Andy

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Dan's original letter: With dwindling entries in many trials on the main route, it is time the ACU acted to change the rules so that there is just one method of marking in use - TSR22b. At WTC level the sport has become elitist with very technical sections and many big steps/jumps. As each rider is allowed to position their machine into any exact position, the sections have changed to suit the riders with tighter and tighter turns and bigger steps. This has filtered down into club trials which has alienated many riders who elect to either ride the easy route or not at all. This has resulted in the severity of the so called easy route increasing to suit the new (higher) standard of riders, and many proper 'clubman' dropping out of our sport. A change to no-stop will mean that the sections do not have to be as technical and difficult, as it is harder to ride a section without stopping than being able to stop, regain balance and re-position the machine. This change will also reduce queuing times (and observers stood out in the cold), as some riders can take 3-4 minutes in a section without the 90 second time limit in place. This change has to come from the ACU as local clubs will always opt to take the easy way out and waste time arguing over what may or may not happen if they change. The clubs will never voluntarily make the decision to change, as they will see it as putting their heads on the block if it doesn't work. Also, the riders that are against the decision will end up leaving their home club and go to another club who still use the stop permitted rules to ride, which is another reason why clubs won't want to take a chance and maybe lose some of their riders. The change to no-stop in the Novogar Championship has certainly been a success - the evidence is in how many entries they have had for each event. I have ridden in most rounds in this series for nearly 15 years, and have noticed how the severity of the sections has changed this year - making events that are both challenging and enjoyable for many (not just the top) riders. The winning scores have stayed similar but the scores further down the results are a lot closer than before. This is mirrored in club trials with the more successful clubs using the no-stop rules. The ACU need to act sooner rather than later; as entries are worryingly low for some of the clubs which run stop-permitted events. Giving the clubs the option to choose to run either TSR22A of TSR22B simply leads to confusion with both the riders and the observers and therefore conflict towards them. Having travelled many miles to National events around the country, where the riders and observers do not know what rules the event is running under (on many occasions) is not acceptable. A counter argument has always been that changing to no-stop will increase in arguments between the riders and observers - this is where I also feel that the ACU must act. There should be strict guidelines in place for punishments to riders that argue with officials. For example, a 'three strikes and you're out' policy where after an initial exclusion from the trial: 1st offence = 1 month ban, 2nd offence = 6 month ban, 3rd offence = 1 year with the possibility of permanent exclusion. At the moment, riders do not know the consequences for offensive behaviour to officials, and are therefore not afraid of causing conflict. Hopefully this change can take place sooner rather than later. I understand the argument that the BTC does not want to change unless the WTC changes, but I feel that the WTC has lost its way and we would be better acting now and let the WTC follow suit when they see the difference that I am sure it would make. Yours in sport Dan N.B. I see that the Novogar series has changed name to the 's3 Parts ACU National Clubmans Championship'. This needs addressing, as 'clubmen' usually do the easy route in a trial. Unless the main route of the trial has its own championship - 'clubman' needs dropping from the title. The introduction of an easier route has been a success in 2010, so I feel that it does deserve its own championship but strict eligibility guidelines need to be in place in order to qualify for points. And the ACU response: Thank you for your e-mail dated 22nd November which was discussed at the Trials & Enduro Committee meeting the following day. As I am sure you know, this subject has been discussed many times and although under the current rules, Clubs & Centres do have the option of running under TSR 22B, the majority have chosen not to do so. With this in mind, the situation does not indicate that one or other system should be made compulsory and therefore there are no plans to change the current rules at present. Regards Trials & Enduro Committee

It had boobies AND a naked girlgina (and very nice they were too ). This topic has an adult content warning, but that was stretching it somewhat...

