I hope people don't mind if I just use this thread as a general blog about me, my life and how it connects with what I am doing with the Clio?
I am going to anyway....
I brief outline so far:
When I left school I wanted to race Superbikes so decided to get an apprenticeship rather than go down the 6th Form route so I would be paid to learn a trade. I managed to get an Electrical and Instrument apprenticeship at GlaxoSmithKline and buy a second hand 1991 CBR600 Race bike. Back then you could get an ACU licence and race a 600 with no prior experience at the age of 16! Anyway I set about racing and doing my apprenticeship and over the years worked my way slowly up to a Wild Card Entry into the World Superbike Paddock in the 600 Superstock Race in 2005 as well as National Endurance, MRO Powerbike Tour. In 2006 I got a job offshore with the intention of making more money to fund my racing. I raced on and off for a few years at club level as and when I could depending on my shifts. I stopped racing in 2010 after a season trying to run a team in BSB Superstocks and realising I didn’t have the time, talent, money or support to make it at that level.
Since giving up racing I spend my spare cash on a VW Touareg and Megane RS 265 and with more spare time the wife decided to peruse Horse Riding, something she did as a child but hadn't ridden for 10 years. After a few years of having horses in Livery at yards in the local areas we decided it would be nice to have them at home so we could spend less time travelling and more time with the horses and the money would be better spent on a property rather than livery. I sold my motorbike, mountain bike, Touareg and Megane and put everything we had into buying a Small Holding with 20 acres of land, barns, stables, sheds etc etc which we purchased in 2013.
We now have horses, goats & chickens with plans for some cattle and also rent land out for Sheep grazing in the summer months.
In the last year I have had to focus most of my intentions into the new property and its land but managed and have spent most of the year working outside learning new skills and landscaping the entrance for better access.
I did however manage to keep a cheap car mainly because I didn’t want to resent the fact I had sold everything I loved for this new lifestyle. I had a Scooby for a few months but as I didn't find it suitable for the commute to Aberdeen, I decided to sell that and buy a Clio 182 as the cheapest fun car I could get. After a few months of that I decided to sell it and get a 172 Cup so I could make it more track focused and hopefully one day get back into racing as it is something I miss and even the Wife misses the atmosphere and social side of Club Racing. I also thought car racing would be a little safer than the bikes considering my work and home commitments.
That brings us to where we are today. I hope to get to know some of you better and you enjoy following my updates and get to know a bit more about me too. It should be pretty varied considering the contrast between breeding show chickens, working offshore, farming, mountain biking, ski-ing, bike track day instructing and hopefully Clio racing sometime in the future too.
Thanks for reading. Always happy to answer questions and talk about things that I enjoy. :wink:
