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11th November 2011
Ryan and Nina have bought a new house this weekend which leaves Moto x on the back burner. The new house is being totally rewired and therefore decorated throughout – Ryan plans to stay with us for a week whilst this work is carried out. No chance…….

Have been shooting twice in last week with the season in full swing and going better than it has done for years. Both gamekeepers put in a tremendous amount of work and despite near drought conditions in the summer the extra effort has been well worth it. I have never seen so many ducks shot on what are primarily pheasant’s shoots and considering how few ducks we put out the returns have been phenomenal.
Went to Lee Bayley’s secret 40th, it was a secret from him but someone spoilt it by inviting him in the end! It was a great evening and good to meet current Moto x friends as well as old ones. Lee’s wife Jayne and family really did him proud and everyone there had a terrific time.

Rumours abound with regard to Wem club the latest one being that they have left the AMCA. The club are still waiting for notification that this is the case but is preparing to take matters in their own hands if needs be. Plenty of other rumours with regard to clubs being asked to join the new Association which don’t stack up although one club has asked for one of the Wem committee members to talk to them about what is going on. I must admit I still feel that this hiccup is repairable and indeed there are lessons to be learnt by the AMCA hierarchy.

Looks like the Beach race was a well-run event as we expect nowadays from the AMCA events team although looking at the results the event seemed to be short of AMCA members who had to pay the full price. Still it will be nice to hear how large the profit was on this event after the turnaround from last year’s mega loss. I understand the AMCA keeping quiet when a loss is made on an event but we really need to hear about the successes too.

Wolverhampton club reverts back to its old meeting place at the British Oak in Willenhall from this Tuesday and Burntwood Barracudas Presentation evening is on the 19th November. Still plenty to do!
2nd November 2011
Regular Motocross has finished now so time to get some serious maintenance done on both the bikes and the truck. The 5K generator we bought this year is still awaiting a screw before it is re-fitted to the truck and a new awning leg is on its way (thanks dogs). Hopefully we will get one or two meetings in over the winter but as Ryan and Nina are moving house this may not be practical.

What is attractive is that Wem club are running a meeting at Shawbury on the 6th of November for any licence holders. A bit like the AMCA organised Masters series really but for clubmen, as the AMCA insist on running events for non AMCA licence holders what a shame they can’t take a leaf out of Wem clubs book and give its own members a ride in the winter so that the Licence really does last twelve months. I hear that other AMCA clubs may be looking to do the same and who knows it may progress into summer as well. Good luck to all of the clubs and especially Wem on this new venture.
The nice thing about the above event is that at least Wem club know exactly what insurance cover they have. It would appear (according to the notes from the AMCA motocross meeting) that we now find out that the much vaulted AMCA insurance does not cover the type of accident which occurred at Ollerton clubs meeting last month. It is a worry that such a basic accident carries no cover and all unpaid club officials must be left wondering if it is worth risking organising events if their club, or even worse,they have to cover the risk.

The other point raised from the notes is that at last we see how member’s ideas are handled. It turns out that no matter how much members raise the issue of overpriced one day licences acting as a barrier to new members, it is only the Directors who (apparently) have the authority to do anything (read nothing) about it. I think that that just about sums up the thinking in the AMCA nowadays.
What was once a democratic institution has become inverted and lost its way. Time is running out and some people just need to move over rather than just sit on the job.

The good news is that the shooting is going better than ever this year, both syndicates have new ‘guns’ and more new ‘drives’ and the overall result is much better days with a great atmosphere. This Wednesday saw the Lizard with two new visitors and both bought a bottle of port with them for after the evening banquet. Unfortunately after the meal I went to talk to the cooks for a few minutes and when I returned one bottle was already dry and the other locked away for next time. Of course next time, the cooks can sort out their own bloody problems!!
Polesworth 23rd October 2011
Shooting season has started in earnest now, with both syndicates in full swing. Wednesday saw a fair day considering the cover in the tree’s and Saturday giving some different drives which proved a success. Unfortunately for me my days of riding motocross after a previous full day of  shooting leaves me a little jaded but it had to be done.

Polesworth club had done a lot of work to the circuit adding lots of woodchip to the surface which seems to be a popular move. Personally I am still not sure if this is always a good idea but it certainly did no harm and most riders thought it was better so I will go with the flow. It was certainly not a waste of money but for me these things are never ‘black or white’. I certainly enjoyed the day there more than I have for a long time even if the MX1’s were mixed with the MX2’s. Polesworth didn’t have much choice but to run unlimited races prior to the event due to the number of entries but I must admit had I have known I would not have entered. I had two of the closest calls this season and both were with careering MX2 bikes out of control and way off the racing line. That’s not a complaint as such but many MX1 riders prefer not to ride with MX2’s due to the high ‘incident’ ratio when the two classes are combined. My feeling is that they have as much right to be on the track as me but it is a fact that I prefer not to take the risk and having had my day so to speak I would rather they got on with it.

