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CYCLE SPEEDWAY STIG More from our mystery contributor ... GOODBYE TO A GREAT YEAR - posted 31 December 2011 So, as the clock count down to midnight and we bid farewell to 2011, we can look back on another great year of cycle speedway which has not only seen some brilliant racing, but some big advancements in the infrastructure of the sport. The decision to bring in two divisions next season, the television coverage of the British final and the deal to screen some Elite League matches next year, the continued success of the Academy, huge strides made by the women’s league in terms of dedicated female fixtures and increased participation in the sport – it’s all been very encouraging. For many years the hierarchy of the sport have talked about making the sport more professional and reaching out to a wider audience and in 2011 they began to do that. It’s the racing that will always come first though and the year started on the other side of the world, in America, with the world championships. The decision to hold the tournament there has been debated fiercely and there seems little point adding to it so many months on, but I think most people would agree that had it been held in the UK, Poland or Australia it would have been a far larger spectacle.
The domestic scene saw the Premier League have its first shake up for a number of years, Ipswich, Sandwell and East Newport all joining the best league in the land. A lot of people were sad to see Norwich take a step back and pull out of the league, but the club believed in doing so they could take two steps forward and make their way back to the top league in a couple of years time. After brilliantly hosting a British Final this term and conducting themselves very well whilst making a lot of friends throughout their Premier years, a lot of people hope to see them back soon. More controversially, Birmingham’s application to retain their spot in the league was declined by the Commission. A club which prided itself on its youth development with riders like Paul Heard, Chris Timms, Nathan Groves and Marcus Wadhams leading their impressive campaigns over the previous two years, was denied a space in the league because their track and facilities weren’t up to standard. It was a decision that was roundly criticised and their reinstatement for next year has been widely welcomed. The Premier title was won by the cycle speedway juggernaut that is the Hammers. With exceptional individual talent backed up by the ability to team ride like no other side, this Horspath team is quickly writing itself into cycle speedway folklore. If asked to predict next year’s Elite League winner, you’d be a fool to bet against them, especially after recently announcing the signing of Lewis Bates.
The three new sides had somewhat contrasting seasons, but all finished at the bottom of the table. East Newport and Sandwell both got off to strong starts but East Newport faded. Ipswich, conversely, started slowly, but grew into the league and finished strongly. With high profile signings already secured for next season and talk of others joining the Suffolk club, they could be one to look out for next year. Sandwell did very well, winning five matches, and it’s a shame that we won’t be seeing them in either the Elite or Premier league next season.
Mark Boaler mustn’t be forgotten, because he came very close to retaining his title which would have been an outstanding achievement, whilst it was great to see Phil Howells roll back the years in his home county and finish on the podium. Indeed, in a sport where Andy Angell is known as the British champion, the rise of the participation of women in cycle speedway should really see Andy called the male British Champion. It has been a superb year for women’s cycle speedway, with the advent of the girls' league, the Britain vs Poland women’s test matches and a noticeable rise in standard as well as participation. With a wealth of younger riders coming through, characterised by the likes of Danielle Riley, Laura Dale and Lauren Davies, the health of female cycle speedway is only set to get stronger. Arron Morgan (pictured below) steamrolled his way to the British under 16 title, his combination of pace and aggression far too much for the rest of the field, whilst in the under 19s the oh-so-stylish Mark Carmichael retained his crown with serious panache. Jason Ashford won his first and well overdue British title by sealing the veterans’ crown with a faultless performance.
