Island life
By TMX Archives on 17th Jul 03
have been up and down more than Peter Stringfellow's thong this month. MY HORMONES have been up and down more than Peter Stringfellow's thong this month. I've been walking the emotional tightrope like a pregnant woman - I've even tried to convince my quack to get me on that HRT stuff but she won't go for it...To say this month has been an emotional strain would be a bit like saying Hugh Hefner has had the occasional bird at his pool parties. A gross understatement! I was so mentally frazzled by the time racing had wrapped up at Gore Basin I'd forgotten how to chew and nearly choked to death on my cheeseburger.After most British championship rounds it's fair to say I feel fairly sedated - with my training regime of doughnuts, coffee and TV it's hardly surprising - but after this round I was completely flaked. If anyone saw me slumped in my deckchair at the end of the day, open-mouthed and looking pretty vacant, they would've been fooled into thinking I'd given my all in three gruelling motos. Truth is, I couldn't muster more than 10 laps - and that was including qualifying - but then this race was always going to be different for me.Before I'd even swung my leg over my bike I'd put my heart and soul into the event. For the previous six weeks I've been going over every conceivable aspect of round six of the championship, I've even packed my bags and moved out of home to shack up on the Isle of Wight. For those of you who went, I hope you really enjoyed the weekend and appreciate what we're trying to do over here. The Vectis club are a credit to motocross. We've gone through hell, been tied up with legal red tape and a race against time and still come out the other side with an event everyone should be proud of - I know I am. Although racing was just a bridge too far.I was riding around in the first moto looking at how the track was developing, where we needed to get water down, how quickly the car park was filling up, stuff like that. Basically, my mind was elsewhere. The last time it was like that was at a Spanish GP where my focus was distracted lap-after-lap by the most beautiful creature in a yellow bikini - right up to the point when I rode up a bank and into the crowd. Needless to say, I didn't get the girl but I did punt some Diego into a bush. Thinking back to that moment, I decided to quit riding for mine and everyone else's safety - except maybe all the women who I then gawped at for the rest of the day.I stand by my decision not to race - especially after watching the first 125 race. That was a stonker! Swordy, De Reuver and Rattray side-by-side in the air battling for the lead, that kind of action is what the British fans have been starved of, no doubt about it.The whole place seemed to have a feel good vibe floating around it. Saturday night was exactly how I remember motocross races being. People were relaxed, out of their trucks, down the beer tent and having fun. I was starting to think some people had forgotten how to do that because they've become so repressed. Both rock bands did the business and the atmosphere was sweet like candy. It was around then that I knew we'd done a good job.Even so, now the race has been and gone we know there are still major improvements to be made for next year. I may be a little premature already talking about that but if the Vectis club doesn't hold a round of the championship in '04 I'm gonna start swinging a scaffold pole around. For a first attempt from a club with less than 50 riders I think we did okay but we all know it can and will get better. The weather blessed us over the weekend as well as the two weeks leading up to the meeting which probably explained why dust appeared - but we couldn't have done more and for that I thank everyone involved. The track was watered 9-5 every day from Monday so it's not as if we didn't try to solve the problem. And we've learnt from it.Dust certainly wasn't a problem two hours after the race when the big man upstairs chose to ***s all over our C-90 TT race. Pax, Clown, Totti and Rosco helped me back into a chilled-out state with a display of chicken jockeying that Valentino Rossi would've, er, chickened out of. I cannot stress enough how a quick blast down to the beach followed by a sand speedway race can relax one's mind and body. I shall use the sand blast as good experience for the real speedway race I've got to do later this week. While 0-60 mph in a few seconds with no brakes doesn't phase me, 0-60mph in a few seconds with no brakes and Rosco lined up alongside me certainly does. Perhaps I will hit the Prozac after all...Jeff Perrett