enduro news
© Bob Mullins   

Aberbeeg 2005

The 2nd round of the South East Wales Hare & Hounds Championship took place at a new venue near Aberbeeg on Sunday 20th February. Endurowales' CoC Huw Watkins had laid out a fast open course around a 5 mile lap of open moorland. The weather was dry but cold & the ground was hard & icy so - as a safety measure - the start was delayed by 15 minute while the CoC led the 68 riders on a sighting lap. Saul Roberts #19 had invested in a new Husqvarna but not in a new plug so he missed the start. Scrutineer Harold Lewis came to the rescue. The first half of the lap swept over soft loamy moorland but as the course returned the tracks became harder with infills of hardcore. Mooses were a distinct advantage. Nick Gill #221 from Wolverhampton went out on the first leg with a broken leg. Chris Shelton's experiment comparing the tensile strength of a Yamaha crankcase with a gate post proved inconclusive but his subsequent ground versus collarbone test had a positively negative outcome. Further down the same rocky road Veteran rider - Joss Batey - was inventing the new ground breaking sport of face boarding. Caerphilly MC members Jimmy Witts & Anthony Williams were kept on their toes punching the lap cards & handing out yellow cards to the riders who thought that blue tape meant start sliding. Out on the course another marshal was handing out red cards to riders who couldn't resist the lure of the open road when a taped & posted channel on the side of a vehicular right of way began to become rutted. Riders had been warned that course cutting would not be tolerated & a list of 14 excluded riders was posted at the finish. "I was very disappointed to have to take the action I did. I had explained to the riders the need to follow the course, and taken the step of running a sighting lap... the route in question was a vehicular right of way running through the farm. We had spent 2 hours sorting out a route which was to the agreement of the landowner. A number of riders complained that they were following the course, only to be passed on the roadway, this resulted in the marshal's checking the route - the landowner also noticed the riders running down the R.O.W - not a good advert for the sport.... I was disappointed even further by the fact that some of those excluded were very good supporters of Endurowales. I am prepared to stand by the decision, and I hope that those involved will accept their mistakes and enjoy other events with us in the future. We have secured a very good venue, and I am sure that we will be able to entertain many more riders in the future." Huw Watkins. Just before the end of the lap the course ran along side of a valley. Towards the end of the event, a rider on a 520 KTM went over the edge & started on a personal journey of self discovery. Fortunately some spectators also discovered him & Jock was on hand to pull him out with the quad. Last year's series champion - Greg Evans - heeded the organisers warning to observe caution & completed the first lap in 3rd place but he then gathered momentum to take the Premier with 17 laps & one minute ahead of runner up Derek Bawn. Neil Thomas was the Best Clubman ahead of Gregory Ogilvie. Wayne Golding won the overall Veterans class & Barry Quibbell was the runner up. As usual the event bred individual battles. Anthony Brown #40 (pictured above) from Oxford held off a challenge from his mate Steve Harper #42. After 3 hours only 3 seconds separated them. This was an excellent new venue which deserves better support.