Classic Trials Club Question?

[jon v8]

think you may have got my comment slightly muddled up jon.

in regards to organising and running trials that bit still is fun. we used to have great fun in marking out a pretty good course that could be challenging for all capacities and yet there wouldnt be anything too difficult for a raw beginner to attempt. yet at the same time with a stratigically placed flag you could also catch the more experienced riders for a dab or too.

that bit is still fun.

im on about riders who seem to hang about, waiting for sections to get easier. riders who modify their bikes beyond actually being recognised as a classic bike and taking things far too seriously, these are what i would say are spoiling the fun of trials. hence why numbers are dwindling in some clubs.

some turn to modern bikes instead as these riders stuggle. but then the sections start to change in favour of the more modern machinery.

then the classic numbers dwindle.

like for instance yesterdays dales classic round of the northern british bike championship.

for a first attempt at this sort of type of event i applaude the dales club. it was a great ride around with a large amount of traditional sections to enjoy.

but it was spoilt by about five or six sections that your bike would have needed a pivot in the middle of the frame to get around.

i've returned home with my arms red raw from bashing against trees and a bad back from one major crash too.

now where is the fun in that?

Sorry if I missed your point - its now clear !

Our trial yesterday went well,with only a couple of sections that I would have altered if I could.A stream exit became harder for the B route than it was for the A route,but there was nothing that we coud change given the lay of the land.We had 62 riders,of which 11 were mono's.But it was nice to see Wilf Couldwell out on his Gas Gas - he can ride whatever he wants at our trials as far as I'm concerned.It was also good to see Steve Allen and Barry Barthorpe putting on an excellent show on Pre Unit bikes on the A route - beating the mono A scores by a good margin.

The trial was about picking the right line,and having good throttle control on slippery cambers etc,proving that the lightest,trickest bike was not necessarily the right answer.

[minislim]

Sorry if I missed your point - its now clear !

Our trial yesterday went well,with only a couple of sections that I would have altered if I could.A stream exit became harder for the B route than it was for the A route,but there was nothing that we coud change given the lay of the land.We had 62 riders,of which 11 were mono's.But it was nice to see Wilf Couldwell out on his Gas Gas - he can ride whatever he wants at our trials as far as I'm concerned.It was also good to see Steve Allen and Barry Barthorpe putting on an excellent show on Pre Unit bikes on the A route - beating the mono A scores by a good margin.

The trial was about picking the right line,and having good throttle control on slippery cambers etc,proving that the lightest,trickest bike was not necessarily the right answer.

sounds like your idea of laying out a good challenging trial is the same as mine . and not laying out a world round to suit the few.

Edited September 20, 2011 by minislim

[old trials fanatic]

Well put John I'm doing the same tomorrow Just hope we get a few more entries to make it all worthwhile on Sunday.

I didnt

[gasserguy]

It must be the case that if the trial is marked out for Pre65 / twin shock bikes with no stop rules correctly then the right calibre of people will ride the trial no matter what bike they are on. Does it make any difference if an over 50 rider on a mono rides the same section as they will be in another class to the twin shock or Pre65? If it

[bilc0]

Do i go out drinking as much as i used to, Nope there's more important bills to pay at the moment, hav'nt you heard OTF we're in a double dip recession, just a shame we did'nt get out the first one before they announced the second one.

Give it another 10 years then your have a full set at your Trials again.

[old trials fanatic]

Do i go out drinking as much as i used to, Nope there's more important bills to pay at the moment, hav'nt you heard OTF we're in a double dip recession, just a shame we did'nt get out the first one before they announced the second one.

Give it another 10 years then your have a full set at your Trials again.

Thing is if something doesnt change very very soon, talking about the Trials club, there wont be a Club to ride at next year never mind in 10 years time. Possibly Trials Clubs will be the next casualty of the "double dip recession"?

[old trials fanatic]

It must be the case that if the trial is marked out for Pre65 / twin shock bikes with no stop rules correctly then the right calibre of people will ride the trial no matter what bike they are on. Does it make any difference if an over 50 rider on a mono rides the same section as they will be in another class to the twin shock or Pre65? If it

[andy m]

OTF. Does your club pay the land owner per bike on the day or a set fee no matter who turns up ?? As you mention a "loss making trial". Clubs don't need to make a huge profit,just cover costs and have a few ££ over ??

If the latter, may be time to resort to the former to keep the sport alive no matter how many riders turn up ?? Then any fettling/ tweaking to decide who you need to appeal to can be addressed.

Golden Valley Classic in Gloucester have a good formula, they get a good crowd on all sorts and put a good trial on.

As an aside the recession has never really gone away and has affected different people in different ways and maybe starting to bite up your way,, unless of course you know folk who are riding elsewhere ??

My 2p worth ???

