Motorcycle
Enduros

 Motor Cycle Enduros are a form of scrambling over rough terrain, and competitors do not start en masse but in pairs at intervals of several minutes, which means that each is battling against time and the terrain alone, without knowing where his rivals are. In this way several hundred machines may be distributed along the course at the same time. ©   Another View

[J_Banks_2003]
Frosty November morning greets the riders at the J Banks '05.

In the Thetford forest, we have two major Enduros every year. The first of these takes place usually in early March. Staged by the Diss Motor Cycle club, the Breckland Enduro as it is called, attracts 300 entrants from all over the United Kingdom, this event being the first round of the British Championship, and the need to acquire points towards this prestigious title is important at this early stage. The course for this is nearly fifty miles, with time checks and special test stages.

[DKnight]
David Knight
1999-2000-2004 Breckland Winner

The most senior 'Championship' class may complete three laps of this very demanding circuit on Saturday, the Expert and Clubman classes two and a half and two laps.

But this is only the first day!  On Sunday a similar regime applies but in the opposite direction, which is even more hazardous with the furrows on the turns being the wrong way round and the terrain looking completely new. Many retirements can reduce the field significantly; it is only the fittest of the riders - there are male and female contestants - and the most carefully prepared machinery, who will complete the gruelling schedule.

[Checkpoint]
Time Check at the John Banks Enduro 2005.

 Forest Heath Raynet has been heavily committed in this event for all of the 19 years it has been held; some score of operators are needed each day to man the various first aid posts, crew the ambulances and paramedic vehicles, provide liaison for the club officials, and operate control and rescue facilities.

  It is an unfortunate corollary of this kind of sport, that casualties, some quite serious with multiple fractures, are sometimes unavoidable; the consequences of an injured rider lying undiscovered in the dense forest is serious, and the rôle of Raynet-manned off road search and rescue vehicles can be a crucial one.
[breck]
Championship Riders wait their turn to run the time check at Banks 2005.
[MChapman]
Mark Chapman
Diss M/C Club

  The second Enduro event, - the John Banks National meeting - happens in similar terrain, on the north side of the river Little Ouse, in November. Again staged by the Diss club, it is a one day event, occupying up to six laps of a 16+ mile course, and conditions, in autumn, frequently being cold and wet. It is also no less hazardous than the earlier one, and the potential for injuries and the necessity for rescue operations by the Raynet and Rover rescue teams no less stringent.   Though the venue for this epic is over the Suffolk/Norfolk border in an area served by a Norfolk group, a contingent of members from Forest Heath has invariably rendered assistance.©
Copyrighted Photographs © are reproduced by courtesy of  Diss M/C Club
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