Thanks for clarifying the error on my part. Now that you have mentioned the tragic circumstances I recall Ian Fender's death and have confused him with Ian Pollock. My apologies to all concerned; the error was a genuine one and I trust all will accept my admission in the manner in which I make it.
After 112 columns for Trials Central, this is my first request, if it fails, then so be it, but have you read the contents of the previous 111 and even remotely enjoyed them?
And before you ask if I have ever loaned out a bike, the answer is yes, for a ISDE!
As secretary of a trial that offers a late number to an early entry, I frequently get asked why one particular rider always has a late number and why this particular rider seems to have a late number in virtually every trial in which he takes part.
I can't speak for other secretaries but as for myself, the reason this rider gets a late number is because his entry arrives first, virtually without fail, therefore I follow my own regs and allocate him a late number.
With regard to the Jack Wood, I can't speak for the secretary, but if a organised Team Manager sent me 18 entries in one envelope and that envelope was one of the first to arrive, then I would allocate him late numbers. Simple. If the regs say early entry late number, it doesn't matter whether the envelope contains one entry or 50 entries.
Equally, you would be surprised at the number of riders who enter fairly late and still expect a late number!
I've entered for the Ian Pollock next week and have put on the entry form a request for guidance to a rider who is over 50 and normally rides what in England is classed as Clubman Easy. Will that be the green flags?
What you are all missing is this. I sit down of an evening with ten observers sheets from a normal club trial. You know that a rider has completed the trial but there are scores missing. I also know that in many cases the score is missing because the observer has missed his number/been chatting/taken a drink/etc.
So what do I do? If I put 10 down, within five minutes of the results being seen the rider will be on the phone. So I take the easy way out. Inevitably, the few riders that "fiddle" the system get away with it, but if I put a result down, I at least have a peaceful week and I don't upset my observer by phoning him and asking if he can remember what Joe Bloggs did on his section.
Whilst I know that a few of those that post on here act as a secretary/organiser, the vast bulk don't so until you are in the position of doing the secretarial work for a trial, think it through!
And the reason why we still use observers cards rather than punch cards is that you get a decent set of results in a short space of time. Those that use punch cards simply list a total and finishing position, which purely on a personal level, I think is slack and not good enough. At least I can safely sit here and write these things because nobody can point the finger at me and say I'm moaning about subjects and not doing my bit.
Punch cards hold up a trial, rarely are they transcribed into a complete set of results and I do like to sit down and peruse a proper set of results to see where I've had a good ride and perhaps more frequently, where I've been thoroughly thrashed.
We use observers cards so the responsibility of getting a score rests with the observer not the rider. It's the only snag with using observers cards rather than punch cards. Punch cards hold up the trial too much as witnessed at the Cleveland yesterday. The Cleveland sections were extra long and most had only one observer/puncher which equals big hold ups and then you are tight on time!!
Just thought I would let all you Traditional trial enthusiasts know that following a few postal cock ups, the final entry total for this Saturday's Normandale sponsored Angela Redford Trial is 161 riders which we think is a fantastic number considering the current financial climate.
This well and truly beats last year's total and whilst I can't be sure, must be one of the biggest entries ever for a Traditional series trial. The class of entry is superb with some really good riders taking part, so if you're not riding and fancy watching, then Brookhouse Brickworks which is signed from the Lancaster to Kirkby Lonsdale road at the mini roundabout in Caton is the place to be from 10.30 am on Saturday.
It's over two laps of 20 sections, all off road at two adjacent locations with a really good variety of hazards from muddy banks to rocky becks. Nick Shield and Graeme Clapham are behind the section planning and they always do a great job. Parking at the start area can accommodate over 1000 vehicles on good gravel roads as it's a wind farm and there's catering from about 8.30 onwards on SATURDAY morning, March 14.
It's the biggest trial held in the North West Centre and Lancs County always do a pretty good job, so have a day out - the views alone over Morecambe Bay are worth it, but wrap up warm as it's a chilly place.
