cityrebel

well, two records fell for me at the launch pad last night. firstly it was the latest finish ever to a meeting for me at rye, passing the IOW / wimbledon double header from about 10 years ago. secondly the ambulance delays were the longest i have ever experienced in over 40 years of watching speedway. a couple of my mates threw in the towel at 9.30 and i don't blame them. if there were any first timers there last night it would have put them off for life!

i've heard that uncle len has dug out his alvin stardust LP's in time for saturdays somerset match.

has it ever been any good. mildenhall is the king of speedway fish and chips as far as i'm concerned!.

no, i've been going to speedway far too long to change my ways, but it's not going to help bring in the next generation of fans is it!.

i also went to that double header in 1985 shads. my first ever meeting at the launch pad was rye house v rayleigh in 1972. gordon kennett got a maximum for the red devils in a challenge match against the original rockets!.

at rye house last saturday they played showaddywaddy's greatest hits throughout the whole meeting!. that stuff was in the charts when i was in my teens and it gave me a headache just listening to it!. someone really needs to get a grip on what music is played at some of these tracks.

at todays prices £20 is good value for a PL double header. whether the rockets team and track can stand up to the rigours of 30 heats of racing is another matter!

a poor meeting last night raced on an ultra slick track with the base exposed in places. the crowd looked decent again, up on last week but the track definitely needs sorting out.

i think the final straw for a lot of people was when when the admission price went up to over £1 per race.

you getting withdrawl symptoms for the launch pad shads. rye just don't seem to run many meetings since the raiders moved out, only 4 visits for me so far this season.

plan B for me as well. i just hope it's a bit drier for kent on monday.

there are some big showers on the way. let's hope the meeting can survive the downpours!

mildenhall have already got a foam type fence. kent have air fence panels on parts of the bends, the gaps just need filling in. the IOW, like buxton have a massive task ahead to raise the funds needed, just like the vast majority of PL tracks.

hi tony, i remember middle of the road being played at west ham. three others that spring to mind are rocket man at rayleigh, because they're young at crayford and don't leave me this way at white city.

i first went to rye house way back in 1972 in the days of the red devils. the fact that the old place is still staging speedway is something to be thankful for, when so many other venues in the south east are no more. the set up at rye does have a tired feel about it and i tend to share my saturday speedway nights between arlington and hoddesdon. i can't see anything changing at rye while uncle len is in charge, so being a neutral fan, i just go with the flow!.

you don't want much do you!

there were plenty of families with kids at central park last night. the 6.30 start time works for some people. i was leaving the stadium at 8.15 in bright sunshine!.

an excellent match at central park last night. i think a draw was a fair result for two commited teams that didn't deserve to lose. i also think the crowd was up on last weeks attendance.

i've never had any problems getting concessions tickets for cardiff on the day of the meeting. i always buy the cheapest seats in the upper level where there is plenty of room. if this is a new policy from BSI to limit the amount of kids tickets, then they must be mad!. there is already a lack of youngsters attending domestic speedway in this country. i know let's charge them full price!. come on BSPA you know it makes sense!.

i work as a site manager at a special needs school. none of the staff i work with have ever been to speedway, one or two might of heard of it. i don't think you realise what a minority sport speedway is these days, especially among the younger generation.

if i mentioned it at work, most people would not know what i was talking about!

the crowd looked about 450 on monday, pretty decent for this level of racing. i'm really enjoying the season at central park and i left the stadium looking forward to next weeks match. after going to the fiasco at cardiff on saturday it was like a breath of fresh air to watch some decent NL action.

does anyone know if the 2013 veterans championship due to take place at lydd this coming saturday is still on. usually there is a bit of publicity regarding this event, but recently i have seen nothing.

will bech be riding for the devils in this match. someone has posted on the plymouth thread that he is down to ride in sweden in the u/21's on saturday night. can anyone confirm or deny this.

the crowds have gone down at lakeside this season. i think the club is suffering on three fronts. firstly i think there is still a hangover from the tragic death of lee richardson, secondly we are living in hard times and some fans just can't afford speedway anymore and lastly the new track opening at central park will have taken some fans away that live south of the river. i'm a regular at arena that rarely misses a meeting, yet i went to kent kings last night. good facilities and better value for money made it an easy decision for me, and quite a few more lakeside regulars that i saw there.