The blog is late, again, and once again it's a combination of the weather and pre season exhaustion that have wrought this delay.
We were due to have the Press and Practice day at Swindon last Monday but the weather forecast was so bad that it was put back to last Thursday. In the light of events this was a sound decision since the weather on Monday was horrendous. Of course, the riders were available, and the press and sponsors had to make alterations to schedules in order to be there, but then so did the track staff, a fact often overlooked. Without the track staff present, not just Gerald, Punch, Roy and myself, but all the other lads who were needed to help out, there would have been no P and P day. Appointments were cancelled, double shifts worked, half day holidays taken, all so that the necessary track staff could be available to work the track and operate the necessary red flags etc. It amazes me that so many people give up so much of their time, and expense, in order to jump to the assistance of the team and all without any form of recompense other than a love of the sport.
We actually started very early, before 8am, getting the air fence up and the panels jet washed. The letting had to be put up, the final touches added to the pits, and advertising hoardings sorted out (not helped by the fact that the new air fence adverts are longer than the old ones so they can't simply be swapped in and out, a fact that will certainly cause us problems during a meeting).
As we returned, cold and tired, to Number 96, for a mid morning cup of coffee we met up with an old and firm friend in the form of Shawn McConnell. Shawn is over to take part in the big Birmingham testimonial meeting today (Sunday) and took the opportunity to pop in and see us on the off chance of a blast around the track on a bike borrowed from Ronnie Correy.
The hair is longer and greyer than it was but the smile is the same, as is the genuine warmth of greeting. Shawn rode just one season for the Robins in the 1980's, averaging 5.18 from 42 matches, but it was not enough to ensure a Work Permit for the following year. But the impact he made, both on and off the track, was a lasting one. He was an enormously popular visitor for the Malcolm Holloway testimonial a couple of years ago and showed that he could still ride a bike in his unique manner.
Nowadays Shawn divides him time between his family, the surf of the Californian beaches, speedway and film stunt work. As he sipped a cup of coffee in Number 96, he told us all about his life. Speedway is in his blood - given the choice between a day on the beach and a speedway meeting and he still can't give up the bikes. But speedway in the US is not in a healthy state - the money is not good and unless you're one of the top guys, there isn't a living to be had. For many years now Shawn has been a stunt man in the US film and tv industry but the recent Writers' Strike has put a hold on a lot of his work. It seems that the stunts are often factored in right at the end of production and so, with the filming just re-starting, he's at a bit of a loss. And so the trip to the UK to make some appearances and ride at Birmingham in their big meeting.
Would it be alright with us if he had a blast around at the end of the main team session? Of course, no problems there. Mr McConnell is a breath of fresh air, a real pleasure to talk to and someone who really appreciates the efforts of everyone who helps make speedway work.
Another old friend of the Blog arrived, fresh with sun tan and microphone. Yes, it's our Australian correspondent Chris Seaward, back on these shores after his winter tour of the Australian Championships and some of the most difficult broadcasting conditions that anyone could cope with.
It's good to see him back doing some work with the local radio station. In the picture above he's chatting with young Troy Batchelor.
And so to the bikes. While riders, management, sponsors and friends gathered upstairs in the main lounge (the food was good, so I was told) the bikes started to appear in the pits. Those who have read the blog over the last year will know that I prefer to steer away from the riders and the races (they are covered in much more detail elsewhere in the speedway press). The Blog's job is to capture the behind the scenes views.
So, above we can see two of Leigh Adams' bikes and then one of Theo Pijper's.
The silver and blue attired bike above is Seb Alden's while at the furthest end of the pits, the one occupied by Lee Richardson last year, there is Travis McGowan's bike.
One of Mads Korneliussen's mechanics sits alongside Stan Potter (start marshall and owner of a very stylish hat) and Adam Laws. At the top end of the pits we find James Wright's smart red and blue bikes.
For those who cherish such information, the 2008 Robins are arranged thus, from the far end of the pits : Travis McGowan, Theo Pijper, Seb Alden, Leigh Adams, Mads Korneliussen, Troy Batchelor and James Wright.
Clerk of the Course, Michael Hunt, makes last minute inspections as the great and the good make their way down from the Restaurant Bar to the centre green for interviews and official photographs.
One of the 2007 Blunsdon Bloggers, Andy Nurden, is now one of the main sponsors for the 2008 Robins and had arranged for a particularly large lorry to be present for a team photograph. We were a little concerned that it might bog down on the centre green but, with a good run, it made it to the training track without too many alarums.
The front on photograph of the 2008 Robins is almost obligatory but I couldn't resist a photograph from the back. As Jeff Scott has described us, we are dealing with the "hidden side of speedway", in this case the back side of speedway.
With the riders back in the pits and a light drizzle and mist descending upon the Abbey, I gathered together the other Swindon team for a team photograph.
Back row, Neil Luce, Edwin Hutchison, John Nobbs, Jamie Wiltshire, Dave Whiting and Roy Hicks. Front row Steve Bradford and Adam Laws.
Of course, there are others but these were the few I could gather at a moment's notice, but they are a good cross section of the support required to enable the riders to ride. Between them we had: a double shift worked; a whole string of appointments re-made; an afternoon's holiday taken; a shopping trip cancelled; two afternoon's rescheduled, and all to free up an afternoon to be present at the track.
It was a long afternoon - cold and increasingly wet. It was that fine rain that somehow absolutely soaks you to the skin. The Robins came out in two's and three's to blast around a track that was getting wetter and wetter. The mounds of heavy shale were so great that we had to give up trying to clear the air fence.
The pressure was lightened when Shawn came out for a blast around the vast Abbey track. Given that he rides tracks little bigger than our small training track on a weekly basis, it didn't taken him long to get up to speed.
If you get a chance to see him ride, do so, I urge you. It is all action, legs in the air, front wheel bucking and back wheel struggling to grip the surface. Bob Crowther was out mechanicing for him, and we all held our breath on a couple of occasions when he drifted perilously close to the fence.
And as he left the track for the last time he stopped at the pits gate to thank us all for our support - top bloke! Shawn, if you're reading this, you're welcome back at any time, and promoters, if you want a real entertainer for an open meeting or a testimonial, consider Mr McConnell.
At the end of the day, with everyone else long gone, we were a wet and forlorn group shoveling the cloying shale back onto the track, taking down the fences and putting everything away. We were also hungry and exhausted.
As I write this I am reminded of the character of Boxer in George Orwell's "Animal Farm". Boxer represented the working classes in post revolutionary Russia and possibly Aleksei Grigorievich Stakhanov, a miner in the Soviet Union who became a hero in 1935 for his great productivity but who was subsequently crushed by those who he had supported. I must get that book out again!
But on to brighter things - Edinburgh. Our Scottish correspondent Ian Hawkins has updated us on work at Armdale.
With at least some blue sky above, the work continues at the start of March in preparation for the beginning of the Premier League season. Small and neat, the track does offer brilliant access for maintenance equipment and tractor parking - even I could get a tractor and trailer parked there!
It's great to see the work of other track teams, so if you are a track person working at a track, no matter where or what level of racing, send us some photographs so that we can spread the work of your good work and enormous effort.
It's the first match at Blunsdon on Thursday - fingers crossed on the weather as we look to welcome back another of the blog's favourite characters, Lee Richardson, currently on a year's sabbatical at Eastbourne.
