Canada Heights

Friday 26th March

2010-03-26T23:08:00.003Z

In preparation for this weekend meeting (more details on this link) several of is who had time off work/weren't working/retired/etc met up the track to get ready for the event.

Above : Trade stand area is laid out, toilets are delivered.

Above : Brian E, Colin B, Tom P and Dave P erect the technical control area.

Above : We've taped the entrance road in, to direct the public to the car park we'll be using. More importantly you can see the fence we redid on Sunday replacing the 35(ish) year old original fence.

Above : A shot of the widened finish line jump (on right) that was done on Sunday. This involved lengthening/moving the finish line loop duct (the purple tube) for the timing.

Above : Shaving off the finish corner. We're moving back the fence a few feet and all this will be put back together tomorrow.

We also received all the straw bales which we're going to bag up and place around track tomorrow.

See you all tomorrow for the final push.

Sunday 21st March

2010-03-21T22:27:00.006Z

Following on from yesterday's excellent start on the track stakes we set about finishing off yesterday's work in two teams again.

I'm afraid I was rather busy carrying stakes today to take photos, but I've taken a panorama from the bottom of the circuit so you can see some of the completed job.

Above : The Lagoon area, Ski Jump, Steps, etc.

Above : The Lagoon area, Steps, Washboard, etc.

Above : After completing the track stakes we went to do a little remedial action to some fencing that had attacked the digger while it was grading the track. Here John E hold the stake upright while Colin P knocks it in, with Paul M lurking in the background.

Above : Brian E came up and fixed the Commentary Tower (aka "Brian's Folly" or "Colditz") windows that were broken last summer by vandals. Dick D was up to reinstall the start gate that has received it's maintenance and he spent the afternoon adding some paint. Also Colin B on the right. I must also mention that Ivan was despatched with a copious white paint the paint just about anything.

Above : Having finished grading the track we got Tony to redo the drainage ditch outside paddock bend, with Sten P and Kurt P in the foreground.

After lunch one team went to redo the fencing by the entrance gate to Canada Heights, which has been in a decrepit state for many years but recent repair to the front gate have brought the situation to a head (sorry no photos of this, but you'll see it as you drive past / come in the heights). The other team split in two and half finished track staking "Madden's Hole" which Michael B's 360 had just vacated.

Above : Mark C and Colin B carry stakes to finish the track stakes in "Maddens Hole".

Above : The washboard far downhill last Saturday (before being graded), as you can see a lot of this is buried by earth. We we're unable to solve this last weekend when we were fencing, so with he track being graded (and thus this fence dug out) and now all track stakes out, we set about repairing it.
Above : Jack P Jnr, Sam E, Aaron M and Kaydee (dog) remove the old fence and stakes - note the depth the fence was buried!.

Above : The fence removed (see gap). Unfortunately I have no more photos of us putting up the fence or the finished job as it was so hot I took my fleece off (with camera) and left it in the tractor - what a change from yesterday's driving rain.

I must also give a word of mention to a whole extra team who have been at two local shopping centres (Maidstone last Sunday and Bexleyheath this weekend) promoting the event, club and motocross in general. Sorry i don't have photos or even know how they got on, but with help from the sidecars we got a sidecar outfit at Maidstone!

We are going to be up the track on Friday to do some finishing touches and will be there saturday to put out the straw bales and other little touches - any help is welcome.

Saturday 20th March

2010-03-21T21:52:00.006Z

Having completed the track fencing last weekend, this weekend's project was to bang out all the track stakes. To aid this we dug out our 2nd trailer and put away the post driver - by having to move our currently engine-less dump truck (its under repair).

Armed with both tractors we set off for our wood store, a 40ft aluminium container that was once a site office on a site before we acquired it. suffering from a leak in its roof, and presence of a lot of wooden stakes (we have more than enough to lay out our enduro/cross country as well as the whole mx track) and other toot (sorry highly useful equipment).

Above : Aaron M and Colin B loading our 2nd trailer with track stakes, the long "enduro" stakes are being weeded out for storage as they are really too tall for the mx track.

Above : Colin B and Colin P, with Alan C and Roger B somewhere in the background, passing out track stakes from the "wood store" - not old insulation panels down the side and the condensation on the roof (a job for another day).

