Challenge Jeffrey!
By TMX Archives on 11th Mar 04
get just about everything on ebay these days. YOU CAN get just about everything on ebay these days. I've hunted down a bright spandex catsuit in an attempt to get the jobs that need to be done, done - and done quick.Well the whole tight, fluoro-clothing effort worked well for Anneka Rice in everything she did. Whether it was poncing around in a helicopter hunting for clues to a treasure that only ever turned out to be poxy book tokens, or building a playground for deprived children that the local teenage delinquents would cover in graffiti 24 hours later. Either way it was always a lot of running around and shouting but with a little help from her so-called friends (actually people who'd do anything to get on TV) she'd always get the job done.So if a blonde in a figure-hugging catsuit with a reasonably good arse can get the job done in time, I reckon this fat, balding man with a butt like a sack of spanners is in with a shout as well.The 'Challenge Jeffro' scenario at the moment is getting RTT Honda ready for our first race at Hawkstone Park. Luckily, I'm not the main man who has the most responsibility - that would be just plain suicidal! No, I'm only a small cog in the mechanism - and it's not the first time I've been told that either.But even with all of us at RTT doing our bit in the red corner we're preparing to go for a 12-rounder with our opponent called time. It's going to be a bruising fight that'll probably go to points but I'm confident that'll we'll get the decision. I'm not going to harp on about the stress of it all because although I'm more flat out than I've ever been on my bike or in the back of an ambulance, there's no getting away from the fact it's an awesome job to have.It is, however, harder than I imagined it to be and my hat is off to all the team managers, past and present. I thought it was just the fact that we are a new team and we've got our back to the wall but after speaking to a few people in the same boat it seems like the last-minute rush is the same for just about every team...most of which made it to Matchams for the KWS. We could have been there but not how we'd like to be so Hawkstone will be RTT Honda's debut.I made it to Matchams even if the rest of the team didn't and enjoyed being back at the races. The start to each season is always good, seeing how new teams look and catching up with people again. I've gotta say Matchams was looking great and I'd like to thank Kevin and his team for making it good again. Having a top facility anywhere in the UK is a result, having one so close to home is like not having a fat geezer with the crisps sat behind you in the cinema - it doesn't happen very often!Even though they're doing their bit to be environmentally friendly and there have been bikes bombing around Matchams for well over 25 years, there's still a chance it could be shut down before it gets going properly again. Now I'm no Citizen Kane but if every reader gets behind a petition or something we may be able to solve it. If not it'll be another injustice in an already unfair world. As Sutty says, 'your sport needs you' - but what he failed to add is 'you need your sport'! Imagine if you couldn't ride?Proof that we need to keep decent tracks running in the UK was the racing and in particular the youths. If anyone thinks Max Anstie, Luke Remmer and Scott Elderfield haven't got the potential to get to the top of the tree then I shall get the editor of this magazine to come round your house and give you one of his lethal death burps through the letterbox (they're so bad you'll think the dog's farted...then died).Scott Elderfield in particular really impressed me, considering he's just got on an 85 to be jumping the big tabletop with style - let alone at all - was my moment of the day alongside another comical half hour with Lord J. If there was ever proof in the pudding that the more challenging the tracks the better the riders will become it was at the weekend.When I spoke to Scott's dad he said that the kid was annoyed they'd taken out the whoops because he could've gained time through them. We've got to get with the programme, the kids of America are zipping across whoops twice the size and it's not because they are more naturally gifted, it's because they are getting the chance to ride obstacles like that.Anyway, I'm stepping down from the soapbox now my dinner break is over - still, it was nice to get out of this catsuit for a while. It cuts like a cheesewire...Words by Jeff Perrett