Bryn

Alive & kicking...well more like alive and slouched in a chair fast akip "watching" the telly if I know Chris! Thankfully he hasn't had any arguments with any roundabouts - well not lately anyway! He was a tad busy last year acting as incident recorder / timekeeper at King's Lynn, Boston & the IOW plus, Sittingbourne of course and the Southern Track Riders Association at their meetings.

Yes it's congratulations to Travis McGowan who won his fifth Victorian State title here at Mildura tonight (or rather last night as it's currently 2.45am here!) and successfully defended the title he won last year. He dropped his only point to Kevin Doolan in the heats and the latter finished with 13 points, the same as Adam Allott who beat this King's Lynn team mate of last year when they met as ex-Newport Wasp Ash Jones (who's VERY keen to return to GB this coming season!). The latter defeated Cameron Woodward in a run off for the fourth and final place in the final after both had amassed 12 points. McGowan thus had first choice of gates in the final where he faced Doolan, Adam Allott and Ashley Jones who defeated Cameron Woodward in a run off for the fourth and final place in the grand final. Travis opted for gate 1 in the final, Adam Allott was off two, Kev Doolan chose 3 leaving Ash Jones off the outside. At the first time of asking Doolan & Jones collided at the first bend and both fell, a restart being ordered with all 4. In that re-start Travis led from start to finish with Kev Doolan second, Ash Jones third and Adam Allott fourth. Must admit I celebrated in the clubhouse afterwards naturally sinking a few bundy & cokes so apologies for any typing errors as it's currently 2.50am now !!! and it's time for beddibyes methinks...or shall I just have ONE more Bundy? I blame Sir Lunchalot for leading me astray....fuller report will be filed in the morn and I believe that Lunchy will be doing a heat by heat breakdown in due course.

Stupidly (well I had a hangover at the time which is my excuse!) I've left your contact nos back in the uk! Therefore Lunchy mate... please ring me on 0439 489754 when you get a mo!

Oxford's Travis McGowan attempts to retain his Victorian State Solo Championship at Olympic Park Mildura this Saturday. The line up, in riding order, is: Ashley Jones, Tom Hedley, Cory Gathercole, Kevin Doolan, Adam Allott, Chris Ferguson, Tyron Procter, Cameron Woodward, Paul Bogdanowicz, Travis McGowan, Karlis Ezergailis, Brock Gates, Jason Stewart, Matt Jones, Nathan Hedley, Sam Dore. Reserve: Matt Windsor.

Don't worry Lunchy mate - I'll do report as not leaving Mildura for Melbourne until next Monday...check your mail when you get a mo and give me a ring...left your numbers at home! :-(

Well firstly Lyonsy wasn't going as he's still on a belated honeymoon in New Zealand. Apparently there were something like 18 riders invited in total and am certainly looking forward to asking Johnno how he coped with the tough regime they (apparently) have whilst there INCLUDING no bar! :-)

Times? Er poor old Peter Baker the announcer had enough problems trying to "call" the finishing order in races from his position some 100 yards in front of the start / finish lines before riders were out for the next race let alone anthing else. Sprinsteen was in a class of his own really given his competitors big starts before setting off in pursuit to catch and pass them all! Incidentally, Newcastle fans will be interested to note that Jack stevens took part in a couple of classes during the meeting.

Quick Result: Australian Longtrack Final finishing order Troy Batchelor Rodney McDonald Jason Stewart Luke Gough Danial Mason Louis Myer Jay Herne Cory Gathercole TY Platt James Holder Strider Horton DNF Craig Watson DNF Wato machine probs (blown engine?) prior to start of final at startline after winning his 3 heats! PA somewhat temperamental (probably due to heat!) millions of weird & wonderful insects decscended on the stadium (normally used for trotting races!) once floodlights swithched on! Good to catch up with all & sundry especially Wato, Matt Jones (victoria) and dad Gary, Strider Horton & HIS dad Gary, Lee Herne & his missus (!), Troy Batchelor etc., etc. Caught 11.40pm coach from Wagga to Mildura arriving here at 9.20am...as I moved in...Kev Doolan set off back for Adelaide after riding here last night finishing second.

