JOEY GOUGH

ABOVE: Vid from yesterday of my progress through the main line...and my grin at the end ha ha!

After weeks of travelling and bad weather, I finally got to hit the trails again this weekend.

Yesterday was the most fun day of riding since the french trip. I headed to the track for a few gates, the sun was out so this was the first big sunday turnout of the year. It was good to see some of the local guys who have not been riding long making huge progress since last time I saw them, there is some real potential there, watch out for the new generation of Norwich Flyers tearing up the nationals in the next few years! As long as they don't get bored and sell there bikes for escorts with halfords spoilers that is.

The Hardcore Hobbies crew made the trip over from Bury, it's always a good day when they come over. After sessioning the track in the wind, we all headed to the trails. We rode the smaller tech line for a while and the HH crew decided we needed maps, or sign posts... or colour co-ordinated lines for non-locals to find their way through! Jay worked it out after pacing out the first couple of jumps and after that was looking rad, should have had that step up though! It was yours Millsy! You better come back next weekend!

When we were warmed up a bit we moved on to the mains. They haven't been running very long as they've been changed so many times. In no time Scoob was showing us the way through, smoothing right through the line with ease. I had only jumped the 3rd set the previous day, but I was really getting the hang of these now and before I had too much time to think about it I jumed through to the end of the line. I think it was the confidence I gained riding those big track jumps in France! It was so much fun, I couldn't stop smiling... roll on next weekend!

Is it that time of year again already?

The NPS 4X series 2007 kicked off this weekend at the indoor track at Sheffield....

Sunday morning and the first thing that struck me was my gates- they were consistently spot on! I know if Stoby and Uncle Buck are reading this they will not believe it, the only consistancy I've ever had out of my gates before now is consistantly bad!! haha.

After a good start to the day, things went a bit wrong, with my chain snapping in practice. After Steve the pirate helped me sort out a new one (thanks Steve), I lost my gloves, got confused and found them again. It was going to be one of those days...or was it?

I won my first moto. Things were good. My next two heats were a tough draw though, and to add to my problems my gears went wrong. I got a 3rd and 4th leaving me with the pressure on in the last heat. I sorted my gears and won it.

I think I only ever made it out of the motos in Senior Men once last year. If that. So to say I was chuffed to make the quarters with 2 wins under my belt was an understatement. Tony da Butcher would have fell over with shock if he'd have been there to see the grin on my face.

I n the quarter I kept with the pack till the first corner and exited in 3rd. I got the second straight pretty good, and was gaining on second....there was a big gap on the inside, I went for it, took second, and before I knew it I was in the semi's. I was over the moon!

I gave it my best shot in the semi, I was 3rd all the way and chasing hard, but just couldn't do enough to make the main. Oh well, I still had a B- main to go for!! I got a great first straight and as we bunched up in the first corner, somehow I swooped from 3rd on the outside to getting my nose in front for first! There was a downside though - to make the move stick, I had to take on a 6ft+ bloke! I tell you what, that split second felt like an age- so many thoughts go through your head in so little time. Either time really did slow down or that voice in my head really is a fast talker. Anyway, I decided it was best to hold off and stay on the bike today, settling for 2nd. It was the best NPS 4X race I have ever ridden. 6th over all out of 27 men. I never expected that.

To top the weekend off I got to watch one of the best races I have seen in a long while. The Elite final was a cracker. Dale and Scott Beaumont were neck and neck down the first straight, I thought Scott made it stick in the corner but Dale appeared first. By the 3rd straight Dale was leading with Scott, Lewis Lacey and Steve Taylor all catching, Scott lined up the winning move in the last corner only for Taylor to spoil the party going for a 4th to first move! Dale came out in the lead with Lewis gaining, carrying loads of speed and looking like he would walk past Dale to take the win in his elite debut. But sadly for him, Dale shut the door on the final jumps. Great race!!

Roll on Chicksands :o)

*Big thanks to Joolze Dymond for sending me the photographs!*

Got back from the indoor race in Denmark yesterday. It feels tropical coming back home, it was sooooo cold in Denmark!

The track looked good at a first look, pretty mellow and nothing too challenging but it looked like it would be a good race. Unfortunately after riding it in practice our views changed... it was so soft in places it just had no flow. The first berm got so torn up they put wooden boards and carpet on the top (though I heard the wooden berms were really for Jamie's benefit to make him feel at home!). This made it much better, though the other berms still sucked - I came really unstuck here going from 3rd to 6th in Saturday's final on these crappy berms! Props to the organisers though, we came back on sunday to find all berms had been given the wood and carpet treatment. The track rode loads better and I really enjoyed it.

