They say that wisdom comes with age and now I’m the top side of 40 I feel fairly comfortable in telling you that there are some things in life that you just can’t control – things like a 1981 YZ465 or the weather. Yep, you read it here first people – there’s bugger all you can do about the weather just like you can’t dictate which direction a 1981 YZ465 wants to go in when it’s on full chat!
On Sunday morning I drove through three counties, rain, sleet, snow, a McDonald’s drive-thru, fog, sleet, rain, a patch of sun, some puddles and a bit more rain to get to FatCat Motoparc for the Maxxis British Motocross Championship season opener. I then paid £25 to get in – £20 for me and £5 for Noah who I’d taken with me in case I needed an ark building for the journey back – wrapped up really warm and then enjoyed a great day of motocross action.
Yes, it was cold. Yes, there were puddles. Yes, some kind of ice storm hurt my ickle cheeks for a wee while but all of those things (that could be seen as negatives if you’re wired in such a way – and you’re a douche bag) actually made me appreciate the fact that the event was even happening at all that little bit more.
And that’s because the marshals, medics, event staff, riders, mechanics and teams all endured weather of biblical proportions to entertain fans like me for a full day for £20 – plus a fiver for the boy.
Bang in the fact that somebody also had the foresight to spend tens of thousands of pounds on building an all-weather facility that could still provide excellent bar-to-bar racing on such a day and the team trucks had somewhere firm to park then I feel like I’ve got the best value for money ever!
That’s not to say that I don’t feel grateful – or take all of these things for granted – when the weather’s playing ball because I do.
That said I’m fairly sure that a marshal sat in the sun feels much happier than a sopping-wet marshal who is struggling to hold onto his or her flag because the wind is trying to send it across the North Sea to Holland which is where half the track-branding (and start-line wee shed) ended up I believe.
So let’s look at the situation again starting with the things that could be controlled… Sandy track that was deep, challenging and offered up a multitude of line choices – check! Grade A motocross facility with hard-standing pits and public parking that most people were able to drive right out of – check! Excellent racing with GP winners and those capable of winning GPs in the line-up – check!
So basically the majority of the negatives are weather dependent and that includes the size of the puddles in the pits and the amount of people who stuck around for the presentation – I know I was ready to shelter/get warmth in the car and Noah was shivering all over the place by this point too.
In all fairness we were lucky to get round one of the Maxxis underway this weekend as there aren’t many tracks that would have been able to host a meeting of this size with the weather the way it was. Well done to all those who came out and supported the event and thanks to everyone involved in making it happen…
[more-from heading=”More British Motocross” category=”british-motocross-championship”]
