A rather disappointing entry of 34 riders tackled the four laps of 10 sections in ideal weather conditions for trials riders and observers alike - sunny and dry but not scorchingly hot. Each section had two routes with the majority of the entry riding the harder route.
Section 1 was a gentle opener which all the riders cleaned on every lap. Section 2 was more difficult with only 6 riders managing 4 cleans over the slippery turns and awkwardly angled log. Section 3 , 4 & 5 were set out on the grassy bank sides and although they cut up a little, they still caused only the occasional loss of marks. Section 6 was the only section in the stream this year and it, like section 2, took marks of all but 6 riders on the hard route and 2 riders on the easy route. Section 7 looked a little more tricky than the others on first inspection with its sharp climbs descents and double log but the section plotters left plenty of room between the hazards and most riders managed the section easily enough.
Section 8 was by far the hardest section on the day, certainly for the hard route and possibly for the easy route as well. A down hill approach to an angled log followed by a very tight turn and climb on slippery grass caught many of the riders for 3s and 5s especially on the first lap. The trick was to keep on the low side on the approach. It made the climb over the log more difficult but gave a much better line for the turnout .
Only one rider remained clean all day and that was Simon Bagshaw, unfortunately Simon lost marks at a few other sections and ended the day on 13. Helen Tatlock was next best on 2 but again dropped marks elsewhere. This time just two on the slippery stream section 6 for a total of 4 and joint best adult and joint second overall. Two riders lost 3 marks Bill Brown and Steve Thomas on his Cub. These were to be Steve’s only marks lost on the day to give him the overall win whilst Bill went on to drop 1 more for a total of 4. One more rider was to join Helen and Bill on 4 for joint second overall and that was Ben Singleton who lost all four of his marks on the notorious section 8. Sections 9 and 10 again caused few problems for the majority of riders .
Best youth went to Oliver Allen on 8 just beating Tom Shepherd on 9. On the easy route Nick Doyle was some way in front of the opposition on 4 on the modern bikes . Andrew Wright had a winning debut on his pristine Bemish with 20. Best youth went to Oliver Doyle to make it a father/son winning combination .
Hard Route
Steve Thomas 3
Bill Brown 4
Helen Tatlock 4
Ben Singleton 4
Vicki Greenall 6
Oli Allen 8
Tom Shepherd 9
Easy route
Nick Doyle 4
Andrew Wright 20
Oliver Doyle 35