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enduro
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Steve Ireland |
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Report by Steve Ireland "The biggest blisters you have ever seen...and that is just the ones on my bum!! I Was back on a bike in a fast competitive environment for the first time in ages yesterday at the Fast Eddy - Putoline XC in Shrewsbury, Shrops. Great weather and a brilliant turn out of riders made the event have a lovely atmosphere with loads of family's (including my own) camping and making a weekend of it. After giving up smoking over 2 months ago and putting on nearly a stone and a half as a result...lets just say the Gasser 450's suspension was going have a tough day out to say the least. The track was totally alien to me...It was like a very long moto x circuit with turn after turn, hard hitting braking bumps, fast bumpy straights, big berms and some jumps..(I don't jump!!! well sometimes ha ha!!)...I can honestly say I've never done a moto x event and always thought to myself what's that all about??? ten minutes on a bike and then in for bit before the next race?? Flat out and almost touching your handlebars on the deck in the turns??? not for me??? Well after about one hour of it I finally got to grips with some of the bends and jumps and ended up enjoying myself!!!!!!! I take my hat off to them moto x boys and girls now...the speed they carry around these sort of circuits is truly amazing..(even if they are wusses that are scared off by more than 3hrs on a bike in a forest or boggy mountain etc!!! ha ha ..only joking!!!) My second excuse apart from the not smoking/weight gain issue is that with all the organising of races and stuff that I do it very hard for me to remain bike fit....I usually marshal on a bike ..ten minutes here, ten minutes there ,(maybe I would be suited to mx!! oooohhh!) even on My training and tuition days it is stop start...so to ride as fast as poss for 2 and a half hours was deffo gonna kill me!!! Is this the same man that won the 12 hour Dawn to Dusk last year??? Should I start smoking again to lose weight--NOW????? Is it only half an hour gone??? How hard is the Tough One??? Should I just pull out and blame the bike ( Ha ha-would not do that to you Shirty !!x) These were just some of the questions I was asking myself on the way around the circuit...Anyway it seemed every corner there was someone shouting something positive at me and geeing me along....I had to carry on!!! Voase blew past ...Then Edmondson...then Sagar......then the rest of the bloody field....It was at this point that I upped my game and stayed with them for at least two of the 400 corners!!!! The Gasser 450 4 stroke is no mx bike but I tell you what it's bloody great with the best brakes and suspension in the world (for my type of riding!!) Super smooth fuel injected power, perfect starting and a somehow "floating" like feel over even the roughest terrain make this machine stand out as a great enduro/off road bike...I 'm looking forward to getting a bit (lot!!) fitter and competing on this bike when time allows me to. There was one straight piece near the end of the lap that ran right through the middle of the field and the Gasser in there was unbelievably quick...leaving full on mx 450's and 250 strokes for dead...once 3rd gear was hooked she was gone ..and so was I. All the way to 6th gear she was pulling like a good un...towards the end of the event I was even getting stronger and this was partly down to the bikes superb handling as well as my reknowned stamina to go the distance!!! (big up to me self...taking the piddle..you do realise this dont you???).. great bike and I'm very proud to be entrusted to promote it for GAS GAS UK. Finally got home last night and my body seized on the sofa with a glass of red.....I did not even bother to have a shower...(dirty bar stool!!) One thing stood out in my head was that something has been missing from my life recently and that riding and "racing" dirtbikes is my HOBBY and I absolutely LOVE it, It's all very well being on a bike regularly via marshalling and setting out tracks etc but the real fun is when the flag drops and the adrenaline starts...at no matter what level of ability...it's the same for every one!!!! I just wish it had been run for 12 hours!!!!!!!!! Big thanks to Paul Edmondson and his team at the Fast Eddy/Putoline XC series...The Ireland clan had a great weekend ...Thanks Steve"
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Putoline
XC Championship Round 2 Boreton Farm - Organised by
Fast Eddy Racing - 11th
March