The weekend of the 23/24th April was the second round of the first ever Welsh Downhill Mountain Bike Association’s (WDMBA) race series, held at Gethin, South Wales. The WDMBA have been developing the capability to put on a race series for a couple of years now. They started up with a few members pooling resources to put on uplift days at Rheola, and over time and increasingly popular uplift days, have now generated enough money to convert three old coaches into customised uplift vehicles by taking out the rear half of the seats so that bikes and riders can be taken up the hill in the same bus. Uplift provision was always the main reason why the Dragon Downhill race series ceased to operate on the South Wales Forestry Comission owned race tracks – new Health and Safety laws introduced meant that all ‘public’ uplift on Forestry land had to be provided by PSV-license holding drivers with strict rules on the type of vehicles that could be used. The old Dragon DH solution of getting the local quarry trucks in with some hay bales in the back for riders to sit on and cart everone up to the top in the back of the truck was no longer allowed, and so without an uplift solution the Dragons were no more at the end of 2008.
The WDMBA formed in 2009, but it has taken a lot of hard work on their behalf to get the uplift vehicles sorted and to organise ‘dig days’ with trail-building crews to maintain and improve some of the old Dragon courses and bring them back into use. Gethin was actually the venue for Dan’s second ever race as a Juvenile rider in 2008. It is a good track, and has recently seen some major improvements as a result of the trail digging teams who finished their latest works only a couple of weeks prior to the race.
When we saw the entry list for the race, which was published a couple of days before it, we couldn’t quite believe what we read because the Elite riders included Dan Atherton. You may recall that Dan Atherton broke his neck in a nasty accident in training only last July, and his brother Gee was in South Africa for the first round of the World Cup Series this weekend, so we thought it was perhaps a mistake that his name was on the list. Come the Saturday practice, though, and there was a familiar Atherton Racing van and EZ-up in the car park, and sure enough, Dan was there. As I was standing taking photos at one point on the track his Dad came nearby and I mentioned to him how good it was to see Dan back on the bike and racing – he confirmed that this was his first race appearance since the accident, and that he wanted to ‘test himself gently’ at a local race (look back through the results history for Dragon Downhills and you’ll see the Atherton’s names all over the race winners’ lists – this is where they started their racing careers a few years back) before moving back up to World Cup level tracks.
We were greeted with hot sunny weather for the whole weekend, so here’s Dan’s report:
“Practice went well, Gethin is a track I have raced once before, my second race ever, and I loved it. The WDMBA boys had made some improvements to it and it was riding amazingly, I was having fun trying out new lines I couldn’t ride at the last race, and really enjoying myself, apart from the ridiculous amount of dust, that caused a very dry throat and the need to drink a few gulps of water after every run! By the end of practice I had most of my lines sorted, and was looking foward to race day. On Sunday, I crammed in two practice runs, to dial in some lines I wanted to try, and they worked well. My race runs went well, but I was pretty far off the pace, I was loosing a lot of speed in the rock garden and slowing down, so I need to work on carrying speed through rocky sections and pedaling more.”
Dan ended up 9th, with 25 riders competing, and it’s interesting comparing his run time with that from his second ever race there three years previously: 2008 time 3min 43sec, 2011 time 3min 9secs!
Dan’s been revising hard for his AS-level exams over the next couple of weeks, so he hasn’t been entering many races recently, but the next race should be the Southern Region Championships at UKBikePark, Dorset in June. This will be the first race that they will have held since their major trail and facility re-design (still ongoing), so it will be very interesting to see how things have changed.
You’ll also be pleased to hear that Dan Atherton’s return to racing went very well, and he won the Elite category with the fastest time of the day.
Dan & Tim.
The weekend of the 19th and 20th March was the first round of the British Downhill Series, held at Nant Gwrtheyrn in North Wales on the Northern coast of the Llyn Penisula. This is a new track, being used for the first time as a National track, having been built last year by the people behind the Wentwood race in South Wales two years ago, Simply Downhill. They had moved to North Wales and were looking for a place to build a new track and stumbled upon the site at Nant Gwrtheyrn, a recently renovated Welsh Heritage centre at a Victorian mining village nestled at the foot of the old quarry itself, with a narrow strip of woodland around a stream running from the top of the surrounding hill at about 1100 feet, all the way down to the village itself, about 100 feet above sea level. The setting is itself spectacular, with extensive views out to the Irish Sea and Anglesey from the site and its’ access road, and the £5m visitor centre alongside the village which hosted the race control and provided a cafe, restaurant and showers/toilets which is unique for any race venues that we had been to before!
