Boxing Day Trial - 2013
PROVISIONAL Results - Now version 4Words by Colin, BenBish and ....anyone? Results by Vess. Pics by Judith Falconer and Colin.
Page index: the Junior Trial Report, Snippets
The Junior Trial
I can't comment on the main (adults) trial because I was focused on the white hot competition which was; the 'junior conducted trial'. So, here follows a brief report.
As many of you know and was stated in Colin's preamble the weather was kind to us! But hey! didn't we deserve it?
We (Fred and I) turned up early to throw some markers up for the Junior trial. We'd run out of time and brownie points on Christmas Eve when we marked out the rest of the trial. The bramble battle (a recurring theme this year) had been waged on the previous Sunday, so, we knew basically where we were going. Although, it has to be said; I was feeling my way in the dark with the section severity (or lack of), what with it being the first Junior trial I'd marked out!
After Darren's pep talk I set off like the Pied Piper with the Juniors in tow. However, it was too much for me to keep track of all 6 of the mighty entry and I'd lost 50% of them at the first junction.
We arrived at the first of 5 sections intact with all 6 riders and associated parental entourages. Not only that, we also had with us local trials legend, the one and only Simon Welch. Simon offered his help as he found himself without a bike to ride in the main trial. That was his story, but I think he was worried about me putting some of the young ones off trials for life. Thus, depleting the audience for his youth training squad.
The format we'd adopted was suggested to us by Simon (it was also similar to Gwent Schoolboys from years ago). We ran all the sections with two routes; Junior and Junior Expert. The idea is that ability/experience dictate the the route you ride, and not age.
The entry was 6 strong; 4 Junior Expert and 2 Juniors. So, I guess we knew from the outset that it was going to be just for the fun of it (all classes need a minimum of 6 to be eligible for an award).
We turned up at the first section and had the cursory perusal. Fred was at the front of the queue; anybody would've thought he knew where he was going? During the section inspection I took the opportunity to speak to some of the other parents. During a chat with a parent usually seen at a motocross track, I discovered that a certain Master Delaney was not on his first choice of machinery. His first choice (Gas Gas 50) was out of commission because the frame's design parameters had been exceeded and it was now in two pieces. How exactly did that happen? I inquired, 'trying to clear the tabletop in our field' came the answer!
We continued around the lap with some of the Junior Expert sections looking a little too challenging for some. They weren't however, looking challenging enough for Oliver Goode who made light work of the challenge. Impressive, considering this was his first trial! For lap two we eased most of the Junior Expert routes to give everyone a fighting chance to get through unscathed. The Junior route was left as it was. I did consider increasing the length of the sections, just to increase the burden on Ben Falconer's cardiovascular system. Just to clarify to non OSET parents; the demands of running round half bent over on the verge of falling on your face with arm outstretched holding on to the back of a mudguard, cannot be underestimated!
Fast forward to the 3rd lap; we decided to do the the final two laps in one to combat depleted batteries and 5 year old's attention spans. We would have probably had the markers picked up and finished much earlier, but an extra 10 minutes was needed to pick up hats, gloves and fleeces (plural) that Ben had shed whilst doing the 'OSET Stoop' (the evidence is there on the front page of the website!)
I'm not to sure what the results are (I hear Vess got so fed up with Colin's results software he has left for Penybont to drink all the beer in the Severn Arms?). Anyway, I think everyone had a good time and enjoyed themselves, so, 'mission accomplished' (that's called slapping oneself on the back!) (We wouldn't miss giving you a good slapping, Ben, we've just delayed it until next club night! ed.)
I not sure about the 'in and outs' of the adult trial, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated. We want to make this the best trial we can.
See you at the next one. Cheers. Ben.
Snippets
Thanks to all of you who put 'Good weather for Boxing Day' on your Xmas wish list. It worked!
Many of you made the assumption that I was running the entries and results system, but we have a tech-head at our helm in Chairman Ian Vessey who was willing to suffer my software, which allows for me to supposedly be away or even ride - how come I ended up observing! Unfortunately Vess had met one of my software bugs head on, so doing the results caused him more than his fair share of headaches, but little did he know he was superb at doing unpaid software testing!
Now the results are up, you can see Tom did not have an advantage with his local knowledge as he wasn't watching the arrows. A real shame as he missed riding some sections that hadn't been used since we ran the Cotswold Cup ... a long time ago. (correct me, as I'm invariably wrong, please.)
Clubman route on section 4 was interesting. A half-hearted attempt left you risking a scratched disc or sprocket while a full blooded attempt left you planning your landing site. Rob Maller now holds the world record as he landed on the down slope with just enough room to turn for the ends cards - most entertaining.
The Expert route at section 4 had the double steps included but as this was also a Clubman/Expert section there were some nervous approaches. Matt Welch proved you could get over the second higher step from a standing start after fiving the first part and Victoria had sussed you could lower the step with a line to the right to help her 125 out a bit. Jason Bendall desperately wanted to master it but only improved on a 5 once, so came back at the end to try again, and as you can see in the shot, managed it fine.
Merv Morgan found a new way of braking - jam a 6" square stone firmly between your tyre and swinging arm - took nearly 10 minutes to get it out, after much head scratching brute force was the answer.
The junior trial wasn't without mechanical mishaps, One young lady's Grandma was sent off to get the spares to keep her electric bike going. (What, you need spares for an electric bike? you say! ... Yes. You need a non-bent key to start it.)
There weren't just Grandma's at the Junior trial, in the main event Bryan (one of our founder members) and Margaret Grindle were clambering about to get the best vantage points to watch their grandson, (and last year's winner) Ben Bowkett, have some brilliant rides.
It looks like timing for the event was spot on because all riders had finished their scheduled laps before closing time and indeed we'd finished clearing up the sections and even packing away 20 minutes after - head for the Tufty someone said. It's Christmas!