rd in the 750 champ, needed to beat #219 Rob Paget on the Yamaha 600. However, he is still adapting to the 750's bigger frame, heavier weight and more power compared to his very nimble previous steed, the Honda CB500 - so he's not at full Ricky Hatton fighting confidence level yet.

As the red lights went out, Longy managed to nudge the lead into the first fast chicane, but with the track still damp he couldn't get the advantage required to keep Tom Benford's 1170 at bay after the 90 degree Park Corner - consequently Benford hit the front - even though this was his first time at the track! In fact, Tom's complete lack of knowledge of the track made for an interesting and almost frightening race! With his measly 4 laps of wet practice under his belt to learn the circuit, Tom was literally stopping to check his MCN Circuit Guide at every corner to see which way the bend went! This created a few hairy moments, especially through the fast chicanes where Longy had to take to the grass on one lap to avoid T-boning him.

Losing at least 30mph on the straights, the only place Longy could try and pass him was braking into the hairpin - however, predicting his entry line through the quick Townley's left hander (with zero run off!), was like guessing correct lottery numbers..! Consequently, Longy was riding ragged trying to make up a big deficits through the bends, but losing out hugely on the straights. Inevitably, Longy nearly crashed into Tom's rear wheel at the Hairpin letting Alec Gilfillan #21 6on his Suzuki 1170 through who was tucked in behind ready to pick up the pieces. This enabled Tom to pull a 3 second gap as his circuit knowledge steadily increased with each lap and whilst Longy just got past Alec again at the hairpin, the place was immediately lost on Pope Straight - so the ghost was given up and 3rd spot settled for, albeit a class win.

Moldy too was also involved in a tight little tussle against his championship rival Colin Young #226 and Rob Paget #219 and on Yamaha 600's. Moldy was looking smooth and fast around the quick bends, but was struggling with braking too early for the tight bends - the tension in his buttocks extending through to his wrists causing arm pump. This he put down to not drinking enough Stella the night before. Colin eventually pulled a gap after a good dice, and Moldy after hanging in there like a bat out of hell, just nudged Rob Paget to the line by less than 0.5s and finish 4th in the 750 class.

Race 2 - A Balls Bearing Up!
Some strange noises started to emerge from Longy's machine on the sighting lap, but putting this down to a strong wind blowing, this was ignored as nothing to worry about. Longy again planned to try and lead into the first fast chicane and then do some track swerving for 8 laps to the finish - a long shot admittedly but worth a go. Unfortunately this was once again foiled as Tom Benford, who by this time was getting to know the pretty easy to learn cheese layout of the Darley circuit quite well, powered into the front. This time it was harder to keep on the tail of his Suzuki 1170, although a dare-devil move into the hairpin on the first lap nearly worked, only to lose out on the back straight.

Longy's machine had felt decidedly weird from the sighting lap, as if it wanted to let go on every bend. Thinking this was down to a pretty worn out rear Pirelli Supercorsa tyre, Longy pressed on in hot pursuit of Benford for 3 laps until Alec Gilfillan, riding superbly on his Suzi 1170, came stonking past on the Pope Straight - in desperate overtaking move at Paddock Corner they emerged side-by-side across the line then Longy tried a braking move into Park only to lose the rear big time - but somehow saving it Rossi style by digging a knee into the grass keeping the bike upright! Rapidly losing faith in the strange handling old steed, Longy eased off to settle for 3rd spot, but a 750 class win. It was only on returning to the pits Longy realised the strange noise heard on the sighting lap was actually a shattered rear wheel bearing - in fact the entire race had been conducted with basically a wobbly rear wheel! Phew - lucky escape!

Moldy meantime, had a slightly lonelier race in that Rob Paget #219 this time managed to escape and gap him to the line and Colin Young #226 had for some reason not appeared on the start grid. This meant Moldy finished 3rd 750cc - gaining some good points for the championship. Mention also goes to Team Mucka's Mad #275, running second 750 in the champ, who had the most interesting of starts when he decided to stall it on the line and then, like a throw back to the 1970's, had to bump start it off the grid sort of Barry Sheene style eventually finishing 2nd 750 from the back of the grid - nice riding!

Credit Crunch!!!
Cass Beardmore (#234, riding Yamaha RD400) and Steve Bailey do an amazing job at running the Earlystocks club, but it's becoming apparent there are just too many rounds considering the credit crunch and belt tightening situation. However, with 2009 as Team SandM (Longy's at least) final stand in bike racing, appointments with Sir Fred at RBS have been made to try and blag a small percentage of his pension fund to complete the Earlystocks and EMRA championships.

See you at Mallory for the next round........!

Rnd 2 - Mallory Park...A Good Day Out for Team SandM

2009-04-14T22:01:00.016+01:00

Moldy was pretty pleased with himself after collecting his first cup for the cabinet finishing third in the 750 class - Nice one Jonathon! Credit also goes to Team Boss Martin Strong for spending numerous hours toiling over Moldy's Kwacker to get it into shape for race day. What with a couple of wins for Longy it was a good day out for Team SandM.

Practice
The clouds loomed over Mallory Park for Rnd 2 of the EMRA and Rnd 1 of the Earlystocks Championships. The expected sunshine was instead replaced with a feeling of gloom as the heavens threatened to open. After copious amounts of Red Bull to get the engine's started, and with the track remaining dry, Longy managed a 1.01.885 lap, enough for pole, and Moldy a 1.07.723 for a 9th grid position.

Race 1
The weather started to turn just before the race and an intimidating sprinkle of water started to fall continuously as the bikes entered the holding area - the sort of weather that plays havoc with the brain as you just can't predict how much grip there is likely to be. Thankfully, a pre race discussion with 125 rider/ mate of John Wardle who advised to "keep it nailed" to keep the heat in the tyres was the best tip of the day. As the lights went out the nailing started and not really knowing whether the bike would grip or fall on it's arse, Team SandM just hoped for the best.

Moldy got off to a good start in 5th spot and Longy entered a great 3 way dice at the front - Tom Benford #277 was loving the conditions on his 135bhp 1170cc Katana monster and nipped to the front and Mad #275 on another Kawa GPz750 was nipping at the heels after a cracking start - he loves the wet/ damp weather. It stayed like this for a few laps, with Tom pulling out a good yardage on the start/finish but then the 750's reeling him in around Gerrards...and with the rain spraying on the visor it was nerve tingling to say the least. Longy decided to have a go for the lead in spite of not enjoying the conditions and managed to outbrake Tom into the hairpin. Mad by this time had just started to drop off the pace so it was a two horse race to the line.

Moldy meantime lost a couple of slots to 1100cc of Alec #216 and Adrian Skaife #313 on his LC250 (those things fly at Mallory!) but was fighting back on his finely fettled machine sporting an original Kerker pipe.

Back at Gerrards on lap 7, all hell let loose as both Longy and Tom lined up to slip past Jason Potts on his X7 at the end of the start/ finish but unfortunately this lapping situation coincided with Tom Benford's move to get back into the lead. As the three bikes jossled into Gerrards at around 90mph, Tom couldn't quite hold his race line as he snuck into the lead and the unfortunate Jason X7's front wheel was wiped out and he hit the deck hard. At this point Longy was expecting a pretty major "off" as both bike and rider lay directly in front of him, and with thoughts of "this is going to hurt" as he expected his bike to T-bone the tumbling mass. Miraculously however, momentum carried Jason's and his bike just (and I mean just) fractionally from Longy's front wheel and together with some braking and swerving all parties involved missed each other. Sad for Jason as that was the end of his day, helmet and a fair chunk of bent bits to repair. Amazingly Tom was oblivious to the incident, and with the advantage gained, coupled to Longy's jangling nerves, he was out of reach for a final challenge - shame because the race was building up to a great finale.

The final result however was Longy overall 2nd place and 1st 750cc and Moldy 8th overall and 3rd 750cc. So a good result nevertheless.

Race 2
Longy's plan for race 2 was to go "hell for leather" during the early laps and try to gap Tom Benford's monster 1,170cc machine. With a 50bhp disadvantage the race had to be won early on cold tyres. Thankfully the plan worked a treat and the race was fairly uneventful resulting in a 13 second gap on the rest of the field past the chequered flag. This left a great battle for 2nd spot between Tom, Alec Gilfillan and Aidy Brennan all on 1,000cc+ machines and Mad on his 750 and Tom just nicked it after a few exchanges with a pretty worn out looking rear tyre to manage to the line.

Moldy meantime was struggling with his fitness and in spite of a few pints of Red Bull pre-race, he slipped back a few spots from his race 1 position to finish 11th overall and 4th 75o past the flag - not surprising considering his complete lack of track time over the last 18 months.

