It is fair to say the weekend we had planned did not go quite the way we had hoped, though that does not mean it was not a fun-filled weekend, though it did prove to be somewhat taxing!
The plan, in theory, was simple, leave my day job by 4.30pm on Friday afternoon load up Jayden's YZ65 along with fellow South Aussie Wil Carpenters bike, drive 400km to Mildura, sleep for 4-5 hours then travel the another 1000km to Appin to be at the track in time for the YZ65 Cup track walk.
Amazingly the thing I thought would be the toughest, getting out of work on time, proved to be the easiest part of the weekend and we even managed to shut the gates at 4 pm and get a bit of a headstart. Driving all day Saturday things were looking promising, we heard there was some rain at Appin, but as we approached 200km to go on Saturday, there was not a cloud in the sky, surely it could not be to bad right!
Arriving at the track on Saturday, it was clear the track had already taken on a lot of rain, and while the track certainly had a few soft spots, it looked in great shape, sure it would be tough for some of the smaller 65 riders, if it did not rain again things were looking great. The track walk with CDR Yamaha's Kirk Gibbs leading the way along with Luke Clout and the Serco Yamaha pairing of Nathan Crawford and Aaron Tanti was a huge hit with both the kids and the mini dads alike and we were then joined by the Yamalube Yamaha racing team and the WBR Yamaha team for a casual BBQ to finish off the day.
At 7 pm on Saturday, we were a few km down the road eating dinner at Campbelltown when the rain started; it did not stop all night. Arriving at the track in the morning I knew it would be unlikely that Jayden would be getting out on the track, that was confirmed more so when qualifying started, and the big bikes struggled to get around the track.
WEM and the organisers of the YZ65 Cup made the wise decision to postpone the first ride until after lunch, but just minutes later the rain started up again, and we knew then and there the day was done, for riding at least and that was soon confirmed with organisers making the smart decision to not put the 65s on track.
I think every young rider and their parents completely understood the decision, both WEM and the team from Yamaha were terrific with the way they handled the situation and the kids still had an absolute blast hanging out with each other all day and still managed to find their competitive spirit with some hotly contested racing going on the big screen as they took it in turns racing Supercross on a PlayStation. It was actually very cool to see that many kids of varying ages getting along, fully geared up in their riding gear, sitting around one TV screen playing Monster Energy Supercross 2.
Cheering each other on, or paying each other out if things were going wrong on the virtual track, it showed the passion all these kids have for the sport and even at such a young age they all have the moto lingo down pact, with plenty of bike noises being made and a competition to see who could through the biggest scrub mid-race!
I think every single one of the 30 odd YZ65 cup riders was hanging off the fence watching the first turn of each of the three moto's, they all spent time watching their fellow factory Yamaha counterparts they were pitted in the middle of for the duration of the weekend.
Yep despite the worst racing conditions I have witnessed in my time watching and racing over the past 17 or so years as an adult, despite being told they would not be able to ride, this group of 8-12 year old kids took it all in their stride and enjoyed a fantastic weekend thanks to the team at Yamaha Australia.
With the weekend over we loaded the bikes on to the back of the ute in the pouring rain and started the trek home, Jayden didn't ride, I did not have the big bank of photos from round one I could fall back on during the year when I need a stock shot of each rider, my wife / Jayden's mum who came along for the ride jumped back in the car with us and after another two days on the road we made it home, not with the weekend we had planned behind us, but still a weekend full of great memories that will talk about for years to come.
Now to decide which road trip we take, do we head to the Maitland round of the YZ65 Cup, or the big trip to Coolum!
A WEEK IN MOTION - A collection of video's and films from the past week