We split into two teams with one starting in the "orchard" and working round the back woods and down the "Washboard" to the lagoon, while the other started at "Paddock Bend" and then went up the "Steps" and then did the finish area and start straight. You'll have to forgive lack of photos but I was lugging a rather large sledge hammer and the weather wasn't co-operating at this point. At the end of the day the second team reached where the first started and then went to meet the first team by the lagoon where I got several shots of the track almost all graded.

Above : Looking the wrong way back past marshal point 14 (front right) to marshal point 13 (back right).

Above : The old whoops sections, without track stakes (start here tomorrow).

Above : The lagoon table top, viewed from across the lagoon.

Above : Aaron M, Ivan, Colin P, Paul M and Alan C with Kaydee the dog all having a good chin-wag (although their faces look deadly serious in this shot).

Above : Looking up the washboard the wrong way, with marshal point 12 on the left (not this corner has been widened).

Above : Michael B re-sculptures the Ski Jump.

Above : "Meehan's Nightmare" or the bottom corner, redone with two preformed berms. Named after club rider/helper back in the 1990's John Meehan who broke his leg (IIRC) around here.

Above : While we all working on the mx track, the bottom car parks and wood played host to Dartford District Scouts annual cross country running race, which Sidcup & DMCC let the Scouts use for free. They seamed to have a good, if a little wet, time - although I'll stick to riding a bike around Canada Heights. More info/photos here.

See you all tomorrow to finish off the track stakes.

Sunday 14th March

2010-03-16T16:23:00.003Z

Carrying on from yesterday's work on general fence fixing we went down to the lagoon to repair the lower areas of the track.

Firstly we repaired various holes and gaps in our lagoon fencing. We the moved on to repair various bit of fencing in the lower area of the track and marshal point 13.

Above : Rolo the dog (or submarine?) loves nothing better than to swim in the lagoon.

Above : With Pete B off, Aaron M was promoted to the big tractor, with Colin P, Paul M and Ivan.

Above : Colin P and Ivan with Holly and Rolo (the dogs). Replacing stakes on the fence alongside the ski jump, which due to the soft sand is eating up the 8ft stake that Ivan is hammering in!

We've now completed all the fencing work for 2010, the 360 is moving around grading the track and we intend to spend next weekend putting in the track stakes - for which we'll need lots of help and be grateful for any assistance

Saturday 13th March

2010-03-16T15:15:00.004Z

Newly equipped with more chestnut fencing following last weekend's depletion of our stocks, one crew we set off to complete the gaps in the fencing around the Work area and "Claggy Maggy".

Above : Dave P, Paul M, Colin B and Wes B put up the last two rolls around "Claggy Maggy", the gap on the left is for access and the two marshal posts are old redundant ones.

The other crew took the tractors and embarked upon a general fence repair project across the centre of the track (ie "steps" and "washboard").

Above : Ivan, Michael B, Aaron M, Peter B and Colin P fixing holes in the fencing at the tops of the steps.

Above : After this winter's work this section on the steps uphill, is one of the oldest sections and without rail, but structurally sound (might replace next winter) after the addition of a few stakes. Ivan here is pruning up the trees.

Above : Colin P and Aaron M take down the fence between Derek's Dive and Maddens Hole (on right).

Above : Colin P, Pete B, Ivan and Michael B with Sabbie the dog onlooking. Here were are replacing this whole segment with new stakes and rail, but using the old sound fencing.

Above : Ivan and Aaron fix the last of the fencing up, while Pete B looks on from the tractor.

Above : Alan C went on a solo mission in "Derek's Dive" to install the new gate we left a gap for last weekend and repair the gate on the right.

Above : Wes B, Colin B, Michael B, Dave P, Paul M and Ivan with Sabbie the dog. The first crew went around the track fixing odd bits and met up with the second crew at the end of the washboard. Here they fixed the fencing on the left, which will probably need replacing in a year or two, and the fencing in the background. On the right you can see where last weekend the fence was moved back to allow this corner to be re-shaped.

See you all tomorrow.

Sunday 7th March

2010-03-09T10:01:00.005Z

Following on from yesterday's excellent work, we started off with one crew using up what fencing we had left (more is on order) to fence the "island" in "Claggy Maggy", we've still got a to put up 2 or 3 rolls here to finish it.

