Above: With my weight back, the bike hydroplaned

beautifully.

man’s key’ on a cord attached to my wrist. If I

was flung off the bike, the key would be pulled

out of its place on the handlebars, stopping the

engine, so that I wouldn’t be mauled by a

spinning rear wheel if I came into contact with

the bike in the water.

When we were all ready, I lined up for the first

run. As with the trench, from my start point

way back in the trees along the shoreline it

was difficult to see the entry point to the ramp,

so it had been marked with two fluorescent

green plastic poles. I had a few butterflies in

my tummy, not because I was worried about

coming off the bike in the water – I’ve come off

bikes under far less desirable circumstances –

196  hydroplaning motorbike

but because everyone involved had put so much

effort into getting us to this point and now it

was all down to me. I gunned the engine and

took off towards the ramp.

Coming through the trees I could see the

fluorescent poles and beyond them the Osprey

boats out on the water, all rushing towards me.

I was sitting as far back as I could while still

able to reach the clutch and kick up through

the gears, and I hit the ramp doing a slight

wheelie, the front wheel a few inches off the

ground, then I was on the water and steaming

towards the 100 metre marker buoy. I really

thought I had nailed it first time, but the bike

bounced, twisted sideways and I flew off over

the handlebars. I had hit the ramp at well over

40 mph and when I came off the bike I was

doing acrobatics at over 30 mph. At that speed

water gives you a pretty hard landing – still, not