March Hare 1st Mar 2009
Report and Photos by Ben Falconer
Ben's Update now the results are out:
Goff picked up 4th in the rigids on 2, Ian Wixon was third in class 2 on 16, a mark ahead of pre-65 Wyegate winner Paul Farley. Henry Bendall finished second in the trail bike 250 class (easy) to Gavin Moore. Both were clean but Henry lost out on test times. And if Henry had told his dad to go the right way in a section, Alf would have been clean - and was quicker than his son on the special test! Robert Davis thrashed brother Colin by losing six, Jim Delahay lost only 14, Nick Worgan 16 (where's Martin's name in the results?), Dave Harris and Colin Davis 19, Roy Breakwell twice what Jim lost (he may not have been taking the whole thing seriously), Darren Thomas on a mark more, and Bill Brown another mark more. Stan's down as a DNF but we're not sure why. He lost 23 even though he had a crack at some hard route sections. He usually rides sidecar in this event, where team Hannam cleaned up, Neil in the new 'uns on 3 and Ian in the old 'uns on 12. Dad had 51 and was nowhere near the back, and enjoyed a cracking day. As usual I had brainfade, ignored Henry's advice, and it cost me a dab. Just to rub in my agony, I beat him on the special test but that's no good if you can't keep your feet up!
This year's March Hare Trial was one of the easiest for many years thanks to the dry weather, and followed pretty much the same route as before.
It was none the worse for either. The Golden Valley Classic AMCA club have a tried and tested formula - loads of private land, navigated in a clockwise direction from Kingscote towards Wotton, Dursley, Nympsfield, and Chavenage. 50 miles, about six hours and 30-odd sections, all for £20. And it's 10 minutes from home. It ticks all the boxes for a perfect day out on the trails.
West Glos members certainly thought so - Goff Hannam, Jim Delahay, Roy Breakwell, Alf and Henry Bendall, the Davis brothers, Bill Brown, Paul Dekkers, Dave Harris, and Stan Howitt certainly thought so. Then there's the Cheltenham HG presence which was even bigger.
Jim reckoned his diddybike was not diddy enough - the CoG is too high and he dropped a few but not many. Roy never got chance to try out that theory with his new Alp, as he'd left the key at home! So he brought a Serow instead.
The Davis brothers duked it out once again in the latest instalment of the Davis Cup, while Paul learnt a fair bit about LDTs before retiring gracefully.
All but about 3 trail riders rode the easy route, as if you ride the hard route, your results get lumped in with the easy route. I have done the hard route before but it got to the point where only 1 or 2 were riding it, so I went back to the easy.
Stan had a crack at some of the hard stuff, which in reality wasn't much harder.
SSDT finisher, Western Centre Trials number 2 and Wyegate winner (is that enough of a fanfare?) Henry Bendall also rode the easy route, and reckoned he'd never done that before! He got dad Alf to ride shotgun and I think he'd have gone round clean even if he'd had one hand tied behind his back.
All bar 2 sections were straightforward. The first tricky one was the return of the graded hillclimb at Coaley, which caught out many riders. The ends markers were on a dog leg to the right and with markers on both sides being white, it was tricky to spot that, on a no-inspection section. Thankfully for me Robin Looms warned me of the danger and I crept in through the ends. The other was at the Tinkley Lane motocross track, where we crossed a muddy stream. I was baulked in the section, so was given another go and marked from where I was baulked. I'd like to blame my subsequent dab on that unsettling incident but truth be told, I chose the wrong line.
Henry didn't and though no results are out, I'd be surprised if he hasn't won. Thanks to the club for a massive effort once again, and for delicious home made cakes halfway round, included in the entry fee.