    |
 |
|
|
|
Picture: the steep rock face in one of the terrain tests
The ongoing story of the A4DE
Tuesday dawned fine yet again so the riders headed out to the wilds to check out the remaining terrain tests. Unfortunately, they were unable to follow the local A4DE maps so returned without seeing anything. Then it was tyre time! Sean Clarke spent his time fitting moose tubes whilst everyone else fitted ultra heavy duty tubes which seem to be the go. A hive of activity abounded with discussions as to what was the best tyre for the conditions and what should be held in reserve in case rain came and the conditions changed.
Hazel Rushworth had made a doctors appointment in the hope that she could get a clearance to race. She damaged her foot at the National Enduro several weeks previously so was required by international motorcycling law to get a medical clearance. Since being in Australia, Hazels foot has made remarkable progress and she has been walking terrain tests without hardly any discomfort at all. General consensus is that her foot bandaged tightly and in her firm moto x boots will protect any minor discomfort or further damage. A visit to local Doctor put paid to her hopes and dreams. The bone is not healed and she would be unwise to risk further damage or infection. Hazel is still young and has many more endures in her future so disappointing as it is, she has to think of the future and of course the ISDE in November 2006.
The team is getting really well with lots of friendly banter and plenty of discussions on line choice at the extreme text and consideration on the “girls” way round which is about 40 seconds longer. The rock face is daunting but not impossible. The question will be "is there anyone stuck on the only two lines available to the riders?". You should be able to spot this before you enter the section. It’s going to be interesting!
There are a lot of fast riders turning up to the A4DE this year and some are changing classes figuring they have a better chance elsewhere. The 250 2T class is hot with riders jumping into the fray as is the 450 4T class where some of the best riders are entered. The start line will be interesting.
It has been leaked that Christopher Power will be on Minute 1 and riding on No 5.
Everyone here knows the very famous and respected Sean Clarke. The Aussies are watching and we believe that our Junior team will one of the biggest surprises of the event – we will keep you posted.
The guys headed out to the bush to check out some more terrain tests this afternoon and got horribly disorientated returning to base well after dark, tired and annoyed that some of the tests had yet to be viewed. Hungry that they were, they all enjoyed the feast that was turned up by Ross, Roger and Greg and are looking forward to another popular Ross breakfast tomorrow morning before heading out to view the rest of the tests at 6:30 in the morning.
It is then crunch time. Karl Power was rejected because of his tail light which he is hurridly fixing, Shaun Prescot is putting in harder springs on his borrowed KTM 250 and everyone else seems to be through and in Park Ferme.
Trevor has supplied all the number plate backing (Red for the Senior Teams and Green for the Junior Teams) and it is a mission to get it in place. Then it is the lights to make sure they are working, the mirror and of course the horn. The sign on and scrutineering is taking place as we speak.
Once everything is passed, it is into the Park Ferme until the start at 7 am Wednesday morning. And that will be Christopher on the line at 7:00 am.
