MCN/BikeWise Fantasy Road Race 2013 - season ends

The MCN Fantasy racing season has now ended and its congratulations to Philip Waddell, who finished top of the league with 2021 points

Second was Colin Davison with 1999 points and third was Brad Weller with 1994 points.

The seasons end was highlighted by Marc Marquez becoming the youngest ever Moto GP world champion at 20yrs of age, beating Freddie Spencers long standing record.

In World Superbikes Tom Sykes rode superbly to give us a British World Champion and World Supersport was won by Sam Lowes.

British Superbikes left us ‘biting our nails’ right down to the last race where Alex Lowes took the title from Shane ‘shakey’ Byrne

We’ll soon have our photo galleries updated with some pictures from this years racing.

Many Thanks to the 70 participants in the league this year, remember to tell your friends so that we can break the 100 barrier next year.

Paws Up Calendars

	The ‘must have  ‘accessory’ for 2014 has now arrived  - the ‘Paws Up’ 2014 Calendar. The calendar has been produced to raise funds for the Durham Retired Police Dogs Benevolent Fund These limited edition calendars are A3 in size and feature pictures of twelve of our four legged friends for you to view over the next year.
	A calendar can be yours for only £8 including P & P If you would like to order please click on this link :  http://www.pawsup.org.uk/p/merchandise.html There’s lots of other Paws Up ‘goodies’ on this page and it’s the right time of year to be buying a present for your friends and spreading the word about Paws Up

A Moment To Reflect

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, tho poppies grow
In Flander's fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae

The death of Danny Wake - Durham Police appeal for witnesses

Appeal for Witnesses

A motorcyclist has sadly died after his machine was in collision with a car in Easington village.

The crash happened at 7.45pm on Sunday, 6th October on the B1283 at its junction with Thorpe Road.

Two vehicles were involved, a beige coloured Nissan Micra driven by an 84-year-old woman from Peterlee and a black Suzuki GSXR 600 motorbike.
The car was heading east along the section of the B1283 which is Rosemary Lane, intending to turn right onto Thorpe Road. The bike was heading in the opposite direction along Seaside Lane approaching the junction when the car turned right and the two collided.

The motorcyclist, 41-year-old Ronald JOHNSON of Holmhill Gardens, Easington Colliery suffered fatal injuries as a result and he was certified dead at the James Cook Hospital in Middlesbrough a short time later. The driver of the Micra was also treated at the same hospital, for shock and a minor injury to her knee before being released home.
As a result of the crash the road was closed to traffic until half-past midnight.

Police are appealing for any witnesses, or anyone else who may have been on the roads in that area and saw either the car or the motorbike to contact the collision investigation unit on 0191 375 2159

Todays meeting CANCELLED

Today’s meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club has had to be cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions.

Heavy rain fell overnight leaving the car park very wet & early morning fog together with a forecast of rain coming from the south has left us no alternative than to cancel on safety grounds.

We are actively looking for an indoor premises with the winter rapidly approaching.

Karting NE are still scheduled to run tomorrow, Mon 21^st and also Mon 4^th Nov

BikeSafe Durham – Last workshop of 2013

The last BikeSafe Durham workshop for 2013 was held at BikeWise HQ,  on Saturday 5^th October, with another eight riders taking part. 

Almost  forty riders have now been on a BikeSafe workshop with us this year. Feedback from participants on the days we have held so far has been very positive and several riders have gone on to join Durham Advanced Motorcyclists and pass their Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) Test.

The latest to do this is Shaun Doyle from Craghead.

Shaun truly has “Bridged The Gap” with BikeSafe, having attended the National BikeSafe show in Doncaster earlier on in the year.

At the show he had an assessed ride with Pc Jim Gratton who signed him up for the first Bikesafe Workshop in Durham in June. During the day Shaun took full  advantage of our offer to join Durham Advanced Motorcyclists, and has taken part in their Skills for Life riding package, recently passing his IAM Test.

Shaun came along to our latest workshop and was presented with his IAM Test Certificate, together with a £75 refund from the Durham Road Safety Partnership, as a contribution towards his further training.

This offer is available to all those riders who have been on a 2013 Bikesafe workshop with us.

Full details about further BikeSafe workshops planned for 2014 will be placed here on the BikeWise website in due course.

For further details about BikeSafe Durham, please contact PC Jim Gratton on : 0191 3752136 or email james.gratton@durham.pnn.police.uk

Next Meeting of the BWMBC

The next meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club will be on  :

Sunday, 20^th October at Carrville Park & Ride.
Usual start time of 1030hrs with signing on from 1000hrs.

