News

15/06/09 Important: It has become evident that some riders are advertising their malicious intentions for race meetings on internet social networking sites. Any such postings and threats will not be tolerated and will result in a ban.

02/06/09 Oil Changes: Any rider whose machine's oil is deliberately emptied onto the ground will be removed from the meeting (but only after first digging and bagging up the soil) and will not be allowed to book in for the next meeting. Accidentally contaminated soil must be dug up and taken home for safe disposal. Land is extremely difficult to find and polluting the ground in such a way would  lose us the use of a track.

Thanks to the amount of rubbish dumped (not just in the pits area) by competitors at our last event the club will now have to incur the additional cost of providing a skip at this venue in future.

13/05/09 Following the incident last Saturday it is timely to remind everyone that riding of pushbikes on the track is forbidden AT ALL TIMES. 

Visitors who plan to take out a day licence with us must provide proof of identification ie passport or birth certificate before being allowed to sign on and ride.

06/05/09 Due to other commitments Paul Cummings has resigned as chairman and from the committee. The committee would like to thank Paul for all the hard work and dedication he has given to the club over the past 5 years.Steve Bain has agreed to take on the role of chairman and Lynn Cummings has taken on the vice-chairman role. Ashley Green has stepped up to relieve Steve’s track organising and laying duties and Nigel Richards has agreed to take on responsibility for the lorry and its logistics.

As has been previously intimated the club will be introducing a new policy of going trackside as from our next meeting, at Tincleton. This has been brought on due to a direct order from our governing body and its insurers.

We will be issuing a maximum of 40 numbered HDYMC Blue Bibs to parents/guardians of riders in the youth classes only. The rules of issue will be 

• only one bib per family
• any wearer of a bib must be physically able to pick up and start a bike
• over 18 only
• must be prepared to help other riders
• all bibs to be signed out at the beginning of the day on a first come first served basis
• bibs to be handed and signed back at the end of the day.
• wearers of blue bibs trackside will be subject to checks during the day to verify the person who signed for it is wearing it.
• wearers of blue bibs seen not to be helping other riders will be relieved of their bib and removed from trackside.

The club will monitor this policy over the first few meetings and reserve the right to modify these procedures as deemed necessary.

30/03/09 Photos from A&A are available from Terry Fisher Photography.

17/03/09 Please use this link when purchasing photos from DE Photos so that the club can receive a referral fee.

16/03/09 Track Clearing - A reminder, that you must always check to see which group is slated to track clear at each meeting. If your group is designated, then you and a parent (for youth groups) must report to the table at the end of the meeting to be allocated a job. Once everything has been cleared away you may be signed out. Failure to comply with this will result in half of your points won on the day being deducted. Please see club rules here.

Scrutineering - in future any bikes with incorrect numbers or background colours will be turned away from scrutineering. It will be the rider/parent's responsibility to return the bike with the correct backgrounds and legible numbers in order to pass. The spares van will have a stock of the required backgrounds and numbers.

20/01/09 AGM news.  The adults classes are open to Open class bikes with the exception of senior riders upgrading early who will be restricted to 144 2 Strokes and 250 four strokes until they reach the age of 17. The Clerk of the Course, in consultation with the Safety Officer will have the right to black flag any adult rider who it is deemed would be safer to themselves and others on a smaller capacity machine.

Although it was avoided last year,  we do now have to increase race fees to £22 Auto, £25 Youth and £32 Adult. Visitors will be £30, £35 and £45 respectively.

Together with the £440 generously raised at the presentation for Sean's kindly donated race shirts the club recently sent £500 to the Air Ambulance. They have acknowledged this with a certificate and letter which  provides some interesting reading.

06/01/09 The age ranges have now been confirmed by the YMSA :-

Auto   - ages 6-7 ie born in 2001-2002 Junior - ages 6-10 ie born in 1998-2002

The adult groups this year are for Open class bikes, however the subject of a minimum age limit for open class bikes at HDYMC meetings  will be debated at the AGM.

The YMSA decision to extend Autos by a year does not come into effect until 2010

15/12/08 Photos from the presentation evening can be viewed and purchased from DE Photo.

17/11/08 An insurer who offers off road bike insurance and that some of our members use and recommend is Carole Nash 0800 0834 422. If asked say MX World sent you because they help out the club.

18/09/08 A timely reminder, following the call out on Sunday, to support the Air Ambulance by ordering your Amazon purchases via the link in the menu bar. By doing this a percentage goes to the club (instead of to Amazon's coffers) which will in turn forward this on to the Air Ambulance at the end of the year.

21/07/08 Photos from Henstridge courtesy of  Terry Fisher Photography.

15/07/08 This weekend we will be trialling a new way of the yellow/blue pegs system. Instead, we will hand out a coloured cable tie at signing on which you are to tie to eg the brake hose by the master cylinder. With this tie you may then be scrutineered when, after successfully passing,  another, different colour will be attached. You may then only practise or race if both these are in place. The colours will change at each meeting. If you have a spare bike then this must be presented to scrutineering before it may be ridden.

