Sunday 12th May saw Aqueduct Classics return to its new venue for this year, Pen Y Graig. With 76 riders enjoying a day of relative warmth with the odd light shower every now and then, the sections made up mainly of climbs, nice turns and cambers in the wooded part of the venue to provide a good days completion for the four routes now offered to the Pre 65, Twin Shock and Pre 90 mono's entrants. The completion also included 10 riders on modern monos which are always welcome at the club. Since its inception in July 2010, the club has grown in membership and it was fantastic to see youth riders now joining the Pre-65 class with Harry Painter competing on a Bantam 175.
We are please to thank Gareth Thomas, Rob Sloggett, Mark Gaskell and Russ Jones for their contribution to this report.
Gareth Thomas- White route (Beginners)
14 riders took to the white route which was surprisingly mud free given the rain we had on the Saturday. The trial consisted of four laps of ten sections which the guys at Aqueduct Classics managed to make feel totally different to the last trial held there back in March so hats off to them.
Section 1 consisted of a couple of humps going into a clearing before doubling back over some rocks and branches, back over some more humps then an uphill turn and up the access track, looked simple enough but the loose rocks took a few marks along the way and I managed a 5 by missing some flags with the first lap nerves.
Then making the journey uphill deeper into the quarry taking in the next few sections which all consisted of off camber wet roots and banked turns which got gradually more challenging as the trial continued and certainly kept it interesting.
Section 5 had a nice easy start with a lazy right turn but then plenty of big rocks, roots and finally a fallen tree to get over which caused a few dabs on the way through and was definitely one of the more daunting sections to look at.
Section 6 wound it's way through some trees with flowing turns, through a muddy puddle full of rocks and then a quick squirt up a bank and out which was just a case of staying settled and feeling for grip up the bank as it got progressively wetter.
Section 7 meant traversing over a raised and very rocky bank whilst turning and out between the trees which with the addition of a bit of wet meant a fair few marks were lost in this relatively short section by all classes.
Section 8 consisted of a nice turn before dropping down a steep loose scree slope before another turn at the bottom and then over a rocky bank making a turn over the top with both gravity and the loose rocks claiming the bulk of the overall marks here too. Again one of the trickier section to test the rider but all the more satisfying when you got it right.
Section 9 was another easy start with an initial turn between the trees taking you down a steep loose rock strewn bank before climbing back up and across an off camber bank bringing you back up onto the main track and down the hill to the last section.
Section 10 started with a steep and fairly slick climb where grip and throttle control was key before making a wide turn and back down a completely contrasting rocky bank before cutting across an off camber loose bank back up onto the access track and down the hill to do it all again.
Top honours went to Cub mounted Jordan Hobbis in the pre65's with 19 marks with the next rider on 31 so a healthy margin there. Matthew Mellor was top of the Twinshocks going totally clear on his Yamaha TY175 leaving him 12 marks clear of the next rider (Pete Thomas on a Bultaco 350).Third place was taken on a TY 250 with Jorge Jaffares dropping a total of 13. John Coffin made his return to the series in style also going clear on his Yamaha TY250 in the Pre 90 Mono class again a healthy 7 marks clear of his next rival (yours truly on a TY 250). The modern Mono's proved to be the closest fought with Ben Jones claiming another victory aboard his Gas Gas 125 with 8 marks ahead of Andrew Dean on a Gas Gas 250 with 12 despite Ben suffering with a sticking front brake which would have been entered into the excuse book had he not won. Third place was taken on a Montesa 250 with Kevin Mellor dropping a total of 27.
Well done to all the riders and thanks again to all at Aqueduct Classics especially the observers for laying on another quality trial. Also thanks to the riders who bailed me out when I had a mechanical issue and again when I run out of fuel, both schoolboy errors I know but the help I received confirmed this is definitely the sport for me.
