Day 3.Day 3 was to be a totally different route with new tests and checks. ?A? schedule again and a tough route. Lots of lesser riders went out today. Those who normally rode clubman would find today pretty tough going. Big climbs and drops with thousands of people lining the course up in the hills. All welsh riders came home ok again with the ?A? team making some headway back to third. Everyone fitted new back tyres and checked things over. Tom Knill changed a broken rear spoke; Andrew changed a front sprocket and changed the Gear oil along with the rear tyre. A split link was changed the next morning in the 10 min work area. Rowan changed his front forks that had started to leak. The club teamsin front of the ?A? team had riders of the calibre of SALA, RINALDI, and PASSERI. All top riders of world championship standing, so to move forward was going to be a hard task. Dylan, who follows riders form like a horse racing pundit reckoned we may make third overall by the finish. The ?B? team was also likely to move up as the week went on. ?A? Team 4th. ?B? Team 21stDay 4.Same as day 3 but the course was much rougher with fog for some riders making it difficult. Dylan hit trouble today when a fall knocked a hole in the side of his engine and water pump. He made temp repairs as best he could with molecular metal and sent a message on for his outrider to get parts ready at the next check with Andrew. This problem cost Dylan 34 mins and our good Welsh ?A? team result was looking doubtful. The times seemed even tighter today and everyone felt totally knackered by the end. Early to bed was still the norm. Everyone did two tyres at night and gave the bikes a quick check over. Tom Knill and Craig both changed noisy rear silencers at the finish today. If you request it atthe finish just before going into Parc Ferme you are allowed 30 mins under the supervision of a technical official to change it. However it must be remarked and pass the noise test before you can put your bike in.?A? Team down to 19th?B? Team still rising to 16thDay 5.A much easier day was planned for day 5 with the jury deciding ?A? schedule again. But God intervened and we had a massive thunder storm all night. The Clerk of Course changed to ?B? schedule just before the first bikes left. Although the route was easier, it was a long way round and the rain and fog had changed it to one of the hardest days yet for some riders. The tarmac roads had the feel of riding on ice while riding off road was on polished clay with everyone visiting the ground often. Time was really tight even on ?B? schedule but the Welsh teams all survived and stayed clean. Our only rider still on Gold was Andrew. His dreams disappeared today due to the severity of the tests, all the tests started as green fields with massive climbs in them, and the early trophy riders set awesome test times. By the time the club teams arrived it was a different world. Riders stuck everywhere and thegrass replaced by mud and ruts. Today our riders did test times 3 or 4 mins longer than the class leaders and chances of a gold medal melted away. Rowan changed his silencer before putting his bike in and planned to change his front pipe the next morning. Rear tyres for everyone with only Craig having serious work to do. Tom Sagar who had gone out earlier in the week kindly loaned the Welsh team his L/H radiator and Craig managed to get it changed and into to final check on time. A collision with a German rider had left Craig?s Gas Gas steaming out of the holed radiator.?A? Team back up to 10th?B? team still in front at 8th
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Day 3 of ISDE Slovakia 2005
Welsh Six-Day Team History.
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