The Championship
There is a huge way to go in both the EMRA and Earlystocks championships and a lot depends on whether the bikes will keep going for the duration. Moldy is on track for a 3rd spot finish in both champs and Longy gained max points in both rounds is a good start. With the next round a Darley Moor, a real power circuit that suits the big 1,000's, the SandM boys will have their work cut out to bring home the bacon!

And We're Off - SandM Storm Mallory Park!

2009-03-04T15:42:00.017Z

A great start to the season - the sun was blazing down in March - unbelievable considering we thought we would be racing in 6 inches of snow. And...wait for it...the Mold-Meister was racing! PC Jonathon Mold actually made it onto the grid and completed his first meeting running on all 4 cylinders!!!! Miracles do happen - although if it wasn't for Team Boss Martin "SandM" Strong, Neil "Mad" Myatt and Skinny Pete, Moldy would have been sidelined again - thanks Mad for loaning the carbs and Martin for rebuilding the bike.

Unfortunately during Moldy's premature retirement, his off track habits have worsened even more and a diet of 8 pints of wife beater a night, copious amounts of "Fillet o' Fish" internet dating, mixed in with vast quantities of The Easington Pub's sizzling steaks had caused him to be carrying a fairly severe handicap around the midriff. In fact, he had to be crow-barred into his leathers for the practice session!

Practice
A vast entourage of new supporters came along to watch Team SandM in action - maybe the team name had mislead then into thinking they would be witnessing a different type of action! Anyways thanks all for coming and I hope you enjoyed the day. The two SandM riders hadn't turned a wheel in 5 months, or in Moldy's case, over one year! But with the sun beating down it only took a lap to get back into the swing of things. All seemed to running according to plan, apart from the body which was totally knackered after 3 laps - until the time sheets appeared that is and highlighted Longy's timing equipment had failed which meant he had to start from grid position 29 - the back! The officials wouldn't let him out again to get a new time once the transponder was fixed. Moldy meantime was bedding him self into the new bike but struggling around the bends because of not only his incredible bulk, but also the exhaust was decking out at 20 degrees of lean angle - a problem he had to live with all day.

Race 1 - Earystocks versus 400's
As Longy lined up onto grid position 29 behind Moldy, it was like a solar eclipse taking place - with Moldy's sheer expanse blocking out all of the sun rays. The temperature began to plummet as the grid of Earlystocks and 400's were assembled on the grid and Longy realised he needed to get going fast- the tyres had been nicely warmed after the sighting lap - but this shading effect was starting to cool them rapidly!

As the lights turned Green, the off season road riding of most riders had obviously got them into bad habits, and most bikes seemed to only leisurely pull away from the grid. Longy knew that he had to get past most of the pack around lap 1 to catch the leaders so basically just kept it nailed and luckily managed to swerve a path through almost the whole pack - including Moldy who was practically taking up the while width of the track. Result! And with a few extra places gained around the outside of Gerrards, braking into the Edwinas and the hairpin, Longy had climbed to 9th after lap 1. This was fun.....That left Alec on his 1170 Suzuki the only man to catch to get to the front of the Earlystocks race - and after 3 more laps Longy just managed to nudge up the inside of the big Suzi braking into the hairpin to take the lead.

Moldy meantime was loving it and whilst not up to his best times that he achieved on his little CB500 even, with more ground clearance, some more track time and a few nights off the steaks, he will be back to his best. Still Moldy finished 4th 750 over the line which he was pleased with considering a lay off of over a year.

Overall then a great race. Longy going from 29th to 6th overall and winning the Earlystocks race and Moldy finishing 4th in the 750 class. Racing the 400's was also a great match for the Earlystockers - similar in speed, but they are quicker around the tight bends - but the 750's a bit quicker off the start line. A mention must go to Bob Green #278 however - on his debut outing in the 750's on the wide-berth GSX750, he unfortunately dug in the crash bungs around Gerrards and bit the dust. Not to be put off - Bob said he will be out for the next one...Nice one Bob!

Race 2
The sun shone again for Race 2. This was almost too good to be true. Longy this time had been elevated to grid position 6 - so was in a battle with five 400 bikes to win the race. Being on row two was a major result because 20 laps of Mallory pulling on the big 750cc flat slide race carbs had him so limp wristed he was practically in the gay bar. Moldy meantime retained his grid slot, but couldn't really "go for" it much more because of his pesky exhaust ground clearance problem.

Anyway the lights went Green and it was all to play for. The quicker starting capability of the Kawa 750 stocker over the 400's gave it a slight advantage going into Gerrards, so Longy hit the front. A pretty nippy 400 rider just edged ahead coming out of Gerrards but Longy thought he could keep with him. The cat and mouse lasted for a couple of laps and then the energy levels just collapsed - Longy was shot - a further big slide at the bus stop added some more anxiety and the 400 started to pull a good gap. 4 laps in Longy had to relinquish 2nd spot and then it was game over as the lap times plummeted with fatigue and he worked his way backward to finish 7th overall behind six 400's. Alec Gilfillan #216 on the 1170 had meantime been putting some storming laps in and over the line Longy just managed to hold him off by a few seconds to win the Earlystocks race. Riding a big heavy stocker against the thorough-bred racing 400's is no trivial task and the arms and wrists take a real battering.

Moldy meantime had a great race with #226 Colin Young on a 600 in the 750 stocker class and new to the grid. It was nip and tuck all the way and Moldy, inspite of the severe handicap in his leathers, nudged ahead of Colin this time and held it to the line to finish a commendable 3rd in class. He was buzzing....

Epilogue
A strong rumour is emerging there will be another addition to Team SandM during the 2009 season. Another Boy in Blue from the Starbucks Police HQ in Banbury, known affectionately as "NYPD", has been spotted surfing for GPz750 parts on eBay. Team SandM could soon be a 3 man outfit maybe, lead by our tuning expert Martin "The Boss" Strong....

Watch this space for more action highlights!

Final championship Positions

2008-12-02T22:09:00.020Z

Earlystocks 750CC CLASS

NEIL MYATT.........................148
STEVE LONG........................96
SIMON HOLLAND .................78
COLIN YOUNG .....................69
ALLEN BOWERS....................60
PETER STRINGER..................40
DANIEL BULLIN.....................29
ED WRIGHT...........................21
NICK DOLMAN......................18
IAN O'REILLY ........................10
PETE MABBERLEY ..................9
JONATHAN MOLD....................5
JASON WOODLAND ...............3

Tommy Cooper Impression!

Excuses List.....and Stats

Longy
- Bike broke down in six (yes six!) races....60 points lost :(
- Broke the 750cc ES lap record at Mallory (1:00.988m, 82.043mph)
- 8 class wins, with 5 outright wins (all classes including 1300cc)
- Missed 2 x full rounds (4 x races)

Moldy
- Only entered 2 x rounds (Darley Moor and Cadwell)
- His bike only completed 1 race and that was on 3 cylinders!
- But, now after 12 months of fettling work his bike is now
running for 2009!

All sponsorship is much appreciated!
Hopefully with less excuses and break-down's in 2009 it will result in the top slot....

Sioux - Photographer Extraordinaire!

Mallory Park - A game of Two Half's...

2008-09-02T22:49:00.020+01:00

The level of racing was raised to a new high at Mallory Park as Longy's 750 stocker broke the 750 class lap record by well over 1 second with a 1 minute lap. The silly minor gremlins that caused six DNF's during the year and had cost him the championship had finally been fully sorted and the Eddie Lawson replica was running a sweet as a nut. With two DNF's at Darley Moor, in the last round due to running the battery flat over night, at Mallory Longy only had pride at stake.

Dominant Andy "the-boy" Jackson (GS1100) was clear favourite for the win, but the legend Clive "the bike" Wadey (Katana 1170) and Tom B (Katana 1170) - an aging ex-stocker on his comback tour were all within a whisker during qualifying. Longy however managed to qualify the 750 in 2nd spot on the grid - nice work. Things were really hotting up and finishing in the top 3 over the line on Longy's 750 was clearly going to be a challenge in dry conditions, although a class win looked on the cards.

Race 1
A blinding lap of 1m on the green machine - some 4 seconds quicker than the next 750 - was the major highlight of the race for Longy. The Kawa 750 was handling superbly and just glided around Wadey's Katana 1170 around Gerrards, soaking up the bumps. However, Tom B's 1170 was flying and whilst Longy could gain on the brakes and bends around Edwinas, he could not quite catch him during the 10 lapper, even though lap times were almost identical. The bike really was running a treat, drifting out of Gerrards and Devil's elbow nicely and stopping on a sixpence into the hairpin, However, it's becoming evident that as more 1100's are starting to appear, it might be a question of upgrading to a big elephant for next season and battling for the Open Class championship - being first past the chequered flag (or at least battling on an equal bike for a win) is looking attractive - even though a class win was nice.

