JOANNE WATSON BLOG |
29 June 2011
As we draw ever closer to Thursday 3rd November, the opening day of the 2011 International Dirt Bike Show, we'll be bringing you blogs from a whole host of people connected to this year's show. They may be involved in organising a part of the event, or exhibiting as a manufacturer or retailer, or perhaps they may be a star rider with one of the many high profile teams who view the annual Dirt Bike Show as the place to be - whatever their interest, if they've got something to say then you can be sure to read it here.
Kicking off here with the first-ever Dirt Bike Show blog, is show organiser Joanne Watson who is married to Race Spec boss and joint organiser Dave Watson. Over to Joanne ...
David and I, and our two daughters have just returned from a trip to the south of France. And no, it wasn't a weekend of relaxing in the sun, well not for David anyway.
Many of you may know that David was a British 250cc MX Champion, front-runner on the World MX circuit and represented Great Britain in the 1980 Motocross Des Nations at the tender age of just 19-years-old. Well ... he's turned 50 now and has decided to tick a few boxes this year. One of his self-imposed challenges was to compete in Ironman France last Sunday; a challenge that I can tell you, would test the mettle of a few of today's young motocross stars
The competition was held in the scenic but blisteringly hot Southern city of Nice, on 26th June. 2,800 competitors lined up for the 2.2-mile sea swim, followed by a mountainous 112-mile cycle, and topped off with a gruelling 26.2-mile marathon run. The 'Flying W' as he was known in his heyday, put in a performance that defied his age and proved the racing spirit in him is still alive and well. He finished the challenge in an impressive time of 14 hours, 17 minutes and 13 seconds with a finishing position of 1,733.
We were quite worried about him as, when he was only three miles into the marathon, he felt his knee go on the turn and you could see he was in pain and struggling a bit. However, as with most motocrossers, he can be quite stubborn when his mind is set on something and his was set on finishing, no matter what was thrown at him.
At the end of it all he said; "It was worth every minute, but I'm not about to sign up for another one any time soon! The bike course was really tough, more like a Tour de France stage. Some of the downhill blind corner sections caught out many of the other riders, with plenty of crashes going on. For me, it was a case of reviving some of my old motocross skills. The marathon was punishing, with the street pounding bringing some old racing injuries back to the fore. My knee and hip went fairly early on in the race, but I was determined to finish."
While David was out on the bike ride, our girls 17-year-old Amber and 21-year-old Chloe, continued the 'fit family' theme by taking part in an Irongirl 5k run. From an entry of 500, Amber finished second, with a remarkable time of 18m54s, only 30 seconds behind the reigning French masters champion Leila Chaieb. Chloe clocked a time of 21m42s, which meant the girls won the sisters' class by a margin of four minutes.
I have to confess to being a very proud wife and mum and, of course, I did my part as someone had to cheer them all on, take the photos and treat the injuries ....
Pictured: Post race and still smiling. A triumphant Watson flanked by daughters Chloe (l) and Amber (r)
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