Above : Paul M, Dave P, Colin P, Peter B and Aaron M putting up fencing in "Claggy Maggy".

Above : John E, Paul M and Dave P with Kaydee, Rolo and Holly (Dogs) fixing the fencing after "Derek's Dive" going into "Madden's Hole".

Above : The other crew had, over at "Paddock Bend", put in the new gate post yesterday, and today fixed the fencing up to it.

Above : Pete B, Colin B, Roger B and Alan C fixing various bits of fencing (here inserting new stakes) around paddock bend.

Back to the first crew, we then moved over to the "Finish Line" / "Work Area" / "Bushell's Bend" section of the course. Here we built another marshal post (the repositioned point 2), the fence alongside the finish and some bits of the work area.

Above : John E and Michael B fix chestnut up around the finish red flag post.

Above : Peter B, Colin P and Roger B building marshal point 2.

Above : We have the 360 up this weekend, grading up toward the orchard tunnel, photo from where the new marshal point 2 will be.

Above : End of the day - view from atop the new marshal point 2.

Above : End of the day - view back down the track to the "Eastwood" corner.

Above : End of the day - view out of the "Eastwood" straight into "Derek's Dive". This has still to be graded.

See you next weekend, when we'll be on the homeward stretch putting up the last few rolls of fencing and fixing odd bit of broken fencing around the whole circuit.

Saturday 6th March

2010-03-09T09:23:00.004Z

Last Saturday saw loads of work get done, but with the atrocious weather forecast last Sunday's work party was cancelled, but with dry sunny weather since the Monday afterwards allowed us to achieve loads more at this Saturday's working party.

One crew went to work on the track changes out of "Eastwood" into "Derek's Dive" while the other crew finished off last Saturday's work on the exit of "Claggy Maggy" into the downhill "washboard" straight.

Above : Colin P and Peter B put up rail on the downhill straight of the washboard. This bit of fencing had been knocked over by the jump.

Above : Aaron M and Jack P Jr fill the gap in the new fencing from last Saturday.

Above : At the top of "Claggy Maggy", Colin P, Peter B and Sten P build the new/moved marshal point 10.

Above : Sophie P tests out the new marshal point.

The other crew were putting up fencing on the two new/rebuilt corners into and out of "Eastwood" that they laid out last Saturday.

Above : The other crew working on the "Eastwood" into "Derek's Dive" section. They are taking down the old fencing to reposition it. Michael B, Paul M, Dave P, Sten P and Ivan C with Kaydee and Holly (dogs).

Above : Looking down the spectator walkway to Derek's Dive from the water tanks (outfield). "Claggy Maggy" on the left and x"Eastwood" into "Derek's Dive" section on the right. Sten P, Ivan C, Michael B, Jack P Jr, Alan C, Dave P and Colin B.

Above : Colin B poses with some police tape. The club let Kent Police conduct off road motorcycle training for their officers at Canada Heights during the week several time a year.

See you all tomorrow.

Saturday 27th February

2010-02-28T10:46:00.009Z

After last Sunday's rain strewn mess, the sun was shinning on the Sidcup crew.

The first job saw the crew go to complete the fencing work that got rained off last Sunday afternoon in the area around "Bushell's Bend" to the "Orchard" tunnel.

Above : Looking between the two tunnels towards the finish line area, new fencing on the right..

Above : Looking towards the "Orchard" tunnel, new (well recycled) fencing on the right.

Above : Grading work on the finish line jump, we've filled in the gap between the 2nd and 3rd bit of the triple. Posts and fencing are still to go up on the right.

While in this area, we were putting up fencing in an extremely soft area where we have filled in a hole with lots of soft wet mud. After getting everyone else to avoid only muggings could get well and truelly stuck - so deep that it was above my knee. After much struggling, even digging with a shovel, I had to admit defeat, leave my boot behind and get the digger to dig my boot out! Thanks to everyone for their help and Aaron for taking the photos of me stuck!

Above : Stuck! My left leg is up to my knee.

Above : One boot.

Moving on to the other side of the tunnel, another crew began taking down the fencing, while the digger moved the old berm our of the way.

