And so another closed season draws to an end and the sound of speedway engines returns to shatter the peace and tranquility of deepest, darkest, rural Wiltshire ... or do they?
I've written the blog in many places before but never in a rugby club; this one is to be composed in the club house of Minety Rugby Club, a small but amazingly enthusiastic and friendly local club that my son plays for.
The lads are all out on the practice pitch undergoing intensive line out and match tactics training from a Rugby Football Union coach. I'm inside clutching a cup of coffee to ward off the effects of hypothermia!
The original intention had been for the Robins to have a "Behind Closed Doors" practice session, then the Press and Practice day and then another private practice session. As it turned out, the first practice session was called off a couple,e of weeks back when we seriously doubted whether we could get the track into shape after the ravages of the winter had taken their toll.
So Press and Practice would be the first time we'd get to see the 2010 Robins and the first chance that they'd get to see the 2010 Swindon track.
Press and Practice day dawned bright and cold but at least the sun was out. The first major change that I noticed, and let's face it, it would be difficult not to notice it, was that we had acquired a new tea room. Complete with a small kitchen and plentiful chairs and tables inside, the mobile dining car now sits adjacent to the Away pits and will give Rita Poole and her helpers adequate space to serve coffee and refreshments to riders, officials, mechanics and track staff.
The pits have been swept and everything is ready on the outside of the track.
But there's still a morning's worth of work for everyone on the track itself. The last of the kickboards have been painted and now all we have to do is cut the boards that will stand in front of the gates in the safety fence that are opened when the greyhounds race. Keith Johnson and Derek Hayward content themselves with cutting the boards to size and then fitting them securely in place.
While they work away, I start up the air pumps and inflate the air fences. A major problem manifests itself almost straight away - a significant tear right down at the base of one of the panels on turn 4. Completely hidden when the fence is inflated, we only find it when we carry out the "listening test". This involves me making my way round each corner on hands and knees listening out for any escaping air. It's painful, awkward and not very elegant, but at least it picks out this leakage.
We let the fence down so that I can patch the problem and then re-inflate.
I've already featured some of the 2010 vintage track staff in a previous blog, so let's pick out another one. Mick Richards, pictured above left, runs the Swindon Pressure Washing Company and come sup every Thursday to give the air fences, banners and kickboards a really good clean. If he has time in his busy schedule, he also pitches in with our work. A really good bloke to have around!
Out on the centre green Punch takes a well earned rest. As Keith looks on I realise that I actually haven't seen much of my old mate Punch this winter. In past years we always worked together but this year we have been working on different projects around the track. Punch is the lynch pin of the whole operation here at Blunsdon - if ever there was to be a competition to name "Mr Swindon Speedway", Punch would be right up there in contention - over 40 years service to the club.
And so the lads start to arrive after their round of interviews with the press.
Morten Risager made an instant impression on the track staff at Swindon last year with his friendly, appreciative and approachable manner. He's been practicing hard in Croatia and admits that he can't wait to get out on the Abbey track. It is worth pointing out that Morten stayed behind after the "Behind Closed Doors" session to personally thanks the track staff for their support. Cheers mate - we're delighted to have you back!
Mads returns to Swindon after a year away at Peterborough. The tousled hair and broad grin haven't changed but it's clear that he's invested a lot in new equipment in readiness for 2010.
Cory Gathercole can't get over how cold it is, but then I suppose if you've spent the last 5 months in an Australian summer where temperatures in some parts have regularly surpassed 40 degrees you might find the Siberian bite of Blunsdon a little hard to adjust to.
Further down pit lane is the Master of Mildura, Leigh Adams. As I take Leigh's photo it strikes me that this really is his last season here at Swindon and that one ever present in his support team is missing - Billy, his trusty Polish mechanic, and a real character around the Swindon pits for years, has departed and is now plying his trade with Freddie Lindgren up at Wolverhampton.
There's always something exciting when a new rider appears from distant shores. I can remember the buzz when young Renat Gafurov arrived at Blunsdon from Russia. Renat's blasts around turn 2, so close to the safety fence that the banners would flutter, is still the stuff of legend.
This year we welcome young Grzegorz Zengota from Poland. He comes with a considerable reputation for such a young man and his set up appears to be ultra professional. He's not got a lot of English but takes time to say hello to everyone.
Joint owner / promoter Gary Patchett and Team manager / co promoter Ronnie Russell are in a relaxed mood - the day is going very well.
But there are not just Swindon riders in the pits today - we have some guests. One is a particularly welcome at Blunsdon - Lee Richardson. You wont find anyone backstage at Swindon who has anything but good things to say about Lee. That he's not riding in the UK in 2010 is an issue that's been addressed in detail elsewhere, but I know that we'd all like to see him back at Blunsdon sometime in the future.
Lee is wearing his Elit Vetlanda kevlars. Three years ago it was Lee who helped make the arrangements for Phil Rice, Neil Wise and me to go and stay in Vetlanda and attend one of their home meetings as his guest. One of Lee's main sponsors is the blog's friend Andy Nurden, so it's good to meet up with him again. He's back with Vetlanda for another year. "It's such a good club, and they take such care of you, why would I want to leave." The conversation turns to a mutual friend - Rune. He's signed for Dackarna, just down the road from Vetlanda in the town of Malilla. We agree that he'll do well there.