Race 2
Wet conditions in race 2 and a big slide out the esses caused Longy to completely lose the plot and finished way down in 9th place. Self preservation took over and sliding around on dry weather tyres in soaking conditions was basically no fun - on this day at least. Credit to the guys on LC's and other machines who thrive in this weather and some great riding was witnessed as Longy's bike worked its way backwards.

Special mention goes to Mucka Mad on winning the 750 championship - well done mate - although he knows he will get is butt well and truely kicked next year now the Kawa 750 is fully sorted and running superbly (and assuming Longy runs in the class)! And his talented wife Sioux who takes all the photos for the blog...thanks!

Random Comments....
Are Moldy and Pete planning on going sidecar racing in 2009? With Pete's spannering skills Moldy might actually get out onto the grid!

Mad Myatt telling Longy to buck his wet weather riding ideas up...
words of "whimp, bottle-less, threw in the towel" were overheard...
Early morning work out for the Lardies...

Smiling Pete laughs at novice Ed as he tries to come to terms with hitting the big 40...
Happy mid-life crisis Ed!

Go on my boy....Simon Holland getting it on...
A classic beauty..if only the bloody thing will keep going...!
Steve's look says it all as Mucka Mad practises his X Factor audition...

Darley Disaster ..!

2008-09-02T22:08:00.003+01:00

Did half a lap...broke down...end of blog...

Footnote

Carnage at turn one....five people crash...thankfully only bumps, scrapes and bruises...

Mallory Park - A Good Day for Pizza...

2008-07-08T10:01:00.023+01:00

It was a funny old day at Round 6 of the Earlystocks championship at Mallory Park and not the best of results for the Team SandM challenge for the prestigious Earlystocks 750 championship title. Team boss "M", chairman of S&M Motorcycles, had been fettling Longy's bike and a new clutch with "race springs" was being sported to resolve the horrendous clutch slip problems from the Oulton Park round.

Timed Practice
The weather was basically rain, rain and well...rain... pretty much throughout the entire day. Pretty grim really. Anyway, Team SandM decided to try the standard semi-slick Pirelli Super Corsa Pro rear tyre instead of the rock hard Avon Road Legal wet; the theory being - what's good enough for "Jacko" #214, the demon 1,100cc stocker who can lap Mallory in 58s on the old grunt, is good enough for anyone else.

Racing in the wet is largely a mental thing and the thought of racing through puddles on a tyre designed for a nice hot dry track is a difficult thing to get your brain around. However, as Longy tip-toed out for practice, within a corner or two it was apparent these things actually did grip - and pretty good too. Indeed, in spite of the track being totally covered in a large oil slick mixed in with water, the little 750 managed to qualify pole - although it was evident 4secs would need to be shaved off the lap time in the race to keep up with the boy Jackson.....mmm..unlikely.

Race 1
In a masochistic way, Longy was feeling marginally enthusiastic about race 1 with the new grip from the rear - in spite of the soaking wet track. However, literally as the bike rolled onto the start line, the thing died and would not re-start - a faulty kill switch......then suddenly the lights went OUT, Longy's hand went up immediately, and he turned to see 20 odd bikes hairing towards him at full chat. This is a seriously scary situation to be in - and most race incidents are caused at the start line. There is nothing you can basically do other than sit, wait and hope for the best. Anyway the bike had died and was wheeled off to the skip for some TLC.

Jacko once again cleared off in the race, but with a field of 22 bikes there was a lot of dicing going on in the treacherous conditions. Amazingly, the Pink Panther Mark Emuss #316 on his classic "pink" Yamaha 250LC completed a blinding race to finish 2nd on track. The thing must only put out 35bhp - that's over 100bhp less than the big 1,000cc bikes - so a fantastic piece of riding, although the some concerns were raised about the slightly gay colour scheme.

In the 750 championship, contender Neil Myatt, aka Mad, was popping around on 2 cylinders like the Domino's Pizza Express delivery man - determined to get more points for the title whatever the pace. Too embarrassed to even lower his chin on the tank at such a slow speed, and not realising Longy was in pit lane drinking a cuppa, he stuck out the 10 laps to break the record for the slowest 750 race time in history. To make matters worse, all the pizzas were cold by the time he arrived back in the pits.....

The most disappointing result though was had by Simon Holland #287. His first 750 win was "in the bag"- but unfortunately, on the last lap at the hairpin, thoughts of
bringing home the winners laurels to his new baby daughter....and imagining her first words of..."Daddy I'm so proud of you"...started to flash into his mind - he missed his brake point and the front end went down with 3 corners to go...and he bit the dust. Amazingly, he returned to the pits with a big smile - what a top man.

Race 2
The DNF from race 1 meant Longy had to start in position 21 on the grid - right at the very back...sort of Billy-no-mates style. From the back it certainly looked a long way to the front row for sure.The tracked had dried a bit and a race line was appearing which was good. Longy's plan was to head for the only dry line around Gerrards - snick in front of Jacko and the rest of the boys (plus Cass the Earlystocks female race star of course) and then pull out a 35 second lead to the flag.....

The red lights went OUT, the clutch was dropped, no jump-start...good...nail it up through the gears...head for the dry line....but ohhhhhh....all of a sudden 20 other bikes had exactly the same idea. The words of, get in the queue and wait your turn, were heard inside Longy's head...And he had to - off the racing line were just puddles and damp patches - not nice - so only a single line to follow in convoy. In fact there was pretty much only one dry line around the whole circuit so overtaking was sort of limited to Edwinas and into the bus stop.

Any way, with the race cut from 10 to 8 laps, there wasn't much time, so Longy just nailed it and hoped the thing would grip as the bike wandered over all the damp patches. In actual fact, only a few slides were had throughout the race - so all credit to modern tyre technology. The smaller class stockers were easier to pass using the power on the straights, however once the 1,000's were caught up with, it was a different kettle of fish and only the entry into Edwinas seemed to be an overtake point - with even that a bit tight as braking had to take place over the damp patches.

With two laps to go, Longy had managed to get up to 5th spot, and on the penultimate lap a back marker just enabled his Eddie Lawson replica to sneak inside Alec #216 on his 1,100 into the bus stop to snick 3rd place. This left the Pink-Panther Mark Emuss #316, once again totally flying on his little LC250 as the next rider to catch, but with only 1 lap left and 4 seconds to gain it was too much to ask. A 3rd place finish resulting. The boy Jacko had by this time finished the race and was in the bar drinking his third pint of Stella. Not a bad result though considering the starting place and a 750 class win for a few more points.

Epilogue
With Longy's four DNF's, Mad-Myatt #275 can only lose his championship lead by delivering pizzas at all the remaining rounds so the title is out of reach for Team SandM.

Now there is a gap of 7 weeks until the next round, so all the Earlystockers will be wondering what they can do with themselves. Maybe time to fettle and tune some more, bore out the 750 to an 810cc and fit some Wiseco pistons, or paint the house or even lie on the beach (Team SandM's plan!). Or could it be that Moldy will be completing his new machine and wheeling it out at Darley....time will tell...

Oulton Park - The Sun Shines Down for a Double Win!

2008-06-03T12:24:00.030+01:00

Team SandM...well the one remaining rider (Longy) and his good wife Juliet...head to the team's favorite circuit in the UK - Oulton Park. This glorious rambling race track is set amongst lakes and forest is an absolute gem and with blazing sunshine this was lining up to be a cracking weekend. On arrival at the circuit, and for some bizarre reason, the Earlystockers had decided to camp down around a single large puddle of water in the pits. Longy, slightly bemused about this, assumed this was a strange tradition of the club, so politely unloaded his green machine and proceeded to stand in the quagmire with all the other riders for some friendly banter.

Race day was adorned with a sizable crowd of spectators and a blue sky. And after the smoothest scrutineering in history without even a mention of bar ends, preparation for timed practice began. It soon transpired that many of the loony modern classic racers had never been within 50 miles of the circuit having confined most of their racing existence to circulating Mallory Park - only Nige Griffiths , aka Professor Pat Pending, had taken the trouble to do some testing on a track day. This was beginning to sound like it could be a walk in park for Team SandM with four previous races there on the Honda Hornet.

Practice
Oulton Park has a habit of feeling very fast for the first 5 laps or so regardless of how often you visit the place. The swooping bends and undulations requiring good flowing lines to put in consistently low lap times. A year had passed since the last visit to this racing mecca and this time it was no different - a mixture of exhilaration and sheer terror hit home as Longy gradually tried to up his nerve to keep the throttle pinned over Clay Hill and the exit to Druids. Practice finished with massive arm pump, and fortunately Longy's quite sedate lap time of 2.06 was enough to get pole - a long way short of a 1m 56s best on the Hornet.

