Ollie Moyce
ISDE 2009
I travelled to the 2009 ISDE in Portugal with Kurt (my mechanic) in the van, meeting various other riders on the boat from Plymouth to Santander. After many games of bingo and watching magic shows we arrived in Spain at 11am the next day. Travelling through bright sunshine we made the 7-8 hour journey through Spain and into Portugal. Arriving a little later than expected we booked the caravan into the campsite and I went to meet the others at the team hotel where everyone looked fresh faced and ready for action. After a meal and a shower we had a good nights sleep ready to explore the area which would be our new home for the next 14 days.
Unfortunately the weather the following day was not on our side and we had very hard thunderstorms, delaying our test walking for a short period. After a few days of unpredictable showers it settled down and the sun shone.
After walking various sandy tests we decided we should get out on the test track which was a very deep sandy track of around 40 seconds long. It was a good indication of how the bikes would run and also how hard the week would be if the rider struggled in the sand.
Back to the pits with no problems and time to get the bike prepped for technical inspection the next day. We showed our documents and signed the papers at 5.30pm on the Thursday and our technical inspection was 9am on Friday morning. All bikes went through without problems although some needed to make small adjustments to their silencers.
The rest of Friday was spent walking tests and sorting bits out for the coming week.
Their was an opening ceremony held on Saturday night with a parade of all the countries teams, some speeches, the purple helmets did a performance and then some fireworks at the end.
Sunday is normally the day of rest but it is usual for most people to just go to the park ferme and check they have everything sorted and ready for the next 6 days. Then come back and chill out for a while.
It was nice to get off the start line and get going on the first day. The first check we rode out of town, over the bridge and to the first check in an industrial estate. This was then effectively the start of the lap. After leaving this check we rode around the corner, off the road and into the very deep, powdery sand test. It was great fun to ride but on the first day your start position is mixed up so there are many slower riders in front. I caught a German rider and whilst trying to pass him I crashed but I wasn’t going to let this get me down. Out of the test and into a long dry, hardpack and dusty check to the fuel.
Then another check but this was an Enduro test which was tight and rocky. Whilst coming off a drop off the bike stalled and in my rush to get going again I was twisting the throttle therefore it did not start for about 15 to 20 seconds. After the test we rode round the corner to the check. Then another check with a nice flowing sandy test at the end. My first test of the day was pretty good and a lot of fun to ride. Then it was back to the check in the industrial area for another lap. My tests on this lap varied with some being better and others not so good.
After the lap we rode back to the town but had to ride what was known as the KTM super test which consisted of a test laid out on the beach front with long straights and dunes of about 3 minutes long. Again this was great fun to ride but was so deep and powdery it was very easy to crash.
In my 15 minute work period I decided to change both the front and rear tyre because I was not happy with my choice of front tyre so opted to put an extreme hard on. All went well but my front spindle would not go in as hard as I tried. This was due to the quick release bolt inside the shaft heating up and expanding. I had to bodge the wheel in and fix it in the morning which I did with no problems.
Day 2 was the same course and tests as the first day and I knew that I had to step it up if I were to do well and get a gold medal so I did and had a much better day pulling myself up a lot of places. Finishing after 2 days, 7 seconds behind Si Wakely.
Unfortunately on this day Lee Edmondson’s clutch went and he had to retire, David Knight crashed and hurt himself and Jamie Paget had to change a barrel and piston to make sure he kept going.
Day 3 + 4
A new course and 3 new tests but this time it would be the going that was the hardest part of the day. For the last 10 minutes of the first check and the whole 30 minutes of the second check we had to ride over powdery sand about 10 metres wide which was great fun for the first lap but as you could imagine was horrendous by the end of day 4.
The first test was through some fields which had a rock hard floor like concrete making it tricky in the corners.
The second a test next to the beach but a harder type of sand and physically challenging, and the third a very rocky test with steep hills but ironically the most enjoyable of the lot.
I had some good steady days with no major incidents on any of the tests but crashed both days on the KTM super test back in the town.
Day 5
A totally separate day from all only using one of the previous 6 tests and this was the one with the concrete slippery corners. The other was next to a river which we rode to just after leaving the first check. It was nearly 9 minutes long and very tiring to ride especially so late in the week. The last check had 2 tests in, one being the previous days and the other a very deep sandy test.
I think I was more focused on making it through the day so stayed steady. I didn’t crash on the KTM super test so was pleased to end with a good one.
Day 6
The last day is renowned for being fairly easy and slack but due to the final motocross being more than an hours drive away we had 2 one hour checks to do in the morning which were not the simplest of rides.
Once we arrived at the amazing GP motocross track of Agueda we put our bikes in the parc ferme and waited for our race. I was in the second E2 race. We had a warm up lap and then got into the race which was a lot of fun for the first 3 laps until my arms pumped up and so I decided to back off but still enjoyed it. I was glad to finish the day and the week.
I finished in 77th place overall and got a gold medal.
Thanks to all the support crews and helpers at the ISDE!
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