Well, whatever it is, you'll have to read on to find out.

Why all this manic working on the track in the last two weeks - the season at Blunsdon doesn't start until 20th March? Oh no it doesn't. It started for us on Monday and Tuesday of this week with two days of behind closed doors practice. As usual The Blog has managed to wangle its way in and these photographs show the first track action of the 2008 Swindon Robins.

Of course, no start to the season would be right without the odd shower of snow. And thus did the weather forecasters foretell for Monday and lo, they were right! But the day dawned bright and sunny if a little on the nippy side.

Lady Lane, alongside which the stadium stands (or should I say slouches) and then into the pits entrance at 8.20am ready for one of the most important days of the speedway calendar for the track staff at Swindon.

Sure, we've had four months to work on the track, and lord knows we've put in some hard graft, along with every other track team in the country, to try to ensure that the season starts well for riders, promoters and fans. But you can't be certain until the first set of bikes roar round. There is no way that we could replicate the kind of forces that the spinning back wheel of a speedway bike imparts upon the shale and so we are all on the edge.

Being a Monday we can only get out on the track until 10.30am and then have to skulk around the back of the pits while the greyhounds run around for four hours.

While Gerald and Punch get on with some last minute welding jobs, I rush out and inflate turns 1 and 2 and then string the last section of the green netting. This gives the stadium manager a seizure. He rushes out waving a clip board at me. "You are going to take that stuff down, aren't you. We can't have that there when the dogs are racing." For a nano second I'm tempted to feign ignorance but then realise he's a much under pressure as we are. I assure him that as soon at the netting is attached to the air bags I will take it all down and deflate the bags.

We only have time to put on a little water before the dogs start and we have to disappear around the back of the pits. Any movement, even in the pits area can distract the dogs as they run past and since the meeting is being beamed into hundreds of betting shops across Europe and there's a lot of money running on each race, we stay well out of sight.

Ernie Poole and I work on setting up all of the spare air bags with the rubber kickboards. It's back breaking work but the sun is shining and it actually begins to feel quite warm.

By 2 o'clock the band of volunteers has grown significantly and we all pace around waiting for the signal that the dogs have finished. As soon as the instruction comes through all hell breaks loose.

The air pumps are put out in place and the panels inflated, the pegs are put in to keep the bags upright against the safety fence, the green catch netting is strung and the tractors and watering trucks are out.

We amaze ourselves - the whole place is ready for racing in just 30 minutes - a testament to real team work. In fact, we are ready while the riders, who've been in a meeting with the promoters, are just clambering out of an assortment of vans.

While the lads get changed I take the opportunity to wander around the pits.

Mr Adams' bikes are immaculate - but then we wouldn't expect anything other than perfection from our leader. It's clear that Mads Korneliussen has invested heavily over the winter.

Troy Batchelor and Seb Alden's bikes look good as do Theo Pijper and James Wright's equipment. We are joined by our Number 8 Cory Gathercole. Travis McGowan is having a plate removed from his shoulder blade and will miss the two practice days.

James Wright and his mechanic have actually been in the pits since 10am and we've already got to know them. His mechanic is a "good bloke" - not too many mechanics are prepared to let track staff borrow equipment, no matter what the emergency, but he does. This is a good thing and he will always find a welcome in Number 96 from now on!

Karen, known as Flo, our Sports Therapist, looks as cold as the rest of us feel. The temperature is dipping dramatically and the clouds are massing ominously.

And then comes disaster number one. We decided to change the air panel across the pit gate from one full length panel to two halves. Theoretically this should make life easier since only one small panel will have to be moved when the riders exit and enter the pits. When we put up the bags we measured the distance between the panels on turns 3 and 4 and left just the right amount of space for the two panels.

But when we dragged the bags into place on Monday they just wouldn't go. The reasons? Two! I've carried out numerous repairs on the bags in the last two weeks and, although they are designed to constantly let air out, they retain much more and so blow up more. The new air pumps are also more efficient than the old ones and even with the settings on tick over, they are still inflating the panels more. The combined result is that the bags are much firmer but also the end pieces bulge put more and that's where we've lost the space. Fortunately we were able to put a single panel in and it fitted, just. Thanks once again to James Weight's mechanic for the emergency loan of some tools.

And so to the practice. Suffice to say that everyone looked good - Mr Adams was silky smooth whilst Theo Pijper looked very at ease. Troy Batchelor will be a real crowd pleaser if his riding on Monday is anything to go by. As I had predicted, he was the first to try out the air panels, apparently whooping with delight as he hurtled in and startling young Cory who had to lay down very quickly. Neither were hurt.

Turns 1 and 2 did begin to cut up towards the end of the session - there's still too much sand mixed in with the shale. We'll need to work hard on that area before the league season begins.

And then it started to snow. In the photograph above Edwin Hutchison and Steve Bradford look reasonably comfortable - the reality was anything but. The snow was falling so hard that it was hard to see the bottom end of the stadium and the temperature just fell away.

