Windy... That's the only word needed to describe Pembrey `08.
We arrived on Friday afternoon and set about pitching camp(seemingly in the windiest corner of the paddock), the erection of the awning became like a scene from an old slap-stick movie with a high wind thwarting our efforts and the stony ground proving almost impossible to get a peg into. The wind battered us all night, slapping the awning on the side of the van. Sleep was fitful at best.

I went out for practise and found( as I had suspected ) that the new pipes made the powerband so narrow and high that it was a real chore to ride. I had also left the gearing as it was at Snetterton which turned out to be almost perfectly wrong at every part of the circuit.. That, together with the wind made it a bloody unpleasant ride. Your line into the hairpin was determined by the gusting wind, flipping the bike from left to right through the esses was twitchy at best, exiting Brooklands it was impossible to get the power on as the lifting front end was caught by the wind and Woodlands was horrible as the wind threatened to whip the wheels from under you...
I toodled round a couple of laps and was suprised that the grip was fairly good despite the cold, so I tried going at race pace and found it just plain scary due to the wind.

After returning to the paddock the awning was destroyed, torn all down the side where it affixes to the van and eventually it collapsed after one of the poles buckled and snapped under the pressure... Luckily there was a bin nearby, so in it went.

I toyed with the idea of putting the old pipes on and changing the sprockets, but was hit by a flurry of snow as I got out of the van to attend to it so we just packed up and left. I was home with a cup of tea before I even got out of my leathers!

I am only doing this for fun. If we aren't having any fun and the risk to machine and body overweigh the grin-factor, whats the point?