Wyegate Trial 1st April 2012

Final Results

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Photo Gallery (Oops This Gallery was an old software version. I need to update it - like so many other features on this site!) from Gordon Robbie and Jackie Jones.

Video is now out and shown down the page a bit.

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Want to see what happened in previous Years? Then go to the Past Winners List and click on the year number.

Also have a look at our Wyegate's Remembered Page

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The Latest

Final results are now available, link on the right.

We have a winner, Rob Breakwell scoops the Wyegate Cup with an impressive clean round on his first ever Wyegate ride.

President's son, Rob had a bike thrust at him and the task of minder and route card reader, and if we are honest, shepherd - to keep Roy moving instead of checking out other farmer's herds and tractors. (No seriously, I've tried it too, it is a real problem. ) Like a number of our regular riders, Rob has been a centre trials champion in his youth and we know he likes the challenge of riding a wrong bike but he couldn't wring enough power out of the Alp to beat Henry and Joe Bendall's times on the test, so next year could be a different bike again. Has anyone got a GS1150 we could throw at him?

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Videos

Part 1: has some of you on Tony's Wood and Llwyna. (If you have a slow connection, click HD to turn quality down.)

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Part 2: has some of you losing it in Ty-Fry 1 ( and very few cleaning it!) plus some great wall of death lines being pioneered by the younger Bendall clan. Then our Chief Marshal Huw manages the line easily but drops a dopey one, but is in good company!

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Clerk of the Course Says

Sunday the 1st of April saw the club's 2nd running of the 28th Wyegate - somebody couldn't count last year! As always the weather was present and all seemed to go well.

Firstly I would like to say a big thanks to all those who helped out in any way. Drew Moore and Colin Jones spent many half days helping me plan and carve out new sections and tidy up old ones.  Sue Neale and Jackie Jones also offered advice and did some gardening at times.  Ian Vessey and Darren Thomas plus others e.g. Guy Calderwood and Rod Jones kept on top of the PR work and Vess did a fantastic job with the road book. The entries were handled by Jackie again and Colin is busy as I write sorting out the results (well he had better be!) Poor old Huw Watkins volunteered to be Chief Marshal, I bet he wished he hadn't. Thanks Huw. 

On the day we had masses of help from so many people, on the sections and at the start, thanks a lot everyone. Finally many thanks to our land owners. Without them the event wouldn't be such a success.  I know I shouldn't single out people but I will. Gordon and Helen (Yes I know she uses something else but how do I spell it?) at Llywna had a visit a few months ago from me, asking if we could resurrect the section.  Their helpfulness to complete strangers was fantastic and the welcome was brilliant. If I have forgotten anyone I am sorry, so much went on that I wasn't aware of and if I have missed you out it wasn't intentional. Some of the things I did spot......read more on Matt's page

 

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Snippets

John Edmonds worked out that Cheltenham Home Guard A and B Teams tied on
51, but the B team bested them on total special test time by just over 8
seconds. Should make for an interesting club meeting on Thursday, ahead
of the Sphinx trial on April 15 (shameless plug).

Did you spot the deliberate mistake in the Wyegate Programme? Oops! We don't now hold club meetings at the Rugby Club, we actually meet at the Orepool. More info on club meetings.

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Riders Say

Graham Smith says: Many thanks to all involved for today's excellent event. I don't think I've ever done a Wyegate in such dry conditions - the easy going (though there were still plenty of challenging sections) has left me much less knackered than usual! Of course not being allowed to inspect the sections also helps in that regard - I think I prefer it that way.

Gary Scrivens says: What a treat the weather was and the course and no inspection sections were just about right. More of the same next year please and thanks to the crew.

Graham Coleman-Hill says: I would like to thank all involved for putting on another great event, I arrived at the Orepool on Saturday night and met up with Huw Watkins and was later joined by Matt and another chap who I should know his name (might be Rod) arrived on their push bikes and we were later joined by Beth and her Dad (I think) and later still Dave Godley pitched up, after a very good Ham egg and chips and several pints of cider and a good chin wag it was off to the van for a cold nights sleep.

