Sammymacks BACK at Scotland!!!!                     On the Rocky Road to Stardom

 Here we go again folks, with plenty to tell you.  To get the ball rolling lets talk about Edinburgh, or shall we go on to something else, please say yes something else go on, go on.  Oh all right then here we go.
 
GETTING STARTED.... It was all planned with military strategy, set off at 7:30am with planned stops on the way we would arrive in Edinburgh approx14:00hrs. YEAH!...Try this instead.

We finally set off at 10:00am after packing the car and getting the caravan off the drive, on my own I must add, fourteen and a half stone of whale blubber huffing and puffing trying to pull a plastic house on wheels. So off we go, me, the missus, who is eight weeks pregnant, the baby, and Father-in-law, the map reader, who has now fell asleep with the map tightly clenched between his fists, upside down and facing the wrong way, and the dog.  If you have seen the film National Lampoons Vacation then you now have a vivid picture in your mind of the journey ahead of us, hundreds of miles to go with a baby who gets bored every 10 mins if he doesn't see a bike, and a dog that has so much affection for everyone that he wants to sit on your lap all the time, (glad I was driving).  I sat nervously all the way as I couldn't help but notice the petrol gauge which was falling quicker than a lead balloon, and considering I was on a very tight budget to say the least would be an understatement.

We had planned several stops on route but they were put down to just one stop as we were running behind slightly so the car turned into a mobile butty bar combining with a crèche and also a dog kennel, the smell was lovely!

I was still sweating though as I continually glanced at the petrol gauge which now was accompanied with a glowing orange light meaning empty.  As the sweat poured down my face and the dog climbed over the missus who was trying to feed and change the baby at the same time, I glanced over to my Father-in-law, my map reader, who was half asleep with the map upside down and  I smiled at him nodding towards the gauge wishing it would move back up.  Father then said, "E,R 'eres a garage, pull in here an I'll put some juice in for ya".  Well what can I say but we couldn't have done it without him.  Full tank and off we go again, 20mins to go before we arrive at the show ground and all is looking good.  Or was it....?

THE PHONE CALL... from the back up team with the bikes in the van, this is what I was expecting on the phone..  "Hi Sam, we should be right behind you considering you have been driving at 50 mph all the way towing a plastic house on wheels".

No!  This is what I got, "Hi Sam just loaded the bikes into the van and should set off before 5pm, see you later".

Who is it, well the back up team with the all inportant bikes for the show, not behind me, but still in Deeside.  So here I am almost there, and no bike to practice on, GREAT!  Take into consideration Phil, my co-rider had to travel from Birmingham, and I must add, paid for his own petrol, and there is a good chance he will arrive before the rest of the team. (A good man Phil as he always gets to where we need to be and quote, quickly.)

WE'RE HERE...  Finally, time is 5:30pm.  First off we had to find the toilets as I was almost passing out because I had been holding myself for so long, the dog just shot out of the car  with a steam cloud behind him howling, "tree, tree, tree", and the missus was shouting at me, "I'm pregnant you know, I could damage myself holding on this long", and Father, cool, calm and collected comes out with, "I had a leek when you put the juice in".

As for the baby, well he was off, finger pointing in all directions with the words, "bike, bike, bike" coming out of his mouth.
 
Me and Father set up the awning and the missus got the dinner on, whilst the baby had to be sedated because he was still screaming "bike, bike, bike, mine" as loud as he could.
 
The time was now 6:30pm and the lads were here.  Phil, my co-rider, Gary, his brother, Dave, our new child minder (after he successfully fed the baby orange juice and a twix once for his breakfast, we thought he's the man for the job), and Eccle, a small fella with the courage of a lion. So there we were, the crew, raring to go and practice, but still no bike.  Watching the others out there on the track was getting me down as I would have liked the chance to find the pot holes and slippy patches for the Saturday morning, but still we waited...