Richard Sweetman, who will ride for Birmingham and also double up with Coventry in 2010, is here, as is Sky presenter Charlie Webster, who's preparing some shots for the forthcoming speedway season on Sky Sports.
One of the first riders out of the pits is our new young Pole. Grzegorz has a couple of sighter laps around the big track before winding up the power. I started by saying that the sound of the bikes would shatter the silence at Blunsdon ... but they don't.
The controversial new silencers have reduced the sound of the engines significantly, unless my hearing loss is worse than I thought it was. The silencers will apparently also have an effect upon the power of the engines, altering their characteristics. This is one of the reasons why so many teams have been organising extra practice sessions. How will the power come in when the throttle is opened on the line and how will the engine respond when a rider hits some deep material. These and other questions have yet to addressed, but they will need to be.
It's difficult to assess how riders are really performing when they are going out individually or in ones an twos, with half a lap between each other, but everyone, including our guests, have a good blast around the Abbey.
It is slick but then it's early in the season and we don't want anyone injuring themselves or having their ams pulled from their sockets hitting piles of dirt.
Once again Rico endears himself to the track staff by riding round at the end and acknowledging each and everyone of us - top man.
And so to the Sunday "Behind Closed Doors" session, henceforth to be known as the BCD.
The day team arrive at 9am and, after a brief strategy meeting (for that, read cup of tea and bacon rolls) we go about the business of preparing for an ordinary race day with the exception that some additional attention is to be lavished upon the much underused but so valuable training track in the middle of the centre green.
It's a gloriously sunny day, cold but bright.
Our track preparation this time is closer to that a rider would normally expect at Blunsdon. Let's face it, if the BCD is to have any lasting benefit it must be that the riders will know what to expect when the league meetings start up at Blunsdon.
There has been some disquiet from Poland, and specifically Mr Gollob, about the new silencers and it is apparent that some of the riders have changed back for the BCD, at least the engines seem to be markably noisier than they were during Press and Practice.
The whole pits complex vibrates to the sound of "throbbing" (yes, I did think very carefully before using that adjective) speedway engines.
1pm and the first riders take to the track.
Grzegorz Zengota inspects turns 3 and 4 before wandering off to look the starts while Morten Risager has a brief inspection and then returns to the pits for a chat with some of the track staff.
But the first action is not on the main track - it's on the little training track. I say little, but it can't be that much smaller than some of the tracks that the Robins will visit in 2010 but it is tiny in comparison with the vast main track.
Cory and Mads are amongst the first to try out bikes on the small one.
Mads looks deceptively fast on the tight turns in what must be a strange environment to a man who has spent the last few seasons in the UK riding at Swindon and Peterborough.
Jordan Frampton, an articulate and likeable addition to the squad comes out and looks good.
But Grzegorz looks bemused as he walks back to the pits - has he ever seen a track as small as this? He walks round and round as Morten come out for a blast.
As Morten puts in a string of very lively laps, throwing the bike into the corners and then blasting out down the short straights, Grzegorz Zengota rides slowly round and round the main track. and waits while another newcomer, Thomas H Jonasson prepares. Our good friend Ian Hawkins from the Edinburgh track staff, has informed us that Thomas will like the big tracks but may take a little time to get used to the smaller ones, so we wait with anticipation.
The diminuitive Swede shows no lack of guts or determination, sufficient to encourage track staff and on lookers to take several steps back towards the main track on a couple of occasions.
We all have nothing but good to say about Simon Stead, his popularity bolstered when he hands out hats to the track staff (what happened to mine?) With a new back up team based around Gareth, Matej Zagar's old mechanic, Simon looks very much at ease with himself this year already.
It doesn't take him long to build up speed and I have heard that he was the quickest Roibin out on the small track (Mr Adams was away locking handlebars with Messrs Pedersen and Co. at the Ben Meeting at Rye House).
Really pushing the bike to its limits, Simon pulls a series of tight turns, fully on the gas, and looks really good.
And then it's the turn of Grzegorz Zengota. Greg (I'll call him that from now on) looked quick straight away on the big track during Press and Practice but we all held our breath when, aftre a couple of sighter laps, he wound up the gas and started a series of really quick and tidy laps. He's a natural.
The rest of the session was based on the large track, riders going out in twos and three's and Ronnie declared himself utterly delighted with the whole event. The riders looked good and the track was billiard table smooth.
But the last word must go to Greg. Not content with his early exploits on the small track, he returned for two more sessions on it. His day ended with a massive high sider coming out of turn 2 and resulted in him inspecting the grass near the back straight. But, as a true professional, he was soon up and dusted and off on some more laps.
It's early days but the 2010 Robins look good. They are a nice bunch of lads and I really believe that they will be an entertainign septet wherever they go.
Next up, it's the season opener - the Big One - so no pressure then!
