Post by Joel on Dec 28, 2004 21:36:53 GMT
Santa's Buttboard Bash: Day 1
I met up with Ben off Junction 7 (not 6) of the M5 at just after 10am and headed off to Will's from there. Once at Will's we watched some luge vidz and looked at some photos from various events to psyche ourselves up. I don't know what the temperature was, but I swear it was about –20 and we froze getting into our leathers in the garage. We then decked out our boards with tinsel (except for Ben McScrouge) and taped Santa hats and more tinsel to our helmets (well done Ben, I know it was hard for you), Dez even borrowed (and later destroyed) Will's dad's Santa coat.
Hill Farm:
The first road we hit on our Buttboards was Hill Farm's drive; this private road is (normally) a simple hill that requires no braking. It starts gently and goes into a slow left hander then straightens up again, it then steepens over the next 200 meters and then there is a 45-degree right hander into another straight that flattens out and slowly curves to the left. The course ends on a final up hill 90-degree left and short straight.
Not being normal the very top of the drive and all after the right hander were covered in snow. Firstly this made starting slow and restricted us to a narrow wet patch almost in the ditch. Secondly it kept us all bunched up as we accelerated down the clear section before the right hander. Finally it made things very "interesting" as we hit the next piece of snow and ice after the corner.
On the first run Will was first through the corner at about 30mph, out of the corner, snow, sideways, ditch. Each of us in turn started to slide and spin across the snow and into ditches and fits of giggles. From that moment on the morning became a game of sliding, hitting the corner at 30, then the ice/snow, carving across the track, back again and whipping the back out to slide as far as possible. Most runs ended in the ditch covered in snow and mud, but I managed a couple of 180's and ended up going down the track backwards. Needless to say that by 1:30 we were absolutely freezing and soaking wet. Back at Will's we had hot soup, buttered bread and cups of tea and coffee to warm us up.
For the afternoon it was off to Paradise, a steep side road that is usually covered in gravel and does not live up to its name. Today it was covered in gravel, mud, ice and the odd log, aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!
I think we had 4 runs down this hill, each as terrifying as the last. Being old hands at the road Dez and Will decided to race the second time down to see who was King of the Hill. Needless to say both of then crashed into the bank, wheels tangled, on Farmer's Corner allowing me to pass them both and Ben get past Will. We had a few more runs with only one more crash when Will got a wheel caught in the drainage ditch and got kicked off (all on camera). We decided to end due to fading light and pulses, we were cold, wet tired and covered in mud.
The evening was spent watching the footage of the day, laughing at slides and crashes caught on camera and enjoying a few jars down the pub. I could go on, but I think Will embarrassed himself more than enough while sober.
Santa's Buttboard Bash: Day 2
This morning was the second and final day of Santa's Buttboard Bash at Will's house near Worcester.
The weather was a bit better today, still wet, but only a little ice on the corner, which soon turned to slush, then just water. We got in a few fun runs and a bit of racing back on Hill Farm's drive. Ben also put in the only Streetluge run of the Bash, Bird Box and all.
Fun Runs:
After the previous days snow sliding antics (wait till you see the video) we decided to have a few more giggles in our Santa hats. The first Daisy Chain attempt was with me at the front, Dez in the middle and Will behind him. Each person's ankles were held by the person in front of them to form a chain. The run was successful, with the exception of Dez and Will taking each other out after we split apart at the bottom.
We then had a 4-up Daisy Chain with Ben joining on to the back. Everything was going great until the first corner when Ben released early and Will went into a wobble which set us all going. Very soon we were all skidding, sliding and rolling across the track at 30-40mph. Will went off to the left and ended curled up in a ditch, I went straight on, sliding on my as sitting up, and Dez spun of the bank to the right. Ben almost made it through, narrowly missing me, but got last minute wobbles which kicked him off. All was good, except that Dez sprained his wrist and went onto camera duty for a few runs.
Racing:
Most of it was 4 up, 2 x 2 grid starts. Despite consistently fast starts Will had consistently crap runs, with Ben and I passing him on either side on most runs. Race wins were fairly evenly shared between Ben and myself (though I reckon I got more ) with Dez getting one or two.
Special congratulations go to Ben for winning the Le Mans race at the end of the end of the day. This was a 10-meter dash to the boards then off down the hill. Ben led from the off, with Dez in second. Due to his wrist injury Dez couldn't really push off so was soon over taken by Will and then by me, who was on my board last. By the first corner I had overtaken Will (of course), who was then passed by Dez on the final straight, but we could never catch up with Ben, who took a convincing win.
Also congratulations to Will who probably only managed to make it down the hill once without crashing. He also managed to blame every crash and slow speed on his equipment, even when he used someone else's board.
Thanks have to go to the farmer for letting us use his dive, Wills mum for cake, cups of Irish Tea/Coffee and generally putting up with us. Final thanks go to Sid, Will's dad, for spending 2 cold days marshalling on the radios to keep us safe, photography/film duties, towing us up the hill, fixing old ladies broken down cars and a full English breakfast (with Tomato).
See you all in the New Year, I hope my leathers have dried out by then,
Joel
P.S. Photos and Video will be available, someday.