As the other Oulton Park "virgins" came back smiling from practice...Ed (#220), decided that lazing in the sun drinking Red Bull was slightly dull, and set about stripping his entire GPz750 engine down to validate the accuracy of his Haynes Manual. Pete (#229) meantime, his racing counterpart, remained in the van to do some accounting as they suddenly realised after purchasing their 3rd Earlystock bike in 2 months, the race budget had been well and truly blown to pieces!

The Championship
A significant points disadvantage in the 750 championship due to three DNF's meant Longy had to win both races to keep him in the hunt for the title. However, to maintain an advantage, Neil Myatt aka Mad, the 750 championship leader, had tried to psych out Longy with a new tattoo sporting the words..."Mad - #275 - Earlystocks Champion 2008".... fortunately this clever trick back-fired somewhat when Cass, club organizer and 400 Earlystocks racer, pointed out the race numbers were changing to single digits next year and #275 would never be used again....

Race 1
The race was greeted with a 10 minute session of musical chairs as the marshal inadvertently got his starting grid page the wrong way round. After a major reshuffle, Longy refocused by trying to remember how long the red light stayed on to avoid another jump start! However, forgetting it had been over 12 months since looking at the start lights, he got it completely wrong again causing the Kwacker to jump forward too early....

No advantage was gained but Longy's brain was convinced a 10 sec penalty would be incurred.....The race was then on to try and pull a 10 seconds lead from the rest of the chasing mob of Earlystockers to win it. Thankfully, the results revealed that no penalty was given, although surprisingly a 10 second advantage was just about gained at the flag. A very pleasing outright win to start the day.....

Lunch Break
As Ed (#220 ) continued to beaver away checking his Haynes manual against the spec of his GPz, oblivious to the fact he'd missed race 1, Moldy and his girlfriend Sam made a surprise appearance in the pits. Posing in their open top sports car like the Duke and Duchess of Chester, Moldy was then seen to be engaging with the graying race brigade and rumors started circulating that he might, just might , be making a comeback.......Meantime, Alec (#216) basked in the sun, determined to better resemble a Baboons ar** and top up his red faced tan...

Race 2
The warm up lap indicated a massive bout of clutch slip on Longy's green machine. The stocker could hardly hold any revs without wildly slipping up the rev range - but this was something that would have to be lived with for the 6 lapper......

Now paranoid about jump starting, Longy's race got off to an almost Honda Goldwing slow start. Every man and his dog seemed to go past and him, and ignoring the wildly fluctuating rev counter, Longy gradually picked his way through the field to gain an advantage on the Earlystock pack. With 1.5 laps to go, a quick look over the shoulder revealed an empty track - however Longy might want to apply to Vision Express for sponsorship because Pat Pending (#290) was actually hiding in his wake....

As Longy started to meander on the penultimate lap thinking of home baked bread and scones, Pending's incredible 1,170cc earlystock invention coasted up the inside of him into Old Hall - he was absolutely flying and started to pull out a gap on both the power and cornering advantage. It was only down to a dare devil "wall of death" style ride up the banking at Shell Hairpin where Longy managed to nudge back ahead and after absolutely nailing the bike to the finish, gained a 1.5s advantage over the Prof. A really exciting last lap and a great finish to the day to make it a double.

Epilogue
Moldy is spotted fettling his stocker in his back yard - the rumours continue to grow that he could be making a come back tour.....it is unsure whether Ed (#220) ever left the circuit and was last seen with the Editor of Haynes Manuals in the pits ironing out minor discrepancies in the book....his counter part Pete (#229) was last found in the gents toilets perfecting his bum sliding & knee out technique in the mirror....Cass & Steve the chiefs of the Earlystock club, have started a campaign to both introduce a water jump at Mallory and award rosettes rather than trophies in future.....Simon (#287) was last seen swearing profusely at Hizzy's corner where he leaped off the bike in race 1 and Dick one of the fly weight 1,100cc stockers, was spotted testing an LC racer up pit lane.....
Click for Race Results

Cadwell Park...Last Man Standing......

2008-05-05T08:19:00.011+01:00

A rift occurs at Team S&M... in a scene resembling Reginald Perrin's famous desertion, Moldy throws his toys completely out the van at Cadwell and heads off to Skegness beach with the parting words:

"I'm selling up Longy...I'm selling the van Longy......I don't want your help Longy....I don't care whether I see you or another GPz750 again in my life Longy - you're on your own...."

The duff stocker had finally broken the man and the curtains are drawn on the Earlystocks racing club.

Sad, despondent but encouraged by the support of the Longy family (Katie and wifey Juliet) to keep the remnants of Team S&M going, Longy reluctantly wheeled his flaky green machine onto grid.

Race 1
A lonely second spot for Longy (pushed back to 3rd due to a 10 second jump start penalty!) where once again Andy Jackson left the field for dead on his 1100 Suzuki . A 750 class win nevertheless.

Moldy broke down....and watched from the marshals box

Race 2
Starting from near the back of the grid this was going to be a tough one and it was....a tremendous dice for second spot with Mad's #275...(almost) ran all the way to the line. Relentless overtaking from both sides thankfully put on a good show for the spectators. The ultimate 2nd place spot...(Andy Jackson's 1100 clearing off again to win)....and first spot in the 750 class race, could have gone either way - this was Earlystock racing at its best. Unfortunately, in the heat of the chase Longy ground through his engine cover to sprout a major oil leak on the penultimate 9th lap depositing oil around the entire circuit - Ooops! Fortunately the gap to 4th was big enough though to get past the line at 30mph and Mad took a great class win - shame it couldn't have gone down to the wire....

(Photo on right - After a titanic on track battle, Mad and Longy kiss and make up...)

Moldy broke down again.....black flagged this time....

Thanks to everyone for coming and supporting.........

Epilogue
This is truly the end of an era. Team SandM started with 3 riders: Vimto, Moldy and Longy.....now there is just 1......things will never be the same again without Moldy.....it's a sad day :(

(Picture on right - Moldy raises a glass of Chardonnay to celebrate his retirement)

...or do we have a new recruit to the team...?

Mallory Park - DNF, DNF, DNF...DNF!!

2008-04-22T12:29:00.013+01:00

Once again the gremlins bit home for Round 4 of the Earlystocks Championship - effectively ruling out a challenge for the title in 08. In miserable conditions, rain, wind and cold temperatures there was little to smile about at Mallory with two DNF's....making it FOUR DNF's on the trot now!!

Moldy was still confined to the bunker having effectively given up on his GPz for this season. The bike has turned out to be a real "pup", with Moldy now in almost full retirement from the racing scene. It looks like a new motor is required because of the smoke bellowing out of cylinder 4 and some serious work is required on the wiring to get the thing firing....Time will tell if we ever get it going in 08.

Longy meantime followed his usual format. With a saturated track to play on, running a shiny new "road legal" Avon Pro-Extreme rain tyre with the standard Avon intermediate front, the bike was sliding around everywhere during timed practice - a scary experience. Totally surprised however, the bike qualified in pole on the grid - as everyone just steady-Eddied around. Starting from the front in wet conditions however can be a mixed blessing when the limits are being searched for following riders.

Come the race, Longy lead into the first corner and having only raced on full wets previously, running road compounds and intermediates in soaking wet conditions was an altogether new experience. The bike was sliding and aqua planing everywhere.....including one very terrifying moment 2/3rds of the way around Gerrards at 100mph+ when the front end tucked on a puddle - thankfully gripping again before dumping the bike into the gravel trap. ....this was not fun.

Having held out a lead for 5 laps or so, the rumble of a giant stocker behind started.....thinking it was either Nige Griffiths on the 1170 or Mad on his Gpz, suddenly the thing zapped by on the start and finish and started to disappear into the distance. A man called Andy Jackson (#214) who failed to make qualifying on his 1100 Suzuki, wearing stars wars type leathers and a very quick rider. Anyway, it wasn't long before breakdown #4 happened, a new fork seal this time, pouring oil all over the track, rider and bike and Longy was black flagged yet again from a clear 2nd spot. Jackson won by a good margin and the bike was retired back to the workshop again.

I think a good time was had by all other riders however - including Dick (pictured left) who ran semi-slick, dry tyres in the full wet conditions...Nice!

With the championship now a long shot, the season may be ramped down to save on some $$$.

A Darley Thriller Thanks to S&M Motorcycles...

2008-04-17T15:59:00.017+01:00

Martin Strong, the S in sponsor S&M Motorcycles, applied his genius to fix the clanking ZR7 motor just hours before Round 3 at Darley Moor. Thanks Martin! And it was worth it...a neck and neck dice in race 1 with the giant 1,170cc stocker of Nigel Griffiths went down to the wire.