It's taken from an excellent film called Downfall about the final days of the Third Reich. Well worth watching even if it is all in German with subtitles. There are numerous spoofs of it kicking about on all sorts of topics, but I do like the Rynair one

"Lampkin will make his Gas Gas debut on Saturday 8th January 2011 at Sheffield arena, as Dougie continues his long-standing association with this indoor trial event, which remains one of his favourite occasions each season." http://www.trialscentral.com/cms/showarticle.php?articleID=6102

Unlike Johnny Foreigner, I respect Press embargoes when they are in place. Front page now

And the final piece in the jigsaw, Mr. Lampkin's future plans will be announced right here on TC tomorrow morning. Stay tuned...

Oh come on, it is. Laia's grown her hair since that photo

That was mentioned. Talked about how his tyres were not right for road use and if he lost control it could result in a nasty accident. Did have a little chortle to myself having seen how the guys ping along the tarmac at the SSDT

We work in pounds sterling here, not your dollar toytown money! They said he got a

Was channel hopping the other night and came across Traffic Cops on Watch. Who was the clown that tried to outrun South Yorks Police on a Trials bike? Lost the traffic car by going off-road, but their helicopter tracked him right to his house. 20 year old, wearing what looked like a blue Clice jacket and they said the bike wasn't stolen.

Dabill confirmed

Custom-built job by JCB just for the show. Was talking to Jake about it some time ago and a LOT of work went into that machine.

From the TC Inbox: I have just had my 2009 beta evo 250cc stolen , from the kendal, cumbria area , and would be very grateful if you could put some details on your site for me 2009 beta evo 250cc Red TTT fork yokes Raptor footrests Carbon fibre fork guards Frame no. zd3t6010080200140 It had a broken mudguard on which had been plastic welded just behind the seat , but they also stole a brand new mudguard so it my have that on I would be very grateful if you could put any of the above info on the site , with some hope of trying to get the bike back. Tel no 07825604489 email rupert1974tatham AT hotmail.co.uk Cheers Rupert Tatham

The lo-fi skin is designed for mobile devices (not just iPhones) and consumes far less bandwidth than the full forum skin so I won't be getting rid of it. There is an IPB App (free) available that lets you do pretty much everything you'd need to, but still uses the lo-fi version of the skin. I could change the config to allow users to select which skin they wanted to use, but that would need to be driven by demand. If enough people wanted it then I'd change it. Personally, I use the IPB App for quick, easy day-to-day use and have installed Atomic Web Browser (free) which will use the full skin by default for when I need to access admin functions etc.

The Finnish rider Mika Ahola (HM-Honda) won the first race in the FIM Indoor World Championship, held in the Palafiera in Genoa (Italy) and watched by 7000 spectators. Three finals, and three different winners on three different motorbike manufacturers. There could have been no better start. Other than Ahola, Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) and Tadeusz Blazusiak (KTM) were the winners of the other finals. However, Iv

Now on front page - cancelled due to weather

Changed it so video embedded and why does that song remind me of "My Lovely Horse"

The white on pink wasn't so easy to read as the white on blue, but as there are so few girls they're pretty much instantly recognisable anyway. To run through the 136 photos for trialsphotos.com took about an hour and a half using the largest thumbnail size in Windows 7 which was fine to read the number for almost all photos. I'd normally expect that process to take at least 4 hours opening each photo in full. That wasn't needed except for a few. If using a colour scheme like that makes it easier for me just looking at small photos then I'd have to assume it would make it easier for Observers.

Any reason why they were white lettering on blue background? I've been going through naming my photos and white on blue is FAR easier to decipher, even when plastered in mud than black on white. The mud becomes part of the black, whereas with no dark colours on the board it really is much better. Perhaps one for the SSDT to consider particularly as they don't have bibs to refer to if the board can't be read?

I got the attached from the ACU which will appear in the 2011 handbook. It was provided to help parents who are planning to buy new bikes for the 2011 season, but the formatting isn't exactly friendly for the front page of TC so attaching it here: TSR1 Youth classes - Engine capacities -wheel sizes 2011.pdf

Well he doesn't get his talent from his old fella He did Marky Boy's H&D Ads and also the ones for Cowm Leisure, plus got some other bits and pieces going on

You should, it was your son! Decided to do something a bit more than just the usual poppy this year to mark the 70th Anniversary of the Battle of Britain