THE
REME
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CORPS
WEEKEND
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"TEAM REME ENDURO DISPLAY TEAM"
(For One Day Only)
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A few months ago our Team Secretary was approached by the organising committee for the Corps Weekend and asked if we would do a Motorcycle Display at the weekends festivities, he answered "Yes" but warned them,
"We're not a display team"
And so the fun started!!!
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We all arrived at Martinique square on the Tuesday before the weekend for the rehearsals, having previously worked out a routine on one of our BEC events in Wales, so ready and willing we started rehearsing on our own bikes.
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Luckily for us the rain stayed away making training a lot easier, its not every day you ride around on an enduro bike on tarmac mimicking what you usually do on the dirt. At one point our Team Manager SSgt Neil Heselton parked his Range Rover a bit close to one of the ramps and a few of the lads decided to jump over it while he was looking out of the sunroof !!!!!
So with all the training done, no crashes, no dodgy moments, the only thing left was performing in front of a couple of thousand people, that's when the nerves appeared.
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On the morning of the display we all tipped up to see our arena which looked a lot smaller than our practice area, not to worry we all thought, as typical soldiers we just cracked on with it. Whats the worse that could happen maybe a crash !!!!!!
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The basic format for the display was for Col Cowen (SEAE) to lead out his sons with Maj Tizard's and SSgt Heselton's sons following on behind on there own bikes, this was to demonstrate the dedication from an early age it takes to compete in Enduro's and trials competitions. |
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The next part of the display using 6 members of the team who included SSgt Roger Baker, Cpl Daz Hughes, Cpl Lee Summerfield, Cpl Andy Williams, LCpl Altass and Cfn Bailey carried out a small routine around the arena on the Harley's which included some crossovers, a few jumps over some small ramps and finally a small enduro race which saw us jumping over a Drops vehicle. Everything went well, until the start of the race, as soon we set off from the start line two of the bikes got into a tangle and down they went, cries from the crowd were heard but we all re-started and finished the race, even if one of the team members had a lot less skin left from when he started.
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After this race the Corps Trials riders gave a very technical demonstration on trials bikes, which included wheelies, stoppies and precision balance and slow riding techniques some say this type of riding is like a black art, while this was going on the Harley riders were getting changed and warming their Yamaha 250's and 125's up ready for the grand finale, this is when we found out about the true extent of the small crash which left Cpl Lee Summerfield with gouges and gravel rash to both knee's, elbows and hands but in true Soldier fashion (and a lot of adrenalin) he motored on.
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We then moved back to the arena and carried out a similar display but a lot faster, this time the take off ramp at the Drops was moved further away so as one rider was jumping, one could pass underneath. It all went without a hitch and we rode off feeling very proud of ourselves and the Corps Enduro Team.
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At the end we all lined up in the arena to receive a standing ovation from the spectators.
A lot of hard work and dedication was put into the display from all the riders and the support team and to get such a warm applause from the crowd left us all feeling very proud.
One final comment was something that was put on the Army Rumour Service Website.
"Move over Flying Gunners and White Helmets the
REME's very own "Leaping Spanners" are born"
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Corps Weekend Pics and Video Courtesy of
Cpl Daz Bamsey 36 Engr Regt Wksp.
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