Like the previous round at Newport, this one also had a compacted entry, most likely due to holidays and/or sheer distance for our more southerly regulars, so the fifteen riders present from all four age groups just mucked in together, not for the first time. The weather, especially with Storm Anton hitting the South of the UK, was wonderfully kind to us today, bonus. Those of us who are regular visitors to Myrtle Park have come to know and love the track, fondly known as "wet'n dry", but nothing to do with sandpaper. The first bend is always wet , the exception being during a long heatwave (yep, they do get them up here now and again) because of the massive tree cover and total lack of drainage, whereas the pits end has nowhere to hide and is almost always bone dry and fairly slippery. It's also pretty much a one-liner so not the easiest track in the universe to pass on.

Anyway, there was only one hole in the programme so that made Fred's job easier sorting it and the match got underway fairly smartly after the pair of us had done the draw. Unfortunately local racer Jim Alexander was injured and unable to take part, but Glasgow still managed to field Virgin Veteran (can I say that?) Andy McDougall, Joe Beuckmann, stalwart Colin Gray and their 2023 "find", Tomasz Majorke so they really gave their full support to the event.

It doesn't seem to matter to the brilliant Phil Gard and Lukasz Nowacki how big or tricky the track is, today they both continued their relentless, unbeaten charge to their respective Over50/60 and Over35/40 dual titles, in fact wrapping them up today with a round still to go [actually Phil had his already safely pocketed after the Newport round, amazing]. They still had to graft for it today though, as ever plenty of pressure coming from their regularly rapid peers Norman Venson, Mark Whitehead, Jason Keith, Kev Burns and Nicky Whitehead. As far as I remember there were only two fallers, Chris Ward (I think in the Over 50s "B" Final and Mark Whitehead in either heat 15 or the 50s "A". Strangely enough Mark had predicted that exact spot when we'd chatted about the surface coming out of the pits bend before the match ?

I had been so wrapped up with my refereeing duties (shared with Norman and Colin) and trying to recover from my now pretty rare track outings that I hadn't noticed the Grand Master arriving, but I did then spend as much time as I could chatting to the indomitable Chic Mackie where Heather had deposited him next to the raffle table ?. He really enjoyed being there. still as keen as ever to take an interest in the racing he's done for so long and the Sport he loves so much. He had me well humbled describing his many and various "secret" lines around his home track which I reckon will forever remain a mystery to us ordinary mortals ?

Following the meeting the now famous Distillery Dishout (the raffle) took place to end the day with a giggle or three just before the sky darkened. As always there was a huge amount of stuff laid out for the winning tickets and Glasgow raised over a hundred pounds to go towards our annual contribution to the Orchid Fighting Male Cancer charity, a magnificent amount considering the number of attendees. Well done 'wegians and the visitors who weighed in! 

I'll attempt to borrow a few 'photos of the web later to add here if I can find them.