Bicc Pau International.

[king]

Andy, I consider myself to be a pragmatic person. I am not putting myself down mate and I am not depressed I am just really disappointed.
I have been dealing with the pros and cons of distance racing for the last 8-10years or so, so am not néw to it.
Apart from Messrs Rogers and Co brilliant bird, there are 60 odd other birds clocked and I really expected/wanted to be among them.
Last year, I was pleased to clock on the 3rd day but this year I really thought I was gonna get on the result.
Like King said 'we learn from every race' - what I have learnt from this one is that "tweaking" things is not good enough and next year I will "change" things completely.

The change I'd make if I were you Dave is, switch from BICC to NFC.

[CHARLTON34]

Dave you've had time to reflect on this race which was always probably going to get pigeons in & around the Bristol /Bath area if you look who has clocked, Clive Jill & Neil, J & D Staddon, G C Cooper, S Wilcox.
What are your thoughts with your pigeons moving forward for ybs & next year's ob.

[CHARLTON34]

Andy, I consider myself to be a pragmatic person. I am not putting myself down mate and I am not depressed I am just really disappointed.
I have been dealing with the pros and cons of distance racing for the last 8-10years or so, so am not néw to it.
Apart from Messrs Rogers and Co brilliant bird, there are 60 odd other birds clocked and I really expected/wanted to be among them.
Last year, I was pleased to clock on the 3rd day but this year I really thought I was gonna get on the result.
Like King said 'we learn from every race' - what I have learnt from this one is that "tweaking" things is not good enough and next year I will "change" things completely.

The change I'd make if I were you Dave is, switch from BICC to NFC.

What's your thinking then King if you don't mind me asking, I can see that the pigeons would more or less be coming in a group if they hit the French coast before crossing the Channel & not being dragged across France, Germany, Holland being spread out over a very large area. But the NFC would still be a big ask if Dave decides to go down that route in the future, a hard decision to make, I know Dave has the pigeons in his loft that have a good background with the NFC from previous performances from Mcsween & Sexton so will be interesting what his next move will be.

[king]

Andy, I consider myself to be a pragmatic person. I am not putting myself down mate and I am not depressed I am just really disappointed.
I have been dealing with the pros and cons of distance racing for the last 8-10years or so, so am not néw to it.
Apart from Messrs Rogers and Co brilliant bird, there are 60 odd other birds clocked and I really expected/wanted to be among them.
Last year, I was pleased to clock on the 3rd day but this year I really thought I was gonna get on the result.
Like King said 'we learn from every race' - what I have learnt from this one is that "tweaking" things is not good enough and next year I will "change" things completely.

The change I'd make if I were you Dave is, switch from BICC to NFC.

What's your thinking then King if you don't mind me asking, I can see that the pigeons would more or less be coming in a group if they hit the French coast before crossing the Channel & not being dragged across France, Germany, Holland being spread out over a very large area. But the NFC would still be a big ask if Dave decides to go down that route in the future, a hard decision to make, I know Dave has the pigeons in his loft that have a good background with the NFC from previous performances from Mcsween & Sexton so will be interesting what his next move will be.

95% of the BICC membership live in the SE of the UK, and although there are members to the West they don't fly many miles further. The further North you go the membership disappears because the distance go's from long distance to marathon racing. The NFC can and has been won in nearly every section. That's why the BICC Internationals get very poor numbers going to their races.

[CHARLTON34]

Thanks King.

[king]

Cheers King. I appreciate the sentiment.
I have had one come this morning
I've not put it in the clock but he hasn't flown for nothing, he's proved to me that he is worth another try and that's good enough for me.
I am still really disappointed with the performance of my birds in this race and trying to work out what I done wrong.

I'm really surprised you didn't clock it Dave, there been 10 clocked today including one by the actual race winner, as you in section NC (I think) you would still have a decent bird in your section as there's only 3 home.

[Diamond Dave]

Cheers King. I appreciate the sentiment.
I have had one come this morning
I've not put it in the clock but he hasn't flown for nothing, he's proved to me that he is worth another try and that's good enough for me.
I am still really disappointed with the performance of my birds in this race and trying to work out what I done wrong.

I'm really surprised you didn't clock it Dave, there been 10 clocked today including one by the actual race winner, as you in section NC (I think) you would still have a decent bird in your section as there's only 3 home.

Thanks for the input King , yes, my missus said that same thing.
I think there are several reasons really mate but can't really justify any of them. One of them is none of the clubs around here are distance minded. Their secretaries are all finished with the birds on the Saturday night and they are not too keen on being called upon on a Sunday to read my clock. They havr done it for me in the past and while they havent said anything directly. its clear they do it reluctantly. Im sure they would do it if I asked but I would rather save that favour for something a little more worthwhile.
I fly regular with the bicc program and will normally verify most of my first birds but will not get the clock read unless they are in the top 100 for the same reason. It's also a 65 mile round trip to the nearest secs house and I can't justify a quarter of a tank of petrol just to prove to others that "I have got one"
I think I have probably "charmed" you all to death with my ambition and when it happens I want it to be credible.
I am pleased he's home and he is pleased to be home and right now thsts all that matters to me.
I am still confident that some of the others will find their way home especially as one of them was the one I clocked last year from this race for 3rd section on the 3rd day. So I will still be up at silly o clock tomorrow -just in case
Thanks mate

[CHARLTON34]

Hope they work back in Dave.

[Diamond Dave]

Dave you've had time to reflect on this race which was always probably going to get pigeons in & around the Bristol /Bath area if you look who has clocked, Clive Jill & Neil, J & D Staddon, G C Cooper, S Wilcox.
What are your thoughts with your pigeons moving forward for ybs & next year's ob.

Hi Dave, hope all is well mate. I'm still trying to work out what I done wrong in this one Tbh. I thought my entries were cock-on and were the best I've ever sent.
I think they could've possibly had another race before hand and wondering whether 4 weeks was too much rest. They had all done Alencon and Nort sur erdre but I am now thinking they could have done St Philbert as well and just had 2 weeks rest rather than 4.
I also kept them on roundabout when I maybe should of paired up after Nort sur edre. But then if it was anything to do with motivation they should still have been home but maybe a little later. So I am thinking more a preparation problem rather than motivation. But then the one home this morning has come as bright as a button and lost just about as much weight as I wouldve expected over a 600+ mile race.
For the last 2 years I haven't been able to get the roundabout hens going very well so have only sent the cocks maybe next year spend more time getting the hens right.
I still believe the birds are good enough so I'm at a loss to pinpoint any one thing.

[Andy]

I know I am much more of a sprint man than a distance man, although I have won Lerwick at 650 miles and Pau at 540 miles, but I think you could have a good point in your roundabout system. Most of the top distance flyers have theirs paired up for the big races.
I also don’t think that the roundabout suits the cocks as much as the hens, which is why I fly widowhood cocks only. A lot of people do very well on roundabout, but it’s nearly always the hens that are the ones near the top. I haven’t ever tried roundabout but one thing I know with widowhood cocks is that they need their own box and plenty of quiet during the day and night in their box. I can’t see that moving them from section to section does them much good. As I said I’ve never done roundabout so might be wrong.