This race was being held a full month before the usual time of the first round of the National Series, and so I chose to stay in a Travelodge in Bangor overnight for the Friday and Saturday rather than brave the forecast late-winter conditions in our two-season sleeping bags!
Following a four hour drive to Bangor on the Friday night, we had a 45 minute drive to the race venue on the Saturday morning, arriving to find that there was no space to park at the bottom of the hill in the village and campsite, so we would have to park at the top of the hill right by the drop-off point for the race uplift – handy!
The weather was dry for the Saturday, but some rain overnight was forecast, with it hopefully drying up for the race itself on Sunday.
Dan:
“Practice went well, the track was very difficult, but lots of fun, and as it dried out through the day it just got better and better. Unfortunately this didn’t last, Sunday morning it was raining, and continued to do so all day, making the track difficult in places, and horrible at the bottom (an uphill sprint). Seeding runs came around and due to a rider having an accident on course, they were cancelled, but the race organisers did not relay this information to the top, and we were stuck up there for 2 hours in the freezing cold and constant rain, with little cover. This completely put me off racing, as I was soaked and freezing, I turned up for my race run and tried to put in a steady run, but came to the first corner and I stopped dead and had a ‘moment’ on the track, which put me off for my run. I finished halfway through the pack, which I was happy with, but want to improve for the next races.”
The weather on Sunday was quite appalling – the majority of the venue was in cloud and raining a fine mist, with the exposed uplift drop-off and waiting area at the top experiencing near-freezing conditions and a strong wind. At the same time it was reported as sunny in Bristol, so the local coastal position with the prevailing on-shore wind appeared to contribute to keeping the site in cloud and rain.
This being Dan’s first year in the Junior category, he wasn’t expecting to be competing for the top ten in what was a very large (~70) and competitive category (the top Juniors are already World Cup riders). The unfortunate incident with riders in Dan’s category caused the medical team considerable problems – the rider had broken bones and needed to be stretchered off the track once medical help had arrived, but the cloud cover prevented a helicopter ambulance access, and by the time they had managed to stretcher him out to an ambulance a couple of hours had passed. Due to the limited light available since the race was being held before the clocks had gone forward for British Summer Time, it would not have been possible to complete all of the seeding runs and the race runs in daylight so the organisers had to make the difficult decision to cancel the remaining seeding runs. This was very unfortunate for Dan as he was about ten riders after the rider who crashed, and so, as he mentions, he was stuck at the top of the hill in the adverse conditions in his thin race shirt with minimal protection from the elements, compounded with insufficient information on the reason for the delays being relayed to race control at the top of the hill.
During this time I was perched part-way down the hill taking photos for Roots And Rain (www.rootsandrain.co.uk/photos/tim-joyce), getting rather wet and splattered by mud as each rider went past, standing next to a race marshal who also was very frustrated by the lack of update on progress during the delay whilst the injured rider was safely moved.
Nevertheless, even when Dan thought he had done badly (we left the venue without him even finding out his race position), it was clear that his main rivals from last year in the Youth category had also found the conditions tough, and he ended up beating them when we checked the results after we returned home.
Dan will miss the next BDS Round due to family holiday, so the next race will be the WDMBA Gethin Race, a venue that Dan hasn’t raced since the Dragon Downhill Series last visited in 2008.
Dan & Tim.
After not being able to race the snow re-scheduled UKBikePark Triscombe race, the two rounds of the 661 Mini Downhill at the Forest of Dean this year have been Dan’s first races in the Junior category. The race last weekend was the third and final round of this winter race series, with Dan not having been able to get in any real practice days apart from the race days themselves this year so far due to various factors.
With the ground finally thawing after the icy conditions of previous rounds, last Sunday was the first sign of some improved weather.
Dan:
“Practice went well, I got all my lines sorted, even though I only had an hour to do so, and was feeling okay on the track. They were using a track that I never seem to do well on so I wanted to try and do better than previously, so looked for the fastest lines on the track. First race run was fairly good, I had a few mistakes and rode a section with one foot off the pedals, but came down with an okay time that put me into 9th place. For the second runs I wanted to push even faster to secure a top 10 finish, and my run was good, not many mistakes, but I lost a lot of speed at the bottom section where it was extremely boggy, so couldn’t properly clear the table top at the bottom, loosing speed. I went quicker than my first run, but it wasn’t enough to keep me in the top 10 and I ended up 12th. This result is better than the last race (22nd) but still not where I would want my results to be.”