Ryan had a poor start in his first race, when Polesworth club tried out the flag start system that proves to be so popular in the winter, but managed to go round the first few corners in third place on his second race with a big improvement in lap times. His third race was back to normal when he hit the start gate before it had even started to drop but at least his lap times stayed reasonable. Some of the expert riders were disappointed not to ride with the same lads they had raced all season with at least one rider taking the option to double enter on the day.
I hear that next year we will be the ‘Central Group’ although that seems to be a leaked secret, with a couple of other clubs joining the old South Staffs group. I think we have a fixture meeting at the end of the month, maybe it will become clear then.

So another AMCA season comes to a close, I guess all in all it has been a little disappointing for Gordons Racing. Ryan tried to attend the qualifiers for the championships, one round being an excellent meeting with the other a total disaster and although the championships have been poorly attended this year nothing is being done to rectify the situation. Justin seemed to be on the way to stardom but somewhere along the way I guess he became comfortable which is somewhat distressing. Ryan had a mighty fall leading to concussion at mid point in the season and has struggled to regain his confidence. Luckily if you take all of this into consideration we still finished the season with a smile. Probably the biggest success of the season was getting Eloise back after so long away from her friends at the motocross, so a big thank you to all that welcomed her back!

Back to business. Polesworth ran a meeting that was worthy of being the last of the season lots of hard work and good organisation, well done to the club and thanks.
Coalville 16th October 2011
Nathans birthday bash at our house the night before so we travelled up on Sunday morning on what looked like being a dull day.  Things were a little slow starting so the club used the time to spread a little more water about which paid dividends later on. Unfortunately neither of the ‘booked’ stewards turned up (well done chaps….enjoy the fine) so I was one of the unfortunates asked to volunteer. The woops had been altered to AMCA speck but unfortunately the way the club had done it made them more dangerous than before…….I suspect a little two finger waving going on there, but other than that the circuit was about the same. Unfortunately the run off can be a little sparse and of course we have the usual suspects trying to flout the safety rules in such a busy area. Drongo of the day award goes to the adult who lifted his son’s auto off the vehicle and then proceeded to watch him ride around the paddock with no safety gear on at all!! Why should he care about the safety of others when he doesn’t even care about the safety of his own son! Some people are just an embarrassment.

We had discussed riding in the paddock at length on Saturday during a meeting at the AMCA office where I made the point that you can hardly discipline riders for riding in the paddock when the run offs are poor. I think I found the D**k head that could make me eat my words. Strangely we also discussed the possibility of reducing support to IMBA’s and making more rules to make the AMCA championships even less attractive too riders. We didn’t discuss the losses made by the Masters series or the Beach race and neither did we discuss the way non AMCA licence holders are subsidised at these events run by the office but then neither did we mention the fact that the office can allow non licence holders at the events they run but the clubs can’t.

The AMCA dictatorship seem to have decreed that the froch review will take place after the season has finished whilst taking a swipe at getting the system finished off. It makes me smile when ‘giving’ us three options for next year’s groupings the one that most agreed on was put forward by ……….sorry I am gloating….ho-hum…. Looks like the idea of re-presenting the one day licence to make it more appealing got the support from the junta we would expect….we don’t want ODL’s to become popular do we, it wouldn’t do to give members what they want… that would be like eerrr, serving the membership.

At least the entry fees have only gone up by one pound, that means that one groups first 15 meetings next year will pay off this year’s Masters loss. But really we must look at what the Masters does for the AMCA, it’s not all bad, let’s just mention one or two of the good things………….eerr maybe we should come back to that later.

Back to Coalville, Ryan began to pick his game up at last with two meetings to go but better late than never, if he could have mastered the start better he would have had the extra ‘lift’ but my word what a mess that start is…..all for the sake of a bar. Justin is never happy here but he did ok but I must admit I thought by now he would have had a couple of trophies under his belt. I enjoyed the day both watching and riding although the low sun made me pull off during the last race.

A good day I thought, marred by poor Lawrence Palmer breaking his leg, but I am sure he will bounce back. Well done Coalville Club.
Derby at Alport Heights 9th October 2011
Bit of a wet and windy weekend this one but with the promise of Saturday night games and food provided, we decided to give it a go. Derby club have carried out a lot of work over the last few months and in truth one of the best modifications was changing the Paddock.

We arrived with just enough light left to get ‘set up’ and be ready for the night’s entertainment at 7.30. The club had provided a fire and food along with a few embarrassing games which went down really well and gave us chance to talk to some of those faces you see every week but never speak to.

The circuit looked really good the next morning although a strong gusting wind was a problem but would not affect the racing.