Hiya mate...hope to see you at the Oz Champs. Now perhaps you can confirm / deny the truth in something I've been told.... Is it REALLY true that Johnno is amongst 8 riders spending next week at the Institute of Sport or whatever it's called in Canberra? Has it got a bar????

Will be taking myself off to Wagga Wagga this Saturday for the big longtrack meeting being held there and promoted by Terry Poole. Any Oz forum members going? For those back in the UK, the main line up comprises of: Ty Platt Cory Gathercole Cody Simpson Andrew PittStrider Horton Tim Heffernan Quinten Byrne Jay Herne Troy Batchelor Mark Murphy Chris Holder Craig Watson Jason Stewart Rod McDonald Lee Herne Reece Farr Michael Farrell Daniel Mason Daine Stevens Louis Myers James Holder Luke Gough From there I'm getting the overnight coach to Mildura where I'll be attending the Victoriam State Championship a week tomorrow.

Spoke to Matt Jones (rider + Jawa dealer here in Oz - but NO relation to Mark & Ash) this morning. He himself didn't ride in last Saturday's Tasmanian Champs as he was away in Czecho on business. However final was, apparently, won by Karlis Ezergailis ahead of Tyron Procter. Only two in the re-run after brothers Ash & Mark jones had a massive "coming together" whilst vying for the lead in the first attempt to run the final!

Opps...sorry mates for bringing the ruddy rain out from Pommieland!

Aren't I just!

As an aside to this thread, and not really relevant to "Years gone By" I can certainly put forward TWO candidates for the SHORTEST serving team captain and BOTH rode for Oxford in this year's Conference League! Our regular skipper Chris Schramm was unavailable for our last home meeting, a double header against firstly Carmarthen and then Buxton. Ben Barker was appointed skipper for the Carmarthen match, lost the toss for gate positions and so, in my managerial role, I sacked him on the spot on the basis that he was a "useless to**er!" Craig Branney was thus handed the job for the Buxton match and yes, you've guesed it, promptly lost the gate toss - result? Instant dismissal!

Great suggestion although it might be better as..., Beer, Bikes, Bundy and buggerall sleep!

ANOTHER memorable trip indeed.... seem to recall said Glasgow supporter was, in fact, a Policeman by occupation!

And, in conclusion......(think I MAY have related THIS bit on another thread a little while ago btw!) So we had, eventually, made it to Vitek's hotel and we grabbed a few hours kip (after a couple of beers - purely for medicinal purposes you'll understand, to settle the nerves! ). In the morn, after breakfast, came the next problem! No one on the coach had any Czech money! And it was Sunday! No banks open! And the start of the meeting was fast approaching and we had to leacve shortly for Pardubice! I asked Vitek to get as much Czecho cash together as he could - think the exchange rate was something like 44 Czech crowns (or whatver!) to the pound so I said we'll work on 40 and, lo and behold, we had enough for a tenner's worth for everyone. That upset one couple who wanted to change up fifty quid each! Still they settled for the tenner each - we went to the meeting (bloody hot it was too I seem to remember - the weather that is so thirst was duly quenched at regular intervals! The coach left straight after the meeting and, guess what, EVERYONE still had LOTS of Czecho money left despite paying to get into the meeting and feeding / watering themselves at the stadium! So we stopped at a BP service station on the outskirts of Prague and everybody piled off the coach. The shelves were emptied of various bottles of different sorts of liquid - one called Wodka or summat - and several crates of beer were ferried back to the coach by "the lads at the back" so they could partake in an all night party whilst we headed for home! They were somewhat shellshocked to find, on coming to in the morn, that at least three of the crates of beer contained the Czecho equivalent of Kaliber Alcohol Free ale! The look of disgust on their faces when they realised what they'd been drinking all night was a real picture! As you'll probably guess, the drivers decided to "head their own way" home....we reached France eventually! "We know the way from here!" they said.... "er why did that last sign we passed say something like Paris 167 Km the way we're heading and a sign on the other side of the road say something like Calais 132 Km then?" I politely inquired! "&7^^ger! - we must have turned the wrong way onto the motorway!" HALLELUJAH!!! A swift U turn later at the next exit and we were, thankfully, heading towards Calais! Boy those white cliffs of Dover were a sight to behold I can tell you! Ah yes, I remember THAT trip well - get the video folks!