Thanks for the reply Martin, I always got on well with him whenever I saw him as the Trials and Motocross News trials man. My regards should you speak with him again.
Time to give you guys the other side of the pond some facts. When I took up sidecars in 1979 - some time ago I know, but not that long ago, there were many sidecars in use, probably over 100 crews in the UK. You could even buy a ready to ride, and very competitive sidecars from Sandifords, the Montesa importer; they were 348 Cotas fitted with a Barry Kefford sidecar.
Then in the early eighties the Beamish Suzuki was available as a ready to ride sidecar made by Mick Whitlock, the original crafter of the fabulous chromed frames. They were exceedingly competitive and during my five or six years riding all the British Championship rounds on first a Montesa then two Suzukis, a championship round would frequently get 40 entries and the big sidecar trials like the Manx Two Day and the Gerald Simpson Two Day would get over 50, occasionally 60 entries.
However, since those days the enthusiasm for sidecars has dropped off a bit, certainly in numbers, but even so, there is still a significant number of crews around.
In fact it's probably time I made an announcement. As you may have guessed, Hillary is Mike Rapley of Centrally Speaking and it's my intention to ride this year's Manx Two Day on a sidecar. I have a passenger lined up - not my old sparring partner Mannix Devlin, but Andrew Scott who used to ride with his brother Phil - and they were very good.
I'm hoping to borrow a competitive outfit, Robin Luscombe has said he will help, so if he can manage that, then it's a goer.
Whilst I still ride regularly as a solo rider, as does Andrew, it's many years since I last rode a sidecar in a trial. It was May 1994 and before that May 1990 and before that 1986, so don't expect miracles. However, I would like to think that we'll get round OK and maybe even have the odd clean or two.
But it all depends on being able to borrow a suitably competitive outfit. Surely somebody will help!
The classic of all time was when John Lampkin won the American World Trials Championship round in 198?? (2 I think), he was still graded as a Yorkshire Centre Novice.
I think we know to whom you are referring Nigel Dabster, but the problem is that even for good riders, like the guy to whom you are referring, and those that are his immediate competitors, continuing to ride the hard course is daunting and dangerous. There's always the thought of work in the morning to consider.
Having said that, for a rider like me for which the clubman course is aimed, every good rider that decides to move down from the hard course drops me a place further down the list.
It's what has happened in the Manx Two Day. I've gone from 11th to 111th in eight years. I'm not actually riding much worse (oh well, a bit worse!), the problem is 95 riders have moved from the hard route to the clubman route!
You want me to add my own personal views on the subject, no problem with that. I like Phil Alderson, he is a great guy and so is the rest of his family. The problem as I see it is that as a supported rider at last year's Scottish, I can guess that he was put under enormous pressure to finish the trial and assist the team of which he was a part. Whether he was a willing participant in the actions or whether they were forced upon him, we don't know. Like many riders, I suggest that Philip gets his supported rides for being a nice guy and following the requests of his sponsor.
It's very easy to be naive when taking part without sitting back and taking a long hard look at your actions. Hindsight is wonderful, but at the time, I suggest Phil did as he was bade and possibly thought no more about it. Only when it all blew up in his face some weeks later will he have come to realise that perhaps the decision (and I say THE decision, not HIS decision) was not the one he would have allowed to be taken if he could have forseen the remarks being made six weeks after the trial had finished.
As far as I can tell, Philip is keeping his head down and waiting for it to all blow over. That seems unlikely as it stands. And if you are asking me, I think many of us, nay, most of us, would have done the same thing given the chance AT THE TIME, so I don't blame Philip, and I don't blame Philip for accepting the award as he had then got himself into the position where he had to maintain the fiction all the way along the line.
Was it wrong, yes of course it was, but find me a person who has not made a mistake in his life and I'll find you a person who has not made anything!
