PHEW, WHAT A SCORCHER

STOP PRESS—BOOK NOW FOR THE FOLLY DAY AT DONINGTON WITH NEIL HODGSON ON 11TH SEPTEMBER—DETAILS ON WEBSITE

It was very, very hot. Not a good day for leathers but a very good day for sun hats, of which a remarkable variety were on display. Also legs, as many riders were changing into shorts between sessions.

Race Control was air-conditioned. I felt it my duty to visit circuit boss Dave on several occasions during the day.

The Swan was not air-conditioned and the rooms were like ovens. Many bleary, sleep deprived faces at breakfast; some bleary for other reasons. Personally I blame Asgoo. I was being very abstemious – one pint of ale and two of shandy, very moderate. He bought some wine. A very nice Argentinean Malbec, aptly named Norton. We checked - no oil leaks. I thought I drank a glass or so. He bought another bottle. I’m still drinking the same glass but he’s topping me up. At the track I complain that I feel like I drank a bottle. He confirmed.

There were eighteen for dinner at the Swan but Matthew Jones who stayed at the nearly Foresters Arms reported that every hotel car park in Tarporley was full of bikes and vans. Asgoo told me he was staying at the Beast and Castle. Sounded interesting. In fact, after his share of two bottles of Norton he decided to grab a spare room at the Swan and had to sneak back to the Beast next morning to get his stuff. We drove past it on the way to the circuit – very disappointed to see that in fact it was the Beeston Castle.

You supported us magnificently for Oulton – about 110 booked and paid and about 100 turned up. (Odd that but the previous day’s weather forecast had mentioned thunderstorms – they didn’t happen). I was therefore particularly pleased to announce that the Folly lives on as long standing officers Jeff and Jackie Brown are taking over ownership of Motorcycle Folly Limited at the end of the year thus relieving Ian Fox and me of financial responsibility. We’ll still be there, the ethos will remain unchanged and you are still going to have to put up with my briefings – ah well – you can’t have everything!

Spontaneous applause broke out at the announcement.

Those who have seen the film “Jackie Brown” will know that they will have to behave next year!

I also mentioned at the briefing that some people had asked whether our Donington day with the Neil Hodgson Supporters’ Club on September 11th was going to be like a Folly day. It is a Folly day, just like the rest. It’s just that there will be other track gods there as well as me - Neil, and James Haydon.

Not that I felt much like a track god at Oulton. First there was the Asgoo effect, then either the Guzzi or I weren’t feeling comfortable and I was being overtaken, regularly, in novice. (Do they get quicker, or is it me?). Anyway, Stewart Petts lent me his Buell (no-one has lent me one of those before), which proved it wasn’t me and Andy, the Track Sense mechanic, both fiddled with the Guzzi suspension and pronounced it okay after a few laps. Relying on his expertise I then had one good session, the last of the day. The Buell by the way is a real hooligan machine so suits me perfectly.

Tony Hill of Track Sense and his cronies were with us again and I’m pleased to report that interest in the Almeria weekend in November is building. Lots of people were talking about it and making tentative arrangements. Tony was saying that Almeria itself, the old town, is lovely—lots of his riders take spouses/partners with them for a bit of winter sun. Have a look at the Folly Forum on the website where I’ve started a thread on Almeria – who’s going, car sharing, accommodation, etc. We need to get booking soon if we are to take advantage of the best flight prices. Further details at the end of this report.

Not a lot to report about Oulton itself except the heat but a few snippets:

• Only three fallers all day – two advanced, one intermediate: No serious injuries but Craig Mc Mullen’s GSXR1000 K5 somersaulted at the bottom of Cascades and looks a bit of a mess.
• No fatal noise problems despite testing for all.
• Interesting system at Oulton whereby bikes may only enter and exit the pit lane garages at the rear so the pit lane is empty of all but instructors and officers. It worked well—particularly for instructors and officers!
• We were able to manage over 100 riders with three less “staff” than usual—my guess is that no one had the energy to demand anything or be difficult (not that you ever are) and all were just sheltering from the sun in the garages.
• Paul Sampson and Boot (that’s Colin Booth to all but his friends) drove up with four others in three vans from Penzance – that’s dedication!
• Wayne Thomson got his left knee down for the first time whilst wearing Chris Hendon’s “Tigger” helmet and with a Tigger mascot on the tank. Chris will be proud!

Wayne told me that on one occasion he had come up behind me whilst I was pussyfooting around nervously on the Guzzi “but didn’t like to overtake - a bit like coming up behind the police on the motorway”. An interesting remark as earlier in the day I had observed a big bunch of novices stuck behind an instructor with a slow instructee and had thought to myself that it looked like the police car effect.