Boy DO I remember THAT trip! Turned out the furthest the two coach drivers had ever been before was France - er NOT a good start! Anyway after a night ferry crossing to Calais, the drivers told me that their office had the route all planned and that we would be crossing over the Czecho border by going via Dresden - I politely suggested we'd be better off heading towards Nurenberg but they said they knew where they were going - if only they had! Needless to say, after the usual hold ups on the autobahns we eventually reached Dresden, they took the wrong turning and suddenly we were hopelessly lost - and it wasn't going to be the only time THAT happened! Somewhat foolishly we asked a rather elderly German lady who we spotted in her front garden for directions to the border - needless to say we didn't understand a word she was saying - nor did she us! Somehow we made it (eventually!) to the border and there hit more trouble when the drivers insisted they sort out 'the necessary' rather than me. Turns out that an argument developed over the use of a border guard's pen or something - result being we were kept waiting for quite a time! At least we had some light relief as we passed into Czecho with many, shall we say. "ladies of the night" who, apparently, had been purged from Prague, displaying their wares as they say on the roadside as we passed! By this time I was cream crackered as they say and needed to get some sleep, my last words to the drivers befure getting that shuteye being, "whatever you do, when you get near Prague DON'T head into the city, take the ring road and wake me up!" Wake me up they did and, looking out the window I couldn't help but notice that we'd stopped on a bridge over a pretty large river...yep we were in Prague! Someone appeared to have nicked all the roadsigns as a prank I guess...we turned left, right, left again and....whoops we were heading towards Wencelas Square it appeared! A Czech Army guy wasn't a happy chappie when one of the drivers yelled at him rather than ask for help - he got his gun out (the army guy not the coach driver!) and we skiddaddled pdq! Bt more luck than judgement we were eventually heading in the right direction towards Bohdanec but, you've guessed it, we missed the turning! Eventually we re-traced our route and found it...as we turned right it appeared the road was closed! The coach drivers said, "right that's it! We can't go any further, we'll have to sleep in the coach!" At that point I pointed to diversion signs but THOSE took us towards a Bailey Bridge over a river! We stopped again - and, thankfully International Rescue (in the form of a Czech police car containing two coppers and a poodle - er yep a POODLE honestly!) were soon on the scene and, somehow we conveyed to 'em that we were lost (er suspect they guessed that!) and, very kindly, they gave us a police escort to Vitek's hotel. We arrived, I seem to recall, circa 3am on the Sunday morning, the day of the meeting - having been due to arrive at least SEVEN hours earlier! On opening the door the first person I saw was Josh (Larsen) - he couldn't sleep apparently - and he muttered something like, "Hey guys, you're late!" Cheers Josh! As I surrveyed the bar area Gareth Parry (from Frequent Flyers) and at least some of his party were still up and, looking somewhat the worse the wear I seem to recall as he gazed at the multitude of empty Budwa bottles on the table in front of him he kept muttering something about them all only costing a total of around twelve quid! TO BE CONTINUED.........

Good to see you've recovered from last year in time for this year's championship rounds Ozyace! Cya at Gosford..... and Newcastle..... and at Gillman...... AND at Mildura!

Can't recall if it was THAT particular Hackney / Wimbedon clash Ken but do remember what you are referring to! Must say, before explaining how that blank space came about, it was agreed (within reason!) between the two promotions in those days that neither would worry too much about what one said about the other - afterall it was all about pre-match build up. Sadly, in modern times thanks to the "football mentality" of some, I doubt you could do it. Anyway on that particular occasion, people should firstly remember that there were no such wonderful things as personal computers, emails etc etc. I can't recall the name of the programme printers we were using in those days but I seem to remember that they were based near London Bridge. I used to have to compile the programme and write any articles using a somewhat ancient portable typewriter and literally pin those articles, together with any photos etc to the relevant page where they were to go. (probably haven't explained that too well but I'm sure people will get the idea!) and would normally get the programme in the post by the midday collection on the Saturday by guaranteed delivery so that it would arrive at the printers first thing Monday morning. (thank goodness times have moved on!) I had been promised a photo to fill that particular space you refer to which SHOULD have arrived in the Saturday morning post - yes there WAS such a thing back then! Anyway it didn't arrive! Undeterred I thought, "OK it'll be here first thing Monday and I can deliver it and the rest of the programme to the printers on my way to work in the City." Monday came, the postman came....the photo didn't! Snookered! (for want of a better word and remembering this is a family forum!) and late for work already I simply HAD to use a bit of ingenuity!

