Not sure about anyone else, but since the scunny blog, I have been manifesting for warmer sunny days. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love the sunshine - hence my desire to one day pack up and move to a warm climate. It's been a minute (or two) since my last blog, because life has been absolute crazy, so i thought i would write a bit of a catch up blog...
An early March friday before the Glasgow fixtures begin, it's my day off - so I headed off to Bicester Village to meet up with my close friend Emma (i know, i know 2 Emma's) for a well deserved girlie day and an excuse to celebrate my birthday early. We enjoyed the luxury of hands free shopping so we didn't have to carry our bags, we shopped, we laughed, we chatted, indulged in pastries and coffee, dodged a crazy hail storm that came out of nowhere, and finished off our day enjoying a late lunch and of course champagne. Such a lovely day, and much needed 'me time' which as you can appreciate doesn't happen often due to Chris's crazy schedule March-October with no family support around us, so i appreciate these days so much more.
Work at JLR for me is as busy as ever, I pride myself on my work ethic and i often receive recognitions from colleagues throughout the business - I am always truly humbled, but a few weeks ago I received a reward and recognition from my team which was a complete surprise! I am looking forward to sharing my reward with Chris and celebrating. In my 25th year of service at JLR this year and this place still never fails to amaze me .....
As usual pre-season, Chris was like a child at Christmas waiting for the season to start - and as always lots of organisation was still happening, parcel deliveries galore and final preparations in place. The day arrived for the 2024 kit reveal, this year was extra special with Cruz having matching and joining in on the reveal. I watched on as the boys put on their new matching suits with tears in my eyes taking the pictures of them two side by side, before heading outside to do the main pictures and videos with the bikes to share with sponsors and for socials, I'm pretty sure at this point a kleenex sponsorship would really help lol, especially after scunny
The 2024 Season officially started with Chris's first meeting at Oxford, where Chris made his debut for the Spires in style, and Cruz made his Oxford track debut. Prior to the meeting fans swarmed the Sandy Lane pits eager for rider autographs, selfies etc for both the home and away team. To mine and Chris's amazement people were queueing to get photographs with Cruz and his autograph (i mean he's only 4 - he's left handed and is still learning to write his name the right way round and not back to front - only lefties will understand what i mean) and in true Harris style he took it all in his stride, and smiled and was polite to everyone who waited to see him like a true professional. We genuinely still can't get over people queueing to see our little boy, it's like a proper pinch us scenario, unreal ...
Busy days followed for Chris with the Peter Craven meeting at BV with a return trip a couple of days later for the Premiership day with Discovery+, a couple more Oxford Spires meetings, and Glasgow's first home fixture....
Glasgow bound for the first home meeting for the Harris boys where Cruz was going to make his debut on the Ashfield shale in his new Tigers suit, and the first meeting at home for Chris and the team, but it wasn't without drama. They left our home in Rugby the same time they always do with an ETA of approx 2.30 / 3pm. However, the M6 had other plans for them and was closed at J38 and J39 due to a lorry crash and they were stuck for hours. I was surprised the meeting was going ahead to be honest, because they had heavy rain forecast. Chris stayed in regular contact with me and around 6pm said his latest ETA was now 7.45, which basically meant that he would miss heat 1 and that Cruz would've just spent 10 hours for nothing as he missed his chance to go on track. I head on to Speedway Updates at 7.30 to follow the meeting and read that there was a 15 minute delay due to getting the crowd in safely (looking at the pictures you can see why) which was good news in a way for Chris.
Chris text me at 7.43pm 'I'm 2 minutes away baby love you message you in a mo cause going try be in heat one' which i said to the girls 'wow that'll be pushing it' and then we checked Speedway Updates a few minutes later to the comment '2 minutes goes on just as Chris Harris' van comes into the stadium and he jumps out in full gear onto Steve Worralls bike ready to go' I genuinely started laughing and said 'I can just picture him in all his gear jumping out the back of the van'.
