Report Austrailia 98

Team Manager Report Australia 1998All the preparations for the 1998 I.S.D.E. being held in Australia ran very smoothly until a last minute accident left Keith Roden with a broken arm three weeks before the event was due to start and little more than two weeks before we were due to leave! Luckily Dylan Hughes was very keen to step into his place which left the team intact, however, as a container carrying all the equipment had long left the country we still had to arrange a bike for him to ride. After a week of faxes and phone calls through the night, Steve Plain was able to arrange the hire of a KTM for Dylan just before we left for Australia. Naturally nerves were very frayed when we eventually boarded the plane!!After a tiring flight, we arrived in Traralgon on Wednesday November 4th to find that our container had not arrived on the previous Saturday as promised. Due to an error it was still being held in the customs but we were assured we would have it first thing on the Friday morning. this meant having to reschedule our allocated scrutineering day to Saturday but the organisers could not have been more accommodating. this technical hitch now meant that most of the riders were now free to walk the Special Tests before the bikes arrived. Dylan Hughes and Steve Griffiths however, were both using hired bikes and were able to collect and prepare their machines as soon as we arrived. Steven Plain, our official coach, pre-rode the course together with Geraint Jones and they were able to give the riders a detailed briefing of what to expect before the event started. The event promised to be very rideable with no stoppers but never the less demanding due to the length of course and terrain which is very different to what our lads are used to at home.DAY 1 Went very much to plan with no problems at all. it was the longest day of the Six Days in mileage and it was already apparent that the riders were placed in the correct A and B teams.DAY2 The event ran to plan, however our back up was tested to the limits when Simon Evans wheeled his bike out of the Pare Ferme only to find it was very low on compression. After an anxious ten minutes the bike fired up on the starting line without too much trouble. Shortly afterwards I received a call on the mobile phone from Steven Plain, who was outriding, asking for a piston out of Simon?s spares kit to be brought out to meet them as soon as possible, Together with Gareth Jones and Phil Wilkinson, I raced out to Check 2, where luckily the riders had about 10 minutes to spare. Miraculously under the watchful eyes of both Steven and Gareth, Simon managed to change his piston only using his one minute allowance. A great achievement and an excellent example of what we are looking for in a six days team member. Everything did not go smoothly however as attempting to make up a bit of time to the next check, Simon knocked his ankle against a stump and had to ride the remainder of the event with a very swollen and painful ankle.Unfortunately, our other problem could not be easily rectified. One of the checks, got more than a little confused with the times and urged Craig Bounds to go in to the check 7 minutes early, despite his protests that he was not late as they were saying, they convinced him that he was and becoming totally confused he eventually clocked in 7 minutes early. Understandably, he was extremely disappointed and the check person was devastated.DAY3 Following a night of extremely heavy rain, the riders set off the following morning confident they could do well after the change in weather conditions. However, by the time the Trophy and Vase riders had reached check 3 and the Club Team riders had reached check 2, the course was impassable and the bikes were directed back to the start area and told to have their bikes back in the Parc Ferme by 4.OOpm. this was a tremendous opportunity for everybody would have lost two team members had there not been this chance to rectify problems.DAY4 The start was delayed several times before the organisers finally settled on 11.00 am. The competitors then had a very long ride out on the road to ride a MX test, back in to the start area followed by another ride out to the test and back to the finish. This was an unfortunate arrangement for us as we are never going to excel as a team on a test basis. However with nothing else to go for, some of our riders did put in some impressive times.DAY 5 The basic route was as planned, with any technical bits and hill taken out as the rain had done so much damage. Steve Griffiths managed to crash heavily on an un-timed run through a test before check 1. He was monitored carefully for the rest of the day by both Steven and the official paramedic. However a full examination by the event doctor at the finish revealed that it was not as bad as was originally feared. Rather that the compoundfracture which he was rumored to have suffered, there was the possibility of a fine crack in the back of his hand but the medics were quite happy for him to continue in the event. The rest of the riders rode sensibly and had an uneventful day.DAY6 A short run out to the final Moto Cross brought a somewhat disappointing Six Days to the end. Simon Evan?s bike finally gave up the ghost during his final MX race and he was relieved to find that he had just managed to hang onto his Silver Medal! Dylan Hughes was without a doubt the Welsh Team star of the MX, he really got stuck in and finished sixth in his race.To summarize the Australian ISDE, the organisers were great, the venue superb but the weather wrecked what promised to be an excellent event. However, we can be well pleased with how our teams performed in what was put in front of them.Fiona Price- Team ManagerResults: Best British Club Team Craig Bounds, Simon Evans, Neil Williams. Best Team Member Neil Williams Silver Medals Craig Bounds, Malcolm Dunn, Simon Evans, Dylan Hughes, Neil Williams. Bronze Medal Steve Griffiths

Welsh Six-Day Team History.