And that is broadly that. Another year's cycle speedway complete and hopes are high that next year’s structural changes will bring yet another cracking season. Arguably, the indoors polarises opinion far more than say, the new Premier League set up or the secondary licence debate. Is it real cycle speedway, some people ask. Can we have a league of it, others wonder? Whatever side of the fence you come down on though, there can be little doubt that the indoors weekend is a fun one. Yes, us riders take it seriously, of course we do – but there isn’t quite the same intensity to the racing, partly brought about by the increased danger (rams are naturally off the agenda), but also because it’s not the be all and end all. The crowd isn’t quite as big on finals day inside a sports hall in November as it is around an outdoor track in August though. People aren’t quite as inspired to travel hundreds of miles from one side of the country to the other for the indoors which is quite understandable – some people like the break that winter gives them from our sport. But should they be inspired to travel all those miles? Should they allow themselves one weekend to dip back into their sport over the winter? People may say that indoor cycle speedway isn’t real cycle speedway and to an extent they would be right. The fact that there isn’t an indoor league or a longer individual series implies we all prefer the outdoor scene. In terms of sheer ability though, the indoor championships shouldn’t be discarded as some sort of Mickey Mouse championship. In fact, I would argue that you need far more natural ability to win the indoors than you do the outdoors.
There are loads of lines, but only if you’ve got the nerve to exploit them. My first couple of laps around the track and I felt like I was getting pretty low, although running a little wide. I went over to a friend on the sideline and he didn’t look especially impressed and told me I could definitely get it a little lower and it was only later that day, when I saw competitors flying around faster than me and whipping round the bends much tighter than me that I realised my friend was right. You have to have such trust in your bike to have any hope of success indoors and really crank the thing over. When you do you’ll be rewarded. And as for the wins? Well, if you’ve the ability to get them, you will most certainly have earned them. Because we have to stay straight from the gates, they are much less important than racing outside and if you’re on gate four you are probably destined to reach the first bend in fourth place, particular in a good field of riders, like the British final. It doesn’t matter how powerful you are, it doesn’t matter how many hours you’ve put in at the gym – it matters how effortlessly you can corner, how much speed you can keep, how easily you can adjust your line, how much faith you have in your bike and in your ability. Mike Morgans has a chequered history in his career, but his win at the weekend solidifies one thing that has never been in doubt – his ability on a cycle speedway bike is quite astonishing, and the same can be said for all the previous indoor champions and it shouldn’t be forgotten. You might well be looking back upon the season you’ve had with a tinge of regret – did you really work hard enough? If you’d have worked harder, could you have achieved better things? Did your team achieve what they wanted? Equally you might have had a stunning season, where every move you tried came off and every time you needed to pull a gate out of the bag, you did just that. Whatever kind of season you had though, you don’t want it to end – nobody ever does. However, riding in the wet and the cold is not really my definition of fun and as much as we all miss not riding, the break is welcome and pleasant. For others though, the break is just a pesky inconvenience. I’m sure you’ve heard people start discussing in what winter month they plan to start training. Some hardy souls (or crazy fools, depending on your view) want to take a month off and kick off in November, with the temperature barely above zero degrees and the rain set to ‘Constant Drizzle.’ Others, of which I am (occasionally) one, set about a gym workout throughout the winter months, concentrating on core fitness and improving the aerobic fitness levels, before getting back on a bike a few weeks before pre-season kicks off. Fair play to those who can get back on a bike in November and stick it out over the winter, but that really is taking our sport to new levels of dedication. Indeed, we’ve all seen riders who do a thorough winter training regime like that and come June begin to suffer burnout – is it really worth it? If you feel it is worth it, then good luck to you, and when you’re stood on the top step on British Finals day, your decision will have been vindicated. Whatever regime you decide to embark upon though, it will definitely help you come the start of the season. A good start to the season can make such a big difference to the way your year pans out – a confidence boosting, high scoring performance in your first match of the year and it’s onwards and upwards from there. A poor, unfit performance in your first match of the year, and, well, it’s going to be tough. Like most sports, cycle speedway is all about momentum. Start the year well and you’ll roll on from there, everything coming easily. Training is fun and fast, matches are exciting and successful. Start the year poorly because you’ve been a bit lazy and you can’t gain any momentum. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy – one poor match and you lose your enthusiasm for training, but you know you should go, so you turn up anyway. Then you ride as poorly at training as you did on the Sunday and you just can’t face it anymore. You pack up early and head home. That next Sunday? You ride badly again. I’m not saying you have to start in November, but I’m saying do something. Those regrets you had this season could be erased next year by wheeling the bike out of that deep corner of the garage a month earlier than is necessary, because, however tough it may seem when you first get back in the saddle, that satisfaction you get when you go and get your first dominant heat win of the year, that satisfaction that makes the sport so special to us riders, will be worth it.
