Riders............?!

[jam]

I'm now going to have a moan at the lack of clubs entered in this weeks Bewdley MCC's Group Trial, only two Clubs have really bothered with a team and the other two have 3 and a single rider entered.

Thirteen clubs are registered to enter the series and just look at the effort...or not in this case.

The Midland Centre Group Trial series needs a mega kick up the butt as to be sure is going to die or is it already on its way!!

We used to get 70 - 100 riders easily a few years ago. ..................... Whats gone wrong? anyone got any ideas?

You can still enter on the day but thats not the idea of having a group trial series.

I'll shut up now

Edited September 8, 2010 by jam

[b101uk]

Photographs on ACU trials licences!

I am waiting to hear back again from the secretary of the ACU with regards as to under which article of EU/UK law gives the ACU has the right to require a photo for the issue of a licence or to discriminate agenised me or others if I/we refuse to submit a photo on the bases faith/religion, personal beliefs, phobia, ethical grounds, protection of ones own personal data or that I have higher forms of proof of my identification.

.

Edited September 8, 2010 by b101uk

[pete_scorpa3]

Photographs on ACU trials licences!

I am waiting to hear back again from the secretary of the ACU with regards as to under which article of EU/UK law gives the ACU has the right to require a photo for the issue of a licence or to discriminate agenised me or others if I/we refuse to submit a photo on the bases faith/religion, personal beliefs, phobia, ethical grounds, protection of ones own personal data or that I have higher forms of proof of my identification.

.

With the greatest of respect, the issue of photographs on Trials Registration cards, although a genuine point in it's own right, has little or no bearing on the number of riders entered in the Midland Centre Group Trials Championship.

JAM, how does the entry list look for this weekend?

I have my own views on the demise of the Group trial championship.

The Stratford-Upon-Avon Club won the series in 2007 after a great deal of work behind the scenes to get the riders entered in the series.

The following year, the club was determined to hold onto it's title and win it a second time, however at the 2nd round we only had three riders turn up for the hard route and one of them had a DNF hence scoring no points.

With the need for teams of three Hard Route and three Easy Route riders at every round, the only way to win the series is to get at least three on each route to finish at every round. Having three riders (on each route) finishing is more important than their finishing positions. The penalty for only having two riders finish is too severe. Sadly, finding six riders (3+3) for every round proved impossible and the motivation to ride as a club team dissapeared.

Introducing the Easy route certainly revived the series back in 2004. Suddenly riders who liked a big traditional road trial, (or at least 2 big laps of 20) who had previously not been good enough to ride in Group Trials could enter. But as time has gone on, more and more riders have dropped down onto the Easy route leaving the 'elite' few to ride the hard route. This has meant that the hard route has got harder to cater for the best and the easy route has got harder to cater for better (over 40 experts) riders dropping down.

I've so often heard "We have to make it hard to get a result!" and in the Solo Centre Championship I agree, but in group trials it doesn't matter if you get two or three riders on zero, it's the team of SIX with the least points that wins and it's highly unlikely that two teams of six will all finish on zero!

In 2004 I rode the Easy route at one round on my Pampera trail bike finishing on 8 marks lost, in 2008 I used my Scorpa and lost 53 in the same event in similar conditions. This has had the effect of turning away the lesser lights; the very people we need to make the series viable.

In addition to this, we in the Midland Centre are used to entering on the day. Yes we've had it easy, but none the less that is what happens. To try to get riders to enter a week in advance as is needed for team event is also really hard.

It is frustrating to try and get a team together to be one or two riders short, only for half a dozen to turn up on the day to ride for no points. It spoils the whole point of a team event and it also makes it much harder for the organising club. (Riders who turn up onthe day can choose to stay in bed if the weather is bad and more importantly don't need to supply their quota of observers)

Add into this the cost of riding on the road at some rounds which prohibits all of the youth riders and many of the adults, then the series is looking grim.

From the clubs point of view, we dropped our round this year due to man power constraints. A little club trial attracts just as many riders as the group trial and with 1/4 of the work.

So what is the solution? I'm not sure if the series can be saved, but here are a few points to consider and discuss.

The number of riders in a team is too many. Pathetic! you might say, but it's a sad fact we can't find six (3+3) riders to enter every round.

The penalty for having a rider dnf or dns is too high.

Entering on the day should be prohibited completely for the series. No entry means no ride. Riders would either enter or the trial should be cancelled.

The sections (again in my opinion, but the most important point) need to be eased. If Over 40 Experts, be they a Clive, or a Mick, or a John, or an Ali, or a Phil wish to ride the B route then good on them, absolutely no problem with that at all. But they should all expect to finish on VERY low scores! It only takes one 'killer' event to put the lesser lights off entering ever again.

Finally, it's worth looking at the result from other events in the area to see where riders have gone. How many Midland Centre riders will be at Earl Shilton? I suspect you will also see some riding in the Western Centre. It might be worth asking them why they went there instead of representing their club in the Group trial on the same day.

I hope your event goes well and those of us who haven't entered miss a really good trial.

Pete

[the_k]

Hmm, Luce and I were looking at coming over to have a look at what it was all about. It will be the first trial that ether of us will have been to, thought the trials bug has already got us.

But now not too sure if it is worth it; do we just go and spend the day practising and go somewhere that will give us an idea of what an easy route should be like else where?

[pete_scorpa3]

Hi K and Luce, A Group trial is not a good example of the severity of an easy route suitable for someone new to the sport.

Most clubs run three routes at their club trials and to start competing you would be advised to enter on that. It is true that you might find the C route too easy but equally you would almost definately find the B route too hard for a few events. The Easy route at a group trial is like a club B route.... or perhaps a little harder.

Pete

[lowbrow]

I think Pete has summed up the situation very well, however is it the rider's fault? There are only 4 Group Trials in this year's calendar; half the usual number and so the stutus of the championship has already diminished in my opinion. Have clubs lost interest because of falling entries or because the scoring system is unfair to those unable to regularly muster a full team? Perhaps one way to rejuvenate the events would be to have a 50/50 route so that easy route could be just that and the hard route could be more difficult to suit the youngsters and those wanting to demonstrate their skill?

[big mark]

Also if you feel as I do, not good enough to ride the centre trials but fancy having a go at some road trials. Then how do you justify tax, mot, and insurance for just 4 trials. I'm afraid I can't otherwise would have been out there this year.

Mark

[pete_scorpa3]

Looking at the results the B route was just about spot on, it looks as if we missed a good event. Well done to the Dudley club for winning the championship again.