So here is what I can remember of my first FULL race meet swinging on a classic sidecar.
We arrived Friday night at Manfield, got McDees for dinner then headed to the track to park up and get a good nights sleep in the van. Hmmmmm gates locked! Feck!! Jump one fence, and roll under another and soon we have the van inside and got dibbs on 3 pits.
All geared up before the first practice….
All week I was thinking – swinging for your partner, it’s a health and safety risk for sure. I had Mens Refuge number on speed dial in case Gordie needed it.
While waiting for first practice I decided to have a swing while it was stationary to get my head around where my limited reach could and couldn’t take me. In Steves wisdom he stated we should suss out some sign language if I leant on Gordies foot, so it was decided that he would fap his arms about doing the chicken dance “na na na na na na na na na na na na”
5min call for Sidecars came up, and I was already geared up. My stomach turning, burning and cramping up … I tell myself “hold it, there is no time”
We head out for our first practice, and before we even get out of pit lane I sees the chicken dance …”Feck T get off his leg”
Then after the first corner I was like “Oh fuck this”. And through the S’s I was like “Move. Feck… too fecking slow, feck sorry Gordie”. And then I sees the chicken dance …”FECK T, GET OFF HIS LEG”. “Oh there goes the straight … feck I forgot to release my death grip” Then I see the white flag and think “how the fuck am I going to hang on for another fuckengoddamarsefarken lap”.
As we pull in I lift my sweaty arse crack off the sidecar and reflect - I must say there were a few surprises;
• It is faster than I thought …hold the fuck on, hold the fuck on, get over there, now there, now back again…feck
• what going sideways feels like
• only 4 laps holding on with a death grip, you get utterly rooted to the point where you think you can’t hang on anymore but somehow you do
• how awesome a little checkerd flag can make you feel
Second Practice
Was short and not so sweet, after the first lap I thought Gordie had missed a gear and gone into neutral … certainly what it sounded like to my uneducated ear anyway. We push the beemer to a safe wee spot, where Gordie then tried to re-start it. It did not sound good, metal munching sounds are never a good sound. I had flash backs from when my Trumpy imploded. So I am thinking, that’s it for our weekend … AWWW STINK!!!
We look over the tyre wall, and there is Tracey and Adrian hanging out in the paddock, and a bit further around the track another sidecar had been flipped upside down… all in all, a shitty practice.
Back in the pits (quite aptly named at this point in time I thought) the first thing I saw was Steves little face, all sad and heartbroken, and a slightly dropped lip, as his broken up beemer is wheeled in.
Well the boys certainly didn’t waste any time getting stuck in, screw drivers were flying, ratchets were ratcheting, and fingers they were bleeding, all done with various onlookers. It turns out, Gordie broke Steves ring piece, and with that many laughs were had.
First Race
Yes, the boys came through with no minutes to spare…talk about stressful. But due to the ring gear removal, the starter motor was no longer a functioning part, so we had to push start the bloody thing. NOT AN EASY THING TO DO!! But eventually, thanks to Adrian, we got it going.
In terms of the race? I will let nodrog say this bit, as I was far too busy hanging on, concentrating on when to move my arse, remembering to release my death grip, and staying off Gordies leg. I do remember us passing Wills and Julie, and thinking fark we must be doing alright.
Food, cider, KFC and sleep, was next on the agenda.
Day 2 – Race 2
It was decided pretty early in the day that I had to batter my eyelashes at some men down the way that owned some pretty hefty starting rollers. They were very helpful thank fark, because I was not looking forward to push starting the beemer again.
During the race I had timing issues through the S’s but Gordie was awesome and rode like a demon, so we didn’t do too badly. Again, I will let nodrog say this bit. As all I remember was there were a few sidecars getting very close
Race 3
Our friendly mates who were letting us scab a start on their starting rollers, were not so happy. Seems the beemer was gauging out their rollers. So again I had to go on the scrounge for another set of starter rollers. With that sorted we were heading out for our 3rd race.
And again, I will let nodrog say this bit
Race 4
I was rooted before I even got out there, and yes it was physically rooted, but more mentally. It took me back to the days when I was learning to ride a road bike, there is so much going on, so much you need to be aware of. I had sensory overload.
And yet again, I will let nodrog say this bit about the race.
I would just like to say a massive big fat thank you to Steve Bryan for letting us play with your toy yet againAnd for your pearls of wisdom - I am just sorry I had sensory overload by then and couldn't give it a go
And Gordie, thank you so much for being you, you are just awesome. And that is the most fun we have had with our pants on.
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Originally Posted by Stirts
Did ya managed to get any pics of ya swinging days? 
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