One, that on the day, he was the best rider. He gated very well, he passed when he needed too and he looked to have added a level of maturity to his racing that was perhaps missing at Astley last year when he was in with a similar shot of winning the title. Secondly, that he’s a good bloke. He’ll have a chat with everyone and anyone and very rarely ever loses his temper on the track – indeed, I’ve never seen it. He’s been at the top of the sport for two or three years now and yet he’s still the same Andy that he has always been. Thirdly, and in my eyes crucially, is his much documented training regime. His enthusiasm and drive for the sport is admirable and the way he has been riding over the last few years is testament to it. Add to that his natural talent and we have one devastating package on our hands. However, it’s not just that he deserves the title because he trains hard. That would be disrespectful to Andy, because obviously you don't simply become British champion by training a bit more than usual, and to all the other riders that put in just as much hard graft as he does. The sport deserves a champion like Andy.
We all know there are high profile riders out there who infamously don’t put in the hard yards in training, who don’t do that bit extra. And with these riders it’s a case of what could have been, or rather, what could be, because they still ride – they could still dominate the sport. The current British champion should be an inspiration to those riders too – an inspiration to his rivals. In a sport where an increasing level of professionalism seems to be permeating across the land at the moment, a champion who is the ultimate professional is a great thing. As the British Cycling Academy takes off and we start, as a nation, to pull back the lead that Poland has had on us over the last few years, Andy stands as a trailblazer. Those who were there in Zielona Gora for the European Championships last season will remember that pass on Ganczarek - it was no fluke. But, however hard people work, they’re going to have a job on their hands to beat Andy, because you can guarantee he won’t be resting on his laurels. He’ll be back training again already. Let’s just hope that those youngsters who will form the bedrock of our sport over the next ten years, who were lucky enough to be sat at Eaton Park on British Finals day, will be inspired. British Finals weekend is the one event on the calendar which provokes more excitement than any other, for everyone. Spectators and riders alike turn up on the Monday afternoon excited and nervous respectively. It is the best Bank Holiday Monday of the year.
As a rider I have to say I preferred the old two-day system, because it reduces the pressure of qualifying – you’ve got double the time in which to do it and your errors aren’t quite so costly. There are still only those sixteen slots up for grabs though and the extra drama of the Sunday undoubtedly adds to the event for the spectators that travel from all over the country. Ah yes, those sixteen slots. I would argue that qualifying for a British final means more to the majority of riders than qualifying for a European or even a World final. Just the other day I heard a relatively young rider comment that if he qualifies for a British final in the next couple of years, he’ll probably retire; his ambitions will have been fulfilled. If you have realistic ambitions of finishing high up the leaderboard, you are naturally going to be extremely nervous though. Why do you think that there is always a surprise youngster right up there come the end of the day? Because there is no pressure on him, because he surprises people. There was Paul Heard last year, Nathan Groves the year before.
Then there’s the parade. Out you walk, in line, in focus. The music plays, you reach your bike, meet the dignitaries, shake some hands. But your focus never wavers. Why can’t I make the podium, some think. Crikey, I’m never going to win a race, others think. The national anthem chimes out and the pride swells. Then, eventually, you walk out for your first race. Despite the fact that this is the biggest crowd you’ve ever raced in front, you could hear a pin drop as you are placed under starters orders. The stomach churns, the butterflies tighten. The tapes go up and those lucky sixteen remember - this is why we do cycle speedway!