I met up with Ben off Junction 7 (not 6) of the M5 at just after 10am and headed off to Will's from there. Once at Will's we watched some luge vidz and looked at some photos from various events to psyche ourselves up. I don't know what the temperature was, but I swear it was about –20 and we froze getting into our leathers in the garage. We then decked out our boards with tinsel (except for Ben McScrouge) and taped Santa hats and more tinsel to our helmets (well done Ben, I know it was hard for you), Dez even borrowed (and later destroyed) Will's dad's Santa coat.
Hill Farm:
The first road we hit on our Buttboards was Hill Farm's drive; this private road is (normally) a simple hill that requires no braking. It starts gently and goes into a slow left hander then straightens up again, it then steepens over the next 200 meters and then there is a 45-degree right hander into another straight that flattens out and slowly curves to the left. The course ends on a final up hill 90-degree left and short straight.
Not being normal the very top of the drive and all after the right hander were covered in snow. Firstly this made starting slow and restricted us to a narrow wet patch almost in the ditch. Secondly it kept us all bunched up as we accelerated down the clear section before the right hander. Finally it made things very "interesting" as we hit the next piece of snow and ice after the corner.
On the first run Will was first through the corner at about 30mph, out of the corner, snow, sideways, ditch. Each of us in turn started to slide and spin across the snow and into ditches and fits of giggles. From that moment on the morning became a game of sliding, hitting the corner at 30, then the ice/snow, carving across the track, back again and whipping the back out to slide as far as possible. Most runs ended in the ditch covered in snow and mud, but I managed a couple of 180's and ended up going down the track backwards. Needless to say that by 1:30 we were absolutely freezing and soaking wet. Back at Will's we had hot soup, buttered bread and cups of tea and coffee to warm us up.
For the afternoon it was off to Paradise, a steep side road that is usually covered in gravel and does not live up to its name. Today it was covered in gravel, mud, ice and the odd log, aaaahhhhhhhhh!!!
I think we had 4 runs down this hill, each as terrifying as the last. Being old hands at the road Dez and Will decided to race the second time down to see who was King of the Hill. Needless to say both of then crashed into the bank, wheels tangled, on Farmer's Corner allowing me to pass them both and Ben get past Will. We had a few more runs with only one more crash when Will got a wheel caught in the drainage ditch and got kicked off (all on camera). We decided to end due to fading light and pulses, we were cold, wet tired and covered in mud.
The evening was spent watching the footage of the day, laughing at slides and crashes caught on camera and enjoying a few jars down the pub. I could go on, but I think Will embarrassed himself more than enough while sober.
Santa's Buttboard Bash: Day 2
This morning was the second and final day of Santa's Buttboard Bash at Will's house near Worcester.
The weather was a bit better today, still wet, but only a little ice on the corner, which soon turned to slush, then just water. We got in a few fun runs and a bit of racing back on Hill Farm's drive. Ben also put in the only Streetluge run of the Bash, Bird Box and all.
Fun Runs:
After the previous days snow sliding antics (wait till you see the video) we decided to have a few more giggles in our Santa hats. The first Daisy Chain attempt was with me at the front, Dez in the middle and Will behind him. Each person's ankles were held by the person in front of them to form a chain. The run was successful, with the exception of Dez and Will taking each other out after we split apart at the bottom.
We then had a 4-up Daisy Chain with Ben joining on to the back. Everything was going great until the first corner when Ben released early and Will went into a wobble which set us all going. Very soon we were all skidding, sliding and rolling across the track at 30-40mph. Will went off to the left and ended curled up in a ditch, I went straight on, sliding on my as sitting up, and Dez spun of the bank to the right. Ben almost made it through, narrowly missing me, but got last minute wobbles which kicked him off. All was good, except that Dez sprained his wrist and went onto camera duty for a few runs.
Racing:
Most of it was 4 up, 2 x 2 grid starts. Despite consistently fast starts Will had consistently crap runs, with Ben and I passing him on either side on most runs. Race wins were fairly evenly shared between Ben and myself (though I reckon I got more ) with Dez getting one or two.
Special congratulations go to Ben for winning the Le Mans race at the end of the end of the day. This was a 10-meter dash to the boards then off down the hill. Ben led from the off, with Dez in second. Due to his wrist injury Dez couldn't really push off so was soon over taken by Will and then by me, who was on my board last. By the first corner I had overtaken Will (of course), who was then passed by Dez on the final straight, but we could never catch up with Ben, who took a convincing win.
Also congratulations to Will who probably only managed to make it down the hill once without crashing. He also managed to blame every crash and slow speed on his equipment, even when he used someone else's board.
Thanks have to go to the farmer for letting us use his dive, Wills mum for cake, cups of Irish Tea/Coffee and generally putting up with us. Final thanks go to Sid, Will's dad, for spending 2 cold days marshalling on the radios to keep us safe, photography/film duties, towing us up the hill, fixing old ladies broken down cars and a full English breakfast (with Tomato).
See you all in the New Year, I hope my leathers have dried out by then,
Joel
P.S. Photos and Video will be available, someday.