Excursion: Heaven VMX Crawford River Classic June 27th
The Crawford River Classic was again staged at the fabulous Jim Pomeroy designed grass track at Buledelah on 26-27th June.
I was unable to make it to for the Saurday CRC trophy events, but I was there on Sunday to ride and take these snaps.
By all accounts the track on Saturday was pretty treacherous with a couple of big bog holes following weeks of constant rain. The Heaven VMX organisers made some clever changes to the track on Sunday to avoid the worst of it the mud and come Sunday morning the track was more rideable and much more fun.
The sun shone all day long and by the afternoon the track was basically dry and there was grip to be found no matter what line you chose. The conditions were perfect and the riders obliged with some great battles and good hard racing.
Off track, the Fire Brigade catering unit was on hand to keep the riders and families well fed, whilst the riders chatted and did the usual repairs to keep their vintage machines running sweetly.
Carl Blecher again generously lent me a bike from his collection to race. This time it was a 1982 Suzuki RM125, arguably the best 125cc from 1982 with its powerful water cooled power plant and single shock rear suspension.
It has been years since I have piloted a screaming 125, and I had forgotten just how hard you have to work to make them sing. Once I remembered to fan the clutch like a lunatic and keep the throttle pinned at all times, I came to enjoy the delights of the Suzuki. They stop and steer so nicely, you can change direction at will and they certainly don’t take as much out of you physically compared to big bore machinery.
I rode in a combined Evo and pre 1985 125cc class and despite shocking starts in both races I managed to pick up a pair of second places. In the “all in” class made up of 125’s, 250’s and 500’s the highlight was get roosted by big Dan’s XR500. I could feel the RM going backwards with each clump of mud and grass that splattered onto my front plate from that earth churning Honda.
Another day in VMX Heaven had come to an end.
See you at the track.
Images: Rich Fowler