Team S&M just nudged pole position in qualifying, but the heat was definitely on to overcome a 60bhp disadvantage on the power circuit of Darley Moor with its long straights. And the racing was close... Alternating the lead every lap Nige just got ahead with a couple to go coming into the final right hander....but his engine hit the deck running him wide so Longy nipped ahead. Nige's extra power however zipped the bike ahead on the main straight and it was only a slightly dodgy out brake into the hairpin, requiring taking to the grass!...that got Longy's green meanie ahead to hold it to the line. A real thriller of a race.

Unfortunately race 2 was less exciting. After the gear shift had dropped off beforehand in the support race the gremlins well and truly kicked in when Longy noticed oil was splattering over the rear tyre at the end of the warm up lap (Note - the devious duo of Martin & Chas knew about this already and sneakily wiped oil off the machine before so Longy wasn't psyched out!). Figuring that by taking it easy on the lefts and pushing hard on the brakes and right-handers, he might just gather a few points for the champ, Longy was surprised to find himself in the lead after two laps....but it was short-lived. The boot sliding off the foot rest indicated the oil spray had turned into a slick BP would be proud of - oil was everywhere - and it wasn't long before the black flag came out and the marshals brought him in. This time an oil cooler leak - so back into the S&M workshop she goes...a well deserved win for Team Mucka though on another GPz750.

Epilogue
Moldy threatens retirement after incessant mechanical problems and refuses to come to Darley. This may be the end of Team S&M as we know it....

Click Link Below for Results
Race 1:
Race 2:

Comedy of Errors Leads to Darley Double!

2008-03-25T15:42:00.025Z

Countless hours in the garage fettling the bikes to solve multiple gremlins, coupled to severe memory loss (Longy leaving his bike battery in the hotel room!!), amazingly resulted in a double race win for Team SandM at Darley Moor! A pleasing result... at least for Longy....unfortunately Moldy, despite the help of numerous "stocker" comrades - possibly the friendliest bikers on the planet - spent all weekend spannering his green beast in the pits to no avail.

Conditions were ...well ...grim. Arctic-like weather coupled to the POW standard toilet facilities at Darley provided little comfort to the Earlystock brigade. It wasn't until Moldy's glamorous partner Sam (AKA "Pam") arrived with her lycra outfit, clipboard & stopwatch did the sun begin to shine.

The Torvill & Dean-like weather drove half the stockers grid back to bed (sensible move!), leaving just a hard core of desperate racers left to battle it out for the points. Timed practice was amusing....on a thawing damp track running a semi-slick rear Moldy managed a few laps running on just 3 cylinders whilst Longy remained in the pits fitting his newly acquired battery and didn't get a single lap in - back of the grid then..!

Race 1
The depleted grid size meant 3rd row was the back-row ....nice...and as the lights went off Longy had made it up to 2nd slot into the fast esses of turn 1. Moldy meantime popped and banged on 3 cylinders wishing he'd gone back to bed with the rest of the Earlystock grid.

Around bend 1 and Longy tucked in behind "Mad", the ex Manx TT and 600 racer. As they hit the back straight Longy's #223 seemed FAST - real FAST - meaning no dare devil braking was required... just a case of winding her up in a Casey Stoner-like fashion to whip past "Mad" on the straight....what a luxury. This was also a relief because half the fork oil had leaked out of a broken seal, and with the super-soft fork settings the bike was pogo'ing into every bend severely limiting heavy braking. As Longy's green meanie #223 started to pull out a lead, Moldy's sad "puffing billy" wobbled around on 3 cylinders; nevertheless, Moldy plodded on to the end just for the hell of it as Longy passed the chequered flag having edged a 6 second gap over Team Mucka's #275.

Race 2
On arrival at the waiting area it was evident Team SandM now had TWO sick sounding machines....Moldy's bike was still popping and banging on 3 cylinders and Longy's had started making some very worrying top end rattling sounds. Unperturbed, and in the spirit of Earlystock racing both riders decided to "just go for it" and hope they lasted the distance. Longy's did - the race following a similar format to Race 1, albeit slightly slower times in the colder temperatures, but Moldy had reached the "couldn't be ar**d" stage raising the white flag of retirement after 5 laps of the 8 lap race.

Epilogue
Longy had mixed feelings as he picked up his shiny cup for first spot...chuffed about getting the two wins first time out on the big Kwacker, but upset that Moldy hadn't had a crack at the whip all weekend. Now the boys must retire back to the MotoGP HQ of SandM Motorcycles in Banbury to consult with team boss Martin Strong-Man Snr. Some serious brain-storming is required to get these two babies back out on the grid in at Darley again in 3 weeks for the next round.

Click Link for Results
Race 1:
Race 2:

Dancing on Ice-The Kwaks are tested at Zero Deg C!

2008-02-21T18:11:00.016Z

The first official test of the new 750 Kwaks was conducted at nearly freezing point at Mallory Park. The goal was to gently ease our way in and sort out the inevitable gremlins you get with any new machine. With the icy conditions, "Steady Eddie" was the order of the day.

The Kerker pipe of Long's bike sounds awesome, but unfortunately was decking out at about 15 degrees of lean making cornering nigh on impossible. Reworking of the pipe to tuck in the collector box is now required to get sensible cornering speeds. The big flat slide carbs also took some getting used to as you have to physically shut them to drop the revs - some gym work is required here to strengthen the right arm :) In general Longy's bike felt pretty good and seemed FAST enough - not your R1 of course but this is a 1982 design and requires a completely new mind set with less aggressive cornering and a heavy unit to lump around. Proper racing speeds will no doubt uncover a few more surprises.

Moldy never quite got going on his due to a severe misfire and only running on two cylinders - probably due to the bike being stood around for 6 months. The bike handled OK but was way down on power - his massive bulk adding to the problem. The carbs need stripping and cleaning, and HT leads checked etc. to sort the problem - so its into the Team SandM's workshop in Banbury for some serious fettling...and advice from Pops Sinclair and the Team Manager Strong Snr.

The bikes looked awesome side by side in the pits, but there is some work to do out on track to get the lap times even close to Hornet speeds of 59 second best and 1 - 1.01m average times. And give the riders the confidence to push as hard as on the previous Honda's. The pic on the left looks more like two plodding tourers on Gold Wings than proper "racers". However the boys will get there with some more fettling, ground clearance, a decent set of rubber and some WARMER weather!

Watch this space..........

Footnote: Devastating news...both bikes at risk of missing round 1 at Mallory - Moldy needs to sort and test the engine proper and Longy has been sanctioned to Las Vegas by his big boss.

2008 - Forget Christmas Stockings it's time for Earlystocking!

2008-01-02T15:59:00.007Z

A new plan for 2008. Sadly the Hornet and CB500's are sold and a new era awaits in the Earlystock Classic Racing championship. Team SandM have acquired two green meanie Eddie Lawson replica's to race in the Earlystocks 750 championship. This is retro racing at it's best and Team SandM will be out there campaigning for the title against the grayest beards on the race track. We are hoping on sponsorship from Stannah Stairlifts, Viagra and Grecian 2000 to keep us going through the season.

The bikes have been built meticulously by Ian Sinclair (aka Janice - shown with fag below). Ian's a veteran classic racer who runs a Harris 750 in the Classic Racing Club championship and claimed building the Eddie replica "stocker" was probably his worst nightmare since taking a job in Liverpool.....

Mold's bike (right) is pretty much ready to go and just needs a good run to blow away the cobwebs and bit of engine tweaking to get it firing correctly. Both bikes date back to the 1970's, although Long decided on a newer but slightly less powerful 750 engine plant to reduce the maintenance overhead (these bikes can leak oil and blow up frequently!). The bikes will be tested at Mallory in February and raced on 2nd March again at Mallory. This will be an interesting experience after racing only modern machinery for the last four years!
A quick addition to this blog....the second Kwacker arrives from ace earlystock builder Pops Sinclair - and what a beauty (see #4 bike photo above). Flat slide carbs, a pukka Kerker 150dB exhaust (to keep the neighbours happy!) and superb spray job. The bike looks "bob on" as the creator would say - and if it rides as good as it looks we should be on the money.

Pembrey: Podiums Galore!

2007-06-18T18:17:00.000+01:00

Prologue
Jon Mold brings home four second place trophies on the CB500 and Steve Long clinches a couple of podiums & fourth spots in the ultra competitive Honda Hornet 600cc class...Read on.....

New Sponsor!
An upbeat feeling came over the team after Double-Decks Dave (DDD) Walley, CEO of the global event services empire Arena Group, very generously decided to invest in the teams seasons campaign. Arriving in his shiny new Aston Martin DB9, DDD, clearly a man of his word, requested we simply "deliver the results". The team hopes to persuade DDD to wheel out one of his rapidly expanding collection of bikes on a track day soon.....

