Cadwell Park Track Day

We've been experiencing a heat wave for quite a while now so we set off to Cadwell knowing we were in for a hot, dry day. Over the last couple of years the weather hasn't inspired much confidence.

After signing on and sitting through the riders meeting I got ready for the first session. On the sighting lap a bike near the front was smoking badly, my visor was covered in an oily mist, so the track was getting its fair share of oil. The session was red flagged, after a short break we managed to get back out on track, only for me to find out that my bike was running on two cylinders.

l headed back to the paddock to try and sort it out. Initially it looked like the electronics had fried, part of the wiring loom had melted and the loom was a bit of a mess. We chopped out the problem wires and I went out in the second session only to find that we hadn't cured the problem, one slow lap and back to the paddock. We were a bit flummoxed, I asked around for advice, we swapped the coils and the problem didn't change still the back two cylinders. I started to trace all the electric connectors and found a couple that were partly undone. I reseated the connectors and the engine sounded better. By this time I'd missed the 3rd session so I was glad that out on track the bike was back to normal.

So l took it easy making sure the bike was all okay, looking forward to the 3 afternoon sessions.

In the break we helped a young guy with a CBR600 who was having mechanical trouble, he'd petty much gave up on getting his bike working, several people were giving him advice, but no one was rolling their sleeves up an helping. It was good to get stuck in and we soon found a fuelling problem. It was nice to get him running again.

In the afternoon I pushed hard and had 3 really good session. I think I know Cadwell pretty well now and I'm happy to "have a go" overtaking wherever a gap appears. In One session I nearly got shoved onto the grass going into Charlies 2, but it didn't bother me and l just kept on going.

I really enjoyed the afternoon, I must of been trying hard as I ached all week!

On the Way home I got pulled by the police, they had seen me in the outside lane with a trailer on! I was given the option of a''Driver awareness course" better than 3 points on my license.

Jack at Manchester Velodrome

There are some really good benefit from being a member of a bike club. Jack is eligible to attend sessions at Manchester Velodrome, became he's a member of East Bradford Cycle Club he has the opportunity to attend regional training sessions. I booked him onto this session via the British Cycling website, so we set off to Manchester not knowing what to expect.

On arriving we headed for the main reception we were asked to go into the velodrome down the staircase opposite the reception.

It was one of those cool moments when we entered the track. Emerging from under the track the first visible part of the track that we could see was the steep part of the bend, because we were several feet below the track it made everything much more dramatic.

The first thing Jack had to do was pick a bike, we used the height chart to tell us that Jack needed the smallest bike! (what a surprise). It only took a moment to adjust the seat and alter the straps on the peddles.,, Next we signed in at the desk in the centre of the track. There was a couple of Juts friends from bike club, this put Jack at ease straight away.

The coaches began by splitting the kids by ability, naturally Jack was in with people who hadn't done it before. The first thing the kids had to do was mange to get going. The bikes have a single cog and it is fixed so you can't stop peddling. There isn't any brakes either so it's one of those things that you have to get used to.

All the kids started cautiously, working in pairs. Initially they didn't even get onto the wooden boards, they simply ran around on the inside of the track, nice and flat. Jack soon started to use the very bottom of the track.

The first session was soon over, the coach spent time with the kids explaining what they needed to do next. the tuition was spot on, there were 4 kids to each coach. After the de-brief we wait e) far the other kids to finish there sessions. All together there was 3 groups so Jack had about half an hour before his next session.

As the afternoon went on Jack more and more confident he was soon pretty high up on the banking an enjoying the experience, by the end he. J got above the blue line, something that is a bit of a badge of honour, he was chuffed.

I went for a walk with Finlay, we went up into the stands and took photos. Finlay posed by the statue of Reg Harris and ran a full lap around the outside of the track.

After Jack finished we went to have a look at the inside BMX track, this is pretty impressive, the Facilities are amazing.

Jack had a really good positive experience, and of course wants to do it again in the near future.

White Rose Youth League Cycling Round 5 - Richard Dunn Sports Centre

It was one of those nights for both Jack and Finlay, they tried had but both struggled. Finlay did is time trial in 2 minutes and 3 seconds, this was pretty Slow for him. It was good enough for another 3rd place.

Jack had one of those lonely races, he couldn't stay with anyone so it was really hard work for him. His lap times were not consistent and he found it really hard. To be fair Jack did keep trying, but he was well down the field.

It was the same again in Finlays race, there was no one to race with and he had to do his best.In the end Finlay got another 3rd place.The results shower that Jack finished 7th, but the truth is the adjudicators counted the laps wrongly.

Better look next time boys.

The Levellers - Holmfirth Picturedrome

We got tickets for this sellout gig ages ago, ironically we had 5 tickets and everyone else cancelled, Andrea quickly asked around and we managed to use 4 of the tickets!

The Picturedrome is an ace venue, there are two balconies and a sloping floor to the stage, everyone gets a good view.

Our first encounter with The Levellers was as support for New Model Army when they were promoting their first album 'Weapon Called The Word', they blew NMA away and we were hooked. We've seen them dozens of times over the last 20 odd years. They have a great following and usually there's a great atmosphere at the gigs, their music is really made to be played live.

This time the band weren't promoting a new album so the set had a 'greatest hits' feel to it. I was happy to stand and watch the show but as time went on I struggled to stay still so by mid way through the set I had to push through to the front and jump about with the other devoted fans. Initially everyone was shoving me around, I was wearing my 46 Rossi T- shirt so most people thought I didn't know the music, however after a couple of numbers I was accepted, I know pretty much all the words to every song. It was pretty mad, I love slam dancing, it looks so violent but everyone is smiling, if anyone falls over there is an instant effort to get them back on their feet.