Elite Women only had 8 riders on sunday so it was the best of 3 races - quite good in a way as it was like 3 finals. I had a great first race, I just followed Shinny to make it a GB 1-2. I got squeezed in the 2nd final but went from 6th to 4th in the first berm. In the last round I got stuck on the outside...I was 4th but whilst chasing for 3rd I ended up 5th out the last turn - I pumped through the finish jumps to the line and stole 4th place back to take 3rd overall. Shanaze stole the show taking the win and the series...."did you know one likes ones earl grey?" ! Signing autographs is becoming second nature to Shanaze but she was still surprised when a fan asked her to sign a homemade compilation of shanaze pictures in poster form!

Most of the GB boys were sick or injured for this race, but Kelvin represented and after a couple of crashes on saturday he bounced back to make the final finishing 5th on sunday. Jamie Staff made his BMX comeback and was powering away from everyone round those veledrome corners! He was unbeaten until he slid out in the semi.

So now I'm back in tropical Norwich for a week and then off to France on a road trip for a week of riding tracks and trails...wahoo!!

After the storm damage we managed to get the trails riding again, only for me and scoob to turn up last week to see the main line looking pretty worse for wear. We initially thought it was rain damage again but then we spied the footprints prints....I guess the cows had been watching for so long they wanted to have a go themselves, but they must have struggled cause they had a sit down and a breather on the first berm and completely trashed it!

Anyway we got most of it going again now and had a good ride on saturday. Here's a vid that scoob took on my phone:

Last weekend I headed out to Zwolle with Team GB for my first international BMX race in...errm... a long time!! Up until Christmas I worked a full time job, so without much preparation, this seemed like I could be throwing myself in at the deep end!! I just wanted to get out there and get stuck in.

The track didn;t look great when we arrived, there was a long pedally section on the 2nd straight which was a bit odd and a lot of the jumps were too deep and sharp. Turns out it rode that way too, and after practice, some jumps were changed for the better. I had just been getting used to the Pro Gate when I had this to contend with... gate was fine, but the gap between 'watch the gate' and the beeps/lights coming on was ridiculous. They could've played some greensleeves while we waited it was that long.

My gates were pretty awful. Still, I managed 2nd in my motos behind Speedy Ready. The third moto my bad gate really did cause me to get squeezed, though I managed to claw my way back from last to 3rd, which was plenty good enough to make the final.

The final was going to be harder to come back if I didn't get a good gate, with there being 8 riders on the gate. I had gate 3 or something and yeah I must have been pretty much last outta the gate. Somehow was left a clear run though and pulled back to 3rd by the first turn which I kept till the finish. Shanaze walked away with the win, wowing the crowd with her third straight manual, with the Danish girl in 2nd. It was a bit weird having not raced for so long, I didn't recognise many names except my GB team mates and dutch 4Xer Anneke Beerten who was also back on a BMX. Was nice to see another familiar face!

On Sunday I woke up feeling pretty crook and wasn't well enough to race, so I had to join the walking wounded of Bloomy and Liam and sit this one out. Liam had somebody ride into him after sliding out in Saturdays practice, turns out he cracked his shoulder blade. Ouch....wishing a speedy recovery to them both!

I've been shivering with illness for the last couple of days since I got back, but I think I am finally starting to shake it off now!

With so much rain last week I was pretty sure the weekend would be a wash out, so I made plans to spend the weekend in sheffield to ride the indoor. The second round of the Dialled Bikes race series was on Saturday, so I raced against the boys in 19+. Looking at the moto sheets I knew it was gonna be tough, and I had a hard workout in the gym the day before so I wasn't sure how I'd feel! I did better than I thought though and got 4th 2nd 4th to make it through to the semis. In the semi I was outside and got shoved up the first turn, I finished 4th, only one place off the final. I was pretty chuffed!

Stu and me stayed in sheffield saturday night and had a really good curry in Dodworth, Stu's madras brought a tear to his eye! On sunday we rode the track with Jay, Paddy and Steve. I spent the day having fun jumping about on the 3rd straight, as in racing the day before I manualed it cause it was quicker.

Here's a quick vid fron the third straight and my moto where I got 2nd.

Here is a pic Ross Tricker sent me of everyone at the trails on Christmas Eve. Fun day that was!