Pembrey Testing
With a healthy wedge of petty cash now available and having never seen the Pembrey circuit before, Long & Mold decided to invest in some testing for a change; and in spite of a major hangover from excess Sambookas the night before in Brigend, the boys dialled themselves in against the local sheep shearers on a track day.

Pembrey is a great biking circuit comprising of flowing lefts and rights keeping the rider fully occupied throughout. There's a scary flat out, knee-down 120mph right-hander after the Speedway Straight that really takes some working up to. The left hander Dibeni's is like a reverse of Gerrards at Mallory - fast and long at maximum lean angle and the hairpins require serious heavy duty braking. Grip at the circuit is very good, both wet or dry....overall a truly awesome race track.

Timed Practice - The Hornet is Crushed!
Rain-sodden roads on the approach to Pembrey indicated the circuit would be true to form - wet, windy and full of sheep. However, as luck would have it, the circuit seemed to have its own eco-system and sunshine quickly broke through.

Tyre choice was difficult for qualifying with all the damp patches, so Long decided on dry tyres with slick edges, not much use in the wet, and Moldy the obligatory road tyres for the CB500. Unsure of grip, Long tip-toed around like the only gay in the village whilst Mold hammered the beast....so much so that he qualified within 3/100ths of a second of Long with 30bhp less...WAR was shortly declared between the two riders!!!

Races 1 & 2 (Saturday)
As Mold rolled the CB onto the grid alongside Long he makes it clear with a two finger salute that battle was about to commence....With a mix of 125's, 400's, CB's and Hornets on the grid this was going to be a manic 10 lap thrash to the finish....

A crash on lap 1 brings a red flag, however in the restart both riders get off well. Long then plunges his way through the pack from a 16th grid position to finish 4th in class and 5th in the overall race. Not a bad result from 30 odd starters - and not a mile off the race leaders Sean Hardwicke and Sam Read's lap times. Long goes one better in race 2 and bags a third after Joice blows a gearbox.

Mold meantime was flying ..and after nearly losing his composure when tussling for second spot in a three bike battle, he runs off the track, rejoins, then retakes the other CB500 blighters to finish second in class! Mold once again in Race 2, maintains his composure and brings home yet another 2nd spot - a fine day at the office.

Mold, with a Rossi'esk aura, returned to the team awning to provide race tips, sign autographs and drink cappuccino's whilst his fellow CB riders polished his machine in awe of his riding skill and bravery. Long meantime, whilst not "quite" matching Mold's class results, sought some consolation by reminding him of the returned two finger salute when lapping him at the flat out Woodlands kink...(Ok the Hornet has 30bhp more I admit...)

Races 3 & 4 (Sunday)
Sunday's racing brought some new challenges....the weather! A major downpour meant sporting full wets tyres, but when Long spotted his rear wheel bearing had seized, this meant a tortuous weekend of changing wet and dry tyres on a single rim as the weather kept fluctuating....in fact 13 Hornet wheel changes took place on the Sunday!

Race 3 was met with intrepidation - Long had not raced in the wet for two years and matters did not improve when a misted visor kicked in on the warm up lap. But hey ho...relying purely on circuit memory ride the course, Long's confidence started to grow by the lap lap as new wet tyres kicked in. And with 2nd spot almost within grasp, closing rapidly on John Hardwicke by nearly 1s per lap, the race was suddenly cut short at 4 laps due to yet another crash....another third place. The final race of the weekend brings yet another wheel change, and Long totally feeling worse for wear, manages just a 4th spot due to copious mistakes.

The imbalance of power meant between the CB500's, Hornets and 400's saw them shifted to race with the Earlystocks. These are big old Suzuki GSX1100, GS1000's and 750's from the 1970's pumping out over 100bhp. In a totally wet Race 3, Mold's mastery of the wet conditions sees his little CB500 with only 55bhp, fly past not just most of the CB's, but all the big Earlystocks - bar none! And after a race long battle with #230 the GSX1100 rider, he takes a superb 2nd spot in the actual race and another 2nd in class...awesome - in fact his best result ever! Mold rounds off his best weekends result on record by producing another second spot a dry race 4.

Epilogue
Returning 'ole rusty the van home to roost with a dash full of trophies, impresses DDD the new sponsor - to the point where he wants the riders featured in his corporate news letter! However, the team deliberates its future and decide that having mixed it with those big old Freddy Spencer replica Earlystocks, racing those just might be fun....and... well it's time for a change of class. Watch this space to see what develops as they try a new strategy to convince their new chief DDD to go Earlystocking!

Superclub - Super Blitzed!

2007-05-07T22:05:00.000+01:00

Finally...the entries are posted and Team SandM decide to try their hand in the big one - The SUPERCLUB Championship at Oulton Park - the biggest round of the New Era season. Moldy and Longy were feeling very edgy... With only 30 laps of Mallory under their belt in the last 6 months they were trying to recall why Nemesis and Oblivion were not clearly marked on the Alton Park circuit guide. To add to the riders mental frenzy, a whole entourage of race fans were coming to watch the team from all corners of the globe...family, friends, their children, their children's children, mechanics, electricians......now was the moment of truth - could the boys take the heat!?

The Day before D-Day
The mental strain began to tell as they loaded the two very tired racing bikes into the recently acquired rusty old van lovingly named The Smoker (it smoked its way through 5 litres of engine oil in just 350 miles!). Moldy decides to fill the van with enough camping gear for a month long hike up the Himalayas leaving no room for wet weather wheels - fingers were crossed the BBC forecast was correct for sunshine.

The Night Before D-Day
The ole smoker arrives late in the night....Moldy soon realizes his shiny new family sized tent requires a PhD in Rocket Physics to erect, so, at the end of their tether, the team decides to squat in the New Era "Officially reserved" garage #1 in the hope no one finds them. Too tired to even pump up the air bed, the two lardy riders cuddle up on the hard metal floor of The Smoker and start counting Hornets.....whilst Tim, the teams loyal Sparky, slips into his one man tent hoping he will be awakened by the the curvaceous New Era pit official....

D-Day Arrives
Concerned with the level of rust on the Ole Smoker, Paul Fryer, championship leader, decides to wake up Moldy requesting he takes the van through scrutineering together with the race bikes. Moldy manages to raise a smile, but is actually annoyed as he planned to sleep through qualifying and get out of the race.

Qualifying
With the expectation of at least matching his pole position qualifying time of 1m 56s in 2005, Longy nails the Hornet off the line...three corners later, it was clear....this was definitely NOT going to happen. Boy did it feel FAST!!!!! Tense on the bike, braking too early, gripping the bars so tight like he'd drunk 10 pints of Irn-Bru, Longy was definitely NOT poetry in motion, but puts in a reasonable 1m 58s lap in 8 laps of qualifying to finish 12th on a grid of 35 riders - not bad considering the total lack of practice. Moldy is even more pleased with his qualifying as Longy brings the CB500 grid position sheet back, but then realizes its the wrong way round....ah well, at least he was faster than Bill (PC Plod) Slater, Moldy's greatest track rival.

The Races
With the expectation of going at least 3 seconds a lap quicker in the race, hopes are riding high. Things around garage #1 start to look even better when Longy's younger sister arrives sporting her Harley Davidson T-shirt (what a biker chick!)........But then suddenly all hell lets loose.....all the Rossi-like groupies arrive and garage #1 is hit by the paparazzi. Shutters click frantically as the riders pose, sign autographs and flex their one-packs into the camera lenses and answer questions such as "why do all riders have strange back growths?" and "what do tyre blankets do?" Seriously....it was great to see my sister Di, Tim, Mick, Pam, Malc, Ange, Shaun, Tina and all the kids -brill!

Fortunately the socialising, sunshine and camaraderie of Hornet and CB riders made up for the totally off-the-pace racing. Oulton park with its numerous twisting bends, blind crests and flatout sections, is not a place for the faint hearted - or a place to "just turn up and race" like they were. Finishing well down the order in 15th, 11th in Hornet race :(- in race 1, Longy began to realise that bike racing really is an all-or-nothing sport and you can soon lose the dare devil nerve to dive up the inside of people if you're not out there doing it regularly. Unable to get within 3 seconds of his previous race times in 2005, (which would have put him in the top 5), Race 2 was no improvement.....

A missed gear off the line saw six bikes dart past and then a further false neutral into cascades let another three through for a lowly 16th place finish -12th Hornet :(( - clearly Longy had completely lost his head with the pressure! The only saving grace was Hornet regular Nige "godfather" Slater, was disqualified for using nitro-methane moving him up a slot, (cheers Nige).

