Scrambled HEADS
The Mortimer 100 Miler is a mad mix of classic motocross bikes and even madder riders, some of whom aren’t even there to compete – they’re just in it for a laugh…
What do you get if you take a fleet of old dirt bikes, an eclectic mix of riders, a Le Mans-style endurance race and set it in the Berkshire countryside? The Mortimer Classic 100 Miler, of course. The annual event has been running for 13 years, and with last year’s race being cancelled for obvious reasons, riders were especially keen to take to the track again when the event returned in full effect this year.
Twenty-six teams of four riders compete in the day’s racing. The aim is to complete as many laps as possible in the allotted four-hour overall race time, with the riders in each team taking it in turn to do 15-minute stints. It makes for a full-on and exhausting day’s riding!
To be eligible for the competition, each team has to provide four different bikes – a Pre-65 250cc, a Pre-60/ Pre-unit, a Pre-68 Unit and a Pre-74 machine. However, plenty of teams turn up cheerfully aware that they’re technically ineligible because they’ve chosen to compete on a different range of dirt bikes, purely for the fun of it.
In the build-up to the race, the pits heave with a fantastically diverse array of machinery – Greeves twostrokes, BSA Gold Stars, CZ 380s, Cottons and Bultacos all scream and thump away, waiting for the start. Riders and their pit crews, mostly made up of friends and family, set up makeshift garages under a row gazebos, stocked with fuel, tools and flasks of tea.
A jovial, tongue-in-cheek mood runs through the paddock. Although clearly some teams are kitted out with the latest dirt gear, aiming for glory, others have nothing more in mind than having a right laugh. ‘Amey’s Cops’ is definitely one of the latter. “We’re a regular team at this event and we’re really competitive... at dressing
up,” grins Richard Hall, standing next to his 1973 CZ, dressed as a policeman. And with a combined age of well over two centuries between the four of them, he beams: “We win a trophy every year – for the oldest team!”
The start is set, with bikes ready and waiting on the line, held by team-mates. As the flag drops, the riders, on the other side of the track sprint to their bike Le Mansstyle, kick them into life and fire onto the track. It’s utter chaos, with some of the younger riders sprinting to be the first off the line while other, slightly more senior riders take a more laid-back approach, walking into the frenzy as dirt and grass litters the air.
Although it doesn’t have any large jumps or drops, the Mortimer track at Bennett’s Hill proves to be a real test for the teams. Conditions are wet, with riders searching for grip. The old-school track offers no berms for riders to swing a leg out and lean against – and to make things even more interesting, the track is being run in reverse direction for the first time in 15 years.
The most challenging section for the riders comes in the woods, with the soil soon being churned into thick, claggy mud. It proves an absolute nightmare in the corners, and bikes with low mudguards – Métisses especially – get so much clay wedged in between them and their front wheels that they virtually seize up.
A team which immediately stands out is the ‘Cantastic 4’, so called because they’re rides consist of a trio of Can Ams (plus a token BSA). “They’re 175s from 1973 with a few little modifications,” explains team leader Tim Brien. “You don’t see many in the UK. They’re from the British Army; I got them when they were decommissioned. They’re fun to ride, but not in the mud!’.
Mud is certainly the riders’ biggest adversary on the day and, early on, race officials make the decision to bypass one of the hills in the woods that is proving nearon impossible to climb in the slippy conditions.
Jack Willmer, in the ‘Mortimer Old Codgers’ team can be heard giving his 1965 BSA 250 a few choice words of encouragement as he struggles through the woods. “I came into the corner, completely got the wrong line and got stuck,” says Jack, caked in mud and redfaced after his early 15-minute stint. “The bike stalled and with the amount of mud, it just took an age to get it going again. But you’ve just got to take a minute, catch your breath, give it one good kick and it will go again – and it did. The mud has really made the track difficult, its just so claggy and sticky.”
Shortly into the race, it becomes apparent that this is as testing on the bikes’ reliability as it is on riders’ skill and talent on track. Tim White, riding for the ‘Odd One Out’ team on his 1972 CZ 380, explains the trials and tribulations his team faced, just halfway into the race. “We’ve had one bike go down with a burnt-out clutch, that’s stuck down in the woods and we’ve just lost another bike so we’re now down to two! There are bikes stranded all over and it’s like a car park [in the woods]. It’s a game of attrition, you’ve just got to finish.”
One competitor who is relishing the conditions is Graham Mays of the ‘Hos Plant B’ team. “It’s been lovely, ’cos I’m an enduro rider so I’m finding the mud easy,” he says with a grin. “I’m riding this Husqvarna CR450 from 1972. I’ve had it about 10 years and gradually modified it. It’s not the fastest thing in the world, but it seems to be alright. In our team we’ve got a CZ400, a Maico 250 and a Greeves 250.”
Despite the mud, the racing is fast-paced and frenetic throughout the four hours – and the pits are just as manic. After each 15-minute session, riders must peel off the track, dismount (or fall off, depending on their state of exhaustion), then run to the next rider and give them the team bib to wear. The process looks like utter chaos and is, frankly, hilarious to watch, as friends, wives,
‘DESPITE THE MUD, THE RACING IS FAST-PACED AND FRENETIC – AND THE PITS ARE JUST AS MANIC’
and girlfriends feverishly yank and squeeze a mud splattered bib onto the next rider, kneeling with hands in the air, as if they’re performing some sort of ritual to the gods of motocross. Once the bib is on, the riders sprint, fully kitted, to their bike and wheelspin onto the track. The 100 Miler buzzes with energy on and off the track.
As the day wears on, the strongest riders really stand out amongst an ever-tiring field of competitors. One of those is Adam Butt from Devon, riding his 1965 BSA 250 for ‘Devon Creams’. “I haven’t done this race before, but my other team members have. I love it; the conditions are improving and it’s drying out, so there’s plenty of ruts and we’re getting lots of grip now,” he says whilst taking a break in the pits. “I’m surprised about how I feel – I’ve done three 15-minute rides now, flat out and I feel OK. I’ve surprised myself.”
When the chequered flag drops, the winning team, ‘Robus et Celeritas’ (latin for ‘Strength and Speed’) have completed a total of 81 laps. Team rider Wayne
Partington, from Hereford, competes all over Europe and was flat out throughout the race on his 1972 400CZ. “We’ve raced here a lot in the past,” he recalls. ‘But it’s the first time I’ve ridden this way round. Feels a bit odd going backwards – the cambers are awkward, you’re going in and coming out of corners at the wrong angle.” Wayne and his team-mates clearly got used to it, though, and despite the reverse layout of the track they record the day’s fastest lap of 2m 6.0s. “It’s all just a bit of fun really, but if we can get a result that’s always a help,” he adds.
With this test of endurance over, riders make their way to the nearest barbecue and a cold beer. I find Julian Smith of ‘The False Neutral 4’ team hunched over his 1972 AJS Stormer 410, taking a breather and a moment to reflect. “I did pretty terrible,” he admits as he sums up the day. “The conditions earlier were horrendous – no one could get up the hill in the copse and there were bikes exploding all around the track. It was quite funny, they were just littered everywhere. But I love it, there’s always some different bikes turning up at events like this – like I’ve never seen a Norton Métisse before! It’s the best event in the country; I’ve done it loads of times and it’s like a cauldron of motocross.”
‘IT’S THE BEST EVENT; LIKE A CAULDRON OF MOTOCROSS’