expat1

Albear As far as i can remember i never ever sent to Palamos, I did send once to Perpignan with the BICC when we lived in Shropshire We had our 11th bird home this afternoon she was my first choice for the race, so proves i cannot pick them out, One to go Steve

Regardless of the outcome of Barcelona. there are a few English Fanciers who send every year and they are the stalwarts of the sport in England, It takes a lot of Preparation to even get a pigeon fit for such a race and it is planned or i should say worked out from the beginning of the year of racing, I know Long distance racing is hard work, if you are going to get the best out of them and although long distance pigeon racing has been on the decline for years the few who continue when they get a good pigeon from a race such as Barcelona, they get such a buzz from doing so and a great deal of satifaction which in itself is reward enough for the effort put in by bird and Fancier. Having Raced over the years all distances nothing or any amount of prizes won on shorter distance flying can compare with just one good result from a long distance race

I have not mentioned any other countries racing, But to be honest there would be no comparsion in racing Barcelona or racing as you say from Chelenham to Edinburgh, Distance may be the same but not the conditions thats my opinion Steve

The way i see Barcelona and the reasons behind the Race Point is this The pigeons have a Barrier in front of them one of which they cannot go through So they have to try and get a line around it. Many take the wrong line that tells all by the amount of pigeons in a whole day being timed in, It certainly is not the distance factor, but the elements the pigeons face untli they get into France Proper, once they are round the Pyrennes, they have the Landudoc in front of them, Not spelt Correctly) this is where the sking takes place so it is very high, known as the Central Massive, once away from this then they are into France and a line for home, I think the Belgians and the Dutch and Germans send because they see it as the ulimate test for a long distance pigeon, and i think they are right it certainly is a test Rose is correct what she says, not enough send from England, It is not impossible to get a good bird but the odds are cut with so few going The British Barcelona Club found this out, It was very difficult for the pigeons so they moved away from Barcelona to Palamos, which although is near the same distance it cuts out a lot of the Mountainous area. But the point is if you do not send you will never know, It is a great pity the B.BClub and the BICC do not get together and have a go at Barcelona in a joint venture then if you send a thousand pigeons you will be in with a chance of some good results but will it ever happen Plus perhaps a lot of you already know this but for those who do not, The Dutch Long Distance Flyers do not have Long Distance Races Liberated in the Mornings, all of there long distance races the pigeons are liberated in the Afternoons, So the pigeons say fly for about 8 hours the first day then up and on there way next morning. But when a pigeon can only fly for 8 hours it is not tired, so if the night is clear and Light some keep flying well after normal hours of darkness, when a pigeon races only on two day flighs it gets used to flying later because it is still fresh, and it shows up on the results of races like Barcelona Belgium only has one race point where it is a two day race and that is from St Vincent, this race is only for Yearlings no older pigeons allowed distance 584 miles to me, they let them go about two thirty in the afternoon, there is thrre of these races for Belgium Yearlings one of which is International Interesting our first pigeon from Barcelona, last weekend was one such yearling last year raced from St Vincent he finished up 101st International Steve

Had another home about 20 minutes ago, two to go No' Rose it sounds easy but it sure is not, I was saying to my Brother this morning. 25.000 plus pigeons went up. there are around 6.500 prizes The Race closed at 8.oclock last night for International Prizes, Where were the other 19.000 pigeons at 8.oclock last night a huge amount of very experinced Pigeons at that, No, it sure is not an easy race, We think ourselves lucky indeed Steve

Good to see some English Fanciers timing in, I hope you got one this morning Rose, We still have three missing Nothing coming in this morning including our main fancied pigeon is still out, The International Prizes finished at 8.oclock Belgium time last night Rose the St Vincent pigeons went up at Arum, its only about 10kms from San Sebastion so made little different, i have not heard if there is an International Race this next Weekend, I will let you know if i here anything, We had Four Booked to go which flew the Pau International a few weeks ago Steve

Hi We finish off our Pigeons for a Long Distance Race by giving them De Hulled sunflower Seed, The sunflower seed with the husk on is very slow to give nourisment to the pigeons we want it to work fast so in the &0,s i used to take the shell off by hand using a Razor Blade. Today all this is done for the Fancier, use it with Confidence and add a teaspoon a bird of Hemp Seed the last Five Days it does the job of topping them off, that along with Beer Yeast and Oil, plus a Race Vitamin twice a week, should do the trick Steve

One more back from Barcelona, He dropped in at 9.45 tonight but he has been hawked under the wing a damn great hole but its dried up and a job to see. I will look at him tomorrow but it did not look good Rose the French cannot stop Transporters driving on there roads and Liberating in Spain, THey must be a little thick really, The St Vincent pigeons were realeased from San Sebastion on Friday afternoon they roosted up in France over night, It would have been the same if they had let them go at St Vincent Just a load of Headless burocrats, If most of them had a Brain they would be dangerous Steve ;D