Waking in the morning at about 7.00 to find a layer of thick frost over everything was a bit of a shock and after a cup of tea and breakfast from a tin I was ready to emerge. Everyone else arrived and after signing on and saying hello to everyone it was time to set off.

It was still a tad cold out on the road but nice in the sections, I was having a good ride clean up to section 6 (Lords Grove 4) then it all started to go wrong, as I overcooked it up the hill the front went light and I shot off in the wrong direction to pick up 5 points, now suitably annoyed with myself I carried on in the same vein and managed to pick up 3 more fives throughout the day (Wixon 3, Tonys wood, and Pant glas 2). Managed to get up Pant glas 1 on 2 points, I blame Pete for that (I always blame Pete).

Throw in a couple of Two's and 3 one's and a grand score of 27 put me mid field but a much better score than last year so overall I was happy (considering that I never practise and only ride the bike 6 times a year).

Back to the pub for a bite to eat and a cuppa then load up the van say goodbye and set off for cornwall and home, arrived home at 6.30pm after a good drive with no problems, another Wyegate over now I have to clean and prep the bike ready for the Jubilee in May (no not the royal one).

Bill Brown says: Despite riding like a buffoon with my eyes closed I did enjoy the day very much. Lovely views and just the right temperature. Great just up until the bike blew all its water into the gearbox!!

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Chief Marshal's Section

I got the impression when I volunteered to Matt to take on the job that there was a 'you sure' tone in his voice ! I know why now....! Seriously though, I took it on to get to know more members of the club - and wasn't disappointed!

I'd like to say a huge thanks to all who helped, and to the marshals who fell into two categories:

1. Volunteers - sorry for the 23 who offered to open, perhaps next year

2. Those who Matt said "they always turn up...." (and they did!) - and they didn't even moan about not being contacted.

Special thanks must go to Sue and Jackie who tolerated me at the start, and to those wonderful directions from Matt - "You go up the trail to where the water tower used to be...!!!" and such like. The landowners were brilliant, and very happy as we closed the course. See you all next year.

Well done to all the riders, especially Rob for such a superb ride, and finally thanks to Rod, Will and Dave for helping to clear the route!

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Ben's Press Report

A PEERLESS performance saw a new name added to the winners list of one of the longest surviving long distance trials in the country.

Rob Breakwell notched another achievement in a new discipline with a clean ride over 28 sections of the West Glos and Dean Forest MCC's annual Wyegate Long Distance Trial.

In the company of his dad Roy, the Monmouth mountainbike downhiller and hare and hounds racer went back to his trials roots and forced the Beta Alp 200 up over some fearsome rock steps and through the odd muddy hole on what was an unusually dry event.

The Wye Valley-based event is famous for rocky sections, ridden without inspection. Unlike many of the trial's veterans who return year after year, Sunday, April 1 was the first time Breakwell had seen many of the hazards, set out by clerk of the course Matthew Neale and his team.

Nothing phased him and the game breaker proved to be the Ty-Fry group.

Three time Wyegate winner Nibbs Adams took at dab at each section. The first, a new challenge through a muddy slot, took many by surprise but not all.

Glyn Moses, John Kenny, Keith Wells and Adrian Cairns kept their feet on the pegs through Ty-Fry 1 but the rest of the 80 competitors needed at least one prod to get them through.

Last year's top two, Gavin Moore and Dave Renham, couldn't match their 2011 efforts with 13 and 11 respectively. It marked the end of a run of three wins in a row for Moore, who simply had a rare off day.

The Bendall clan were up at the sharp end but some suffered when they were caught by the backmarkers and forced to take a five at Botany Bay to catch up.

Jason Bendall's 5 dropped him on to 8 marks lost and with it went third overall, while Henry Bendall's maximum took him to 9 and cost him fourth overall. His brother Joe also got caught but they put in the fastest times of the day on the timed special test by quite a margin.

The club would like to thank the observers and landowner for their help in making the 28th edition of the event such a success.

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Section Statistics

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