enduro news
© Bob Mullins   

The 1st Round of the 2006 East South Wales Hare & Hounds Championship - organised by Caerphilly MCC - took place at Jeff Miles' Motoparc, Mynnyddislwyn on Sunday 26th February 2006. A good entry of 104 riders signed on & they had a great time.

The weather was cold with a biting wind from the northeast & occasional flurries of sleet but as the 11am start time neared the skies cleared & the ground dried. Jimmy Witts was the Clerk of the Course & his wife Rhian helped Paul Lear with signing on. Following an instructional talk from Nibbs Adams (who saves the club a fortune in load hailer batteries), the riders were flagged away in groups (Experts, Clubmen. Veterans, Sportsmen) at 1 minute intervals. The 5 mile lap started on the Motoparc's excellent MX track but it's leisurely jumps & sweeping berms proved to be too hypnotic for a few riders who missed the exit to re-emerged back at the start with the glazed look of confused lemmings. After another instructional talk on the subject of following the arrows, they re-joined the race.

After the MX track the riders descended a steep hill & climbed a gully to ride the old MX course with it's 3 huge loops bisected by a hedgerow. The course then dropped onto a camber with a leafy climb at the end which needed momentum. The riders then descended into a valley. On the first lap this was via a steep rut but - once the field had stretched out - the course was moved along to a rockier descent for the 2nd & subsequent laps. Once in the valley the riders traverse a grassy camber through gorse bushes that parted to reveal a very big hill. I included it & I was obliged to be on hand if the matter needed to be discuss with any tired competitors but in the event less than a third of the field struggled & those that did made it up with a little encouragement. The riders then rode along the side of the forestry where the ruts & steady climb worked on their legs. The course then went through the farm & the quarry before returning across the fields to the finish.

The winner with a lap in hand was Andy Scrivens (16 laps) from Bristol on a Honda CR250 & Andrew Keyte was the runner up (15 laps). Paul Morgan in 6th won the Best Veteran with 14 laps. Fellow vet Dave Bayliss finished early to get home for the rugby. He still clocked up 7 laps on his new Honda 4T. It's a pity the Welsh team didn't have his drive. Early leader Matthew Hodges finished 9th. Tamsin Jones won the Ladies class with 9 laps. Several riders chose to test the lap scorers with creative caligraphy. One minimalist rider made up his numbers out of silver ductape on a silver background. At the end of the day, the Sunshine coach  took them away & the club is considering applying for charitable status for it's work with care in the community.

Following the success of the first round, Caerphilly MCC will be finalising future dates & Huw Watkins' EnduroWales are also planning a round to complete the East South Wales series. 

Special thanks to Harold Lewis whose physio wouldn't have recommended punching cards for 3 hours on a bitterly cold day. Best not tell him.

Results

Photos available from Keith Bowen  & Helena Hunt

Of course not everyone was happy. Before the start a neighbouring farmer blocked the entrance with a huge bale of fodder. It was not so much a silent protest as a silage protest.