A couple of minutes later i checked my phone and the Glasgow video of Chris arriving appeared at the top of my social media feed - like the scene from a movie, me and the girls watched it and laughed out loud and played it on repeat, genuinely the only thing that would've made this video any better was if Cruz had of jumped out the back as well. My phone was going mental at this point - family and friends asking if what they just watched was real. Yes it was 100% real, it took them 10 hours to get to Glasgow, i have pictures of them stuck in traffic, i have pictures of the updates from Highways Agency and Chris with his kit ready to get changed in the back of the van. A few miles from the stadium at the traffic lights Chris jumped out and got into the back of the van where he travelled the last few miles getting changed with minimal space next to his bikes. I mean it would be extreme lengths for a rider and club to go to for a publicity stunt as some people have suggested, all this video shows is Chris's pure dedication to his club and the fans, which understandably has been viewed over 1 million times already - you only have to listen to the crowd appreciating Chris's dedication in the video when he rocks up to the start line on someone else's bike after being in the stadium less than 2 minutes. Chris messaged me after the race to say he got a 5-1 with James Pearson and all was good. Unbelievable.
I did have to create a version of the video with the A-Team soundtrack, for those of you who are old enough will understand why .....
A busy few weeks followed with a couple of rain-offs (thanks to the UK weather) some good meetings with a first full max at Glasgow. Throw in a couple of off nights for Oxford due to bike issues, Chris made a change to his pit crew, which in turn has meant hours in the workshop for Shaun, Grant & Chris stripping and rebuilding the 3 brand new bikes he started the season with. And just to top it all off, a change of supplier for the methanol - anyone who knows anything about methanol will know none of the particles should freeze, which unfortunately they did when the boys popped a small sample in the freezer ...
Chris successfully completed his first ever training day partnered with AMSA at Scunthorpe - he was really nervous, but turns out he was a natural - i knew he would be, he doubts himself and his ability way too much! He received such great feedback from all riders, he dedicated so much time to each rider and they all progressed throughout the day which he was chuffed about, the day came to and end with Chris taking to the track with every single rider, doing over 70 + laps all in all - what a bloomin' legend ....
The first round of the WLT came and went and Chris battled hard at Herxheim and finished P4.
Swedish Bauhaus League began and Chris spent a few days out there practicing and has had 3 meetings so far, first time back in Sweden in years - having to tweak a few things, but he's really enjoying it. Not going to lie, it makes my life harder as Cruz is usually home on Tuesdays and with Chris not here for school runs on Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings, it's a little more stressful - but i just get on with it and juggle the chaos, I am a Harris's after all ...
What else has been going on in the Harris household, honestly way too much to write about but a few highlights ...
We had a visit from Chris's mum Becky for the week at the end of April - we always love having her visit, she spent lots of time with the kids, we laugh and chat, we chill and have a few drinks, and like always she helps me with some gardening. On the thursday it was a planned trip to Oxford on Mia-Faye's birthday, and she came with us to watch Cruz on track, and of course Chris - best say that so he doesn't feel second best. The evening unfortunately ended sadly where Becky received a phone call whilst we were on the way home to say that her younger brother / Chris's uncle Peter had sadly passed away unexpectedly following a very brief stay in hospital.
Then followed a visit from my parents, who travelled up from Cornwall for the first time since my dad had an operation back in January, so it was nice for them to be here and spend some time with them, they helped with school runs and stuff and enjoyed time with the kids whilst Chris was away - Sweden, Germany and Glasgow ...
I am not sure if anyone else was lucky enough to witness the Northern Lights across the UK on Friday 10th May - Chris will tell you i am a bit of nerd when it comes to the night sky, so I watched in amazement for over an hour and half and managed to get a few beautiful photographs, but the memory will last a lifetime and definitely a bucket list item ticked off the list ...
Amara-Mae turned 6 - we had a sleepover party for her and 5 friends - I made sleepover tents and they took over our lounge for the night - where they enjoyed karaoke, movie, snacks, popcorn, and games - it was chaos, but she had the best day. She's been celebrated 4x in assembly at school, won star of the week 2 weeks on the trot at dance, won a bronze medal at a dance festival, and our little mermaid was moved to top level swimming class to complete her swimming lessons - in just over 3 months she will have completed the whole swim academy journey which is just an unreal achievement and has surprised even the swim school. She never fails to amaze us as parents, but the swimming i am in awe, i mean i can't even put my head under water, let alone swim under it .....
