Made it - Just!

As much as I tried not to stress, it was inevitable that I would when I still didn't have the exhaust back on the Thursday before the race.

The bodywork had been sprayed. It's now a fantastic rich racing red with white number boards. Once I'd put my 111 stickers on, it looked the business.

The exhaust came on Friday and it looked amazing. Mark at MHP has done a brilliant job and it looks brand new. It now has a titanium sleeve which I think I even prefer. All the kinks are out and the header pipes are true - fab. It also saved me about £900 getting it repaired rather than buying a new system.

So it came down to saturday. We fitted the subframe and sorted the levers and footpegs. Then we drilled the holes for the screen, drilled the holes for the seat unit and fitted it. Then we straightened the Gilles chain adjuster, saving another £75 in the process.

I headed home with just the bodywork to fit.

1.5 hours later and a few scrapes on the brand new body work and I still couldnt get the bleedin fixings into place. Eventually, with the help of my father-in-law, we did it. Levels were topped up and it was ready.

Another 45minutes to pack the van and I headed off at 11pm.

What followed was the scariest journey of my life. I fought back the tiredness as my eyelids got heavier and heavier. I completed the last 40miles peering through tiny slits and couldn't focus on anything. At 1am I made it to Elvington. The perfect preparation for the following day. Night night.