wolfcrazy

Hi guys, After racing motocross all my life and finally giving speedway a go last year at the ripe old age of 35 (and absolutely loving it!) i really want to give it a proper go (as in a bit of amateur racing) so before I take the plunge and start hunting for a bike and kit I really wanted some general advice on where I could firstly get some practice in and secondly take part in a bit of amateur racing for a bit of fun? I'm based in the East Midlands so centrally based so where in the country regularly holds practice days for owner/riders to get some laps in and is there anywhere in the UK that runs amateur racing? Any help appreciated.

I know that Speedway can throw up surprises but was not expecting that. Well done boys. It's hard to gauge whether that was purely a fired up Wolves, an ill-prepared' complacent Swindon or the perfect balance of the two... Depending on your perspective of course

I've filtered through the above thread regarding places and times to ride but could someone just give me a breakdown of tracks to practice with your own machinery (turn up and ride) and also tracks that hold amateur meets? I'm based in the midlands so anything not a million miles away would also be a bonus. Many thanks

although my spelling is far from perfect could i recommend the crazy notion of school to your good self. it is a wild thought I know but I fear your lack of education may rub off on those near to you and with this obvious dream of a successful career in speedway for your son I can imagine you taking him out of school and giving him home schooling under your tuition which i obviously don't need to explain again, but would be a complete disaster. Contract signing, sadly, is a part of speedway and therefore eye to hand coordination with a pen is vital. just a general tip, hope it doesn't seem too far fetched.

Have you ever thought of keeping your nose out of things that dont really concern you,and with your postings on other threads parhaps you do need councelling : Ever thought about not putting your personal problems on a public forum? consider it then come back to me. I'm not sure what kind of counselling I could be offered to be honest, do they do counselling for speedway forum posts and the problems that go with them? I'm not sure, you certainly seem to be the expert on this one so i'll leave it with you. Just a side note. Any man who feels it's neccessary to put two large laughing smileys next to a poor pun (which incedentally doesn't really make sense) in order to make it known to others who should have the misfortune of reading it that it is indeed a 'joke' seriously needs to reconsider the notion of having a child or children in the first place, obviously far too late for you now but you live and learn. once again, the very best of luck.

Touched a nerve there. intrigueing. my point is that any 'father' who states 'what is the point in spending all this money if you don't intend to win' has entirely the wrong attitude. when his son is 16 or so, then it is up to him to decide if winning is important enough, until then the point of doing speedway or any sport at that age is surely to have fun. Something which CD has failed to mention as the only other reason he believes his son would do speedway other than winning is to 'look pretty' i would just suggest that he will possibly live to regret that attitude in the long run. on his head be it of course. it's not like I have any real understanding of any of this.

I love a dad who tries to relive his youth through his child.

AHHHH HAAAAA finnally, i got a reply out of your arrogant and filthy mouth. So, thats the story is it? well, all I can say is you will learn. and i most definately know a lot better than you about this one. good luck. you will definately need it.

yeah, it does sound like your taking this way too seriously CD. I started MX at 4 years old, and by the time I was 9 i was feeling the pressure from my dad and sponsors and packed up racing for 3 years because it made me so miserable, I wasn't enjoying it anymore. don't spoil what is so much fun for someone so young. just enjoy it. at 10, results are meaningless.

I'm interested now. can I assume that your son had some riding/racing incident and because of it wanted to pack up speedway?

What the bl00dy hell is all this about? What happened to this speedway gear going to a good home?

Why are you getting all arsey about it shaggybird? surely it should work on a first come first served basis, hence Ashley replied first.

Thanks for that Wildcat. I've bought all the books about Cradley's history, great reads. For me, i loved going down to cradley every week. i felt really lucky that I had two teams to watch. I was always a wolves fan as a kid but it was great to go down to cradley just to watch some speedway on a saturday night. You will never beat the atmosphere from a cradley wolves match, I agree that sometimes it went a bit too far but thats sport and rivalry I guess. Great to see such passion for a team. I still feel that way about wolves and I can't wait for the day that The heathens return to the track so we can have back what speedway has really missed. Indeed, cradley deserves speedway and speedway certainly deserves cradley.

I'm just wandering if there are any websites or an links that people would be willing to give me where I could have a look at some old photos of cradley heath in the 80's and early 90's. I know there are a few on the cradley website but nothing of any racing or pit/ track pics. Just feeling nostalgic and wanted to be reminded of the fun times I had on a saturday at Cradley. thanks in advance.

Thanks for that link Grachan, brings back vague memories of my trip to japan when i was about 7 years old. My dad being the motorcycle maniac that he is spent three days of our trip trying to find out where he could find some Japanese speedway...Worth it though, great fun. As you have already said, the noise of those things is scary but beautiful. they don't do things by halves in japan it has to be said, they don't do 'risky' over there, it's more of 'you will probably die'.