As the riders take their place on the centre green for the national anthems and introductions, the atmosphere is electric, the tension evident in the expressions of all the competitors. But it's a good tension, the riders inspired by the scenes around them. This is the moment they have worked for, trained for, dreamt about for months, for years and it is everything they could have imagined. When the announcer calls out each rider's name, a loud cheer goes up from their fellow countrymen who populate the cosmopolitan crowd. This isn't, unfortunately, some sort of description to describe the current Ah yes, but that's OK, because it will further the sport! It will promote the Well, we won't and lets hope we don't. Let us all consign this experiment to the history books and rarely mention it again. In a nutshell, those that really wanted to ride have effectively been forced to fly half way around the globe to a country that barely does the sport, to compete in the biggest event of the year. Outrageous. It's an amateur sport and will always remain as such, especially in Britain. Potentially, some of the most devoted Polish riders may well grow to be semi-professional (indeed, some are already), but they will never become global stars outside of their own borders. The quicker people realise this the better. What the man sees shocks him. How can they go so fast?! How can they crash so violently then get straight up?! Two hours later the man is still stood transfixed by the action that has unravelled in front of him, and as he watches the winner get awarded a rather large trophy. Little does he know that a) he has just watched the World Individual Championship Final and b) just how lucky he is. I may be digging up old ground to an extent here, but please bear with me, because I believe it’s a point still worth making. The decision to remove Birmingham from the Premier League last season highlighted one of the biggest issues that continues to nibble away at our sport - our amateur sport. The criticism the decision received on Viewpoint at the time clearly shows that the cycle speedwaying community were very much against it. But for me it was more than simply disagreeing with the decision because Birmingham had one of the best squads in the country, a squad built on youth, on their own riders. And neither was it about losing one of the nicest venues to visit on the calendar- a picturesque park, a chat with some of the warmest people in the sport and then a pint at the local pub afterwards. No, for me the biggest issue was the criteria against which Birmingham failed. No changing rooms, no toilets etc... How do you suggest they fix this? Where do you suggest they pluck this money from? If they do get the money, does the park give them permission to build them? Was it ever really a problem anyway? It’s basically bad luck on Birmingham’s part that their track just so happened to be in a public park, not, for example, situated a 30 second walk from a sports centre. But that is the situation they face and it has been decreed by the powers that be they cannot compete in the best league the sport has to offer. The fact that their best home grown riders have now gone off on secondary licenses to other teams throughout the country is of no concern to them and yet two years ago this was the subject that dominated the hierarchy’s minds most, desperately trying to come up with solutions to stop the best talent being poached by the best clubs, or rather, the more successful clubs. But that again, is a different story. Who are these people? Well, we know who they are, but why are they given this power? Why is it dotting the t’s and crossing the i’s that gets clubs into the Premier League? Why can’t the riders decide? The sport needs administrators, so let them administrate, but don’t let them dictate. Birmingham were allowed to ride in last season’s Premier League so their facilities can’t be that bad otherwise they would never have been let into the league in the first place. So surely their riders should be given a chance to try and save their space in the league? Why not introduce a play off system? The benefits for the sport are substantial, bringing a new and exciting date into the fixture list. There can be no arguments with the outcome because it will have come about fairly and decisively, not subjectively. The bottom side(s) in the Premier League rides against the new applicant(s) in a one off match at a neutral venue and that way it is riding ability that wins out, not bureaucracy. Why am I, as a rider, so vehemently for this idea? Because we’re amateurs! We do it for the fun of the sport; we don’t get to an away venue then get out of our cars with a dishevelled look on our faces because we can’t have a shower afterwards; we hop out of our cars, go and shake hands of old friends, race (and hopefully in the Premier League, race against the best opposition that we can), get back in our cars and go home, all at our own expense. If we were professionals it would be a vastly different matter. If riders were being paid even modest sums then there could be a plausible argument made that Birmingham could have improved their facilities with that money. But we’re not professional, we’re racers, we’re riders, we do it for the fun of it, for the crack, a crack that is enhanced by riding the best and it is the best clubs that should be in the best league. And yet even in professional sports, clubs aren’t promoted and relegated on the strength of their facilities; they’re promoted and relegated on the strength of their teams. It’s a sport for crying out loud and it is sport which should make these decisions. Not how many boxes a club can tick. PRE-SEASON - posted 28 February 2011 You all know the feeling. Sat on your bike, legs like jelly, nerves churning your stomach about, the weight of the world on your shoulders and you hear those immortal words chime out; ‘Riders ready...’ and the mind focuses, the surroundings disappear and it’s just you and the bike...