Hi We timed another Barcelona pigeon at about 2.33, and another not timed at 8.30 this evening so eight home from the twelve, We have to be happy with that at the first attempt. I hope you clock in Rose or have clocked in by the time this is posted, Regards the rest of the International Season, I spoke to an offical who went to the KBDB meeting yesterday he said the four remaining International Races from Tarbes, Marseille, Narbonne, and Perpignan, they are thinking of making them just two International races the sites is Barcelona and San Sebastion, but nothing is certain yet In two weeks time we should have had the Yearling International Race from St Vincent only yearlings allowed we planned to send all our yearlings to this race and we paired them up for the first time this year special for this race, Distance 584 Miles, but it looks off so i have heard nothing to take its place. a real setback we were looking forewards to this race Steve

Hi We fly about 675 miles over here, we now have six Pigeons Clocked 9.37 - 10.08 - 10.38 - 10. 51 - 11.49 - 13.33 Bristolkev We now live in Limburg Belgium. we moved not far from you in Bristol, just up the road to High Littleton I hope you have timed in Rose, have you heard of any in England Steve

Hi Timed in from Barcelona at 9.37 and 10.08 Steve ;D ;D

Yes' Rose, it will be fast It was blowing a gale here today, very strong SW winds, i reckon that pigeons would do near on 1900 yds per minute if there was a normal race on But of course a bit slower from Barcelona but it will be a fast race, i will be outside before 5.oclock in the morning. I think they let go plenty early enough, but they should know what they are doing Good Luck tomorrow, I am as excited as a kid now, after 53 years in the sport i still get the same buzz on a long race, Win or loose, it will have been worth the hard work and preparation, just for the excitement it brings ;D

d mac Good to here, His Brother Somerset Pride is still with us over here as is Somerset Lad the Pau Nat winner. Both have bred pigeons to score from up to 578 miles over here, Barcelona is not so much the distance but the Obsicales they have to get through Like the Pyrennes to start with then as they get into France the Central Massive is in front of them and the last 150 kms to us the Ardennes they have to cross to the east side where we live. Many say over here they learn a lot after flying it once and are okay for it a second time, But you have to get them the first time before they go again They are Fit so its now down to them We Hope for tomorrow morning about 7 to 8 oclock

D Mac Yes, i am one of the Brothers, and we are still racing the same Family we started 20 years ago. Steve

Yes, we sent 12, Its our first time and the reason we moved over to Belgium for. We hope for the best Steve

For any of you in England who are Racing in the Barcelona International The Pigeons were Liberated at 9.50 this Morning, 8.50 in England Steve

If the Nederlands has had a case of bird flu as you suggest they might have, It has not stopped the pigeon racing in that country I will add a bit to this you may be interested to know that there are French Pigeons at Veviers about 30 miles or so from me waiting to be Liberated to fly back into France It will be interesting to see what happens to them

Heard tonight that the Belgian National Yearlings which is supposed to be from Sint Vincent will be diverted to San Sebastian instead Tomorrow the KBDB will meet to discuss what they are going to do, Hopefully the Barcelona International pigens will go up in the morning

The Barcelona Pigeons are now at Barcelona, It is expected they will be Liberated tomorrow morning weather permitting, The Belgian Pigeons at St Vincent is not known but i too expect them to go up tomorrow as planned but it is not yet guaranteed regards other French Races for the Belgian Fanciers this week or in the near future is not known yet a lot basket tonight

Rose, if i here anything regards a change from Perpignan i will let you know immediatly, Last Time there was a prpblem, Marseille International was off as was the Belgian Orange National, We are there for the weekend as well as Bordeaux Steve

Yes Rose, Barcelona is on for Basketing on Sunday in Belgium. I have not heard anything about Perpignan but i know the French Minstry had a meeting with the KBDB a couple of days ago and it was passed that racing go on as normal

It would be interesting to know where all this information comes from. Over in Belgium they are racing from Bordeaux and Orange this coming weekend, Both places pigeons can cross the Zones outlined, there are no rescrictions on the Belgian Fanciers racing at this time through France, As far as i know the Basketing for the Barcelona International goes ahead this coming Sunday, Of course that does not mean that the English Racing will go ahead as well I hope so but for the Belgies every thing has a green light

Hi I have had a few Private mails i have sent passed on to others.To me this practise is out of Order. Now we all post them in good faith, and also most posting on here including myself use an alias, So there fore we never know to whom we are posting to It has happened to me more than once that my private mails sent out to fanciers in good faith have been passed onto others this last few days and it will be the last time for me. I am no longer going to post on this subject and i will not be sending out PM in the future anyone can contact me on my home email address but name etc will be required if they want a reply expat1

Hi Chrissy You had a pigeon die on you unexpected you say and then rush to the medicines. Did you look down the throat as soon as you noticed the pigeon Dead. Was it okay before it died I.e no moping etc because if you had looked at the troat you may have seen a blue Mauve colour, If this is the case then the pigeon died of a heart attack, nothing sinister as to have to treat all in the loft expat1

hi Veteran No i have not heard from them, expat1 ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D