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'Exe
Valley LDT' Petherick
wins mc's - Norman wins cars. 
Roy Turner starting off at
Kingswell.
Although it was a superb
and sunny Sunday morning, the previous weeks weather had produced some
really wet sections for competitors on the Exeter Crashbox Club's 'Exe
Valley Classic Trial'.
Get real - an ancient Ford
Popular on the infamous Simms Hillclimb.
So it was with some
trepidation and fear that many approached the sections at Upper
Kingswell farm - after remembering the sticky gloop that caught out so
many - hidden in the bottom of harmless looking, if rather deep, muddy
puddles!
Paul Burnett depth testing
section two!
Most bikes got through
these okay without a hitch, but the 'restart' half way up the slimy
Kingswell section, where riders had to stop, put their feet down between
the two marker posts and then pull away without 'dabbing', proved
another story for some!
Andy & Anita Petherick
muscle their chair through the quagmire.
Most sections in this
'long distance' - or 'classic trial', are marked with signs counting
down from 10 to zero. The further you progress without stopping, or in
the case of bikes - putting your feet down (known as 'dabbing'), the
less penalty marks you get scored against you. At the end of the day,
the rider or driver with least points wins.
They say old bikes never
die, sadly Tom Beckerleg after doing
well here, was forced to retire later in the day.
The results tell it all,
many bikes did not manage to pull away without fish-tailing violently
causing riders to dab 'rather a lot'. Some could not move away without
help, and others needed assistance to make it out of the section. - so
annoying when you get within 5 meters of the end of a 200 meter section,
done without a hitch - then grind to a halt!
The restart proved tricky
for this old competitor, spinning wildly
and it seems going backwards!
Many cars fared no
better. It was noticeable how many fairly modern fords failed half way
through the Kingswell section with serious misfires - including last
years winner. It turned out that these were the guys who remembered how
'sticky' the water was last year, so gassed it through, making huge bow
waves - only to find it wasn't so sticky this year. Sadly Fords never
did cope with water on ignition systems very well and in these sort of
conditions, only firing on 2 cylinders just won't cut it when the cars
weigh a ton on and they're on a steep muddy Devonshire hillside in
October!
Graham Makepiece checking
which line to take next.
Now unfortunately you
can't push cars out so easily as bikes when they grind to a halt
blocking the track. But being well organised, a massive 4wd tractor was
at hand for these 'more awkward moments'!
This rare pre WW2 MG should
be resting polished in a museum - but...
... here it is pulling wheelies at Simms in 2005 !!!
Later in the day after
many more sections I caught up with the action once more at the infamous
Simms hillclimb. Most bikes had gone through without a hitch, but the
car action proved a real eye opener, with many an old museum piece
putting in truly hot performances - but not all made it. There was more
than one or two 'blow -ups'.
Julie and Keith make a big
splash as they start Kingswell.
Still it all made for a
very entertaining day out for competitors and spectators alike - and
also provided great photo opportunities which I hope you enjoy.
Chris Lidstone with feet up
during a restart - for those that
have never tried, this is much harder than it looks!
It was very noticeable
that this whole event was run in a great atmosphere, with helpers,
marshals, organisers and entrants all being very chatty and having a
good time.
It was interesting to
note, that although some very new and expensive 2 and 4 wheel machinery
was entered, some of the oldest did the best. So come on all those that
have ancient motorised relics locked away at home. Dig them out, get
them started - and go have some fun!
Overall winners were:
Motorcycles - Anita and
Andy Petherick.
Cars - Ross Norman.
Full Results HERE
Photos: Adrian
Harris
Please Note: Photos
of nearly all competitors - on both Bikes and Cars are available for a
small fee to cover costs - and some are truly awesome. Anyone interested
please contact [email protected]
Articles Copyright ©
DirtyBiking 2005. Not to be
reproduced without prior permission.
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