At last the bandit is here and the time is about 10:30pm. The team took the scenic route to miss the traffic, but who am I to say but, WRONG, motorway is faster and more direct.  I am now itching to get the bike out on the track so my apologies to anyone who was trying to get some kip but I had to do it.  The surface was cold but the tarmac was like super glue, me and Richy Williams were giving it large on the stoppies having a bit of a laugh pulling wheelies and more.

After one or two cans of the black stuff I decided to call it a night and got my head down, it was about 4:30 in the morning, so I must have only had one can of guinness! (Oh look my nose is getting bigger).

 SAT 10th MARCH.... Woke up at 6:30am  in the car, (how did I get there?).  Anyway, went into the caravan and it was as though the missus was taking some wide awake drug.  There she was, baby fed, dressed and waiting to go out bike hunting.

Father was walking the dog and bodies were starting to crawl from a small tent leaning on the floor, it was Phil and the lads!  (Last thing I knew about them, was they got lost in a lap dancing bar in the town, I wonder how that happened?)

I was now getting a bit edgy as I wanted to get out there on the track and just do my stuff.  Suddenly it was 8:20am and I was signing on, where did the time go?  Oh I remember, running around trying to get the scooter fixed with plastics which were kindly donated by Aprilia in association with www.scootersdirect.net  Unfortunately, we were unable to use it (bummer) some technical hitch or something meant we couldn't get it ready on time and we were only given three minutes to do the show too.  Not to worry plenty of time to see it soon.

COMPULSARIES. ..Here we go then.  My wheelie was bang on although the judges didn't see it.  What I mean is, one of the Marshall's told me to ride down to the bottom with a practice wheelie and then turn at the bend and come up the other side doing your wheelie, so I did.

Thing was, what the marshal meant was, stay on the track at the back and don't wheelie on the track nearest us, but it didn't come out like that so the other set of judges didn't have a clue who I was as I wheelied past them at 70 mph going the wrong way on the wrong track, good job Martin Bennet saw me as he had to tell my judges that I had been out and done it, but I didn't get any points.  (Damn).

Then came the stoppie 20 metre, easy, straight into it time and time again 20 metre -30 metre plus, no problem.  And I did them the right way this time!

Donut time... Anyone can do a donut at any time, round and around, as long as your surface is not to slippy for your front tyre and your rear tyre has got some tread on it, but I was practicing  the previous night and lost a bit of rubber.  I was also thrown by the fact of a cone being placed on the track and told to go around it nice and tight.  There was no way I could pull it off.  As I lit the back wheel up and started going round a thought entered my head, (the tyre is about to go POP!)  So that was it, I was peeing myself laughing and totally fluffed it, and again don't think I got any points for that one.  So I thought what the hell "KILL" the tyre.  So I did.  Bear in mind, no points to score but the crowds love the smell of burning rubber, (don't you?)...

Bang went the tyre and I was still laughing to myself over my donut and the lack of it, but I was not the only one to fluff it many others did the same.

The day went quite well, the weather was ace but I was deducted more points for letting the bandit do a burn out on its own without me riding it, the judges deemed it, not being in control, "whatever"!  But I totally enjoyed myself anyway and I hope the crowd did too.

Time for the freestyle display. On we went  with a 4up wheelie into a stoppie then Phil sitting backwards, wheelies and stoppies and he still didn't fall off.  (Cool dude)!  Rolling burnout's, stand up wheelies and more.  Then the innevitable, blow the tyre.  All went well and I finished the day in 3rd place, so it was all resting on Sunday's display to see if I could do better.

In the evening I put in a bit more practice such as handle bar wheelies and standing Phil in the middle of the track and doing a burnout around him, but he just kept running around shouting, "don't run me over, you Git" and kicking my butt when I went past him.  All told, by the end of the Saturday I had blown three tyres and had a new one ready to go for the Sunday.  All this was only possible due to the fact of my new tyre sponsor whom without I could not do the shows.