03/07/08 Fire Extinguishers - will be checked again those who did not have extinguishers before must have one this time or face being sent home.  For those who need one there will be some available for purchase on the day - please ask the Chief Scrutineer or at the table.

The race order changes, sometimes quite radically, each meeting to suit the track conditions (eg for a fresh green track send bigger bikes out first to cut off the top), group sizes and the quantity of clearing needed to be done.

01/07/08  The new copy deadline for any items for the programme is 11pm Monday evening preceding race day..

17/03/08 We have been advised by the YMSA that Expert riders holding a YMSA Expert licence with another club will only be accepted into our Expert group, and the same is true with Novice licence holders.

Fire Extinguishers - as per YMSA regulation 10.l  any vehicle that brings along a race bike to the meeting must have a fire extinguisher (minimum 1.5kg dry powder ) with the riders name & group painted on. Random checks will also be made at all meetings for compliance. Again, as per rule 10.l any rider non-complying will not be allowed to ride.

Marshalling - there were several instances at the last meeting where this was, generally, not of the standard required. This is a very important function to the riders (and your own) safety and efficient running of the meeting. Please take heed of the instructions given you by the Chief Marshal and/or Clerk of the Course.

29/02/08 Booking In. Please remember we all have full time jobs so if the phone is switched off or unanswered it means we are probably at work or otherwise unable to be disturbed so try again at another time. Thank you.

10/10/07 A reminder from the lapscorers. All bikes presented at scrutineering must have the correct  race numbers on all three plates which must be clear, legible, unique and complete. Any not meeting these requirements will be sent away having failed scrutineering.  This is essential to ensure the lap scorers do not have the unnecessary hassle of deciphering them come the races.  Visitors must run with a clearly legible three digit number.

11/07/07 Marshalling news - many of our numbered marshall bibs have not been returned;  please, if you have inadvertently taken one home, bring them along to the next meeting or hand to someone else to do so.  These are crucial for safety purposes so that the Clerk of the Course can easily identify that marshalls are on their posts.

31/05/07  Refunds on the day. We have been advised by our insurers that once a rider has signed on then the YMSA Insurance element of the entry fee must be paid irrespective if a wheel has been turned or not.  Therefore, in future, refunds will be less this part ie £3 for all youth and £5 adults. If riders are unsure of the track then it is in their interests to arrive early to walk or look at the track first before signing on.

18/05/07  The landowner of Henstridge has asked us to pay the track hire fee to his chosen charity Cancer and Leukemia In Childhood. This will be handed over, together with a top-up  from club funds, at  a presentation on Sunday by a representative of the club.

11/05/07 Following some recent incidents the committee would like to emphasise the club's ruling on Pushbikes, Dogs, Child Protection, Lap Scorers, Track Clearing and Track Walking. Please see here.

17/04/07  Table results are NOT the definitive fully checked results so do NOT hassle the lapscorers/officials on race day if you think there is a discrepancy.  Once all the lap scorers sheets have been fully checked and validated the correct results will be posted to the website.  This is a time consuming task which cannot be achieved on race day; a task not made easy by riders using inappropriate size, location, font and reflectivity of numbers, borrowing bikes such that two bikes in a race have the same numbers, not advising officials that they have borrowed a bike etc.

Drinking & Riding  - the committee are concerned that some adult riders may well be drinking the night before racing. Ongoing at both one-day and two-day meetings we may ask riders to submit to a breath test if we think their behaviour, riding or breath has been affected by drinking. A refusal to the test or a positive reading will result in refusal to race.

05/03/07 Following the instances of verbal abused hurled at the Booking In secretary last week it is time to remind members that all the committee and other helpers do so voluntarily in their own spare time and such behaviour will not be tolerated.  In future Booking In will be modified slightly i.e.

On the Tuesday preceding the race meeting at 18:29 ALL outstanding voice mail messages will be deleted from the phone. At 18:30 onwards  the phone will NOT be answered but all calls will go to voicemail. The voicemails will be listened to and the relevant riders will be booked in. It is your responsibility to ring and book in as soon as possible, if it is engaged or the voicemail is full then keep trying. Riders who ring after 40 have been booked in will be added to a reserve list and notified by phone of such, at which time the secretary does not expect to receive any abuse. Remember that membership of the club does not automatically guarantee a ride as was stated on the membership form.

21/02/07 If riders wish to be scored at championship meetings then it is their responsibility to ensure the numbers applied are the correct size and colour, the same on all the plates(!) and, in wet and muddy conditions bibs with numbers on must be worn.

07/02/07  Everyone wishing to ride needs to book in, remember the first 40 to ring-in in each group will ride. Visitors will be allowed, space permitting, and will be notified on Friday evening.  When you receive your 2007 YMSA rule books please also refer to our amendments, especially regarding exhaust systems.

The local Air Ambulance (who we have called out twice in recent years) can now be supported through their clothes recycling banks. Check here to find where they are.