Woke23

I'm not too sure on whether he's been practicing much on the speedway bike but over the winter break he's been doing a lot of mountain biking, and other stuff. He was regularly posting on social media but I haven't seen anything for a couple months now.

Cookie looks in decent condition in the photos I've seen. Last year he rocked up at Comets with a good old beer belly on him.

Definitely. Having watched both the pairs and CLRC on the weekend, I can confirm tates bike was very slow. He was losing yards on the straights and the lack of pace entering the bends was obviously affecting how he takes them. He flew around scunny when he used his second bike.

Unsure wether troy is riding. Workington comets facebook page states vuolas joins tate, but no mention of troy.

I hope so. I wonder who his mechanic is this season. You'd have thought they'd have it sorted a couple of heats in

Disappointed with the comets lads today. Vuolas improved as the meeting went on and I have no concerns he'll do well at home this season. Tate is the one concerning me. Coming in as the no.5 is a big ask after such a big injury. Last year he was superb. Today he looked slow gating and even slower around the track. I just hope it's the bike and not his confidence. It did seem like the bike was running slow.

Unsure how to feel about this. Troy is a strong gater and has loads of experience. However, vuolas is very quick around northside, quicker than troy. Be some good racing today.

I'm not too sure. I first head it was signal issues but you get 5G up there no bother. It could be card processing fees? I don't know. Maybe someone else can chip in and provide an explanation.

Weather is looking superb all week up here. I just hope they manage to keep the dust down because they struggled on many occasions last year. Can't wait for the return of speedway though. Excited.

Impressed with all the riders today. I know it's only practicing but I thought everyone looked quick. Bowes took to the track really well. The improvements to the facilities are top notch. The air fence, refs box, new toilets, and expansion of the viewing is impressive. We now have the best track in the league and with a few more improvements it could be the best overall.

Pints on Sunday and thirsty Thursdays

Eh?

Anyone getting some of the new merch? Bought myself a pit shirt and softshell.

Yeh, he looks like he'll be a good rider for us. Gates well and the little mistake taking the bend too wide was punished by two good riders.

Anyone watching the crump solo classic? Bought it a month ago because I got my dates completely wrong. Shame Tate isn't riding but Bowes looked solid in his first heat. Gated well and had plenty of speed. I'm sure having his own machinery (if he does) and track experience is playing a part.

I won't bother in future. I can see why some people leave the forum though.

Not being negative at all. My first comment was regarding cookie and batch. Both have their flaws and I was trying to spark a discussion in this thread due to it being quiet for a while. My second was regarding the financial situation and I clearly stated I hope the comets are here for the foreseeable. If you can't have a wide range of different topics going on in a forum then what's the point of a forum? This spots got a few wet wipes and snowflakes.

Imagine calling it bitching when I'm having a discussion on a public forum. A forum is there to engage discussion. Clown.

There could be a lot of reasons on why the promotion chose Troy over Cookie. I wouldn't be surprised if it was down to wages though. Workington are running on a limited budget and Mr.Bains has been very vocal about backing the team and bringing the numbers in. I really hope speedway at Workington is here to stay for the foreseeable but it doesn't seem promising after only two seasons.

End of the day, he's a young kid learning his trade but it still needs to be cost effective to do so. He may have found his other job to be better for him and has chosen that instead of losing money in speedway.

I had a conversation with Elliot Kelly at the comets match at redcar last season. He said he has no plans to return to speedway at the moment due to a cap on wages. Whether that has changed or not, I do not know. Shame really as he was a good rider when he wasn't on his arse.

This forum us a brilliant forum getting ruined by one or two muppets unfortunately. Try and have a discussion and get immature responses. Cookie is the better rider but you never know if he's going to turn up or not. However, same can be said about batch. Good rider, not as good as Cookie, but has previous rep of spitting his dummy. Infact I'm sure he done it on occasions last season. I think it was oxford where he was pulling wheelies across the finishing line when we were getting battered and he was in third.

Cookie rides Edinburgh well though so I do understand that. However, I think they would take anyone over who they've currently got.

But they could've still had a stronger reserve pairing with Cookie. They could have had the exact same team with Cookie

That is my concern also when it comes to batch. He has a bad rep and hopefully he's turned that around. As for cookie, I was excited to see him this season because he promised a good pre-season and to come back better than ever. What I've seen on his social media, he seems to be doing a lot more that will benefit him this preseason than he did last season where he was rumoured to have done nothing at all.