Practice went well other than a lad on an mx2 bike shouting for me to get out of the way. He obviously had forgotten it was practice and I had awarded him a chance to ‘think out of the box’ and try another line.

No doubt when he went back to the paddock he was able to tell his mates how he won practice!
I think Ryan must be working too hard at the moment as he has been unable to find his form since his heavy fall at Tunstall Hall a few weeks ago. Despite last week’s practice session and a different exhaust he seems to stay well within his comfort zone even though he knows he can go quicker. Justin went a little better this week which may be down to Laura’s homemade biscuits but in fairness he did not enjoy the track.

I thought the layout was superb although they maybe need to send the digger driver home early next time as every jump seems to have a launcher which sends you straight up with most people having heavy landings all day.
Where the waves used to be is now an eight foot high jump with a flat land behind it which did not impress most people. I only tried jumping it once but at my speed the landing was like jumping off a garage roof and my knees and ankles won’t take much of that. Never the less Derby Club keep tweaking the circuit to suit all abilities and this was only a small point.

It was great to see Jack Bass clinch second overall in the 2T championship and Dean Swift borrow a 250  2T (spit) so he could ride in the mx1 experts for a change and take a win!

It’s a shame that one or two of the grouping proposals would see Derby leave our group…..I think, In truth as usual the AMCA have come up with some complicated plans to reshape the groups . I personally am a little tired of saying ‘simple works’. So we will wait and see on this one.

Derby Club got through the programme with ease despite some blustery rain and a couple of red flags and gave us all a good day.
Weatheroak & 2nd October 2011
Drove into the rain at Weatheroak…it was unbelievable but we all thought it would be over in a few minutes……no chance. The rain did stop during practice and the track revived quite quickly but during my first race it started raining for the last three laps making things a little tricky!

Ryan had fallen off in his first race so he was out of things really but he went out in the second race and really enjoyed himself in the slop. He was up to his normal tricks of spraying spectators with mud etc as he had pulled off probably his best start of the season only to have Andy Marchant fall off in front of him on the first bend so he went down as well. By this time it had stopped raining and Stratford club had announced that power washers were now ok to be used as they are usually banned in the paddock here.

Quite who changed the farmers mind is not known but whilst it was welcome, it was annoying that due to the ‘no wash’ rule some riders had gone home early, some had not got their bikes out of the vans and some had not entered at all!
The track was drying out quickly in the sun and it became hard work as the slop turned to a thick claylike substance. I asked five times during the day if the third block would be run and I was assured it would be and many riders sat in muddy clothes for the third block to begin.

It was announced that the third block was running again just as the last race of the second block was beginning but within two minutes the ‘I think we have done enough’ bug struck and the meeting was cancelled. All the riders waiting in the paddock were told it was impossible to get around, whilst they watched the second inter race!

The sun was out, the worst conditions had been encountered two races ago as the track dried out and the slop had turned to clay, it was now firming up as we watched it. Still not to worry Stratford had run two races so they didn’t need to give any money back and it’s obvious that’s how it works around here. Must remember this next time it’s raining at one of our meetings, sorry, next time it HAS rained at one of our meetings.

I have never known a meeting cancel so easily in the South Staffs group before and in no way will this help to retain riders into the future.
The next weekend saw Mid Socs at Mallory but we were not entering as it was Nathans daughters christening. I have to admit that this was a release for us as we realised some time ago that Mallory Park is this groups ‘bogey’ track. Once more things went wrong (and there is a perfectly good reason for that) and the meeting was cancelled.

You really do have to call this the new Mid Socs club as instead of rolling over and saying ‘oh poor us’, they jumped in and with the help from Cannock Club, ran at Abbotts Bromley. A fantastic effort at such short notice and it was nice to hear of a club with enthusiasm and drive to pull this off.

We went practising on Saturday at Olympia for a change. Reg was quite cheerful but the track was baked hard in the sun but never the less we had a good day giving us a chance to carry out a few ‘tweaks’’ to Ryan’s bike. It was almost like going to an AMCA meeting with so many riders there who had not entered Sunday’s meeting giving the place, for once, quite a friendly atmosphere.
The Christening went well even though Chloe had chicken pox, how’s that for timing. The ‘do’ after was at the Nag’s Head in Burntwood and we had a great time with friends and family. It was great to see no one having too much to drink as we were in the pub for hours but then as it cost me £16.50 for five drinks no one was going to get plastered.

Of course the joke of the week was the AMCA questionnaire regarding how you would like to get ripped off for next year’s racing. I am not sure what they are up to with this one unless it was a basic maths test for motocrossers, of course the figures were bogus anyway but I guess the idea was there but it just shows the thinking when the best deal is for riders that support the system less than the weekly regulars. Yes these are the very same people who charge off making all kinds of decisions without discussion first. Yet again showing members that they really need to talk to members before they have brainwaves!
 
Stylus Ink