Above : You'll now turn left after the table top, around where the guys are standing on top left..

Above : Inside of the corner on the left, leading into "Eastwood".

Above : Outside of the corner, looking back at the "Orchard" tunnel.

Above : Wrecking crew of Michael Banks and Colin Bushell.

Moving around the track, through the "Eastwood" corner and over the new (last winter) little jump, we come towards the water tanks corner that lead into "Claggy Maggy". We're now going to be turning right instead of left, around the marshal post and into "Derek's Dive".

Above : Going along the straight out of the "Eastwood" corner, you are now turning right.

Above : We in filled the depression and put the stakes in with the digger but it was wet underfoot.

Above : Dropping into Derek's Dive, the earth on the right form the old berm, will be use to make some sort of drop off.

While one crew was working on the wrecking / laying out the new corners, the other crew got on with putting up the fencing in Claggy Maggy following last Saturday's work.

Above : Same shot as last week, but now in focus..

Above : You can see the gap in the fencing opposite for access to the little island in the track for our enduro / cross countries.

Above : New fencing up around the outside of "Claggy Maggy".

Above : Looking around the corner. We'll be coming back to finish off the infield "island" fencing (and some tree pruning), hopefully with whatever we can recycle from the other projects.

Above : The other end of the enduro access. In the centre is a hole we've dug for clay for jumps on the mx track and we used it successfully in 2009 for the enduro and cross country, in past years we've had a little woodland loop to the right.

Above : Looking back around the corner. Peter Burton leans on the fence while waiting for the tractor to come back with more rolls of chestnut fencing..

Above : Peter Burton and Colin Parkin, waiting for more fencing to arrive. The "lump" in the foreground will be used to define the inside of the corner, rather than having to put new track stakes in every meeting.

Above : Didn't quiet have enough fencing on the roll to make it to the gate. We'll join on a little bit of recycled left over fencing form elsewhere to do this bit. A little bit about the gates - we've now brought ten of these in two batches over the winters of 2008 and 2009. They have a metal frame on each side and below ground to hold them firm (we've built 1 out of wood planks and 1 out of a pallet with dubious success). They are really good for giving not only track workers and first aiders access to the track but at 1.2m wide they are great for our enduros!

Above : Just right of the gate is a little problem to fix, the Jump was widened for a red bull arch, but just a little to far and the fence is collapsing..

Above : Taxi! Aaron drives Pete B and Colin P back after a long day's work.

Thanks for wading through the long post, felt we had to make up after last Sunday's disappointment and with the bad forecast for Sunday, leading to Sunday's work being provisionally cancelled, looks like I'll see you all next Saturday.

Sunday 21st February

2010-02-23T00:24:00.004Z

Sunday dawned not with the hard frost of the previous day but torrential rain and maybe a hangover or two from the previous evening's festivities (Sidcup's Dinner and Dance - there will be some photos of the awards over on the Sidcup site later). This deterred many, but a hardy crew turned out and when the rained stopped we swung into action. Going back to the "Bushell's Bend" area we joined and then stapled up a large amount of the fencing, before the torrential rain returned forcing us to stop play.

Above : After the first bend the start goes along to join the rest of the track. Ungraded track in foreground and graded on the lip of the jump.

Above : Start drop off, paddock return on far left, with work area in back centre. The track joins from the right.

Above : A panorama (you can click on all these photos for larger versions). The finish line jump in the foreground. The old finish loop in the middle right - this will be graded back to the jump in the foreground and then fenced off. The marshal point in the centre is actually for our end of lap guy - it's citing may not work in the new layout so this is something we'll have to look at. In the top right you can see the new berm and fence leading into "Bushell's bend".

Above : Following on from the previous photo, you can see the regraded "Bushell's bend" in the background leading into the new corner (middle right). The new marshal point 2 will probably be somewhere around the oak tree in the centre. The hay-bale in the foreground is about where there will be a fence.

Above : Carrying on from the previous photos, panning around.

Above : Completing the arc, fencing still has to go up on the approach to "Orchard" table top.

Above : Now looking from the top of "Bushell's Bend", we can see the banked corner, the berm under construction and Dave P with a mattock off to drain puddles..