The next race will probably be the first round of the British Downhill Series at Nant Gwrtheyrn in North Wales on March 19/20th – a track that was new last year, and is being used for the first time as a National track.
Dan is still racing with his 2009 spec Marin Quake 7.9 with 170mm rear travel – he is hoping to change frame to the new 250mm rear travel Quad DH as soon as they are available in the country to allow him to remain competitive on the rougher National level courses.
Dan & Tim.
Read the latest from DH racer Dan Joyce…
On the 5th of December Dan raced the 661 Mini Downhill at the Forest of Dean. The weather was very cold – an inch of snow which had fallen a few days earlier outside of the trees, but my car was showing -4.5 degreesC as we arrived half an hour before practice! This meant that the exposed ground was frozen solid and quite icy in the section of track towards the end of the run just as it comes out of one section of trees and enters another just before the finish line. The organisers had laid salt on the racing line around that section to try to reduce the risk of falling, but it was clear that any tyre off the central track line would have no grip – it was just ice on the frozen ground. I headed on up the track to take some photos (http://www.rootsandrain.co.uk/race312/2010-dec-5-naked-racing-661-mini-dh-forest-of-dean/photos/) whilst Dan went for some practice.
Dan:
“After ariving to a snow covered car park on Sunday morning, I pushed up the hill to practice the track. It was one I had raced before, but one that I also never did well on. I was hoping for a decent result through practice, and spent time getting my lines sorted. Unfortunately this was not to happen as in my first run, which was going very well, I caught up with the person in front of me, and for some reason he didn’t move to the side, but remained in the middle of the track. I decided to try a risky inside overtake, and completely forgot about how icy the ground was, this lead to me hitting the deck hard, and giving myself a concussion. My second run was not very good, due to my concussion I just couldn’t ride fast, and came down with a very slow time, putting me in 23rd place.
For my next race I hope to get back on form, and post a good competitive time, as it will be my last race in Youth.”
When I came down the track at the end of the first runs to talk to Dan and see how it had gone he mentioned the crash but didn’t mention the cuts and mild concussion he had got from the fall – this was only apparent afterwards at the end of the second runs with a further de-brief. This scenario where he has a hard crash and then races has happened earlier in the year, and as then, he finds it difficult to do well because his mind seems to put his brake fingers into a self-preservation mode where he thinks he has ridden fast but ends up quite a bit slower compared to everyone else than he was expecting. This time he ended up 23rd out of 46 riders, 10 seconds off a ‘podium’ time.
Dan was hoping to race the second round of the UKBikePark Winter Series last Sunday (19th December), which was due to be held at Triscombe, on the Quantocks, but this was cancelled due to the snow, so the Forest of Dean race was the last race of the year, and Dan’s last in the Youth Category. He moves up to Junior next year, but the year-end British Cycling National Rankings read for some impressive results in his last Youth year:
British Cycling National Rankings 2010 MTB DH Youth (155 riders with ranking points, 8 best results count):
Dan Joyce 10th in the UK; 4th in England; 1st in South Region.
Dan also won the title Southern Champion at the Southern Region Championships in May.
A very good year racing in Youth with his Marin Quake. We are hoping to be able to upgrade the frame to the new Marin Quad DH as soon as they are available in the country, which should help in the very competitive Junior category next year.
So – 2010 was 20 races, 5 more than 2009. Some races couldn’t be entered due to clashes with GCSEs, and next year looks as though it could be equally busy, but now with AS level module exams to clash with!
Thanks to Jon at ZeroG Downend for the continuing sponsorship over this past year, and to all the other ZeroG Downend & Giant Bradley Stoke staff who have serviced the bike during the year to help mend/replace/tweak the inevitable parts that wear out or get broken during a year of racing!
Happy Christmas!
Tim & Dan.
Picture – ‘(c)Ian Cross www.pics4all.co.uk‘
Last weekend was the final round of the UKBikePark Summer DH Series. This five round series was offering an Apple iPod to the overall series winner for each category, so after Dan’s win in the previous round he was looking to at least get a podium to be in with a chance of winning the series overall for the Youth category.