Moldy fared slightly better in relative terms. In his usual style of running up the rear of the grid, he had two thrilling plod-vs-plod battles with his old mate PC Bill Slater. In a race long fight in race 2 for that illustrious last place, Moldy cleverly outwitted the old Bill by opening up a gap for a gaggle of 125's to lap them both....and then proceeded to dart up the inside in their wake to take Billy on the line by a 10th of a second! No trophies unfortunately for Moldy, but a lot of pride saved as the results get broadcast to the respective Chiefs of Police at the stations - nice one Moldy!

Epilogue
The rusty old smoker and shell-shocked riders return home with a smile. It was a fun and sunny days racing with plenty of good laughs as usual. The boys agree though....to cut it in the premier league of Superclub and draw their admiring friends back for more, they need to find a big sponsor, get some serious fettling done on their tired bikes and start pounding the treadmill to get in shape.......watch this space as the story continues....

Racing Delayed - The Boys Hit Vegas!!!

2007-03-31T13:49:00.000+01:00

February '07 - Costa Coffee, Banbury
The team makes a dramatic U-Turn.....Moldy closes high-roller Dave "Moneymaker" Walley on a new sponsorship deal using a unique two-spoon technique. Four weeks later the racing's out the window and we're gambling the whole package in a different championship - BINION's No Limit Hold 'Em - the home of the World Series of Poker in downtown LAS VEGAS? Forget yer lap times around Mallory, this is high stakes poker playing against some of coolest dudes in town.

March 18th 2007
A new team is formed:

Dave "Moneymaker" Walley, (rich but scared of wasps)
Mark "Professor" Pritchard-Jeffsy, (more analytical than Stephen Hawkin)
Tim "Speechmaker" Priest, (ex Bible preacher)
Jon "Chip Bleeder" Moldy, (Haemophiliac)
Steve "The Commentator" Longy (Trip Compere)

Moneymaker, books the Bellagio - one of the slickest hotels on the strip - A smart move as the boys from Blighty need to be at their peak if they're gonna kick the Vegas cowboys asses in their own back yard....

Day 1 (Wed)
To kick the jet lag the boys head to the Blackjack tables at the Bellagio. Down a dozen JD's and Margarita's to loosen up and admire some of the local construction work whilst successfully losing a wedge at the tables. Reality suddenly sets in....there no such thing as a free Margarita in Vegas!

Day 2 (Thur)
It's an early start and the Speechmaker is keener than keen - so keen in fact he blows nearly 100 bucks on the machines waiting for the rest of Moneymakers troops to arrive.

It's going to be along day so a hearty breakfast was in order at Binion's greasy spoon. Moldy takes the lead and orders a fruit salad with a "side" - the rest of the the team are impressed with his commitment to a high fibre/ low calorie diet, but puzzled why he's still sporting a Frank Carson paunch. Then it all makes sense when the food arrives....Moldy proceeds to push the gigantic fruit bowl away in disgust, pulls in the side of two 12" pancakes, empties half a pint of maple syrup and cream over the top and gobbles the lot.......The Speechmaker does a short presentation, the Professor gathers his books and then we all head off to the action..............it's Show-Time!

Binions tournament a.m - The boys hit the poker tables for this breakfast warm up and start juggling their chips to impress the locals. Unfortunately, with only 5 minutes training from the Presenter the month before the boys are spilling their chips all over the cloth - The local cowboys start rubbing their hands ready to clean out the wallets of these rookie poker starlets.

Most of the team bomb out early but Speechmaker stays remarkably quiet and focussed and makes it to the final table with barely three chips left. Team blighty gather around the final table anticipating a carefully crafted sermon from the Speechmaker to distract his opponents, but he's too jet lagged to let out more than a squeek and his tight play finishes him out of the money. Nevertheless, a good start, and the boys are ready to do some serious bluffing.....

Bionions tournament p.m - The team heads nervously into tournament 2. Most go out early but unbelievably the Moneymaker, with barely two blinds of chips left, makes a remarkable comeback. Completely ignoring the Professors "Book" and his advice to play only "two bullets" as a minimum starter hand, maverick Walley goes all-in again and again growing his chip stack at a remarkable rate. Incredibly Moneymaker makes the final table from 120 players and then continues to completely bluff his way through to the final heads-up, albeit down on chips compared to his opponent a Dutch cowboy called Van-der-Velt.

Union jacks mix with Orange tango flags around the final table to watch the showdown. Moneymaker bluffs a couple more hands and squares up. Eventually Dutch cowboy crumples under the pressure, pulls out the white flag and pleads with the Moneymaker for a chopped pot. Moneymakers killer instinct to finish #1 comes into play immediately and he instantly agrees to split the princely $2,500 purse in fear of losing the prestigious winners Fruit-of-the-Loom Binions T-shirt....Nevertheless, an awesome result - Her Majesty's train has started rolling...........

The evening dawns and Moneymaker on a complete high from his victory, decides to treat the boys to a slap-up meal at one of the best joints in town - Bellagio's Picasso Restaurant. The adrenalin is still pumping as Moneymaker loses his head completely and declares, "Gentlemen, fill your boots" BEFORE checking the price list! Within a flash the boots are being well and truly filled and the table is full of caviar, smoked salmon, fois gras and lobster and being washed down with some of Vegas' finest wines. The bill arrives and Moneymaker starts to wish he hadn't chopped the pot after all.......

Day 3 (Fri)
The boys take a brief sabbatical - the gang of four head to the golf course and Longy, voted by the team as being the worst golfer in Vegas, struggles to find a friend and heads off into the desert alone and despondent with nothing but a cactus to talk to. Fortunately, Longy is forgiven later and invited back into the fold.

The team has a full set and head off to the famous Golden Nugget in down town Vegas.... With high expectations, after a few hands of blackjack, the boys soon realise that the Nugget is now more of a bronze colour and the complete lack of customer service from croupiers "take no crap" Brenda and the depressed, bearded Hill Billy force the boys to take off to their home turf again - BINIONS. It's time for some rapid fire, "sit n go" Hold 'em.

Longy soon picks up the winners pot in game one, and to the teams joy, the relentless supply of free Margarita's seems to put a stop to Moldy's chip bleeding as he takes down the winners pot in game two - three wins for Blighty!

The poker marathon goes on into the early hours - Moldy and Longy eventually regroup and go in search of the rest of team eventually finding the Speechmaker in full flow at the tables of the Nugget. A sad lonely figure sporting just a chip and chair, he shrewdly delays his way onto the final table by complimenting each of the local cowboys on their natural good looks. The poker endurance is rounded off with a double JD and black coffee at 8am.

Day 4 (Sat)
The phones ring at the luxury rooms of the Bellagio at 10am - it's the Moneymaker. The team has been sanctioned to the lobby for the BIG weekend Hold 'em tournament at..you guessed it....Binions Casino. Nearly 200 poker dudes gather to enter the $3,500 weekend tournament. The Professor is champing at the bit for this one, clearly over his jet lag having gone to bed AFTER 12am the night before he's in the zone.

The team disperse as they go to battle........within an hour the Moneymaker is out - riding his luck from his first major win, he goes all-in on a full house only to be out drawn. Eventually its down to just the Professor and Longy to fly the flag on the last two tables -but completely out of character, the Professor gets his decimal point in the wrong place and blows out - but still makes the money in 15th. Meantime, Longy looking more like Mr T is his bracelets and shades, blags his way onto the final table with some superlative poker play. The boys look on in amazement as the local pro's fold and fold again clearly intimidated by the glittering poker god.

It's show down time on the final table..........the crowd gathers and Longy, keeping his composure purely from a complete lack of sleep drinking JD's on ice until 8am, realises he's going to miss the Cirque du Soleil mega show and goes all-in on A-7 unsuited...unluckily he loses out to just a Q kicker on a dubious call. Nevertheless, a result - nearly $800 in the bag and a seat at the Cirque to round off a night of a lifetime......awesome!!!

Epilogue
What a trip.....even better than a 59s lap of Mallory Park riding a Honda Hornet- the Moneymaker led the boys from blighty into battle and we did well. After a quick pit stop at the airport where the presenter picked up a meagre 500 bucks on the slots, the Professor squeezed in a bit more studying of advanced statistical theory of video poker, and Moldy continued to hone is looks around Phil Hellmuth, the team made a pledge to return in 2009 to bring home the WSOP bracelet to rest in the legendary poker halls of the Stratford Welcome Hotel and Country Club.....

Mallory Oct '06 - Vimto Pops his Cork, Moldy Eats Gravel...!

2006-10-30T17:03:00.000Z

As Longy tries to explain the intricate racing lines of Mallory park to his 83 year old mother-in-law driving her to Heathrow airport, the rest of the S&M clan headed north to their home circuit Mallory park. It's the last time the red mist will come down in 2006 and they want to end it on a high.