Above : Looking back the other way, the new bit of track. The foreground was only constructed the day before, and fencing and posts needs to go up on the left to fill the gap.

On a side note Dick Dickenson made a return and shaped up with the chainsaw the new gatepost, and Alan B (Chef) returned from travels in exotic lands.

See you all next weekend.

Saturday 20th February

2010-02-22T23:48:00.005Z

Due to the frosty weather we make a quick change of work from where we were last week ("Bushell's Bend", etc) over to the other main area of focus - "Claggy Maggy", due to the frozen ground we hoped to make less mess. Due to the other track changes we have planned we not only want to renew the life expired fencing around this corner (right over the back by the water tanks, traditionally a muddy clay fest), but we want to take this opportunity to tie up the different bits of the track in a different and hopefully more exciting and competitive way.

Above : Looking along the longest straight on Canada Heights. Previously one would tackle the washboard hairpin, go over the large jump (marshal point 5/6) and sprint along and curve left (past marshal point 7/9) and drop down to the "Eastwood" bend (marshal point 8). We now intend for the track to bear right here, into "Claggy Maggy".

Above : The new right hand turn. Last winter's new fencing in "Eastwood" stopped at this gate.

Above : The already graded straight (graded in earlier frozen weather).

Above : The "island" on the left will be re-fenced, but with gates so we can use it for enduro use. Marshal point 10 will probable move from the inside to the outside by the tractor gate in the previous shots.

Above : Turning back around to look at the water tanks. These tanks provide us with water storage that can be filled slowly during the week, and then piped under the track to easy access point under the commentary tower, where there is an additional tank. This site is the highest point of the track so we can use gravity to move the water out onto the track.

Above : Facing the right way again, we can see the ground didn't stay frozen for long. The new fencing stops at the access gate on the left of the tractor. When this is complete most (80-90%) of the public's track fencing will be "railed" (leaving a few odd sections dotted around). Mark R, John H, Peter Burton, Dave P and Adam R.

Above : Staking the inside, we don't intend to rail this. The old marshal point is a legacy of the track running the other way around. While we don't use it we've never had reason to take it down. Mark R, John H and Peter Burton.

Above : Starting the fencing - Ivan and Colin B.

Above : Sophie P, John H, Sten P, Peter Burton and Colin B survey their work while more fencing arrives from stores.

Above : Colin B, John H and Sten P roll out another roll.

Above : Out of focus I know!, but looking through the gate you can see the stakes for the outside fencing on the right. To the left you can see that the "island" has been half fenced off already and there are gaps and both end to access the bomb-hole we used at both the enduro and cross country this year.

We've still a lot of chestnut to put up in this area but we've got the harder bit of it all done. We thus all clocked off early for Sidcup's annual Dinner & Dance taking place that evening, we'll see how well everyone is tomorrow....

Sunday 14th February

2010-02-22T23:18:00.005Z

Sunday 14th February saw continued progress on the work around the "Bushell's Bend" area of the track. Yesterday saw the work focus on the work area exit, while today we moved on to the new corner around marshal point 2, approaching the "orchard" tunnel.

Above : Looking back at the actual "Bushell's Bend" from the new corner. Marshal point 2 should be moved back to around the area this photo was taken from. Post and rail is going up along both sides, with Aaron M on the left, Peter Burton in the tractor and John H and Colin P on the right.

Above : The Inside of this new corner. Peter Burton in the tractor and John H and Colin P on the right.

Above : Looking forward up the track towards the "Orchard" tunnel. Post and rail still to go up.

Above : Turning around 180 degrees, shows Paul M taking down the fencing around where the start straight joins the track. New fencing will be put in on the left once the old track in the foreground is graded.

Above : Alan C clears up old fencing for recycling. This gap will be filled in with post and rail and then chestnut, with a tractor access gap on the left.

Above : Looking back from the foot of the "Orchard" Tunnel table top, shows how wet it has been recently, especially on the clay parts of the track.

Above : Panning round more to the right than the previous shot. Instead of coming in at a sharp 90 degree from in front of the tractor on the right, the track comes from the oak tree behind the tractor.hello

See you all next weekend!