We celebrated Mia-Faye's 15th birthday (15 going on 30 most days lol), she's received 2 awards at school, she's currently in Yr 10 and has been deep in study books for her first GCSE for English Literature - endless revision, tutoring, after school sessions and the relentless talk about Macbeth, Christmas Carol, Inspector Calls and 15 poems - that to be quite honest i never want to hear about again, so i can only imagine what Mia-Faye thinks lol. She has sat the exam now which was split into 2 exams one last monday, and then one monday just gone. The first thing she said when she got home after exam 2 was 'Can i please burn the books now' which i can't blame her, honestly, dreading Yr 11 already where she will sit the rest of her GCSEs ..
Cruz has been offered his first choice school place ready for September, Cruz is so ready, it's just me that's not. He's been a dream in swimming lessons and took part in a Swim Promo video with Chris - he is so good in the water like the girls and was moved up after only 2 lessons to the advanced class where he is able to go in the water on his own without and adult, and is absolutely bossing it. He's came home with some proud clouds from preschool for being so kind and caring to his friends, which is definitely Cruz's nature - just a few weeks ago his friend Ruben crashed at Oxford and he waited for him to come off the track to give him a cuddle and spent every day asking after him until they were finally reunited last week at Sandy Lane.
Chris had the weekend off last weekend which generally is unheard of, so we decided to go away for the weekend, I was going to see Olly Murs & Take That with friends on Friday night - never missed a Take That tour yet so i wasn't missing this one, so it was more of a 2 day break. We set off early at 6am saturday morning and took the little ones for two days of fun at Haven Seashore in Great Yarmouth - from water slides to the arcade, to build a bear to pottery making, to mini golf to the beach - we crammed so much in and the kids had a blast and some much needed quality time with us both.
Cruz has been continuing to ride his bike at every opportunity and we even managed to get a video doing a divebomb at Perry Barr, and has since made his Eurosport debut at Birmingham, as well as his BSN debut at Oxford yes, yes - i cried both times. We are still shocked at how popular he is with people asking for him wherever we go, whatever track Chris goes too - it's bonkers.
He was kindly given an Oset bike to try by Dayco Power - one of Chris's sponsors - it's faster than the Revvi and has a few extra settings - He absolutely loved it and had fun showing off round Oxford, as well as lots of time in the field doing his own grasstrack, he was devastated when he had to give it back so much so that he is getting a new custom one which he's asked about every single day - not even joking - so watch this space. He continues to have lots of training with dad practicing corners etc but sometimes doesn't listen and ends up in a tree - if you follow his socials you'll know what i am talking about - the giggles on the video gets me everytime. You've probably seen footage of Cruz standing up riding his bike around Oxford and some photographs online - we've been asked a few times about why he is doing it - the simple answer is that the Revvi is too slow - he thinks standing up might make it go faster, plus to be honest he's just showing off ...
Completely off topic - I just want to say thanks to everyone who has given/sent gifts for Cruz - I'm talking handmade teddy bears, custom helmet colour with his logo, his own customised mini high vis, beautiful pictures on slate, printed and painted just to name a few - absolutely overwhelming, he loves everything and is so grateful - so thank you !!!
Back to racing and Chris is back in action tonight at Sandy Lane - 3 rebuilt bikes and new fuel - he's ready, and so is Cruz who will be doing some demonstration laps. Me and the girls are staying home and will watch it on the TV.
Cruz has kindly been sent some bits for his bike from Revvi and Broomie at Pro B to change and try, so he'll be in the workshop at the weekend getting the bike ready for his big event on monday night - where he is officially opening Leicester's new mini track and completing the first ever laps and racing through the ribbon before the main meeting on Eurosport ...
I mean, I don't know about you but I know where I'll be spending my bank holiday monday, better go and buy some tissues .....
Photos - Harris family ©️ unless stated otherwise
I've really enjoyed reading your blog. It's great how you all work together and come together. I remember some of the things you mentioned from Cruz and Chris' Facebook pages, and my sister and I were at Peter Craven cheering Chris on.
Looking forward to your next blog.
Claire
Enjoyed reading your Spring Frenzy. You are certainly a busy family. So pleased your children are all doing so well. Such a lovely family.