By the end of the night I was ringing wet with sweat and pretty knackered. Andrea joined me at the front for the last couple of songs, the band did several encores, they were surprised that everyone was so enthusiastic on a Sunday night.

Good times, can't wait foot the next time!

Hawes Camping

Finlay with Hardraw Force.

Didn't get out of work early so had to deal with the rush hour traffic, it took a while to get above Keighley, from here we made good progress mand soon passed Ingleton and Ribblehead. We headed for the Caravan Club camp site. Andrea has joined this year to see if the sites are better / worse than The Caravan and Camping Club. We were soon pitched up and had a curry for tea, Andrea had got one of the ready prep aired meals that only needed warming up. It was tough sitting outside with all the midges so we had an early night!

We awoke to good weather and planned to walk up to the waterfall at Hard Raw, the highest waterfall above ground in England. It was an easy walk following the Pennine way for a little while, we soon reached Hard raw, amazingly the coast to coast bike ride was taking place and the Green Dragon was being used as the lunch stop, it wasn't busy as we arrived so we continued on behind the pub and paid to walk up the gorge to the waterfall.

It's only a short walk to the waterfall, I got my camera straight out and enjoyed taking photos, Finlay was happy to pose for the camera, but Jack wouldn't have his picture taken. We headed up the path next to the waterfall, and headed up to the top of the gauge. More people had now arrived and several people took their clothes off and dived into the plunge pool. It looked pretty cold.

We heard back to the pub which had now got very busy with all the bikes riders stopping for lunch. We had a couple of drinks and the kids spent time looking at all the cool bikes. Jack particularly liked the Mark Cavendish S Works specialised bike, there was lots of really nice bikes.

We headed back to the camp site and then went into Hawes for a look around. We went to the Wensleydale Cheese factory, it was interesting to find out about the history of Wensleydale cheese. For tea we got a Chinese take away,  again the midges stopped us from sitting outside, me and the kids players pool in the games room.

Sunday morning and we had a late breakfast before pas king up and heading home.

It was a nice relaxing weekend, The Caravans Club sites are quite different from the Caravans and Camping Club sites, it did feel like there was lots more older people on site sand fewer kids, but this just made it different, not better, not worse!

The Who - Manchester Arena

Usual poor quality gig photos!

As soon as tickets became available for the latest Who tour I spent a couple of frustrated hours on Ticket Master, what a racket! I had no chance, so put it behind me. Luckily one of Andreas running friends had got spare tickets and was happy to let us have 3 at the cover price. The plan was to ask Jack with us, this would be his first gig, lucky lad. To be fair Jack has liked The Who as long as he's listened to music, Who's Next being his favourite Album.

The gig was a rendition of Quadraphenia followed by some favourite songs, we had all been listening to the album for a couple of weeks.

Finlay was shipped off to friends for a sleep over, we promised to get him toys to the value of the ticket, little gods. We made good time over to Manchester and parked at the shopping centre on Cheatham Hill, Jack wanted to GOTO Pizza Hut for tea, after we finished we jumped in the car and parked nearer the Arena in one the streets at the bottom of the hill. Within a couple of minutes we were in the arena, Jack was gob smacked by the size of everything, 20,000 seats still impresses me!

We sat through the warmup act, Vintage Trouble these guys were pretty good, if you're into Soul,  it was hard work for them, people had paid to see The Who, and no matter how they tried to get people engaged in their polished show it just wasn't happening for them.

After a short break the intro started, the sound of the sea. As soon as the band came on stage everyone stood up, this looked bad for Jack, to deal with this Jack stood on his chair, this made him slightly bigger than me, perfect!

The powerful base riff at the beginning of 'The Real Me' sent shivers down my spine. Time flew by and the stage show was pretty good. The circular screens projected lots of historic social and political video, starting back in WWII, not sure how much Jack understood of all this but it was okay, one or two references were a bit edgy, but in the main it worked well, there was not visuals from the film but this wasn't a problem.

My favourite song was '5.15' which featured John Entwistles wild base solo, projected onto the screens and perfectly synced with the live show.

Jack was getting pretty tired by the end of  Quadraphenia, when they came back on stage to play some of their other hits Jack was puffing and blowing, he did get his head around it when I explained that he'd probably never get this opportunity again.

Baba O'Riley was my favourite track from this part of the show. They didn't perform 'My Generation' which was okay, to be fair they are a bit old for this one! It was a petty they didn't do 'Behind Blue Eyes', but you can't have everything. The last song they played was 'Tea and Theatre' this rounded the evening off nicely.

Jack was happy to be heading home for a good nights sleep, he's got some great memories of his first gig. Lucky lad!

White Rose Youth League Cycling Round 4 - Richard Dunn Sports Centre

Finlay On His New Islabike.

Another race at Richard Dunn Sportrs Centre. Finlay was using his new Islabike Bienn 24, his time trial was his first race and tonight he ended up 3rd, he didn't look to be trying too hard but said that he'd done his best. It was the same again in his race,he ended up 3rd and just didn't look fast. Finlay was happy enough with his performance, but it had been a lonely race for him.

Jack had a good race and got in with a group of kids, he really stuck with it and sat on someone's wheel for pretty much the whole race, when someone tried to break he went with them, he even had a go a breaking away just before the bend at the top of the hill but didn't have the strength to make it work, he tried really hard his average lap time over the 12 laps was 1:34, pretty good!