I wanted this for a possible caption competition later in the season. How about "Two peas in a pod"; "Me and my shadow"; "The Little and Large Show"; or even "The Two Ronnies"?
Under a bright March sun Rod "Punch" Ford and his new best friend, Ronnie Russell, stand on turn 1. Were it not for the size difference they might even be brothers!!
Saturday was a mixed sort of day. On the positive we had a brilliant turn out of track staff and volunteers (I am afraid that I would almost certainly miss some if I tried to name them all). On the negative side, the air fence didn't cover itself with glory!
Now I know that some will disagree, but I am firmly of the opinion that the most traumatic pre season job is the "erection" (word chosen after some consideration and a check for suitable synonyms in the thesaurus) of the air fence. It may not have the surface area of the track but it's a mighty large piece of equipment (once again, not sure if the phrasing is quite right there) and is prone to all manner of malfunctions.
We've had a few delays with our fence at Swindon this winter. I'm still not sure that we've got all the bits back from servicing yet. But with just a few days before a practice session and 8 days before the big 60th meeting, we have to get the air fence assembled and in place this Saturday.
I had put out a general plea for help both on the main Swindon Speedway web site (thanks to Chris Seaward for publishing that) and via email / text but still wondered how many people we'd have turn out on a bright spring Saturday morning.
In reality I shouldn't have been worried - the turn out was brilliant. I don't know about other sports, but speedway must count itself lucky in that it has so many supporters who will willingly give so freely of their time and expertise. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I hope the powers that be, up and down the country do acknowledge the efforts of those, without whom, the sport would certainly suffer!
While one team loaded the checked bags onto the back of a low loader, another unrolled and checked all the connections on a set of panels delivered back on Friday.
For turns 1 and 2 we start mid corner by a gap in the safety fence where the air pumps will be placed and work outwards, to the entry of turn 1 and the exit of turn 2. Once the bags have been rolled out and laid, end to end, those nearest to where the pumps will be sited are joined together by two air pipes and then fastened together with a series of straps.
This sequence is repeated until 10 or so bags have been connected. Bungs are placed in the holes in the end bags and the pumps are turned on. When we are satisfied that there are no major air leaks or excessively large holes around, the pumps are switched off, the bungs removed and another set of 10 panels added. The last panels to be put on the fence are the wedge pieces that start the fence on turn 1 and end it on turn 2.
The whole fence is inflated and, assuming that all is well, it is pushed back up against the wire safety fence and the velcro joins are made across the gaps between the panels. Our major improvement is with the kick boards. 3 years ago we riveted them onto the air fence. Mind numbingly uncomfortable and time consuming, the kick boards held firm but the fence material tore when a bike crashed into it. 2 years ago and we introduced cable ties. The ties stopped both bikes and tears but they broke on impact and I spent two years on hands and knees before, during and after meetings making good the damage.
This year we have utilised an idea that I know Eastbourne tried last year - velcro. The thick rubber kick boards have heavy duty velcro stitched on both sides at the top. One side sticks it to the front of the air bag, the other will secure the bottom of the revolutionary advertising hoardings that are being made for us, even as I write this, by Steve "Lionel" Masters and his sign printing company.
The kickboards look fine - only time will tell if they work as well as the cable ties, but we are optimistic of success. With the fence standing we now deflate it all. The next task for now is to cable tie the panels at the back to the bottom of the wire safety fence. This stops them being blown away in the odd zephyr that we endure at Blunsdon and also stops the whole lot from being dislodged in the event of contact with a flying rider and speedway bike.
But we're not finished yet. The catch netting that we put above the air fence to stop stones and shale being thrown into the crowd / over the greyhound track, must also be cut and attached via cable ties to the top of the air fence. This will be drawn up and attached at the top of the safety fence when the panel is to be used.
By 11am I am delighted. Turns 1 and 2 are finished and nearly all of the panels for turns 3 and 4 are laid out. And then it all starts to go downhill!!
We repeat the whole process with the bags on turn 4 and they appear OK - perhaps a little on the soft side but the kickboards look OK and the netting goes on satisfactorily.
The air fences on turns 3 and 4 have to be very carefully positioned to accommodate the panel that will cover the pit gate. We had hoped to use a specially designed bag that hinges in the middle for the gate this year. The advantage of using this one is that only half needs be opened when riders access and leave the pits. But Sod's Law strikes us again - it's not there. This particular bag must be one of the few that are still away. We have to find the bag we used last year, with one of the ends capped off.
And so to turn 3 and the real prospect of getting home for an albeit late lunch. The process is the same until we try to inflate. With one pump the far end doesn't even bother to raise itself from the track. We check all the connections. We try again. We disconnect lengths of panels and inflate them separately. Some inflate well, other lie dormant on the track. Frustration levels grow. Eventually we uncover two panels with splits in the seams. With air fence panels of this age and vintage, any excess loss of air pressure is a disaster. The panels are removed and replaced with two of our trfack spares. The result is a little better, but not much.
By the time that Keith Johnson and I finish attaching the blue catch netting it is more like time for afternoon tea than a late lunch. So it's a mixed emotions (reminds me of a great Rolling Stones number) sort of day - depressing because it all took so long and the air fence still isn't to my satisfaction; uplifting because of the efforts of all the chaps who turned up to offer their services and went about difficult and exhausting tasks with humour and enthusiasm.
