The dates for the various motor-racing events have been released. Of major interest to me is the Moto GP (Silverstone, 15th-17th June), British Super Bikes (All year, but I’m planning on visiting: Oulton Park, 5th-7th May/6th-8th July, Donington Park, 7-9 September) and the Isle of Man TT (provisional dates: 28th May-8th June). For more dates and locations see the websites.
The Dakar Rally is now over, with French man Cyril Despres on the KTM winning the Bike category. A summary of the best bike action is available here.
TT: Closer to the Edge came out last year and last week I got round to buying and watching it. Two words; amazingly quick. Whether you like the TT or bike racing at all is not really important. It is a tale of a group of people seeking something past the ordinary and ordain in life. Although it is a documentary, it is a well-edited, fast-paced, person-orientated film rather than the typical moribund T.V. shows. The on-board camera shots are unbelievable, watching the bikes hit over 170 mph on the tiny country roads sends adrenaline shooting through your body. It is the stories of the riders and their families that really make the film, in particular those of the Dunlop family, Guy Martin and the Dobbs family. Some of the quotes Guy Martin comes out with are hilarious and down-right honest opinions, e.g. ‘Some lads love going to the pub, some lads love shagging. I don’t mind it but I’m not into it. Different things make different people happy, don’t they’. Anyone who likes adrenaline fixes will be able to relate to it. As the tag-line says ‘Just because you’re breathing doesn’t mean you’re alive’!
As I’m doing a series of reviews I’ve got some biking jeans, Richa Kevlar Jeans. I’ve owned them for about a year and a half, taken no spills on them. As jeans go they look the part, have a good cut (slightly different to normal jeans), proper denim, can be worn on a night-out and are tough as old boots. The cut around the knees may look a bit strange, that is because on the inside they have insert sections for knee pads. Also on the inside are large sections of Kevlar fabric, round the backside, down the back of the legs and around the knee, prime areas to get hurt as you slide down the road. They take a bit to get wet and I’m sure if you treated them with Nikwax or the like they would be fairly water-resistant. For sitting on the bike they feel comfortable for all day riding and are much nicer if you are going in to town than your full leathers. A couple of downsides are flexibility is very limited for non-biking movements, they take even longer than normal jeans to dry and in midsummer when not travelling at 60mph they can get very warm. Overall I’d highly recommend them to any biker, and unlike those jeans you got from G-star (or some rubbish brand) they won’t fall apart after two washes.
I had the cast off and then replaced last week. It is now neon yellow. My thumb was given the all ok and I’m getting it moving again, as it had been immobilised for five weeks. Still cannot ride the push-bike though, my arm sticks out at a funny angle and grabbing a handful of the back break is not going to happen. The cast comes off around the end of the month, then a few weeks will be needed to get it back to working strength.
I’m now able to run, finally. It is a great feeling that I can now be building my strength back up. Distance and speed is getting there. My knee is no longer buckling if I misstep which proved amusing to everyone else as I went down the road. It is funny how things you take for granted when taken away from you become suddenly really important to get back.
In the vain hope that this was useful, thanks for reading.
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