Donington’s next; we still have places but don’t delay. It’s being sold to two databases so may well sell out. Intermediate at Oulton sold out two weeks before the day and I’m told that the weather will be good again!

If we don’t see you there and we don’t to a day in October – there’s a possibility of Brands – and you don’t manage to persuade the other half to come to Almeria or to let you go, we’ll see you next year, as the Foolishness continues!

OULTON PHOTOS

If you missed buying photos of your glory moments at Oulton they are available to view and purchase online at http://www.edpphoto.com/galleries.htm.

SERVICES

If you want to pre-order tyres for Donington phone Grip and Rip on 07808 943458 or 07831 342851.

ALMERIA

We are supporting the Track Sense outing to Almeria in Southern Spain for the weekend of 24th to 26th November. You can find details of Track Sense and their days at www.tracksense.co.uk.

They are doing a special deal for Folly riders (which is about a 15% discount) as follows:

£549 per rider incl. 3 trackdays, 4 nights 3 star hotel, bike transport & car rental (car is for airport/hotel/circuit transfers, and detailed driving directions are provided)... Non-riders £138 each... Prices are based on 2 sharing a 3 star room and a basic car (Opel Corsa or similar)... 4 star hotel is £10pppn extra, single rooms are £10pn extra for 3 star, or £14pn extra for 4 star, single occupancy car £38 extra.

My guess is that we want to stay in the three star (as we will be out riding or eating most of the time anyway) but I’m happy to go with the flow, and that enough of us will be going to enable us to ensure that cars can be shared.

You fly out on a Thursday and back on the Monday although you can probably fly back Sunday night if you must—I’m told it’s a sweat and you are too tired to work on Monday anyway.

Track Sense say:

Almeria circuit is situated near the coast in an area of southern Spain that is officially classed as a desert, so the winter climate is very bike-friendly (typically it's 21 degrees with 7 hours of sunshine per day in November). The circuit is 2.5 miles long, and is used for testing by many MotoGP, BSB & WSB teams, as well as for Spanish national championship racing. It is twisty, technical & undulating, with 13 turns (8 right & 5 left), a left-right chicane, and a 950m back straight. There are large run-off areas at every corner, the paddock is huge, and all garages are equipped with power, light, toilets & showers. A cafeteria serves good food all day, and we don't skimp on medical cover either (2 doctors, 1 paramedic, 1 nurse and 2 ambulances (one of which is a fully-equipped ICU) are at the circuit every day). We operate a 3 group system on track, with 7 hours of tracktime per day, and free tuition by our own instructors, all of which are multiple national champions. There are mechanics, an interpreter, a fuel service, and a tyre sales & fitting service at the track every day, and hire bikes (track prepared 2006 Yamaha R6) are also available.

We offer a choice of 3 star & 4 star hotels in Almeria old town. The town is a lively place on the coast, with lots to do in the evenings. For the ladies (the ones that aren't riding that is), there are lots of shops, historic buildings & cobbled streets to explore during the day.

Getting there is simple... All you have to do is to drop your bike off on the Sunday before the event, fly to Spain, and pick up your bike on the Sunday after the event... There are lots of other bike drop off & collection options, bikes are transported in purpose-built steel cradles by motorcycle specialists, and all bikes are fully insured whilst in transit and in store. Ryanair & Easyjet have daily flights to Almeria from Stansted, and they are cheap if you book reasonably early (typically less than £50 return incl. taxes). There are lots more low-cost flights from other UK airports (see the flight advice page on our website for details). For the November event, you need to fly out on Thurs 23rd, and fly home on Mon 26th, but if you want to stay longer to explore the local area or whatever, extra nights in the hotel are not a problem.

For more details & info, visit our website at www.tracksense.co.uk To book, simply give us a call on 08704 450 600... A £199 deposit is required at the time of booking, and the balance is due 1 month before departure.

They also say that group for group their usual riders are slightly faster than we are so if you would normally ride slow inter (if we give you a choice) go novice with them. If you would normally ride fast inter then stay in inter.

Please bear in mind that the Folly are not organising this outing. We hope lots of Follyists will go because we would like to share a celebration that the Folly will live on (Cava anyone?). If you want to go deal direct with Track Sense who will customise deals for you if you want or need them to.

If you want to find out who else is going or organise share transport etc go onto the Folly chat group and “talk” with the others.

Geoff.

Any comments on the day or this newsletter (not bookings) to me at

Views or suggestions on our instructors/instructing to