As the speedway season really starts to kick in it feels as if we have experienced all four seasons in a day at Blunsdon. For the day of the meeting against Ipswich, our first league home fixture of the 2010 season, we really did have pretty much all that the weather could throw at us. I was half expecting the biblical plague of locusts, but that, no doubt, will be reserved for a later date.
An early, an unexpected visitor to the pits was Mr Leigh Adams. Leigh had had two large crates delivered to the track earlier in the week and Punch had locked them up in the lockup. Now Leigh was back and ready to unpack the crates, which turned out to be full of chasis, wheels and all manner of speedway related paraphernalia. Two frames bearing Jason Lyons' name appeared out of the second crate together with a few dozen bottles of Aussie beer.
We loaded the contents into Leigh's van, had a chat about the weather forecast (which looked pretty dire) and then he sped off.
Like cricket groundsmen, track staff at speedway tracks around the world rely upon quality, accurate weather forecasts. It does seem to me, though, that the more forecasting hardware and software equipment that the weather agencies have at their command, the less accurate the forecasts seem to be. Having been caught out a couple of times recently we do view the reports with a degree of skepticism but the ones we had for the evening were pretty awful - rain tumbling across the region from 6pm. To make matters worse, the early morning was bright a a little breezy - a typical spring morning - just right for drying out a track a tad too quickly for our own liking.
Heavy rain in the two days prior to the meeting meant that the track was too wet for us to venture out first thing so we filled the first couple of hours with routine maintenance work around the back of the pits. Punch scaled a ladder to adjust a light over the back pit area so that we can actually see what we are doing at the end of a meeting when all the equipment has to be taken down and stored.
I was more interested in the new hydraulic harrow that we have bought. It can be lifted and lowered from the hydraulics on the back of the tractors and and features arms that fold out to almost double its width. Once out of the pits gate it can stretch almost half the track's width. Ron is very proud of it and declares that "It is a good thing".
My attention is drawn to the problem of the small blade. Our plan this year is to replace the individual raking of the track with sweeps around the track with this blade. JOhn Nobbs, who drives it during meetings, will collect material dragged back a couple of feet from boards and kick boards alike and then distribute it evenly across the entire track surface. The plan is a good one except we run into a major problem during the Bob Kilby meeting. The tractor is wider that the blade. This meant that material dragged out was being run over by the big wheels, compressed and missed by the blade which had lifted when the wheels lifted. The result was that track staff had to pull the material a good 2 metres away from the boards before it could be picked up properly. The answer would seem to be to re-adjust the position of the blade so that it was off centre and the end beyond the width of the tractor's giant tyre.
Punch and I push and pull but can't seem to get it adjusted correctly but feel sure that a solution can be reached, but not now!
Under a brilliant blue sky, the wind is whipping up and the moisture that shines on the track surface is soon evaporating away. But as the air fences rise the track is on good condition. It is very hard and so the heavy rainfall of the past 48 hours has mainly run away to the white line and thence to the drains.
But the wind is cold and we keep glancing to the west to see if the clouds are massing, as we have been promised.
Health and Safety have deemed it unsafe for people to mill around the entrance to the pits during racing so boards have been put up to inform all and sundry of the newly enhanced viewing area for staff and riders.
Behind the pits the new dining car has been jet washed and now simply awaits an electrical supply from the pits before it can be used as a refreshments centre.
One change has been made to the order in which the Robins line up in the pits. Young Thomas H Jonasson has been moved from the bottom pit area up to the top end where he can work alongside Simon Stead and Simon's excellent mechanic. Cory has moved down to the bottom pit, eschewing the rumours that this is the "jinxed" area with his own brand of Australian optimism - "Hey, it's a pit area and it's bigger than the one I've had before." His optimism doesn't spread as far as the weather - "Jeez Graham, it's bloody cold ..."
Mid afternoon and the clouds are beginning to mass. The sun is now a distant memory and we are now forced to water because the top surface has dried in the wind.
Much of the afternoon is spent attaching the rubber kickboards and trying to come up with a workable system for putting up, and keeping up, the infamous banners on the air fence.
As I make my way round to check the fuel in the air pumps a portent of things to come; large quantities of water are now draining off the greyhound track and banking up against the boards we put in during the winter. Certainly the boards are doing their job but this water will soon sink down below the boards and then leak out onto the track. Wet patches mean inconsistency, and that's the last thing we need as the first rain clouds appear on the horizon.
At the pit gate I meet up with two early visitors, Jack Cox and his dad Andy. Mad keen Swindon fans, Jack plays rugby alongside my son at Minety Rugby Club. It's good to be able to give them a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes.
What is going on behind the away pits is more of a concern - the clouds are getting darker and darker but the latest weather forecasts suggest we should be able to get the meeting through before Jupiter Pluvius does his worst over Blunsdon.
Earlier on in the morning we had a visit from a group of young Danish riders under the tutelage of John Jorgensen and ex World Champion and all round nice guy, Erik Gundersen. They will be riding around the small track before the meeting and then on the main track between various heats.