Those words you heard were a figment of your imagination, but try as hard as you might to motivate yourself, the second you explode downwards onto your pedals all that motivation drains away. Convinced bike pixies have somehow got hold of your Archie over the winter whilst it’s been tucked away in the garage and changed your gearing, you stop to look at it, convinced there must be some kind of problem. There isn’t. Well, there is, but it most certainly isn’t the bike - it’s you. Then to compound your misery, your training partner turns up. After a quick catch up, he sticks his bike together, and looking remarkably lean, sets off around the car park like he’s never had a break. Over the next half an hour he barely breaks sweat whilst you get slowly more and more demoralised and crucially, a lot slower. You start to question why you do the blooming sport. Your training partner and ‘friend’ tries to console you in the least patronising way possible after the session, but of course only succeeds in doing the complete opposite. You go off home in a bit of a grump, but vow to come back next time at work at it. After a couple more sessions you start to feel a little better, but nevertheless you can’t seem to convince yourself that you’ll ever get anywhere near where you were last season. A track session looms though and you see it as a ray of hope. Nothing can replicate track fitness, and with shale beneath your tyres you may well fly. When a care-free team mate turns up, laughing at his lack of fitness and increase in waist band, you begin to feel slightly more confident. Maybe I won’t be so far out of my depth after all. Ten minutes later you’re left reeling when he hops on his bike, hops on the track and utterly flys out of the traps, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Gating like you can only dream of at this stage of the year, he sticks in lap after lap and still has time for a cigarette half way through the session! You volunteer to go in the first race and take gate one. The care-free team mate rolls into gate two next to you, whilst training partner takes gate three and a keen youngster takes gate four. And then the exact same feelings you had when you first got the bike out take over; legs like jelly, nerves churning your stomach about, the weight of the world on your shoulders. You hear those immortal words chime out, ‘Riders ready...’ and the mind focuses, the surroundings disappear and it’s just you and the bike... But this time you’re not alone in a deserted car park, you’re on gate one and you need to pull something out of the bag. A sharp first pedal (at least your reaction times haven’t gone backwards either) isn’t backed up by a strong second pedal, but you’re just about with the two guys outside you although you get dragged deep into the first bend to keep them on your outside. You aren’t in total control though and you lose a foot off one of your pedals and can’t pick up, leaving them free to whip around the outside and to compound your misery, the keen youngster has pulled a typical gate four drop and is a wheel up on you going down the back straight. Allowing instinct to take over, you drive the bike into the bend, all other thoughts pushed to the back of your mind- you’re now the care-free one. But the two guys you’re trying to overtake aren’t expecting you to be there and as you bounce into them, they’re taken by surprise and crumple, leaving you with nothing to lean on. A huge crash ensues; all four on the floor, those scars that you thought had healed from last season opened up again. The youngster, with nowhere to go, rides into you and ends up pinning you underneath his bike. And the grin on everyone’s face is huge. All of that pre-season anxiety is banished. It only took one lap and as the session continues, the legs feel as good as new, despite the rip in the brand spanking trousers. Riders approach pre-season in countless ways, but there’s nothing like a proper race to get you going. Don’t worry about it, just get out there and get stuck in.
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But you’re not dreaming that you’ve got a run off for the British title. You’re not even sat on the grids of your local track. You’re sat on your bike for the first time of the new season, in some local car park, about to embark upon (whisper it); pre season training.
Suddenly you’ve forgotten all your fitness woes. It’s you, the track and three opponents, just the way it should be. You’ve got the bit between your teeth and no pressure now. You get back on your pedals and suddenly you’re the one flying. You get round the youngster early on in the straight and see a gap emerging inside the two at the front as they take a wide line into the top bend; you pounce.
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