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Alan, my sharp and perceptive brain deduces that the little guy must be one of your kids. Good huh? I'll bet his name is Dean right? The guy in the Sherco jersey looks like Cabestany!? Why is Mike Holmgren there though?

Alan, there has to be a structure in place before the bikes begin showing up. For example, there were no 4 strokes in MX or SX before the current structure was put in place by the AMA. Then Doug Henry and Yamaha showed up, then a few more and you know the rest. There may be some lean years and small fields initially but it will grow and quickly become a well stocked class IMO. I'll surely put my kids on a 125 whether by mandate or not.

Great article Craig. You laid it out well IMO.

I wish there was a mag in publication about this sport other than Trials Competition which I subscribe to and enjoy. Anyone know where I can get back issues of Trials World? Anyone have a set they'd like to sell?

Truly excellent insight Nigel and I couldn't agree more! Thanks for posting that!

That is so wrong for Mr. Markham to lose his venue for teaching children to have fun in a responsible way. As to the Riverside ordinance, I just read on KTMTalk.com that a large group of off-road organizations just filed suit saying that the ordinance passed in Riverside violates a number of existing State and Federal laws. This was from RacerX magazine, in the breaking news section of their website. I'd post a link but I have no idea how to do that. Here in Minnesota they just voted to open up MORE State land to OHV's and we have taxpayer funded riding areas throughout the State that are free and have very nice riding areas. The Rangers who work there are very helpful and want you to have fun. This is in supposedly liberal MN! Having both Arctic Cat and Polaris based in the State probably helps too. Bill, I have 127 acres in Northern MN you can use for your schools!

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think mono means single shock and t/s means twin shock.

Brendan, people liked my daughters GG TXT50 so much they stole it from me! When I was hauling my very nice KTM 250Exc around I had a few folks who asked about it or gave the thumbs up but when I haul my GG TXT321 I get twice as many questions and thumbs up. Once again this may be due to Duluth having hosted 3 WTC events recently.

I still think all the stars are beginning to align to allow trials to grow spectacularly in the US. I think MX is near its zenith due to the circumstances I've posted previously, ie land, noise, expense, and insurance. Trials trumps MX on all of these counts. Americans also don't need to be thrilled every minute for a sport to be a success. Witness poker, golf, NASCAR, and the TdF. That said, I think trials at the WTC level IS thrilling. I've never seen a local trials event so my point of reference is the WTC. This last fact may have given me an inflated estimation of the fan appeal of this sport. If, in fact, trials at anything below the WTC level has limited fan appeal then there may not be the potential for growth that I envision. This then supports my belief that our National Pros need to raise their game to the WTC level. I also completely understand the sentiment many may have that they enjoy the tight, familial atmosphere that trials has in the US and they don't want that to change. Rapid growth would bring change, both desirable and undesirable, to the sport. The trials community needs to examine whether the risks of growth outweigh the rewards. If the community decides on a growth strategy and implements a plan to bring that about then the inevitable result will be that some people are unhappy and some are happy but it may be that some of the hard working people who've invested so much time, money, and energy for so long may get rewarded beyond the personal satisfaction level they've done it for up to now. Either way, my family and I will surely enjoy this cool sport for a long time to come.

What, you don't like purple? Prince does and he can really pull the chicks! My friend got a '97 Beta last Sunday, it's amazingly clean but I'm gonna get him a couple of Prince posters if I can find them just to rip on him because his bike is way cleaner than mine! I do know that they make paint that is especially for plastic though. Supposed to basically melt into the plastic, never tried it though.

sirhc, the bills are making me go back to work. It has been a good time though. Maybe I need to tell the wife to get a better job! Alan, that is noble and important work you've been neglecting... I mean doing! Really though it is. I'm scared to touch that womanstouch site until the young one go to bed though.

So you wrote all those innane and incomprehensible procedures I had to comply with while I was the Quality Assurance Manager for Northstar Aerospace. (thats where my stupid screen name comes from n.s.a.q.a.m.)We made it though and became certified. I got out of manufacturing finally. sirhc, that's exactly what I am right now too! Not for much longer unfortunately!

I enjoyed the more technical sections down in the stream at Duluth more than say section 3 with the 16 ft splatter wall. One of those stream sections, I think it was section 5 that went under the bridge was interesting to watch all day. Nearly everyone made it through but only Kuroyama cleaned it. It was amazing and nothing big about it. This is an excellent post ishy and I look forward to reading what you veterans think.