Dan:
“Practice went well, I got the track dialled and was riding fast and felt controlled. I had a minor crash on my first run resulting in a grazed shoulder, but this didn’t affect my riding. By my second run I had all my lines sorted, and spent the rest of the day hitting the track faster and faster.
Sunday practice went well as well, apart from the track being a little crowded and hard to get a fast run in, I felt happy and confident for the race. My first run went well, I took a steady and safe run down and kept smooth and in control, I posted a good time and went into first place with over a second back to second place. I knew Isaac and Ty ( my two competitors) would up the pace next run so knew I had to push hard to keep first. My second run started off well until I came into a rock garden, doubled it up then for some reason my foot got hit off my pedal, and whilst trying to get it back on, I messed up my entry into a corner and had to brake hard to avoid going off track, I pushed hard for the rest of the track but messed up the last corner, coming in too tight, blowing the berm out then blowing my feet off the pedals and being unable to pedal to the line. These two mistakes cost me over a second, and I ended up in 3rd place, 0.18 seconds off the win.
I am happy with this result as even though I didn’t take the win, I know that had I not of made a mistake, I would’ve and by a considerable margin. This is confidence inspiring and shows that all my training has payed off. Next race is the final BDS at caersws where I am looking to top 10″
A very close race, with only 0.18 seconds covering the first three places. Dan’s time in the first run was actually the fifth fastest time overall (all 100 riders), and not only would it have won him the race for Youth, it was also third fastest in Junior, the next age category up, and was also second fastest in Senior and faster than some experts! Even with the mistakes in his second run, his final time was good enough for 12th fastest from all riders. Dan didn’t win the series overall,, which was taken by his main rival, Isaac Anderson, but if Dan had taken the win here then we think he would have also taken the series win.
The UKBikePark will be starting a Winter Series later in the year, and they are trying to link up with Kustom Bikes to make a South West Winter Series, possibly including Gawton in Devon as one of the venues.
This report is being written in a now very cold tent in the camping field at Caersws, where Dan’s just had the practice day for the final British Downhill Series Round here. It’s been a dry day, and it’s forecast to be dry again tomorrow, but with a definite late Autumn chill in the Northerly wind, increasing in strength from today. I was taking photos at a big step-down-double this afternoon when Joe Bishop of Dream/ZeroG almost had a nasty crash due to a gust of wind since the upper part of the hill here is now completely de-forested as a result of a fire some months ago.
Pictures attached of Dan’s race runs at UKBikePark, and on the podium.
Tim & Dan.
Last weekend Dan competed in the 4th round of the UKBikePark Summer DH race series. Coming from his good performance at the English Championships at Caersws the previous week, Dan was looking forward to racing again at UKBikePark on a track that had been ‘updated’ since it had last been used for a race.
Dan:
“Practice went well: the track was odd, the top section was flat out and lots of fun, the bottom was likewise, but in between was a slightly weird flat, almost uphill section, which had been recently added, which completely ruined the flow of the track, and was a real slog to get across carrying speed. This led into some jumps, that while fine at a slow speed, when hit flat out were way too small, with very steep lips that kicked you up way too high, making hitting them at race pace dangerous and scary! Despite the track being awkward, I had fun and felt fast. Towards the end of the day I did some runs with Isaac fairly fast, and was keeping up with him fine, so I went into Sunday feeling good.
Sunday practice went well, I got 4-5 runs in, 2 of them with one of the other top youths, Ty, and I kept up with him as well. I got all my lines sorted, and on my last practice run, hit the track fast to check I could stick my lines at speed. My first run was ok, it felt slow, and I expected it to be a slow run, but it turned out to be the good enough for first place. I was surprised by this, but happy as I knew that I could go faster on my second run. My second run was good, I rode the top section well, keeping speed and pedalling lots, then dug really deep on the pedally section, and hit the bottom section fast, I took nearly 3 seconds off my first run time and kept first place.
I am very pleased with this result as I beat Isaac, something that I always aim for, and this shows that my speed is improving. I am looking forward to my next race to see if I can keep up the good results.”
This was another very good result from Dan, showing progression by for the first time being in a leading position after the first runs and then keeping that lead whilst going almost 3 seconds faster in the second runs. Also, for the first time Dan was able to wear the ZeroG hoody on the top step of the podium (for his last win the branded kit hadn’t arrived yet)!