Therefore, I would like to thank Phil, Wayne, and all the people down at Buckley Tyre Service for all their support and help and for anybody who happens to be in the area why not give them a call for a competitive quote on all makes of tyres and performance exhausts fitted while u wait on 01244 544575 , and let them know where you saw the ad, cheers.

That was the first day over with, so I left the gang to clean up the bike and scrape off the excess rubber from the back light as I went to see the purple helmets who I must say were superb. (Nutters)!
Saturday night began with a large amount of beer being drunk and praying for a cloud free sky for the next day, but somehow I don't think it was going to happen.  A cloud free sky that is, the beer drinking was definately on!

SUNDAY...... .Glorious sunday.....(Oh! my head).

Breakfast was at 7:00am (who invented that time on a Sunday?  I'll kill them).

Moved the bikes out of the awning and found bodies lying all over the place, so I started to kick and shove them to see if they were alive, most of them looked it but some of the other ones walking around didn't look too good.  It was at that time the missus decided that she wanted to have a go on the bike so I ditched Shaun and Eccle for the original team, me, Trish, and Phil.  Considering the missus is pregnant I did mention to her how dangerous it was, but all she could say was, "I trust you", stupid woman!

COMPULSARIES DAY 2..... Wheelies and stoppies without a hitch and chocolate donuts for the judges!

Now for the freestyle.  I was first out in my group which was good as I could see the grey clouds coming over and all I could think of was, slippy tarmac.

The missus was getting nervous as I went through the routine with her.  Me and Phil were cool about the whole thing, but it looked like the rain would change things considerably.

On we went just as the rain was starting to come down and I had not let out enough air in the front tyre to coincide for it.  Into a 3up wheelie top to bottom of the track and an attempted stoppie which just would not happen.  The routine took an emergency u turn and I had to improvise as the front tyre was like an ice cube on a pane of glass.  Phil jumped on backwards and we flew up the track on one wheel, then tried to stoppie but not a chance in hell.  At this time I was feeling a little down hearted with about 1 minute to go so I threw in what I could as quickly as possible, stand up wheelies, sitting over the handle bars wheelie, rolling burnout and walking the dog.  But the flag went up and the rain came down even more.

That was it, over with, quick as a flash, not complaining but 3 minutes I ask you, these days it takes me more than three minutes to decide what undies I'm gonna wear in the morning.

Henceforth, the end result was, Sammy Mack 4th place, I still can't believe it.

To finish the day in style was Kevin Carmichael (proffessional group)and what a display he gave.  Absolutely persisting it down and he still went on to win, so fair play to him, it just goes to show the more practice you get in the better you can be.

After a rainy presentation for all the winners it was time to go.  The dog was packed in the car and the baby was still shouting, "BIKE, BIKE, BIKE, MINE", and Father, my map reader was about to go to sleep again, and the missus was crammed in the back of the car in between wet leathers, wet dog and wet baby!  Oh was I looking forward to the journey home... NOT!

Many thanks to all who made the weekend possible especially to Phil Taylor (co-pilot) and the lads from Birmingham and Liverpool, thanks for your support.  Also to Paul, Terry and the lads at Scooters Direct, Queensferry.  Check out their site at www.scootersdirect.net  they have some smart machines in stock that will blow your mind tel:01244 814 321/fax:01244 823 242
ask for Terry or Paul.

And Phil, Wayne and all the staff at Buckley Tyre Services 01244 544575 .  Thank's for all the rubber guys, can't do it without you.

Also a big thank you to you all out there for cheering me on and screaming when the tyres go "BANG"....

I hope to see loads more of you all around the country this year, to find out where I am going to be, stay with Magsport for further information or e-mail me direct at sammymack@btopenworld.com and I will be happy to answer any questions and if you have any tricks you wanna see performed, just ask and I will try and send pictures or video via e-mail.

Until next time people, take care and I hope you look forward to the next episode of the skint scouser on the rocky road to stardom..............

Cheers!

SAMMY MACK