The forecast for the weekend is not particularly good so please check the website or Facebook/Twitter on Sunday before traveling. If we need to cancel due to adverse weather we will post on the above and also send out an email to members’

Karting NE will be hosting there Mini Moto night on Monday 21^st October and the final evening meeting will be on 4^th November..

Good luck to all our members who are competing in the Scottish Championship at Kirkcaldy this Sunday

Next Meeting of the BWMBC

The next meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club will be on  :

Sunday, 29th September at Carrville Park & Ride.

Usual start time of 1030hrs with signing on from 1000hrs.

If you have any doubts about the weather on Sunday morning then please ring 0191 375 2136 (and speak to John Bowman)  before travelling. There will be no cancellation notice put on the website this time

Scottish Minibike Championship at Karting NE (Warden Law)

The next 'meeting' of the BikeWise Mini Bike club is this Sunday, 22^nd September when we ‘host’ a round of the Scottish Championship at Karting NE (Warden Law)

The event is run by Alan McIntosh of Polini UK, signing on will be from 11.30 to 12.30 with riders briefing to start right after, qualifying / racing at 1300hrs.

Please try and support the event – there is plenty of good tarmac parking if you wish to come along and spectate.

Entry is free and their is a good cafe on site, the racing is really close and more exciting at times than Moto GP or WSB/BSB.

There are a good number of riders from the BWMBC who will be taking part & some are leading their classes in the championship, so any support you can give will give our local riders a huge ‘lift’ – so please come along and support the event.

In the event of rain the event will be cancelled as the circuit has low grip tarmac (for go-karts) and is unsafe to ride on two wheels so any cancellation will be posted via the websites and our Facebook & Twitter feeds,

Running order for the afternoon is as follows (starting at 1300hrs)  :

1/ Open Class, 8mins Free Practice 1.

2/ Junior B and C, 8mins Qualifying 1.

3/ Junior A, 8mins Qualifying 1.

4/ Light, Middle and Heavy, 8mins Qualifying 1.

5/ Feathers, 8 mins Qualifying 1.

6/ Open Class, 8mins Free Practice 2.

7/ Junior B and C, 8mins Qualifying 2.

8/ Junior A, 8mins Qualifying 2.

9/ Light, Middle and Heavy, 8mins Qualifying 2.

10/ Feathers, 8mins Qualifying 2.

Format for RACES will be:

Race 1,6,11,16 - Open Class, 4 x 6 lap races rotating grid.

Race 2,7,12 - Junior B and C, 3 x 6 lap races.

Race 3,8,13, - Junior A, 3 x 6 lap races.

Race 4,9,14, - Light, Middle and Heavy, 3 x 6 lap races.

Race 5,10,15, - Feathers, 3 x 6 lap races.

Next Meeting of the BWMBC

The next meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club will be on  :

Sunday, 8th September at Carrville Park & Ride.

Usual start time of 1030hrs with signing on from 1000hrs.

Weather forecast for the weekend is unsettled, Sunday looks the best day so fingers crossed.

If you have any doubts about the weather on Sunday morning then please check the website before travelling as we will post any cancellation by 0900hrs.

Our normal Monday night session at Karting NE is on Monday 9th September (5pm-8pm)

BikeSafe Durham : limited spaces available

 

We will be running two BikeSafe Training days at Police HQ on the following dates :

Saturday 21^st September & Saturday 5^th October 2013.

The day(s) will be run from  9am –5pm and will consist of classroom work on the morning followed by an assessed (2:1) ride in the afternoon.

Cost for the BikeSafe day is £20 and this will include your lunch & tea/coffee.

BikeSafe Durham Training days are designed to help you ‘Bridge The Gap’ to further Advanced Training.

 

If you subsequently join Durham Advanced Motorcyclists and work through their Skills for Life package to Test standard then you will receive a £75 refund from the Durham Road Safety Partnership.

Chris Allison of Chester le Street took part in the first  BikeSafe Durham training day, earlier this year, subsequently joined the Durham Advanced Motorcyclists and has  ‘Bridged The Gap’ by passing his Institute of Advance Motorists (IAM) Test

Places on these training days are limited and priority will be given to riders who have not undertaken any further advanced training.

For further details please contact PC Ali Bonar on : 0191 3752136

or email : ali.bonar@durham.pnn.police.uk

August a DAM good month

A great month for Durham Advanced Motorcyclists (DAM) with nine associates being tested by retired motorcycle Sgt and IAM Examiner, Bob Brown and passing their test to become members of the Institute of Advanced Motorists.

Bob said “ I have been testing riders from this group since we formed it in 1995  (to coincide with our first BikeWise show) and the standard of riding remains really high.