The next race will be the 5th and final round of this UKBikePark Summer DH series on the 18/19th September.
Attached pictures:
Race run (UKBP_Rd4_Win_1.jpg)
On the top step of the podium! (UKBP_Rd4_Win_2.jpg)
Tim & Dan.
Last weekend was the English Championships, held at Caersws, Wales (yes, the organiser apologised too!). Dan has raced at this venue once before last year, but he was keen to learn the track being used for this race as it is a new one that is also to be used for the last round of the BDS National race next month that Dan will compete in.
It had rained quite hard in the days leading up to the weekend, but the forecast was for some showers during the Saturday practice, but then dry for the Sunday race day after a wet Saturday night.
Dan: “Practice went well, the track was super fun, and even after the rain, still rode well. I was finding it not too challenging, and was hitting all the lines I wanted, every run. I was picking some lines that utilised what I learned at my training day with Rowan Sorrell, and finding I was going much faster, and staying in control. By the end of Saturday I had all my lines sorted, and felt good on the track and was looking forward to racing it on Sunday. The track dried up considerably through Sunday practice, and was rutting in nicely. Through the off camber sections, the high lines were defined, and whilst slightly tricky to get on to, had good support and were much faster than the riskier lower lines. I felt faster and faster each run, letting off the brakes more and more, and felt confident of a good finish in the race.
First race run started off well, I rode the top section fast, but unfortunately caught someone up very quickly and got held up behind them, costing me at least 2-3 seconds. The rest of my run was good, and I came across the finish line in 10th place. I knew I had 2-3 seconds to easily make up in the second run, so I was confident of a top 10 finish. My second run went well, I hit all of my lines, kept my speed up and stayed off the brakes. The only slight moment was just before the finish line where my foot slipped off the pedal, but I managed to get it back on quickly and not loose any time. I took 7 seconds off my first run time, and ended up in 6th place (4th in the English Champs)
Overall I am very pleased with this result as there were a lot of fast riders there, and I placed well. Next race is UK Bike Park round 4, and I am looking for a podium.”
This is arguably Dan’s best result to date – he was very close to Isaac Anderson, his main rival who has been recently been getting some very good results, and Dan also beat other rivals, who are typically close to him, by a good margin. Dan even surprised himself by the 7 seconds that he was able to improve his first run by in his final run. Dan’s training day with Rowan has definitely helped – all through practice he was saying how he was trying new lines and techniques that he would not have tried before, and finding himself faster as a result – thanks Rowan!
Since the race was also being held as the English Championships, although Dan was 6th overall in the race (49 competitors), with one Scottish rider (Fraser McGlone) and one Welsh rider faster than him, Dan ended up being the 4th English rider, just off the podium for the English Championships. Not bad when Dan is still riding his Marin Quake ‘freeride’ frame, compared to the other faster riders on full downhill 8 to 10″ rear travel frame bikes!
Marin have just launched their Quad-DH 10″ travel frame at Crankworx in Canada, announcing production after four years of development – we will try to get a frame to upgrade Dan’s bike to be on a par with his competitors since he finds the Marin’s Quad suspension design far better than all others he has tried on demo and friends’ bikes!
I’m writing this in the car park at the UKBikePark where Dan’s practicing on the newly-modified ‘Big Grin’ track being used for the race tomorrow.
Tim & Dan.
We ride our bikes……..
Check out Yuri, Marin’s Marketing Manager hitting the Whistler Trails on the new 2011 Quake DH.
Riding with AT……………………………..
Read more at…………………………
http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycle/bike_blog/?p=1939#more-1939
http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycle/bike_blog/?p=1920#more-1920
National Championships, Ae Forest Scotland 18th July:
These were the second National Championships that Dan has competed in – last year he came 41st out of 42 riders, so any improvement on that was going to be a bonus! Going into the event Dan was seeded 12th out of 49, and we had previously ridden the track last year so he was fairly familiar with what to expect, although some changes had been made to the track in the previous weeks before the event. The weather forecast was predicting rain for race day, but with practice dry after some heavy rain in the days leading up to the race weekend.