Matt Vimto Strong had been practising on the tricky little circuit all day Saturday trying to remember if he had a five or six speed gearbox after his 12 month lay off from race duty. Now recalled back into the team, he's riding the crest of a wave after completely blitzing all the riders in the novice group. Even a few minor gear change snags could not temper his enthusiasm. The boy wonder was feeling well prepared to teach the New Era big guns: Ivan-the-Terrible, the Bionic Man Hardwicke and Colin Plumb-the Plumber a lesson or two as he tucked into his second pint of Vimto at the B&B later.

Come the dawn....Race day...Moldy ignores the change from British summer time and sleeps in for an extra two hours as Vimto-Matt polishes his helmet, leaves his B&B and good lady Sabrina to rest, and heads to the circuit to "kick some ass". Suited and booted, warmers on and fueled up ready for action, he goes to sign on but then starts to confuse the officials when he requests to go into the intermediate group. Moldy meantime changes out of his pajamas and hopes his race is the last one of the day to give him chance to wake up properly.

Qualifying: Moldy qualifies well, he's 4th CB500 on a mixed grid of 125's, CB's and Honda C90's. It's head-to-head time again with his old buddy PC #22 - another plod vs plod fest was being savoured by the loyal SandM supporters who had made the trip. Vimto meantime fires up the Hornet but then is puzzled that none of the bikes in the holding area are sporting registration plates - Oh Sh**, he suddenly realises, the race office have put him into the fast group. He starts to perspire relentlessly.

Feeling like he was on death-row, Vimto nervously tries to click the bike into gear to ready himself for action - but a false neutral hits!, He senses something could be wrong with the finely fettled machine.....then realises this could be a result! Breathing a sigh of relief he immediately starts to wheel the Hornet toward the garages to park her up for the day, but then accidentally engages first gear with his toe slider and gets waved onto the circuit by the scrutineers. Vimto has no choice, he has to follow the pack - damn! That freshly baked croissant back at the B&B flashes before him again.

As the nerves subside, Vimto winds up the Hairnet and realises it's all coming back. Memories of those head to head dices with Longy and top runners of old like Alastair Fagan, the trophy's glistening in the cabinet and his complete mastery of Mallory Park where he breezed 1.10min lap times in damp conditions - he's lovin it... But then suddenly, "click" nothing, "click-click" nothing - driving out of Gerrards he's only got 4th gear, out of the esses, no 5th gear.....Vimto's vision of wheeling the Hornet past the chequered flag in first place are shattered and he reluctantly pulls the Hornet in for observation from chief spanner man Martin Strong-Man. It's bad news again - another dead Hornet for S&M - a gear box failure and Vimto is out. Moldy swiftly hand writes a P45 for the Chief Engineer.

Race 5: Moldy has his usual head-to-head with PC#22. Missing out by just 2 tenths of a second after a thrilling dice, they are wheel to wheel past the chequered flag. Another fourth place leaves Moldy in a safe seventh spot in the New Era Club championship. Lintin takes the Hornet race by a huge margin and smashes the lap record.

Race 11: With all the responsibility of the team resting on Moldy's shoulders, he nails it off the line determined to teach Officer Dibble #22 a lesson this time. Having beaten his personal best and now racing at the 1m 5s lap time mark, Moldy is really starting to get the hang of this game. Confident, almost aloof, he's swinging the bike around the demanding circuit like poetry in motion. But then a pesky 125 #20 - a little white gnat of a bike is hassling him on every bend. Moldy stamps his authority and blocks him corner after corner. Frustrated, the gnat makes a dive for the inside line on the exit of Edwina's.... they collide, Moldy hits the grass with both wheels locked - it's curtains and he heads for the gravel with a triple-salco. Moldy accepts a can of Stella from a nearby race fan and contemplates what could have been.....

Epilogue: It's the end of the season for SandM Team Racing. Only a few races were had and there were some ups and downs....but that's racing. The team now re-group and plan their strategy for their Xmas party at Chicago Rock. Next year it's a full blown challenge for the New Era Club Titles. Watch this space for pictures of Martin Strong-Man schmoozing on the dance floor at The Rock!

Brands Oct 06 - Moldy Storms It, Longy Blows It!

2006-10-19T09:44:00.000+01:00

Without team boss Martin Strong Man, and Matt "Vimto" Strong Jnr still in semi-retirement, the depleted SandM Racing Team head off to Brands. Bleary eyed after a 5am rise, but safe in the knowledge of shedding 1 pound between both riders through an intense work out at the gym, the sun is shining and things are looking good for the team. However, on arrival at the circuit things start to wobble. An angry Sound of Thunder racer has taken possession of their garage #10 and refuses entry to "those shopping trolleys". Moldy, fully trained in armed combat, takes to him by swiftly removing his collapsible chairs from the garage and Longy apologises and offers him a sandwich from his packed lunch. Garage #25 it was then.Practice goes well. Today is the day when Moldy #40 loses his baby bib. Qualifying on second row of the CB500 race and beating his personal best by nearly 2 seconds, knee down, head down chin on the tank, he's flying.

Longy #4, scrubs in some new rubber, but then gets baulked by twenty 400's but still manages to put in a reasonable 55.1 s lap to qualify third Hornet and sixth on a big grid - it's gonna be showdown time between him and the bionic man, Sean Hardwicke, an 18 year old, seven foot giant, crash-or-win merchant who was recently rebuilt with an integrated HRC unit.

But then Longy's plan goes completely pear shaped. As the Hornet arrives back at garage #25, the beast explodes into a fit of steam. They wonder if this had something to do with the angry Sound Of Thunder rider in garage 10.....but it's terminal - a head gasket has gone and his race is run .... Longy wishes he had not taken the Chief Mechanics advice to run the Hornet on Sunflower Mineral Oil.

So it's down to Moldy to bring back the winners laurels....He gets off to a blinding start in race one cleverly rolling the bike on the starting grid in anticipation of the green light. Piling into Paddock Hill he's almost leading the pack. With immaculate lines on every bend, looking well ahead of the corner, belly pan and exhaust scraping the tarmac, Jon is on the limit of the bikes capabilities. Lap after lap the tension builds, superbly driving the 50bhp monster out of Clearways for the last time Moldy crosses the chequered flag in second...........but then a serious miscalculation - a heavily disguised blue and white CB500 with a Suzuki paint job finished ahead of him - it's still a third!

Moldy and Longy head off to the New Era awards dept to collect the silverware, only to find the club has cut its budget even further and are only handing out the Egg Cups to the first rider now. (If only they hadn't run three championships last year!)

The final CB500 race of the day brings a 4th spot for Moldy and meantime the bionic man, Hardwicke #37, brings home his body and bike behind the blindingly quick Banana coloured bike of Chaz Beale #94 - most improved rider of the year.

Epilogue:
Moldy and Longy decide to take advantage of the steaming Hornet and shed a few more pounds in garage #25 before taking to the pub for 10 pints and a Vindaloo. The SOT rider was also invited but refused politely...Watch out for the next episode at Mallory when Matt "Vimto" Strong Jnr returns to the track after a 12 month lay-off. Yes...he's back! and Chief Mechanic Strong Man, diagnoses the broken Hornet in the workshop.

Mallory Sept 06 - Back on the Road Again!

2006-10-17T23:39:00.001+01:00

Steve Long #4, - Longy qualifies reasonably well in 6th against a mix of 27 Hornets and 400's. But breaks his personal best with a 59s, 83.5 mph average lap. Things are looking up considering he's not stepped on the bike since April - but the leaders soon start to disappear over the horizon once the lights turn to green...

Jon Mold #40 - Meantime in the CB500's, Moldy, as a highly respected member of the Grand Met Police force, forgets he can exceed the limit and cruises off the line in the wake of the leading pack....

Realising there are no speed cameras at Mallory Park, Moldy gets his head down, only to come across #22 , another plod, who has also forgotten its a no limits race day. Jon rides around the outside, and miraculously out breaks him with his 10 year old brake pads into Edwina's. The crowd go wild!

Longy (the 5th bike) meantime looks ahead at a yellow bike wishing he was that slim, that young and that yellow. Sadly the gap widens as he passes the chequered flag 3rd in the Hornet class. Punching the air, thinking he had picked up some silverware, he was chuffed, only to find that New Era had tightened their budget and only hand the silver egg cups out the first two riders (how tight is that!)

Meantime, thinking it's in the bag, Moldy shifts back into rush hour traffic mode. Sitting bold upright on the exit to Gerrards, thinking of what he's having for tea, PC #22 makes a dash and nips him to the flag.

Epilogue:
Chief Engineer and Team Manager - Martin Strong Man, buys a copy of Carol Valderman's slimming book "Detox for Life" and we all head down the gym in our Lycra outfits. Watch out for the next installment at Brands Hatch to see if it paid off.....

PS. see the video... click here