While I am working in the pits I am alerted to the fact that Erik is in Number 96 having a cup of coffee. This is an opportunity not to be missed. Sure enough, with a broad smile on his face, Erik is enjoying the hospitality of No 96. The three times World Champion was grievously injured in a track crash at Odsal but, with the aid of a very fast scooter, decked out in his racing colours, and his indomitable spirit, he is a joy to be with. Inevitably, conversation turns to the development of junior talent in Denmark. Erik is so proud of his youngsters, and has good reason to be. The development programme in Denmark starts from just four years of age. By their early teens the youngsters are involved in team racing on a regular basis on their cut down 125 and 250cc machines. Erik tells me that there are nearly 250 registered youngsters in the age group 12 - 14 regularly training and racing in league matches across Denmark - and we wonder why we struggle to bring on British talent.
The Danish youngsters attack the training track with a frightening gusto, regularly using up the grassed area around it when they overcook the corners. When they take to the main track during the meeting the style, skill and experience show - they certainly travel at some speed!
But Erik is the highlight of a day that ended after heat 10 with rain pouring down. An absolute delight - you're always welcome back at Number 96 Mr Gundersen.
In the away pits I interrupt a smiling Scott Nicholls with a request for a photograph (my daughter would never forgive me if I didn't get a photo of Scottie) and then a wrapped up Olly Allen. It is good to see Scott looking so relaxed again - a time away from the GP's should do him good.
But as the riders prepare for the meeting the clouds above the stadium mass and then divide in an almost biblical fashion. The fact we are on the top of hill does provide us with a sort of micro climate and it seems as if we will get through the meeting.
11 points up and the Danish youngsters having finished one very impressive race and the rain starts. It falls with an intensity that soon turns the racing line into an ice like surface. We send out the wonder wheel but the base is so hard that it doesn't really penetrate.
The meeting is cancelled. It is desperately sad. With hindsight ... well, the fact is that we don't have hindsight and, believe me, when you've spent all day working to get a meeting on, you don't allow it to be cancelled easily.
It is after 10 when we leave the circuit. The track staff have worked hard in the rain to dismantle it all and put everything away. Damnation and Anglo Saxon expletives!
One week on, the 8th April and the Robins are up against our bogey team, Lakeside. Once the whipping boys at Blunsdon, John Cook's team have probably the best recent record of any team at the Abbey Stadium. And we have summer.
It is hot - hot enough for a quick application of Factor 50 before I venture out into the middle. The dry weather has drawn all of the moisture from the top of the track so we get some water in as soon as possible.
While Arron and Mark help Mick Richards clean the banners from last week I bump into our old friend Brian Cox. Brian is i/c corporate hospitality at Blunsdon and also puts out the A frame advertising boards on the centre green. One of the true gentlemen of the sport, it is always a pleasure to exchange views with Brian.
In an effort to get the water into the track, rather than evaporating on the surface, Ron runs round with the new hydraulic harrow to rip a little of the surface and allow water to seep down into the base. The track looks excellent but we must be careful to keep it damp throughout the day while avoiding watering the patches up around the air fences where water is still draining down form the dog track.
When the horn sounds for mid morning tea Ron has a surprise for us. Inside the new dining car there are tables, chairs and parasoles. Now before anyone leaps to false conclusions about the drinking habits of the Blunsdon track staff I should point out that Ron is actually drinking Ribena - honest!!
As the morning wears on so does the Factor 50. It is seriously warm outside. Under brilliant blue skies Punch applies regular waterings while we hang the banners up to dry on the fence.
The daisies are showing their heads out on the centre green. Not the favourite flower of our owner, we get the mower out and Arron starts to cut the grass. So engrossed is he in his labour that somehow he misses the call for lunch and carries on regardless. This week we have chicken and chips. Mark price and I agree that our chicken must have been more like an emu - the portions are massive and the temptation to curl up for a post prandial kip are great.
But the works must go on.
By half past 6 we are ready and it's a chance to sit down with a wonderfully refreshing cup of Rita's fabulous tea at one of the tables enjoying (is that the right word, I ask myself) the banter of the track staff as they arrive. There are many times when I've been sorely tempted to throw in the towel but then I remember the fun that we have as a track team - this is one of those occasions.
The pits are a hive of activity at this stage of an evening, an hour to go to the parade. Mechanics, riders, family, sponsors, guests etc fill the area before the first bikes rumble into life.
One welcome visitor to the pits this season is Simon Stead's dad, who is helping out with Thomas's bike in this pre meeting period. Alongside Steady's main bike is being prepared by his mechanic.
Out on track referee Daniel Holt, an infrequent visitor to the Abbey, is carrying out his pre meeting inspection. It's a relief all round when Clerk of the Course Mick Hunt informs me that Mr Holt has found no problems and is extremely impressed with all the set up.
The meeting is a tense affair mad all the more interesting by the staggered starts in the first 5 heats. Of course, all four riders in each race start at the same time but the Lakeside guys exit turn 2 in the lead in each race. This benevolent attitude on behalf of the Robins means that the racing is as close as the scoring.
Tied on 42 points the match looks like a draw as Leigh Adams and Simon Stead occupy second and third places behind a remarkably quick Adam Shields. And then, with a bang, it all ends with a whimper as Simon's engine gives up the ghost. We lose our first completed home fixture 46 - 44. Simon is desolate as he walks across the centre green. He apologises as he shakes my hand. He has nothing to apologise for, and the crowd rise as he turns to acknowledge their support and applause.
We pack away quickly and by 10.25pm there is just Punch and me left. It's been a long and frustrating day.