Dan:
“After arriving on Friday to rain and course-walking to find a wet track, I was not looking forward to riding the track too much, as parts of it were very wet, the top part resembling a river in some parts, and the bottom looking slippy and challenging. The middle of the track looked good, it was like a large scale BMX track, and looked great to ride. Saturday practice went well – I picked my lines and got steadily quicker throughout the day until on my last practice run, I clipped a tree in a tight wood section, and bent my thumb around, causing considerable pain. The track had dried out lots by the end of practice and was very fun to ride, but unfortunately it rained all night, and made the track wetter than it had been all weekend. I did a practice run on Sunday, nursing my thumb which sent a jolt of pain every time I hit a large bump. 0
Qualifying went well, I came down in 14th, with a steady run, knowing I could knock a few seconds off to try and get into the top 10 for finals. My final run wasn’t appauling, but equally, it wasn’t amazing. I made some mistakes, running wide in some corners and being on the brakes more than I would of liked. I finished in 17th place, which was disappointing, I wanted to top 10, and missed out by making a few mistakes in my run.”
The rain on Sunday was continual, meaning putting the tents and gazebo away wet, and on the drive home the rain only stopped when we reached Lancaster on the M6 – the MetOffice rain radar confirmed that the south of England had had a completely dry day! With a one-run race format it is always difficult to get as close to your fastest without crashing, and with a damaged thumb causing pain, on reflection Dan felt that he was quite pleased with this result even though it was not the overall placing he knew he should be capable of – and it was much better than the previous year!
MIJ DH Round 4 – Taff Buggy, Pontypridd Wales 1st August:
After a late change to our holiday plans we were able to fit in the race day only for the MIJ race series at Taff Buggy. Many of the previous rounds had clashed with rounds of the UKBikePark series which Dan has been racing, so this opportunity to race a ‘free’ weekend was ideal to fit in.
Dan:
“After turning up on the Sunday to do the race as a one day event, I did 6 practice runs in the morning, getting my lines dialled, and the track sussed. I felt fast on the track, and was enjoying practice. The track had many jumps, which suit me, and lots of pedalling, which was not ideal, but it was all high speed, so fairly easy to keep the speed.
My first race run went okay, I felt slow, and as if it was another practice run, but came down the hill ending up in 4th, just 2 seconds off the pace, I knew that I could gain 2 seconds from a my run, and headed back to the top confident of a podium finish. My second race run felt fast, I hit all my lines and pedalled hard, but turned out to be a whole 3 seconds slower than my first, I think this may be down to pushing too hard, and loosing speed in corners and in braking. I ended up 5th, getting a podium. This result is okay, but I would of liked a top 3, as I know I can ride at that level.”
Next race for Dan is the English Championships being held at Caersws, 21/22nd August.
Dirt School DH training day – Cwmcarn, 11th August:
Dan:
“We headed up to Cwmcarn for a training day with Rowan Sorrell today (Wednesday) and it was great, I learnt a lot about setting up for different lines, and where to brake to carry as much speed as possible out of corners. We spent a lot of time on one section trying out all the different line choices and getting braking dialled. By the end of it I felt much faster through the section, and more confident that I could hit it every time. I will be carrying this through to races to help me choose lines that can save time, and making sure I hit them as fast and smooth as I can to put a good race run together. I managed to get in a play on the jumps at lunch time, so had some fun and threw some awesome whips down. After lunch we headed up the track further to look at drops and tight technical sections. I ended up doubling some rock steps, something I had looked at before but never managed to do, so I can take this into a race situation where there are consecutive drops and double them up to save speed. Unfortunately when we were riding the tight sections I was pushing hard and got a bit off-line, clipped a tree and ended up pointing down the hill, not what you want to be doing, I bailed from the bike and smashed my lower back into a tree quite hard, making the end of my day a rather painful one. The good news is as I type this, my back is feeling lots better after some rest and an ice pack, and I hope to be back on the bike in a few days!”
Back garden pump track building:
As Dan mentioned in a previous update, he has started to build a ‘pump’ track in our back garden. The deal with Mum was that she would end up with a vegetable patch if Dan did all the digging, and in return he could route a track around the outside of it! The grass had turned to mainly weeds and moss after several wet winters, so as long as he left the other end of the garden alone (deck and patio), we wouldn’t be losing any usable turf. After discussing with the local builders’ merchants, a supply of 25kg bags of ’10mm to dust’ was decided, getting a few bags at a time to provide the top surface with the base of the track built from the clay dug up from the other parts of the vegetable patch to-be. Dan’s got the first part of the track built, as can be seen in the attached picture (back_garden_pump_track_start.jpg). More news as construction continues!
Tim & Dan.
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