Saturday 13th February

2010-02-19T10:09:00.008Z

Saturday 13th February saw us carry on with the previous weekend's work around the Work Area / Bushell's Bend / Approach to the "Orchard" Tunnel.
Above : Ivan and Colin B put up the chestnut fencing. The pit lane exit will run behind this fence.

Above : Colin P and Alan C put up recycled chestnut fencing. The pit lane will exit in the foreground.

Above : John H and and Colin P put up chestnut.

Above : Michael Banks (of Riverside fame) joining chestnut fencing.

Above : John H in the tractor and Michael B. This is the pit lane exit, with outside fence on the left and mx track on the right.

Above :Alan C and Dave P removing old fencing. A slight change to last weekend's plans, we now are going through the gap in the chestnut on the right rather than make a "S" bend. The soil in the foreground will be excavated to make a bowel, and the fence where Alan C is is moving back.x.

Above : Looking back at the pit lane exit.

Above : Michael B and Colin B are connecting the pit lane exit to the work area.

Above : Pit lane exit onto track. Alan C and Colin P putting up the fence.

Above : Another view of where the track will go, the new corner is going where the tractor is.

Above : Ivan and Colin B join some recycled chestnut fencing. Pit lane exit slip in middle.

Another problem we are working on, is out signing on container has a leek in it. As you may have noticed while queuing for signing on over the years, there has been a steadily worsening drip where you need to sign. We've thus got club member and welder to the stars Tony D to fix it.
Above : Metal plates between the roof/mezzanine (aka "Taj Mahal") and the signing on container (aka "press room") have been removed.

Above : A few holes, plus the seam has gone (see line of rust).

See you all next week!

Sunday 7th February

2010-02-18T14:59:00.002Z

Following on from the completion of the work in "Eastwood" and near completion of "Paddock Bend", we started work on the "Bushell's Bend" area. For an archive moment you can see some photos of when we first built this loop back in 2005; here, here, and here.

Above : Ivan walks forward, Work Area in the background, pit lane exit in foreground.

A broad outline of what we are trying to do here, is to take down the fence from the work area, around "Bushell's Bend", around the next corner and up the "Orchard" table top. We want solve the mud hole that develops next to the work area and stop the fence falling over on the banked corner know as "Bushell's Bend". We then want to solve the corner next to marshal point 2 that precedes the "Orchard" tunnel - as this is one line that hits the fence on the outside.

Above : Bushell's Bend - we've taken down both fences, removed the old berm for the new fences.

Above : Dave P, Colin P, Colin B, Paul M and Ivan with Kaydee and Rolo (dogs). The guys are trying to suss out the ideal location for the new corner.

Above : Looking back at the pit lane exit (right of oak tree), with new post and rail up.

Above : Looking back around Bushell's Bend. The new fence is laid back from where it was before, so that we can go in and grade the track with berm on the outside (right) and it will be banked more than in this photo.

Above : Looking from within the work area, up Bushell's Bend. We will have, on the left on the new post rail, a pit lane exit, wide enough for sidecars. In the foreground we want to place a ditch to collect all the water that runs downhill to this area of the track, with the very close foreground space for some sort of "mini lagoon" if the water gets too much.

Above : The brains trust in operation - sorting out the corner.

Above : The initial though process was to go from the foreground (the end of Bushell's bend), forward to Colin B (in the hi-vis coat), through the gap in the fencing they have just cut and then turn left (so that the Oak tree by the tractor would be on the left) and then rejoin the track by the gate posts so as to approach the "Orchard" tunnel table top straighter than before..

Above : Sabbie (the dog) enjoys another stick. This is the old finish loop that wasn't overly popular in the past, we want to make the ridge in front bigger and bear left where the tractor is.
Above : Standing by marshal point 2, looking at the "Orchard" tunnel table top. The fence on the right needed repairing.

See you all next weekend!

Saturday 6th February

2010-02-17T17:56:00.001Z

Following on from last weekend's extensive post and railing, today's job is to revisit both "Paddock Bend" and "Eastwood" and put up the chestnut fencing. Above : Paddock Bend - all done other than the gate post. Above : Alan C, Colin P, John H, and Peter Burton. Alan is cutting and joining the lengths of chestnut fencing (with me), Colin is pulling the fence tight with the spike (1m long bar), John is stapling, while Pete is doing the intermediate staples. Above : Finished job, entering the "Eastwood" corner, you can see the berm starting in front of you, allowing the water to run downhill under the marshal point. Above : The fence is (hopefully) offset enough to allow us to pull the burm back in with the back actor of the JCB / 360. Above : You can just see the end of the berm, where the corner finishes and the straight begins.

