An eventful weekend all round for the Harris's.
Chris was racing in an open meeting in Olching on Sunday, due to the sign-on and practice times he wasn't able to fly in and out Sunday as planned, so the only flight we could get was for early Saturday morning. This meant that he would be there 24 hours early and be able to go to the engine tuners to meet the boys, but also meant that we missed another day with him and Chris would miss watching Mia-Faye perform day 1 of her dance festival (he was already missing day 2)
By all accounts, Chris turning up to the tuners a day early to meet up with his team turned out to be a little bit of luck. As the boys had the bikes up on the ramps fitting new counter shaft & clutches to test, Chris noticed the frames were cracked just under the headstock bearing. The boys tried to get new frames from a spares van in Germany but to no avail, the tuners welding guy didn't have the right equipment for that kind of welding so it was looking likely that Chris wouldn't be able to race. Sunday morning arrives and the boys decided to head to the track to see if the workshop had a welder - turns out they did, but it was broken - I mean you couldn't make this kind of stuff up. So, Chris and the boys decided to give the bikes a try in the scheduled practice to see if it would hold, but Chris came back in and said 'no chance'. So finally a little bit of luck that Martin Smolinski lives nearby and his mechanic kindly took the bikes and Chris's mechanic to weld them up. So, panic over and the bikes are good to go for the meeting and the boys are relieved.
This meeting would be the first time Chris would be using primary chains rather than belt drive for over 2 years - due to a few belts breaking throughout the season the team decided to go back and try the chains - all well and good until the first heat when can you believe Chris's luck - the chain snapped whilst leading the race! A few good races followed, but it was definitely an eventful one for the boys on their final European meeting of the year. If he didn't laugh, I am sure he would eventually cry one day with some of the bad luck that gets thrown his way.
Back home, I managed to juggle 2 dance festivals, some DIY and the girls homework, with a super proud moment of Amara-Mae reading her first ever book to me on her own and Chris missed it. We called to tell Chris the exciting news which as you can imagine he was so proud of her and buzzing especially because I am a big book lover so this is huge in our house, but the disappointment in his voice that he missed it was real - he was gutted. It's really tough as these 'firsts' are exactly that - firsts that only have that special feeling once.
Chris returned home late Sunday night flying back into Birmingham, and thankfully that's the European trips done for the year! Chris was woken Monday morning to 3 excited children waiting to tell him about the achievements and excitement of the weekend - Mia-Faye proud as punch with a third place medal, Cruz building the biggest train track with the longest train ever and Amara-Mae reading her words and then there was smug me having survived 32 weekends without him, but more smug that it's the last weekend away done until 2023.
Amongst all of this weekend excitement, Chris's phone was still going crazy as was mine - back and forward with deals, messages, pros cons & offers to discuss on this rollercoaster ride, but the good news is it's starting to slow down as Chris has agreed terms for a second contract. 2 down 1 to go, possibly 2 ...
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