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 Teams To be honest I have always regarded myself as someone who doesn't do formal clubs etc preferring to do my own thing. However in retrospect it appears that Mad Cow Racing was just the culmination of a number of dubious informal "teams" that I have become involved with over the years,
The Masochists Climbing Club (MCC)
This started at school, at the age of 14 I went on a youth hostelling trip to the English Lake District and fell in love with the place. Usually you had to be 15 to get on the trip but numbers were down and a few of us were given special permission to go.
Now the hill walking wasn't exactly easy with long days in the mountains walking from hostel to hostel with huge rucsacs. However as we were the junior members we felt we had something to prove, if there was a detour to "bag a peak" on the days walk, we were up for it. By the second year we had formed into a small group that actively sought out additional challenges and somewhere along the line gained the title of the MCC! This continued each year for the five years I remained at school, with ever more challenging routes being devised by our group.
Team Thrasher
 This wasn't my invention but took it's name from the title of the Portsmouth Polytechnic (now the University of Portsmouth) Motorcycle Club's magazine. This was the brain child of fellow student and club member Adam Palmer. Team Thrasher became the alternative name for the motorcycle club. A much fuller history can be found on my friend Alistair Maclean's website where you can also view all the surviving back copies of the Thrasher magazine I must also point out that although I was responsible for the Club logo (right), it wasn't my invention, as I stole it from an advert for a four stroke tuning company in an American bike magazine!Team Thrasher on Tour aka The Thrasher in Exile
The concept of Team Thrasher moved on a bit after I graduated in 1982. In 1983 I decided to organise a two week trip to the Bol d'Or 24 hour motorcycle endurance race. In those days it was held at the Paul Ricard Circuit in the South of France near Toulon. I roped together a motely crew of ex PPMCC members, their relatives, boyfriends and other friends. To keep everyone in touch with planning prior to the event in those pre email and internet days, I started to produce a newsletter entitled "Team Thrasher on Tour", hopefully these will be available to view very soon on Alistair's website thanks to fellow Thrasher Martin Grange who hoarded them over the years (thanks because I didn't)! Quite amusingly this newsletter caused a minor furore back at Portsmouth Poly, with some members of PPMCC claiming I had no right to use the Team name. Hence "the Thrasher in Exile" was born. The trip eventually got underway, with myself, Ian McLurcan, Alistair Maclean, Jane Leigh, Paul Cooper (aka "Top Box") and Paul Clarke from the Polytechnic. Also along for the ride was Paul Clarke's sister Louise, her boyfriend Kerry and her friend "Flic" (I think it was actually Felicity but it was a long time ago).
The trip duly came along; we rode (a lot), we got lost, we got drunk, we raced everything in site and generally caused mayhem. All went great with a fantastic time at the race until the last day. Yours truly managed to crash into Alistair and Paul Clarke's bikes in Boulogne. Iain (my passenger) got thrown off and was promptly run over by Paul Cooper. Iain ended up in hospital, I ended up in the Police Station and although we all eventually got home OK, I found out two days later that I had a broken arm! Oh what memories!
Team "Laid Back"
 Not one of my teams and not really the true name. In 1985 I rode my Kawasaki GPz 750 to Snetterton to watch the 6 hour endurance race. After the start I walked past my bike to see someone writing down the registration number. I asked what he wanted and it turned out that he and a friend were racing a GPz 750 in the race. Unfortunately they had crashed in practice and destroyed the ignition sender unit on the end of the crankshaft. His friend had started the race with a unit borrowed from a 550 but it was running terribly, so they were about to put out an anouncement on the PA to see if they could "borrow" my sender unit. I agreed if they could get me access to the pits, better than that they got me signed up as their mechanic! I spent the next five and half hours refuelling and organising rider changes for Terry and Dave. They had no official Team name but the Team Laid Back title perfectly suited their style. Where the more professional teams were using fast fillers and changing tyres in seconds, this pair just used a funnel and a jerry can and each pit stop kicked the back tyre and pronounced it fit for another hours racing (it had already done the Isle of Man TT and was well worn).Equipe Grand Nez
Another friend from Portsmouth, Steve Hands got into motorcycle road racing in the eighties and formed Equipe Grand Nez (aka Team Big Nose). I helped out at a few races as team mechanic, tea maker and general dogsbody and was inducted into the team. Although sadly my greatest contribution seemed to be blowing up the engine on Steve's VW Camper Van on the A11 returning from Snetterton. More happy memories!
The Outcasts plus One on tour
Now the Outcasts were a genuine club that existed (and may still exist) in the Portsmouth/Southampton Area and whilst they were principally a Caving Club, would also do climbing and hill walking. In 1990 I travelled to Europe with four friends, all members of the Outcasts, hence the title (I was the extra one). The trip took in Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland (very briefly) and France. It included climbing on the fantastic Kletersteig and Via Ferata of the alps and Dolomites. These protected climbing routes featuring ladders, rungs and safety cables set into the rock, were originally built for warfare between Austria/Germany and Italy in the First World War but have developed over the years into recreational routes. I have recently discovered a photo album from the trip... so watch this space.
Equipe Irresponsable
Yes the French theme continued in the 1990's when Team Irresponsible was formed! This was the invention of another friend, Tigger (yes that's the name he was known as, he even had it on his passport) and was the title awarded to a long weekend trip to Paris by motorbike. Also along was Tigger's Girlfriend at the time and another friend Malcolm Jones. We did the usual things, we rode (a lot), we rode very fast, we rode irresponsibly, we got very wet when it rained, we got drunk and I seem to recall that Tigger kept pulling wheelies. Oh yes we also stayed in possibly the worst (but possibly the cheapest) Hotel in Paris; The Hotel Moderne (an oxymoron if ever there was one).
 Tigger sadly died in a bike crash a few years ago but being a true larger than life character, he will never be forgotten. He was also heavily involved in the early days of Mad Cow Racing but didn't do fitness, so never became an official member. Another member who should have been on the trip but couldn't make it was Tigger's friend Graham Pentney who of course went on to form Mad Cow Racing with me and Pete.Tigger, Argentiere, French Alps, August 1988.
The large back arrow on the screen was to remind him which side of the road to drive on... it rarely worked! He crashed the next day in Switzerland.
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