100 mile Team Scramble.

[Soggy Welly]

Nice one chaps, as Kim says a bit of banter is part of the fun. To address a few points

1. brilliant explanation Brian. Of course what is meant to happen and what actually happens are very different things.
2. Whilst our team ( Greeves smokin' strokers) may not be the fastest, history would suggest that the team that gets to the end in one piece usually does well. So I fully expect Kim to rev the wotsits off his bike until it goes bang trying to catch the CZ's , whilst Dave and his lads get all giddy with the thought of silverware and come a cropper.
3. Peter, I travel darn sarf to Essex from Sheffield on a regular basis to ride. Reading is almost local in comparison. And well worth the journey for a great fun weekend. Brian is absolutely right, the helpers are as important as the riders. Having done the pit crew as well as riding, both are brilliant fun.
4. Dave, if you are crashing the bbq, I'll bring some soft drinks for you
5. Kim, glad to hear Sam has sorted the QUB, but unfortunately he won't be riding it! A quick glance at the results from Woodford shows you a commendable 4th in both championship rounds.....just behind our secret weapon, Mark Larter, on a lowly twin port. A beer at the end of the race will taste good after sucking in Marks' dust all day

Sorry I won't see most of you at Maylandsea on 5th May (its my daughters 21st) but I will use the opportunity to get race fit by eating cake.

[dave higgins]

Paul, i think you will still be out doing your last shift when the party starts..... as for silver ware, closest im gonna get is keeping me fillings..... ps, do you think two sausages will be enough?

[whitehillbillies]

Hope we get to see some pics, posted.
Old man said he saw Lands End Trial, riders past Bude a few weeks ago.
Anyone enter ?

whitehillbilly

[Soggy Welly]

Paul, i think you will still be out doing your last shift when the party starts..... as for silver ware, closest im gonna get is keeping me fillings..... ps, do you think two sausages will be enough?

Its a very scenic course Dave, it would be a shame to rush it. As to the two sausages, I suppose you are all consenting adults but what your team are planning to get up to in the back of your van is your business. I'll stick with the bbq

[Kim275]

Of course Greeves and Mortimer have our secret weapon Cox by name Cox by nature .... we won’t be shy in the sausage department !! And watch out Higgo he isn’t fussy

Soggy no chance of me eating Larters dust ... Woodford was just a shake down and indeed a tour due to skippy clutch now sorted .....just watch out for my elbows they are wide and sharp PS Can you bring one of your Villiers chain saws so we can have a real BBQ

[Kim275]

Just double checked the clutch with the assistance of Guru Dave Harper on the phone .... we are all good to go ...
i took her down our lane to test some ripping starts , pinned it through the gears flat out in 4th ..... then back to the bat cave meanwhile the Surrey police helicopters circle overhead and neighbours are calling the woldingham vigilante ( church council ) group

bloody hell she is so so fast now the clutch is sorted !!! And just ever so scarily snoisy on full chat for the good burgers of Surrey
Cant wait for the 100 miler

[Soggy Welly]

I know what you mean Kim, doesn't half get the curtains twitching when you share the experience with the neighbours. I kicked the griff over in garage with door shut the other day to fiddle with carburation. I thought chainsaw earmuffs would be ok, but ears ringing for several hours afterwards! Many years of chainsaws have done for my hearing anyway so coupled with reducing eyesight, sore knees, bad back, and memory loss, there's not much of me that works. And I'm only 24.....

I'll bring some firewood rather than going for the slash and burn technique in the local hedgerows. If there are any hedgerows left after 2 yrs ago

[Brian Catt]

I was hoping that one of our members what took part would have ritten something by now....I'll do the basics!
There were 3 teams that featured Greeves bikes, but none had a 4 bikes in them. As Soggy Welly (Paul Hughes) had entered a Team consisting of himself (380 Griffon), Adran Dickerson (250 Hawkstone) and Mark Larter (380 Griffon), there was a vacancy filled by an unsuspecting gent from out west with a 600cc BSA. I'll not go into details, but the frame number plate did not seem to match the tubing presented....
As per the usual procedure, Adrian took the first stint, then Paul, then Mark and finally, the gent on the BSA. That order was repeated many times, with myself being the bike pusher, retrieving the bike from the Stop Box once the rider had run to our pit box to change the Race Number Bib. The transponder was taken from the incoming bike by one of the ladies who had to be substituted as the rough ground did her ankle no favours!
All went well until I was pushing Paul's bike back only to see him running towards me inorder to get his bike down to the start as a substitute for Mark's bike because the back brake pedal had become detached. When Mark came in with Paul's bike, the chain came off but was easily replaced. Only problem was that it showed up a slightly dodgy rear wheel bearing.
Within a few minutes, we realised that the BSA was not too well in the kickstarter department and no amount of Viagra would fix it! This bike was going out for the absolute final stint and would need a a bump start, but despite the combined efforts of a cast of thousands, it took a long while to burst into life. This episode lost us at least 2 laps, so demoting us at least 1 place in the final scores! We were not too disappointed, as we had 4 running bikes at the end, even if some minor surgery was needed on several of them!
As an aside, pushing the 4 bikes revealed that the BSA was the easiest to push, then the Griffons and finally Adrian's bike. I think the lower bars on that made the effort needed more than the others. My poor back was not to happy after this event, and caused me some pain during a skittles match that evening!

[ADickerson]

Thanks for posting Brian and indeed for the sterling contribution made to the teams efforts. Needless to say a thoroughly enjoyable time was had by all I believe and certainly as far as I'm concerned. Was that BSA really a 600! no wonder we struggled to bump start it. I'd almost resigned myself to getting togged up and go out once again before it finally got going. I've written a short piece for the club mag so won't bore you with it by posting here. Sorry to learn of a sore back afterwards, but hopefully the efforts of Paul Hughes culinery expertise on the barbeque subsequently helped to satisfy the appetite after fours of denial had provided some consolation. Hope you are more comfortable now?