I'll be jetting out of Heathrow on Nov 15th but will be back circa Feb 5th - see you in the warm Jessie!

These are the dates I've compiled so far.... OZ DATES……. 6/11 - Gosford Opener (NSW) - Bathurst Showgrounds – NSW Longtrack Champs - Mildura (Vic) - Gillman (SA) - Gold Coast – Labrador (Qld) 13/11 – Gatton – Queensland Solo Champs (To be confirmed) 20/11 – Gosford (NSW) - Gillman (SA) - Latrobe – Tasmanian Solo Champs + sidecars 27/11 – Wagga Wagga Showgrounds – Aus Longtrack Champs (NSW) - Broadford – Practice (Vic) 4/12 - Gosford – Mick Poole Open (NSW) - Mildura – Victorian Solo Champs - Gillman – Sidecar Shootout 11/12 - Wingfield – SA Under 16 champs (Vic) - Renmark – Riverland Solo Champs (Vic / SA - not sure which!) 12/12 – Broadford (Vic) 18/12 – Gillman SA Solo Champs 29/12 – Gosford – Oz Solo Champs Rnd 1 (NSW) - Somersby - Oz Under 16 champs practice (NSW) 30/12 – Somersby - Oz Under 16 Solo Champs (NSW) 31/12 – Somersby – Oz Under 16 Team Champs (NSW) 1/1 – Newcastle – Oz Solo Champs Rnd 2 (NSW) 5/1 – Gillman – Oz Solo Champs Rnd 3 (SA) 8/1 – Mildura – Oz Solo Champs Rnd 4 (Vic) 12/1 - Gosford – NSW Sidecar Champs (To be confirmed) 15/1 – Mildura – Victorian Sidecar Champs (Vic) - Redcliff – 2005 Jack Daniels Oz Longtrack GP (Qld) 22/1 – Mildura – Sidecar Shootout (Vic) - Gosford – NSW Solo Champs (To be confirmed) - Gillman – Jack Young Cup (SA) 29/1 – Tamworth – Oz Under 21 Champs (Qld) 5/2 – Gillman (SA) 12/2 – Gosford (NSW) - Gatton 13/2 – Broadford (Vic) 19/2 – Gillman (SA) 26/2 – Gosford (NSW) - Broadford (Vic) - Murray Bridge – SA Sidecar Champs 5/3 – Gillman (SA) 12/3 – Gosford (NSW) 26/3 – Murray Bridge – Oz Sidecar Champs qualifying (SA) 27/3 – Murray Bridge – Oz Sidecar Champs (SA)

Had a bit of fun on the IOW mike last night putting out 65th birthday congratulations to none other than ex-Oxford, Cradley Heath & Brum rider George Major who's now the Wightlink Islanders training instructor. Yep George is now officially an OAP which is somewhat hard to believe!

Phew! Having checked, it WAS Boston! Must have been too busy downing copious numbers of cartons of peas and mint sauce to notice that I was there rather than Brough Park!

Blimey! My memory MUST have been clouded by the amount of champers I downed that night! I feel sure we certainly rode SOMEWHERE on the Sunday (and got mullered!) but where the hell was it??? It MAY have been Boston but, hey, don't quote me on that! In my defence I've got to say that having now reached "Old Git" status, the old memory cells do tend to play tricks when trying to remember events of 20 years ago! Well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it! Am also obviously suffering from "Bundy withdrawal symptoms" but at least I can start treatment for that come the middle of November!