Moto Británica Trial - 28 Sep 2014
Info
Results Update - Ben's Test Time corrected. (I'd mistaken an 'F' to mean Fail instead of Fastest) My apologies.
Final Results are now linked on the right.
Thanks to whoever booked the weather but please could we have 20 mins of rain before the start next time to damp the dust down!
Ian came up with a brilliant game plan to make good use of the new format for this event. having 2 laps of one of the private land parts meant riders could tackle more sections with less road riding and us organisers could man them easier.
So the morning was taken up with 2 nice warm up sections then 13 climbs, twists and turns around the 'Scowles', then before you forget what you had just suffered you had to tackle the last 13 again with all that benefit of hindsight! (Did it work? did you improve?) Then the pleasure of a teddy bear's picnic out in the sunshine with Carol's tea and cakes (Ok, it was me who stole the last piece of fruitcake [and possibly the one before that})
The number of sections conveniently fell onto one full punchcard so new ones were issued for the afternoon. We lost 1 of our riders here with a tweaked knee and one more who opted to help with observing but completed the route.
Everyone got so relaxed it was difficult to get going again but a couple of green lanes en route to the next group of sections rattled everyone awake for the dry version of Forge Wood where the steep climbs and a much longer loop was possible.
Only one lap was required in Forge Wood but the off-road mileage made it feel like plenty.
A short trip to the edge of the Welsh border and a long lap around Lord's Grove ended the day with 5 sections that were possible cleans - if you weren't too tired - did we say the riders got there money's worth with 43 sections and a great ride around?
Snippets
No problem if you forgot breakfast as each entry came with free Tea and a Bacon bun in the morning.
Glyn, or was it Max, demonstrated the use of the electric starter mid section feet up whilst on full lock whilst the vociferous audience were on full noise chanting chapter and verse on TSR22B. He just about got away with it though.
Long time promoter of the Moto Brit (nee Sidecargate) Stan Howitt was one of the section hopping observer team until he was let down literally as his long suffering Pamp broke a shock link collapsing the rear end. Luckily he could walk the bike gently downhill for a mile to the superb rescue services of Tony Falconer who magic'ed up a bike rack and a 4x4 in the middle of the woods. Mind you, that did leave BenF steaming, again literally, as his cooking clutch had to be cooled down before each section and now no chance of packing in. With no excuse for not finishing he persevered with a good result. (I've seen the shopping list of jobs to do before the next event. Let's just say Tony is going to be busy for a while.)
Mark has been in touch and the knee had improved the next day and thanked us for a great day until that point. We have been putting alternative routes in our Trailbike/Novice trials that were way easier than the Brit ones so anyone who wants an easier day should give them a go. At the Orepool afterwards there was a discussion about putting a real beginners event on so that might happen too.
Videos from Vess
Click the 'Playlist' or view Vess's Vids on YouTube by clicking on the YouTube logo at bottom of Vid (Hover over it). You will see a series of loads from various sections.