By the time that we locked up I was frozen and exhausted. One day down, another to go.

Tuesday and it's another bright but cold day. At least there's no forecast of snow today. Again we have dogs in the morning so, after a brief inspection and a quick clean of the boards we retreat to the pits. The track is still wet from last night's snow and rain - just as well because the dog people report that the water tanks are empty. Later someone claims that we took all of the water - we try to point out that you don't water a track when snow is falling but the logic is apparently lost!

Terry Russell arrives early to find that the storage heaters in his office are off. He asks if he can borrow our heater from Number 96. It's an offer we can't really refuse. Anyway, we've acquired a space heater. It is a large tube with a fan in it which is connected to a large bottle of propane gas. Punch, Adam and I decide get it going. For reasons that I can't explain, and don't tell the wife, I am deputed to look down the tube at the fan and indicate when the propane burners light. When the gas does catch there's a sudden whoosh and I'm engulfed in hot air.

Our first experiment is to dry out Punch's overalls. Yesterday Gerald had turned on the water pump just as Punch was making a call of nature at the back of the bowser. The result was a little cloud of blue air, numerous oaths and curses and a sodden Punch. The overalls haven't dried out overnight so Ernie gathers them up and aims the hot air through them. The result is bizarre - flapping arms and legs. Could be a candidate for a future caption competition!

James Wright's mechanic - must find out his name - is busy on his bikes so we get another chance to see one of the beasts up close. There is a simplicity about a speedway bike, a delicacy that doesn't sit well alongside the awesome power that makes this piece of kit pound for pound more potent than a Formula One car.

I busy myself making alterations to a couple of spare air bags and sorting out to box of tools that will be taken out onto the centre green for each meeting in the event of problems with the air fence. We fill up all the pumps and the tractors and then sit and wait ... and then Colin arrives.

Colin Meredith is the official Speedway Control Bureau (SCB) track inspector and a good chap. He's responsible for the track at Cardiff and spends much of his time thinking about how we can all improve our work.

Today he's brought his "Race Track Drying System" down to Swindon for a try out.

I'm pretty sure that these are the first photographs of this amazing device.

Powered by an enormous Lister diesel engine, this behemoth is based on a crop sprayer. An enormous fan blasts air down onto the track.

We flood a small section of the training track. Realistically this wasn't the best place to put the new monster through it's paces because the training track is rock hard and the water is merely spread out and blasted across its width. Trying it out on the speedway track, with its looser surface would have been a better test but we just couldn't take a chance with the riders revving engines in readiness for their second practice session.

But it's an innovative idea and one that certainly holds promise for the future.

While the track is prepared and the fences set up, I start on the repairs to the panels which Mr Batchelor tested out yesterday. No tears but quite a few cable ties need replacing.

The riders attack the track with much more purpose than yesterday - presumably set ups have been altered, and it's much warmer and conducive to outside exercise.

Turns 1 and 2 still cut a bit but not as badly as on Monday. These sessions are not only good for the riders, they are also great for helping out new staff with the demands of the job. Edwin Hutchison, Jamie Wilshire, Neil Luce and others all have a go at red flagging and shale shifting. Perhaps the moment of the two days comes when the ever exuberant Mr Batchelor pulls an inadvertent wheelie exiting turn 2, wallops the kickboards half way down the back straight and is seen heading at break neck speed towards the infield. Edwin, mindful of my advice to "never let the b.....s out of your sight," sees Mr B coming and takes off at speed himself. All is well in the end - Mr B just regains control before he goes grass tracking and Edwin recovers his breath and stops just short of a seizure.

I know that every manager in the business will talk about the "great team spirit" in their side, but there is a lot of good humour in the pits - they really seem to be getting on well. Troy and Theo stop for photos for the blog decked out in their new kevlars.

Steve Johnson comes out for a blast towards the end of the session, joining the Robins on track. Charlie Gjedde arrives at 5pm for a few laps. By half past we're all a bit tired and cold and dispirited when Charlie asks for some more laps. Keith and co. on turn 1 don't know about this extra session and have already begun dragging back the dirt from the kick boards in readiness for the final grading when Charlie comes out again. Fortuitously he cuts short this final blast after two laps - apparently we've dragged so much dirt back that he can't ride his normal line.

And so the fences come down, Gerald blades, Punch grades and I tyre pack. With no stadium lights available we have to use headlights. The new Kubota has two working headlights that point where you're going - the old one I used last year had one headlight that used to pick out stars!

Gerald has to drive to Arena straight after the session. I don't envy him. I manage just enough energy to get in the car and stop off at a local kebab shop for a takeaway before collapsing in front of the tele and falling asleep. 24 hours on I still ache.

Tomorrow it's just Punch and me - Gerald's still at Arena. Who know's what we'll get up to with the master away and Rosco and the team in Dublin on their team bonding session!