SIMON Stead is doing all he can to make sure he stays sharp during Swindon Robins’ enforced break from action, but he is desperate to get back on the bike as soon as possible.

The Robins’ last seven meetings have all fallen victim to the weather, with the latest coming on Monday when the televised meeting at Poole was called off after only seven heats with the score locked at 24-24.

The majority of the Swindon side have been getting meetings under their belts with their clubs in Poland, Sweden and Denmark, but, with Stead only riding in the Elite League in 2012, he has been left short of vital track time.

The heat leader has been keeping fit for the last month, as well as trying to organise practice sessions at tracks across the country, but told the Advertiser nothing can take the place of regular meetings.

“There is nothing you can do really, but I managed to get some laps in at Sheffield last Thursday which helped a bit, and I have also booked in some practice at Scunthorpe just to get back on the bike,” he said.

“All you can do is make sure you stay fit and healthy and make do with what you can, so that is what I have been doing.”

“It is certainly starting to take its toll and it is getting frustrating, especially for someone like me who is only riding in Britain.

“Getting track time has been really difficult and I suppose I felt a little bit rusty going into the meeting at Poole.

“What it is doing is bunching all of the fixtures together for later in the season, and that is not always a bad thing because the Elite League fixtures can sometimes be a little bit sparse at times.”

The Robins will try again to beat the weather tonight when they are scheduled to take on Eastbourne at Blunsdon, and the Eagles travel to Wiltshire having completed more than twice as many meetings as Swindon.

Stead admitted the south coast side may be sharper than the hosts, but backed his septet to make the most of their home track advantage and claim the win.

“I am sure they will be a little bit sharper than us because of the number of meetings they have had, but we are at home and we have all been going pretty well around Blunsdon I think,” he said.

“We have every reason to go into the meeting confident, but we must not under-estimate them because they have some riders who go well around our track.

“At the start of the season I think a lot of people predicted they would be at the bottom end of the table, but we have to give them the respect they deserve.”