Excel has been the spreadsheet of choice for millions of users for many years now, and most clubs use it for rider lists, results  etc.  Unfortunately the level of proficiency among users varies greatly. Most of the results I get for publication on the site are sent as Excel files; some I can quickly convert to html for displaying on the site, others I have to spend a great deal of time on to get them in a useable state. This is not a criticism of anyone; Excel is a very powerful program, with hundreds of options to confuse the casual user.

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With two of our motocross meetings cancelled due to the seemingly endless amount of rain that has fallen on the regions tracks recently, it is easy to forget how little rain we had this time last year. I have just uploaded a report, photos and video from yesterday's Maxxis round at Lyng. When I uploaded it to the Vikings web site I noticed an article from around this time last year announcing the cancellation of their June 12th round because no rain had fallen on the Cadders Hill circuit since Feb 13th!

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Since the introduction of the hosepipe ban it has rained almost every day in many areas, wreaking havoc with outdoor events. Already we have had motocross meetings cancelled on 2 consecutive weekends.

If you have booked and paid for a transponder in advance of a meeting, which is then cancelled, I will email you (where address is known) to give you the option of a refund or carrying the payment forward to a later meeting. If you do not receieve an email, this may be because you have paid in advance using cash at an earlier meeting.

I would just like to assure all riders who paid in advance that accurate records are being kept, and you will not lose your hire fee.

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With just one previous meeting behind us, Sunday saw us timing our first Eastern Centre Motocross Championship event.  Although the day went fairly well we did have a problem which caused confusion for some Junior riders, for which I would like to apologise.

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I was going to start this post with "Now that the dust has settled..." , but those who attended the first motocross meeting of the year at Blaxhall will know that dust was in short supply. Heavy rain during the night made for very muddy conditions at the Woodbridge & DMCC track that would have made manual timing difficult, if not impossible.

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Just back from the Post Office, having sent the final batch of transponders out. All riders who have ordered them should have them by tomorrow (Wed 6th March).

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Paul, in his blog on environmental mats, has cleverly stirred up valid concerns for how we are or are not following the rules, regulations and codes laid down in the ACU Handbook. As a licensed motocross clerk of the course, running just one event a year, for this annual occasion I have to be well conversed with the contents of the Handbook, or at least know how to navigate it. But to pretend I have every detailed rule at the ready to throw at anyone in contravention of it would be silly, and I doubt even Dennis Slaughter MBE would claim this ability. The theme that runs through the Handbook is that the Clerk of the Course is the person responsible for everything and everyone connected with the event. This includes environmental, safety and medical matters. Thus, a C of C must be someone who is capable of seeing the big picture, applying common sense and making judgements, many of which in the heat of the moment will in hindsight be wrong. All his technical and other specialist officers can and must advise, but the C of C has the final say.

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The cancellation of any of our sporting fixtures is a disturbing experience for all concerned. – paricularly if it is a last minute decision.For the riders, psyched up and ready to go, then suddenly deprived of their weekend blast, it is very frustrating.

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I am pleased to inform everyone that the membership software has now been updated, and it is now possible to recover your username and/or password from the "Forgot Details" link on the login form.

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Over 150 riders have ordered their transponders, and we have placed the order with HS Sports. Because of the large quantity required there may be a delay of a couple of weeks before you get your transponder - we have cleared out the stock at HS, and they have had to get more in from MyLaps in the Netherlands. As soon as they arrive I will start getting them out to you.

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A full test of the new MyLaps timing system was carried out at Lyng yesterday. 53 invited riders braved the frosty conditions in a series of sessions throughout the day so that the timing team could get used to the equipment, and prctice our procedures for issuing rented transponders.

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Every set of regs insists in bold letters on their use, our environmental officer brings them up at board meetings with monotonous regularity, and then we all go home and forget all about them. I am, of course, talking about environmental mats. Why do we do this, and what could be the worst case scenario of our continued apathy toward the enforcement of their use?

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All of us in the Eastern Centre can bask - just a little – in the glory of Dennis Slaughter`s  well deserved recognition by the “establishment”. “Dennis MBE” - it sounds pretty good to me  and how often do motorbike and motorcyclists of all varieties  get much of a fair deal nowadays?  Yet, by the same token, Dennis`s “gong” was awarded to him alone, as due regard for his own achievements and total loyalty to his club and their most famous venue – Cadders Hill at Lyng - surely one of the most eminent motocross circuits in the land.

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Although we want to keep you informed of what is happening in the centre, we don't want to bombard you with emails that are of no interest to you.

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I have calls from a few riders who are concerned about how to fit a transponder on their bike, particularly if hiring one on the day.

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     Now very much a "back-bencher" in the running of the Eastern Centre,I nonetheless see the organisation in very safe hands as we go into 2012. In these times of uncertainty on many fronts, the Centre is reasonably well funded and resourced,the number of affiliated clubs is up (35) and the essential, enthusiastic "back-room" organisers,officials and helpers, unite in bringing us 140 meetings per year. It all bodes well for this grass-roots sector of off-road motorcycle sport. Even land access in this highly populated portion of England does not seem a problem.

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One of the reasons for the upgrade to the website was to make it more accessible to the growing number of users accessing the internet with mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets.

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The Eastern Centre web site has been using a content management system called Joomla for the past few years.

The Joomla software has undergone several revision updates since I developed the site, the latest of which is a major re-write that has meant many of the existing scripts no longer work, the forum included.

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We now have 95% of the equipment we need to carry out electronic timing of motocross events from 2012. 

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Motorcycling - as indeed the ACU itself – arose from the late 19th century bicycling boom and the consequent attachment to bicycles of the then embryonic internal combustion engine.As ever, technical improvement has since ceaselessly carried on during the following century- plus. During my own involvement, the sport - which is usually the pace-setter of technical progress - has brought such changes as to make machines of my own early days, seemingly as primitive as the ox and plough.

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