This event has held a special place in my heart since I first competed. Was ages ago and I only entered to settle a bet with Whitetrash, I was hooked.
Two years ago Jimmy and I took a chair that was on loan to us, and beat the then, current record with ease. This year Al and I wanted to see two things. How much could we beat that previous time by, and how well our pretty much untested chair would perform...We are not disappointed!
Saturday morning was blissfully without stress, due to being well prepared...Mostly due to Alan's anal retentive nature, and belligerent will to just keep working till things are right.
We signed in and the bike was scrutinised, "LETS GO RACING"!!!
Two sighting runs at a very relaxed pace in a group, after which Al says it's stupidly hard work for him. So much moving around, he's gonna be buggered after each run. That's what he signed up for though, so we get ready for our first ride on the chair in anger.
Countdown from five, and it's launch time....NOPE! It's lunchtime...For the road surface, as I leave a ten inch wide black strip of our rear tyre up the road. Ooops. Never had a problem getting off the line before really, so a clusterfuck like that sorta pissed me off. No sense in letting it go to waste though so stayed up it for the crowd's sake. Fun time over we get head down and start to let the 12R breath for the first time. At half straight I'm thinking it's fast, at the end of the straight I'm friggin shitting myself! Bloody hell this thing boogies.
Rest of the run is just getting the hang of the raod at speed again. Bike feels great, albeit still a bit over sprung at the front, and still to be decided possibly undersprung at the rear. Still, went 8 seconds faster than my previous best on Leanne's outfit. Al informs me at the top, it's HEAPS easier for him when we go fast. I was rapped to hear that. Meant I could confidently give it a proper nudge and not have to worry about him running out of puff halfway up and deciding to have a lie down.
I can't remember if it was run two or three that we started running out of gas on the third turn and pulled out so we could get back under our own steam and not drag the sidecar name further through the mud with those homo solo riders.
Run two..ish, lets see if we can't get some corner speed going. If I can get the fuckin thing to move of the line...I can't! Lights up like a Christmas tree again and leaves another big stripe up the road. Hmmm, leaving the line is not a problem for me normally, and the soft rear spring should mean loads of grip. perhaps leaving that possibly 15 year old tyre on the back wasn't the right decision. Anyhoo, GO! Went faster, rig felt great, dropped five or six seconds. HAPPY! Al has some trouble getting from the last left hand bend, to the right hand side of the chair for the following corner. But other than that we're happy.
The rest of Saturday kinda blurs into one, except coming back from what turned out to be our last run for the day to get some gas, and discovering the rear tyre has a large strip of canvas showing. Fuck! The prospect of changing one of these bloody things by hand doesn't get me barred up in the slightest, so Al gets on the phone and manages to find a guy doing some after hours work at a Masterton workshop. We bargain a deal for a box of 'Ken to use his fitting machine and go to do shit the easy way...Yeah fuckin right! Tyre has been on the rim sooooo long, that we can't get the bead off the rim. After twenty minutes trying to break the bead, we are left with only drastic measures. An angle grinder!
There's a pic on facebook of me performing this rather dodgy task. Al might put it up here if he sees this thread.
Right. So that tyre, (or what's left of it), is off, and after fucking two tubes we have the new, (read, bloody ancient) tyre fitted. Albeit backwards to the way I want to fit it due to the wear it has from previous use. I can't be fucked flipping it so we roll out.
After dinner we assemble the chair ready for Sunday. Then have a few beers and everyone tries to seriously hurt themselves on the pitbike with a sidecar on the side of it for good measure.
Sunday rolls round and we're pretty amped about laying down some fast times. We managed to get down to 2m31s by the end of saturday, and I was looking forward to getting into the twenties today. First start, and that hope is all but dashed. This tyre is much worse than the last one. Hook second after take off, and it starts spinning again. Go for third and it slips a bit but finally grabs.
Carry on with a bit of caution to see what happens. Turn four is the first left hander, and the bike slides round it with quite a bit of opposite steering. WOW, that's cool. Fuck, that's not how to go fast! Shit it's fun though.
We manage a 2m33s, and all things considered that's not too bad. I'll let a couple PSI out of the rear tyre and hopefully it'll soften up a bit for some better times.
Run two was more of the same, even though I left the line as gently as possible. Still lit up, but I managed it as best I could. This time it's sliding HEAPS on every corner. Not uncontrollably so I keep the pace up. We cut a 2m31s again and my hopes are up again.
Third run I went hell for leather! Real gentle launch with minimal spin, and we're off. Turn one on the hill climb is a flat out blind right hand corner over a slight crest. The bike steps out but gracefully and well easily controllable. Through two and three no worries, and brake for the first left. Gas it through there and we're sideways again. Still predictable and all good with me. Five is the first point the brakes get a good stab, and goes left through the shade. Opposite lock round there and it's so common now I'm only worried about losing drive out of the turn. Six and seven are one corner really, and go back right. Bit more sliding and roll off to go into a left before the slowest corner of the course. We're looking seriously to the right of the chair coming out of this left hand bend, and I set up to brake for cliffhanger corner. It's a right hand bend so a bit of 'backing it in' is desirable. WEEEEE, might have over done it but it musta looked the bizzo. Exiting a right hand corner and having opposite lock on is a fairly sure sign ya don't wanna go much faster than that next time. (Note to self).
Now, here comes the really fast part of the track. A gentle left onto a flat out section that will see very nearly the red line on a superbike. We come out of that with just enough opposite bar input to feel cool and heads down time again. As the speed gets somewhere near unfathomable it's time to slow down to go right and then a very tricky fast double left. We go round that MUCH faster than previously and you guessed it, sideways. (That's pretty much the theme of this run you might notice). Following those is a double right climbing quickly to a serious crest. It's here we learn what a sidecar with zero wheels actually gripping the road feels like. Quite cool if you're confident it's gonna load up at least two at a similar time when the weight comes back on.
From there it's over the bridge. It gets pretty fuckin rough over there, but for the first time I keep the throttle open and hope. It's a wrestling match to stay on line carrying more speed through this left but a bit more throttle and it steps out enough to tighten up a bit. The right from there is not something I can attack without a more compliant front end. It's just a shit load of bumps and a prayer we don't go wide. A fast smooth right after that and it's time for Al's tough left right combo.
We go round the left real loose, and set up to go right. Al has his shit in one sock and doesn't try to get right over the right side. We're carrying more speed than ever before and it all clicks perfectly as we howl up to the last turn.
Flat out round there and the run is done. We were on cloud nine as we get to the top, confident we couldn't have gone sod all faster without serious risk of it going tits up. 2m30s and although it's not a twenty, we're happy to call that our last attempt at a decent time.
We went up one time, and there's a chance the drive wheel wasn't spinning in places...Buggered if I know where though.
Back in the pits for more gas so a mate can have a go at swinging, and we discover there is no rubber over the cords, over half the tyre all the way round it. Sorry Pete, next time mate.
So that wraps it up really. The chair FAR exceeded expectation, and I can't wait to ride it again. Al and I are pretty proud of ourselves on the build of it. And our efforts on the course.
Thanks to TSS for the use of their truck, and the organisers of the event. Our long suffering family and friends, and anyone with enough free time to read this dribble.
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Originally Posted by Drew
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