Above : Our JCB man digging out the old broken fencing around "Bushell's bend" for the next weekend's work. .

Above : Even the best get stuck. While going to repair (at this point we hadn't thought of moving this bit of track yet) a bit of fencing near "Derek's Dive" we got on of the tractors stuck in the deep wet clay. You can see Colin P unhooking the Ford from the Case. You can also see the lowered boom of the post driver.

Above : Colin P again.

Above : I mentioned tractor weights last week. We brought a box of them at a farm sale. We've put 6 (3 of one time and 3 of another) on our ford but have some left over bits. If these are of use to anyone make us an offer.

Above : Not really sure what these are.

Sunday 31st January

2010-02-17T16:59:00.001Z

Having got all the kit going and loaded the trailer the day before. We set off to start work on the track.

Above : A view of paddock bend.

The first job was to replace the fence around paddock bend. Back in November the wrecking crew had taken down and recycled what could be saved from this section, which was falling over (due to undermined from riders and weight of crowds leaning on it).

Above : Alan C lines up a take, while Dave P cuts the rail.

We at Sidcup have been putting up post and rail to mount our chestnut fencing on since about 2004, rather than just having chestnut fencing on stakes. We were finding that if lots if people leant on the fencing the staples ('U' shaped tacs that hold the wire between the chestnut spiels to the stakes) pinged out, thus by adding a rail of 4x2 (or 2x4 if your are old skool) on top you can secure the fencing much more effectively than we did before.

Above : Alan C with the stake with Peter Burton driving. As you can see the fencing is being set back from the track so it doesn't get undermined.

Above : As well as the fence falling down, the gate post had also broke during 2009. Here Dave P, Colin P and Alan C watch as Kaydee the dog digs the hole!

Above : Colin P operates the controls, while Alan C supervise the post with Peter Burton driving. Unfortunately this spare sleeper (from our now empty stockpile) was a bit knackered to start with and split while being thumped in - we'll be sourcing a replacement in the mean time.
Above : Peter Burton driving, Colin P at the controls and Dave P on the hammer. The fence alongside marshal point 21 (Leak's leap) was suffering from rotten stakes, thus while the track was frozen on this cold day, we got on the track and put new stakes in. While we where there, we modified the marshal post to improve access. We at Sidcup like these mini tree house style marshal posts that protect the marshals and give them greater visibility, but this older one suffered from having a handrail all the way around - making access a little challenging at times.

After Finishing (other than the gate post, and actually putting up the fencing) the paddock bend area. We moved on to Eastwood.

Above : Posts and rail up, with berm built.

We call the loop into the field behind the track (the "orchard") "Eastwood" after the local family of top level racers (Vic, Mark and Scott) who also run the local MX shop. Last winter we moved the loop lower down to try and make the corner less of a 90 degree one liner and get the track away from the wood, which shaded that section of the track almost all year round, keeping it wet and sloppy. During 2009, we found that while it was no longer wet, we had an issue with rider going into the corner and due to the soil being quiet hard, ruts were difficult to form, and fast riders (Experts & Junior A say) were riding the chestnut fence on the outside of the corner - destroying after 1 season brand new fencing! Thus we've taken down the broken fencing, recycled what we could back in November. This has enabled our earthmover to get in and build a man-made berm around the corner. We thus followed behind and placed the fence well behind the berm (which is where the fence was in 2009). This solution doesn't work on every corner we have, as on many it tend to trap rainwater running down hill, creating muddy bogs or lakes, but as you can see in the second photo, the low point is at the start of the berm under the marshal point (8).

Above : Alan C, Colin P, Dave P and Kaydee.

See you all next week.

Saturday 30th January

2010-02-17T16:35:00.000Z

The goal of our first working party was to get all our kit ready for the work. The club owns 4 vehicles to do most of it's track work with all earth moving done by hired in contractors.