I've got a long wheelbase Connect and have had it for six years. You can get two bikes in easily, three at a squeeze and it's brilliant. Can't fault it for ride, comfort and driveability. It's not very rapid, but I've got the lowest powered van and that's plenty quick enough for me. Anyway, what's the difference in arriving three minutes later after 100 miles!
I've got a Scott oiler on my VFR and it works very well, keeps the chain lubricated just enough.
I remember Lynklyfe, you put the chain in it then boiled it until it was molten, then pulled the chain out on a bit of wire and hung it over the tin until it dried and went solid on the chain.
It was very popular in its day but there isn't a person in the world who used it and didn't spill it at some time or another. Totally impossible to remove.
It made you about as popular as a shark in a swimming pool with the ladies of the house!
Yes, I knew Stan Young as well, an all round good guy, sorry to hear of his passing. On a brighter note, if he died whilst biking off-road, that has to be better than slumped in a chair in an old folks home. Hope you don't mind me putting it that way. My dad died at a trial and I've always thought that at least he went whilst he was enjoying himself.
Yeah, a slow tickover will make it considerably more difficult to start. They don't have a reputation for being difficult to start so turn the tick over up and it's likely to cure any problem.
Some of you have asked for my reply to all the comments posted with regard to the most recent column (writes Mike Rapley).
First of all, I was taught from a very early age in my journalism career never to reply and never to argue with those who have taken the trouble to write in reply, or in this day and age to post comments on a website.
So I shan't!
However, let me clarify one or two things. The headlines attached to my column are generally ones that I write myself - just occasionally I forget and Andy has to put one on, but in this case the headline was all mine. Did I think about it? Yes! Do I regret it? No! You see people read into words what they want to read, which is frequently very different to the intention of the writer.
I'm not going to justify my column except to say that when I wrote it, my views at the time were quite clear. The trial - particularly for the C/D classes was - in MY opinion - too difficult. As simple as that. And if trials riding was on a school curriculum, I believe that parents would have been up in arms about the severity of the sections that their children were being asked to ride.
But trials riding is not on the school curriculum and the youths and their parents were there because that was their wish. If that's what they want from their sport, then so be it, but it doesn't alter the fact that in MY opinion, it was too difficult.
Further to some comments, yes I do have full internet access; and whilst nobody likes being slagged off, I'm thick skinned enough to accept it and to then pass on to whatever subject forms the basis of my next column.
I'm very pleased to have read from some contributors that they consider I have earned my place as a regular columnist. I really appreciate that, in fact it was not a point of view that had particularly crossed my mind, so I accept those comments with much appreciations.
I could go on, but whilst writing is something I have done for the past 40 years or so, it is not easy posting a column every week. It takes up an inordinate amount of time, both in thinking about what to write, then writing it, then posting replies like this, and I do it for no other reason than personal satisfaction.
I recognise that I'm not to everyone's taste, but at least from me you get an honest opinion and whilst NOBODY is unbiased, I try very hard to be straight and factual.
I hope that everyone accepts that my views are my own and may well vary considerably from yours or those of other enthusiasts.
When I moved my column from the weekly press to this website, I knew what I was letting myself in for and I accept it. But the one thing that does bug me is that you all know who I am, but with very few exceptions, I have absolutely no idea who any of you are.
Again, thanks for your views and I hope that you'll all accept my views on whatever the subject happens to be, as my views alone.
I've always believed that the softer the tyre, the less likely it is to puncture. My reasoning is that a tube blown to say ten pounds, whilst it is still encased in a tyre, is thinner than a tube inflated to say three pounds.
The analagy I'm working on is that it's easy to puncture an inflated balloon, but more difficult to puncture one with no air in.
I know that when I rode enduros for 13 years, and many of those years were prior to riders using mousses, I always rode with tyres far softer than most of my rivals and punctures for me were virtually unknown - but that could have been because I was a) slow, or better at picking my route rather than hitting everything!
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better at picking my route rather than hitting everything!
Ian Pollock Memorial Trial.
in Trials Reviews & Previews
Posted
Any results from this trial yet please.