Alan, I think you and I are spending far too much time on the computer lately!

No Alan, I completely understand your point about your Z71, same thing with my Audi. I'm sure that's partly the reason for more notice of trials things. As for our Duluth club, we don't have one in Duluth. The nearest one is the UMTA based in southern MN. Great club but only 1 event is within 100 miles of me. Half a Tire Right and I have discussed the possibility of starting a club but would like to talk to Steve Ahlers about the process and prospects. I'd think it would be doable and would relish the challenge and the opportunity.

Just a small 751 but it's pretty clean! I got an extendo-boom and pallet forks for it too along with the standard bucket of course. Need one of those cool hydraulic post hole diggers though. As for the displacement thing, in the enduro world there is no advantage given to 4 strokes. 250 against 250 be they 2 or 4 stroke. This is as it should be IMO.

Wouldn't all you veteran trialer LIKE to see the Martin Belairs and the others who've invested so heavily in this sport get the monetary rewards their long, hard work deserves. I don't even know them but I sure would.

And yes DrHud, sales of road racing bikes have gone up dramatically in the US since we started winning championships against the best. And DrHud I have gotten off my a** by helping bring the best trialers to Duluth but far more importantly by bringing my children with me and sparking their interest in this sport and doing what it takes to instill in them a desire to be the BEST in the world!! So get off my a** and have some pride in being American and wanting Americans to be the BEST in the world! I'll never apologize for that! Poker on TV is a joke and if you don't think trials on any level are more exciting that poker maybe you need to rethink your sport choices! Flame away, I can take it, I'm an American!

DrHud, you're saying the same thing as I am but we draw different conclusions from it. I've said that mediocre finishes in the WTC would mean nothing to us self absorbed Americans. I've said that the best MXers in the world come here to compete with the best. I've said that it would take winning championships in the WTC for people in the US to get interested. I've used Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong as examples of this in the TdF. I've said that before these 2 guys the TdF was a 2 minute news blurb, and now thanks to winning CHAMPIONSHIPS the TdF is covered live from beginning to end in the US. Why cannot it be so with trials? Do we care who the Arena Football League Champ is, or the World Football League Champ is? But we all know who the NFL champion is because the NFL is considered the top rung on the football ladder. It takes winning at the HIGHEST level to be newsworthy and to get us interested. The World Baseball Classic is a good example as well. We get beat bad but put the Japanese team up against the Yankees or the Cubs in a 7 game series and the Japanese will be spanked 9 times out of ten. We are only interested in the top and our National Trials Championship isn't considered the top, YET! I think it could get there but it saddens me that many in this community are happy with mediocrity or worse on the world stage. Of course it should be fun and all the 200 or so folks racing at my local MX track are having fun but out of that group comes the Bob Hannah's, the Ricky Johnson's, the David Bailey's, the Ricky Carmichael's and the James Stewart's who are without question the best in the world at what they do. Why cannot it be the same in trials? Fun but still producing the best in the world. I've surely seen alot more trials bikes in this area around Duluth since the WTC started coming here in '02 and I've heard non motorcycle people mention trials much more often as well. This interest was spurred despite the dearth of American competitors. You guys sell short, it seems to me, the excitement, amazement, and interest that the WTC brings to normal Americans! It profoundly affected me and Half a Tire Right and my daughter and we all got into the sport because of it. Many others I know are also considering or actively searching for ways to get into the sport. The WTC is in no way too boring, too cerebral, or too slow to catch our interest. Quite the opposite IMO. I know of no other motorsport where one can get as close to the action as in this one, where one can stand on top of a 16 foot splatter wall and watch the worlds best attempt to ride it, where one can dip his toes into the very stream the worlds best are riding through 5 feet from you! Where you can hold the world champs bike while he tightens his boots during practice and attempts to play mind games with his competitors. I have developed a raging passion for this sport based on going to 2 WTC event and watching the worlds best do the impossible. It seems to me that some of you who've been in the sport are satisfied with the status quo. I'm not and I truly hope for the day the best trialers in the world come to America to compete with the best.

Lane, I hope the FIM does not allow 250 4 strokes in the 125 class. It would be a horrible mistake for the reasons I stated elsewhere. They do not at present, lets hope it stays that way.

