It started off a bit breezy but really pleasant morning. It is the Orkney Moto Cross race day today. Moto Cross is not something that I have ever seen live or taken much interest in but as it is a big, supposedly dramatic event and it is in Burray, I thought that I would go and have a look.
I drove over, realised that I had no money for an entrance ticket, drove back home, got some money and returned. The place was heaving. Hundreds of spectators all over the fields and especially on the sand dunes and hundreds of bikes. I arrived about 15 minutes before the start of the main race and when all the bikes were lined up for the start it certainly was very impressive, all noise and petrol fumes. I am sure that nobody in Burray could have ignored it. For the main race there were 132 starters, 131 men and 1 girl from all over Britain all revving their engines.
The start was impressive as all 132 roared up the stubble field but about 10 seconds into the race, at the firts corner, amidst all the dust, one or two bikes must have slid to much or gone over and next thing there were bikes all over the place. three of the people remained on the floor for quite a while but I don't think that anyone was seriously injured although there may have been a few broken bones. Although a few more people came off or dropped their bikes later in the race, I think that no more harm was done.
The course was about 2.5 miles long, stretching from the old chapel up to the wind turbine and back along the beach. The race is for 3 hours but after the first few laps people were being lapped and I had no idea who was in the lead.
I left after about 2 hours so I did not see who won but whoever it was, they deserved it. I could see that some of the riders were getting knackered and they must have been tremendously fit to keep it up for 3 hours.
In the evening we went to the St Magnus Centre for a couple of talks. The first one by June Morris on tracing the movements of early man and his livestock by comparing viral DNA particles that have been incorporated into the DNA of the people and animals. It still leaves questions but it does seem as though it is a good methos for tracing the movement. One thing that was possibly more than a coincidence is that one of the things June mentioned was that domesticated sheep may have come from the area around Sythia. At a talk the other day the speaker was saying that the Picts may have originated from around Sythia. Maybe he was not as far from the truth as I had thought.
The second talk was about sea level changes in Orkney in the past and their effects on the people and archeology. They are even finding underwater archeology now, as if they haven't got enough archeology on dry land.
June stayed with us overnight as she couldn't get back to North Ronaldsay until then. On the way back home from Kirkwall we got spray coming over the barrier for the first time since we have been here. Fortuately it was not high tide so we had no actual waves over the road.
Monday dawned sunny but with a good breeze. The weather forecast on Radio Orkneys Facebook page said the day would remain bright and breezy with winds of up to gale force. Somebody had commented that only in Orkney could gale force winds be described as "breezy". We had a nice lazy day and in the evening I went to a talk given by three people from different wave and tidal power companies and a girl from EMEC. They were all vert enthusiastic and if they are right about the future, then it is very bright for Orkney and their enthusiasm was so infectious that I believe them.
On Tuesday there was a talk about Time and Space. Apparently there are 6 dimensions( although I am sure that I have heard people claiming about 12 dimensions). At the end of the talk I looked at the car. It still seemed to be 3 dimensional and it was later than it had been earlier. I think that I may have a lot to learn.
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