Above : Colin P, Alan C and Peter Burton.

We all went over the farm and collected from the barn that we rent (hence why we like to build our own barn - another story for another day) the two main tractors. In the photo above, you can see the guys with our Ford tractor, attaching some weights. We brought these weights at a farm sale (green mean John Deere I think) and Brian E built us a weight frame (dark green) to mount them on and after some searching by Brian Bearman we attached it. We've thus finally got around to adding the weights, but low and behold the bar to secure them on doesn't quiet fit, so we've roped them together for now!

We use this lovely 1970's era tractor to pull a trailer around full of fencing and tools. The poor thing had it's door stolen a few years back when it used to be stored outside (hence we rent a barn), but it's still great and many a person has learned to drive in it!

Above : Our Case tractor.

The other job was to attach our post driver, and give it some TLC. The barn we store it in has a low roof, so we have to lay the boom over which involves some hairy trickery! We also broke the door last year (no names, but for once not me!), and that is off at the moment having it's hinge welded and new glass put in. The post driver makes putting in stakes so much easier than the old skool manual method!

See you there!

Working Parties 2010

2010-02-17T16:16:00.002Z

The main reason for creating this blog was to let everyone know how we as a club are getting on with the MX track for the 2010 season.

While we are not running a Maxxis (ie a British Solo MX championship round), we are still running a full programme of events (SEMX, enduros, XC's, etc) that will need a maintained and improved mx track (see our dates list). Thus we are (as usual) going to have several working parties in the run up to the first MX of the year, on the 28th March (which we are going to make into something a bit special).

As we are a volunteer motorcycle club, everyone (members or not, old or young, etc) mucks in to help in what way they can (and more help is always welcome). We will be up the track every weekend (Saturday and Sunday) from the end of January until the meeting. The dates are as follows;

SATURDAY 30th January and SUNDAY 31st January
SATURDAY 6th February and SUNDAY 7th February
SATURDAY 13th February and SUNDAY 14th February
SATURDAY 20th February and SUNDAY 21st February
SATURDAY 27th February and SUNDAY 28th February
SATURDAY 6th March and SUNDAY 7th March
SATURDAY 13th March and SUNDAY 14th March
SATURDAY 20th March and SUNDAY 21st March
SATURDAY 27th March and SUNDAY 28th March (the BIG day itself!)
MONDAY 9th March – clearing up day (and we really need more people for this day)

We do look after you at the working parties, there is copious tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Most days we have our chef at lunch times supplying us with hot Cornish pasties and cakes. We also have a tea urn, oven and microwave for other culinary needs (eg cup a soup, pot noddle, etc).

Update - Here is a brief sketch plan of what track changes we are intending to do (subject to changes and workers of course).

Above : Sketch on a Bing Maps "Birds Eye" view of the track.

The line in red the finish area as it was during the later half of 2009. The bottom left line of green is how are going to change to approach to the "orchard" tunnel which we find very one liney. The bit above the "orchard" tunnel is a turn left into "Eastwood" (instead of the 2009 turn right into "Derek's Dive"). The photo doesn't show last winter's changes in "Eastwood" (which brought the loop lower and away from the woods). After this we intend to turn right and enter "Derek's Dive". Following the track around as before, through "Madden's Hole" and up the washboard, the intention is to now bear right into "Claggy Maggy" (by the water tanks) instead of carrying straight on into "Eastwood".

Obviously this is a a different change and we hope that it will give everyone something different as well as trying to do away with some of the one line corners we suffer from. We even hope to "save" (ie reduce) a marshal point.

See you there!

Welcome

2010-02-17T16:08:00.001Z

Welcome!

We've been meaning to do something more interactive for some time now, and with the web2.0 somewhat mature here goes.

As a bit of an introduction, I'm Jamie Clarke (aka "Pickle" or "Rabie" on various forums) and i've been doing the website (with a lot of help) since way back in March 2000 when we launched the site. I also perform a variety of roles in the club and you are bound to bump into me at some point. I'm also an occasional (bad) rider in trials, mx and enduro.

I'm also a notoriously bad speller and proof reader - so first of all please accept my apologies for all typos and spelling mistakes, and secondly don't hesitate to contact me and correct/lambaste me!

Jamie