Alan, although I believe that displacement classes may be a good idea that doesn't mean we need to emulate everything about MX! Especially if what MX does is a horrible mistake! Using your logic, I'm advocating that trials would line all the competitors up behind a gate and they'd race to the first section! Patently ridiculous! Why can't you, for the betterment of the sport you love and support, see that others may have legitimate ideas and thoughts for this sport as well. Not me, I'm a newbie, what I say can carry no possible weight, but others who have a longer history in this sport. You seem to look for absurd ways to discredit these ideas by looking for the worst possible scenario rather than a rational examination of any possible merits of these ideas.

Alan, on your last point about 250 4 strokes competing in the 125 class. I would say emphatically NO!!!! The huge displacement advantage given to 4 strokes in MX has been a huge mistake IMO. It increased costs dramatically, radically increased noise complaints, and relegated a simple and inexpensive engine that could be maintained by the rider to the scrap heap. Nothing IMO would be worse for the sport than giving a displacement advantage to the 4 stroke! If the 4 stroke can't compete on its merits (it has a few) then it shouldn't compete. How's that for a response to your fishing expedition?

You make some excellent points Tom. The difference as I see it is that when you watch flattrackers nobody says "No way are they going to make that left hand turn" I hear these type of comments continuously at a trial. Nobody is amazed at the talent exhibited at a flattrack although I'm sure it takes a considerable amount of talent to do it. Everyone, without exception, is amazed at the talent on display at a trial. Another advantage trials has over MX and speedway is the space and equipment requirements of the track based sports, not to mention the increasingly important noise issue. I could set up a trial with indoor and outdoor type sections in one of my 20 acre pastures using nothing more than my Bobcat. I could change its severity and configuration at will and still preserve the field for grazing (if I had animals) Not only are trials bikes quieter than MX bikes or speedway bikes but they also rarely have 30 - 40 of them at full revs simultaneously. As I mentioned before, the costs for MX have recently gone through the roof with the unwise adoption of the 4 stroke engine. Yearly, and sometimes twice yearly top ends are in the $2000 range per. Neglect to do your top end or change the oil and you're talking $4k+ for a grenaded engine. With skyrocketing medical costs how long will it be before the MX tracks can no longer afford their insurance if they can find it at all? The risk of serious injury is much higher at a MX race than at a trial mainly due to the speed and the proximity of other competitors. For these reasons and many others I believe that in our increasingly crowded and insanely litigious society the conditions are perfect for a rapid growth of trials for better or for worse. Get trials some good exposure, point out the ecologically friendly nature, the low risk of serious injury, the neighbor friendly decibel levels, and showcase some awesome talent and folks just might buy into this sport in a huge way. Thanks Ken Umpierre

I agree that it was the U.S. riders in the U.S. that made MX so popular over here. That's because the U.S. National series is considered to have most of the best riders in the world. I don't believe we can reach this point anytime soon in trials but imagine the time when the best riders throughout the world decide they have to come to America and race in OUR National series to compete against the very best riders. It happened in MX and it may be possible in trials as well. As Dman says, a few top American finishes in the preeminent WTC would do alot to raise the interest level over here. From here , who knows where it can go? Heaven knows we have the population and surely the wealth to produce some top talent. From what I've been learning, we may be headed in that direction already with some of our youngsters displaying incredible talent and tenacity. I also think MX may be about to head into a downward direction with very expensive 4 strokes that are way too loud ridden by kids who break far too many bones to be economically or ecologically sustainable. Maybe the '70s trials boom will happen 30 years later than expected! I hope so!!!!

sideup, no worries, I was talking out my a** and I deserved a smackdown. No excuse but my 2 year old forcing me onto a sliver of my bed with his little knees in my back may have colored my judgement. They're only young once though! I of course have no other intention in this sport than to have fun. I have the same hopes for my children as well. I'm sure that having fun with dad is why all the Dougie Lampkins, Adam Ragas, and James Dabills got started too. The difference though is that their trials organizations mandated that their fun would come in the context of the stepping stones towards a World Championship. They could get off this path anytime they desired and continue to ride for fun alone. This is as it should be IMO. If my kids and I have good times together and create lasting, loving memories I will be happy as a clam. If however 1 or all of them want to go further and if they derive personal satisfaction from the quest to be the best then I want that for them as well. Who's going to videotape this much ballyhooed competition because I want to see it? Ringo, 3M duct tape is the best for your leg, trust me.