Lancs County should be back up and running trials again as we have plans to hold a Wednesday evening trial on August 19 at Wrayton Hall Farm, Wrayton, LA6 2QU. This is a scheduled date for an evening trial from the club so should be in your diaries!!

 

Now, as you may be aware, things are very different now due to the Coronavirus epidemic, so here's the details of what you have to do and what we have to do.

 

We have applied for a permit to run (that's no different to normal) but it is through ACU head office and not the local North West Centre. Once approved and issued we create an on-line entering system on the ACU website which is the ONLY way you can enter the trial. There's no entering on the night, nor any phone calls to me(Mike Rapley) saying you'll be coming, can I reserve an entry for you.

 

That no longer happens. The entry facility opens on Sunday, August 9 and closes on Monday August 17 at 8pm. We need a minimum of 30 riders for the trial to run and be viable and a maximum of 50.

 

The reason the maximum number of riders is 50 is because the evenings begin to draw in and because it means that we only need to have five riders per group.

 

Groups you ask? Yes, now what happens is that we put each rider into a group, it's a bit like being at school where you pick your team mates though you can ask on the entry form to ride with a friend and we will try to accommodate that wish. Those that don't specify a riding pal will be allocated a group in which to ride and the groups will be listed at the start. One rider from each group will be given a bag with the means to score the group which is handed back to the secretary at the end of the trial. He observes the group throughout the trial and it must not be handed to another rider. You can choose your preferred observer from your group. There will be no separate section observers.

 

All this means is that riders need to get themselves to the trial on time for a briefing at 5.50pm. Group one will start at section one and other groups start at the section that corresponds with their group number. Only one group at a section at a time, no overtaking the group in front and no section inspection after the first lap.

 

We hope to have Terry the burger man back with us for this trial and whilst all this might well seem very different, this group system has worked very well for the two Westmorland trials that have been held in July and for which I was the secretary.

 

So the website on which to enter on or after Sunday, August 9 is acu.org.uk. It's very easy, you can't enter without an ACU licence and payment is taken on line.

 

If anything is unclear then it's OK to give me a call, but it has worked well so far and whilst you may not like having to faff around entering in advance and on-line, it's the future as far as we can tell, certainly until we receive different instructions from the ACU. I hate the expression, but this could well be the "new normal".