It is a pleasure to go and test these riders, watching them putting Police system riding into practice. A lot of thanks must go to the observers & senior observers within DAM who put in hours & hours of their own time to bring these riders to the required standard for them to pass their IAM test”

For further info on how to join Durham Advance Motorcyclists please contact the Secretary :

Bill McCready : 01325-311426

Email : enquiries@durhamadvancedmotorcyclists.org.uk

 

Chris Allison	Philip Roberts	Ray Blighe
John Bamber	Michaela Lawson	Scott Anderson
David Johnson	Stephen Hodgson	Dave Walker

Steve Hislop Memorial Ride : Sunday 25th August

The 11th Steve Hislop Memorial Run is this weekend

Sunday 25th August 2013 starting at Denholm in the Scottish Borders at Denholm at 1030hrs.

See info about the ride below :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos online from latest meeting of the BWMBC

Photos are now online from the latest meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club, which was held at Carrville on Sunday 18th August 2013.

To view the pictures please click on the image which will take you to the gallery page of the website & then click on the thumbnail image for the 18^th August.

Next meetings of the club are on :

Monday 26^th August at Karting NE (this event is run by Karting NE and not by BWMBC)

and then

Sunday 8^th September at Carrville

Next Meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club

The next meeting of the BikeWise Mini Bike Club will be on  :

Sunday, 18^th August at Carrville Park & Ride.

Usual start time of 1030hrs with signing on from 1000hrs.

Weather forecast for tomorrow looks good but if you have any doubts about the weather then check the website before travelling as we will post any cancellation by 0900hrs

Blues & Greens Charity Ride

Paul Carter from the Blue Knights England 5 group called in at Police HQ just before BikeWise 2013 (Friday 26^th July)  whilst doing a two thousand mile trip across England with forty one venues to visit.
Paul was doing his ride in support of two national charities UKCOPS & Royal British Legion. His motorcycle was loaned by Hunts Motorcycles Kingsway Manchester.
Paul had set off on that day from West Midlands and had visited Police HQ’s at Staffs, Cheshire,Merseyside, Lancashire, Cumbria and was then joined by Steve Armstrong, Dave Gibbs  Stu McCarthy to continue his journey via Northumbria to Durham, where he was met by motorcycle Sgt Iain Rogers & DCC Michael Banks who presented a cheque on behalf of Durham Constabulary from the BikeWise ‘Team’
For further details of the ride, please click on the links below :




UKCOPS at www.justgiving.com/BluesandGreens
OR
Royal British Legion at- www.justgiving.com/BluesandGreensRBL

Photos now online from BikeWise 2013

It rained in the morning and then the sun started to shine about lunchtime & our ‘team’ of photographers from Durham Photographic Society did a great job of recording the days event photographically for us to look at.

Please CLICK ON THIS LINK which will take you to our Galleries page where you will be able to click on the individual thumbnail images which will take you into the nine albums we have created for BikeWise 2013.

Hope you enjoy and look forward to BikeWise 2014

North East Mini Moto Championship–Photos now online

Its taken some time but we’ve finally got some pictures (1,819) for you to look at from the North East Mini Moto Championship which was held on Monday 2^nd July at Karting North East.

Some great racing on the night & many thanks to all who took part in and supported the event.

Big Thank You to Durham Police & Crime & Commissioner -  Ron Hogg for attending and then presenting the trophies.

Please click on the thumbnail images above to view the individual albums

Biker Down….

Ever thought what you would do if your mate had an accident whilst you were out riding? 

Ever been at the scene of an accident and felt like you could, or should have done more to help? 

Have you ever wondered why despite wearing a fluorescent jacket, cars keep pulling out in front of you at junctions and roundabouts? 

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service are offering you the chance to attend 'BIKER DOWN'.  This FREE course will show you what to do should you be first on scene at a vehicle accident and how you could help yourself stay safe and assist any casualties involved.  It will also explain the science behind 'being seen' when you are on your bike.

The course runs over 2 nights  -  the 5th and 12th September from 6.30pm to 9.00pm and you must be able to attend both nights.  It will be held at Durham Fire and Rescue Station, Framwellgate Moor.  You don't need any prior knowledge, you just need to be a motorcycle rider.  The course is very relaxed and informal and there is loads of space to park your bikes safely on the night.  Tea and coffee will be provided.

Please send an e-mail to : aallison@ddfire.gov.uk
stating your name, age and a contact telephone number if you would like to come along, or ring 0191 3324222 and leave your details. 

Numbers are limited so don't delay! 

More detailed course instructions will be given to successful applicants.
Look forward to seeing you.  Cheers,

Andrew Allison, Community Safety
Manager, County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service