Rob Sloggett – Yellow Route (Clubman)
Having just finished getting a recent purchase (Bultaco Sherpa 175) running, I thought it prudent to take a back up bike just in case. Luckily this was not needed and apart from a bit of final tweaking ready for the Foel next month (see end of report), the day really suited the smaller and lighter bike I was out on for the first time. The Clubman's route was tightly contested (with only 14 points separating the 6th to 13th placings). Unfortunately for me a silly 5 on Section 8/lap 2 due to not walking the section 2nd lap moved me down the ranking's and I think that proves just how right the club got the sections on only their second outing to this venue. For me there were two section's that stuck in my mind. Section 3 whilst a simple snaking traverse through the trees had a mid section which required a parallel traverse across quite a steep camber. As the day went on, this started to unearth a network of roots resulting in two possible routes, keep high but light on the throttle over the roots or keep low to miss the roots but we wary of a tree right by the flag. A couple of sections also threw in a range of steep banks (first time out on a 175, I normally ride a 325 Beamish resulting in an interesting day experimenting with 1st and 2nd gear) and Section 6 offered a reasonable climb with a quick left/right over some impacted rock's then a sharp right to exit the section.
In the Pre 65 class, Clubman route honours went to Luigi Farinaccio riding a BSA 250 with 0 marks lost, second went to Mark Lucas with 1 mark on his BSA 250 and third place was taken on a RE 250 with Paul Thomas dropping a total of 4 (FC). In the Twinshock class, top spot went to John Sowden riding a Honda 200 with 1 mark lost (FC), second went to Ian Thomas also with 1 mark on his Bultaco 350 and third place was taken on a Seeley 200 with Terry McCann dropping a total of 5. In the Pre 90 mono class, honours went to Steven Richards riding a TY 250 with 10 marks lost whilst second went to Andy Steele with 52 marks on his TY 250. In the modern mono class, the win went to Ian Emery riding a Montesa 250 with 5 marks lost, second went to Nigel Rowbottom with 7 marks on his GasGas 200 and third place was taken on an AJP 240 with Allan Seedhouse dropping a total of 12.
Mark Gaskell – Green Route (50/50)
Sunday's green route at the superb Pen Y Graig quarry venue saw some really mixed sections, with one common denominator, loose rocks!
One slip in the wrong place saw numerous marks lost as the ground changed position under your wheels. Section 2 gave a couple of competitors a hard time, when not enough welly was given on the steep banks. Section 4 looked straightforward, but at least one rider shed blood here.... Section 5 had the dubious honor of causing the most swearing, certainly amongst our group, while the sting in the tail of section 7 lost us collectively the most silly dabs.
In the Pre 65 50/50 class, first was Ariel mounted Roly Jones, with a clean sheet, second was Gavin Andrews on a Bantam with 7, and third went to Tony Bradley's Cub on 8
Twinshock 50/50 honours went to Adrian Kent, with a clean sheet on his Bultaco, Paul Cook's Montesa Honda second with 4, and Mark Gaskell took his Whitehawk to third on 5.
There was only one entrant in the Mono 50/50 class, Alisair Seedhouse, so naturally he came first with 16 marks lost on his Beta.
Russ Jones (Clerk of the course) –Red Route (Experts)
After setting the trial out it's always nice to be amongst the riders and having a good laugh. I was on a good ride until I reached section 3. This must of been the trickiest section as we dropped in to a bomb hole up a slight camber with a turn then around a tree to be confronted by a large flat rock which was so greasy I gassed the bike onto the rock were I just slipped and landed to the side costing me the most hated mark ... Yes a big fat 5 .... From the start, the others were challenging but nice and straight forward . A good day by all.
In the Pre 65 class, honours went to Jim Pickering riding a 190 Bantam with 15 marks lost, second went to Russ Jones with 19 marks on his Francis Barnett 250 and third place was taken on a BSA 330 with Dave Wood dropping a total of 24. In the Twinshock class, honours went to Steve Martin riding a Majesty 270 with 2 marks lost, second went to Alan Miles with 5 marks on his Aprila 325 and third place was taken on a Armstrong 320 with Simon Anderson dropping a total of 10.
The next competition is the Y Clasur Foel , which is the Clubs main charity event. This takes place over 36 individual sections and is set in 35 miles of private forestry land. Entry is restricted to 160 and this year has seen the clubs first European entry. Routes are restricted to Yellow (Clubman) and Red (Experts) and entries are open to Pre-65, Twinshocks and Pre 90 Mono's. If you would like to register your entry, please visit the clubs website. Entries close Fri 21st June.