Edited September 21, 2011 by bo drinker

[old trials fanatic]

OTF. Does your club pay the land owner per bike on the day or a set fee no matter who turns up ?? As you mention a "loss making trial". Clubs don't need to make a huge profit,just cover costs and have a few

Edited September 22, 2011 by Old trials fanatic

[andy m]

I would say 3 clubs putting on Classic trials in a 20 mile radius is stretching it, they would need to need to sort the trials calender between them for the year.

Land owners may need to be flexible with their rates or lose the money altogether ?? their choice??

A lot on pre 65 and t/s down here don't want anything too hard (me included) they may be opting for the easier ride ??

The main club here put on good trials but don't get a big crowd for the above reasons, 25 miles away GVCMCC put on good trials and get a good crowd. A few monos there but not masses.. As you say you can't please everyone...

It's a bit sad when bikes are regarded as investments as they will never get used for their intended purpose. There are a few polishers round here...

Had a Seeley once, too nice to ride so sold it, no use just looking at it.

I would have thought the a/c mono class should be a good entry level class, you can still buy TY monos for £500, but the class still struggles.

PS. "They" reckon money will be even tighter next year, if you listen to Vince (Dr Doom) Cable we're all off to hell in a hand cart.....

Edited September 22, 2011 by bo drinker

[jon v8]

The most frustrating thing for me about running a trials club is organising the dates not to clash,and its not just other trials, its things like Bristol Classic bike show,the Red Marley Hillclimb etc.We are in between Golden Valey and the two Somerton clubs so we share many riders.I cant say we are struggling for riders though,we had 62 on sunday,which is a nice number.We all seem to get around 60-100 riders at each trial,and the sections are sensible.Bath differ to rest in only having two routes,(I'm too stupid to get three organised.....) but it seems to work well enough.

We pay the landowner

[bilc0]

You have a website.

Why?

If it's not selling you then ditch it.

[andy m]

Golden Valley must be doing something right, over 100 riders on Sunday, a good trial....

[earthmover]

The other side of the coin........

I started competing in Trials in January 2010 on a second hand Beta Rev 3, after many years of MX and Enduro. I did a year in Adult Beginner, and moved into Novice in January. I consider it a good day if I remain in double figures at a modern event. A good friend of mine bought a Twinshock, and started entering Classic events, at which there is a "non-award" section for modern Mono's, and invited me along for the craic.

I am under no illusion that my low scores in these events is down to anything other than my being on a modern bike. The organisers are very friendly, the events are well run and well attended, and I enjoy watching the older bikes being used as they were intended. I have ridden in five of their events this year, and look forward to the next.

I'm even considering getting a twinshock myself now, but would I have taken that step had I not tried the events?

Perhaps the ones who are complaining are those that moan about everything anyway?

If riders are trophy hunting on modern bikes, then who are they trying to kid? Only themselves.

The sections are, IMHO, what determine the trial. If a club needs more entrants to be viable, then denying someone because of what they ride would seem suicidal.

Mark

[Johnny]

One factor that has a very large bearing on this in this area is the ammount of Clubs putting on trials in a 20 mile radius of Matlock which is our "patch". There are three Classic clubs alone, we are one, and we get the least entries. Some say this is because "we put on hard trials" i obviously dont agree and based on the fact that i ride at one of the other Classic Clubs i can comment from personal experience that there isnt a lot of difference in severity between us but the tag has stuck so some dont even give us a try. We get the least entries of all the three Classic Clubs. I dont know if it's because we allow Pre95 Air Cooled Monos in line with the East Midlands ACU Classic Championships which we held 3 rounds of out of the 7 rounds. One of the local Classic Clubs doesnt allow any bikes post 1972 which gets a bit flexible but is still their stance and they regularly get 30% + more entries than us.

Too many clubs chasing too few riders! When I used to ride my B40 a few years ago there was only one club in the Matlock area - Midland Classic, which had a thriving entry of mainly pre 65 bikes. Then a minority of 'experts' thought the Midland Classic trials were too easy (for their tricked up jobbies)_ so they set up a new club - Peak Classic. This club had the kind of sections they wanted. Rock steps, drop offs, tight turns etc. But it seemed that the majority of old boys didn't share this view, although it did encourage mainly younger riders on later twinshocks to enter. After a while it seems that perhaps these weren't too sure either and after initial enthusiasm numbers dwindled.

Then along came another club in the same area - Dales Classic. This was set up by a group of riders who thought that the Peak classic trials (and possibly Midland) were too tough. I'm not sure what their entries are like now. Three clubs in the same area all running a trial a month! Too many fishing in a small pond.

Where are we now? Well, for what its worth I'll tell you where I am. After a break of a few years I intend doing some trialling again. Not on a B40 because I have too many expenses keeping my motocross bikes going, but on a 1972 Bultaco. Why a Bultaco? Because it was cheap to buy, should be cheap to run and because I can do Midland Classic events on it as well as the other clubs in the area if I want to, and last of all because I used to ride Bultacos when they were new in the seventies. Nostalgia! And no I don't want to do trials alongside monoshocks.

Final thought. When you are over 50 you are not past it and you don't need a modern bike to be able to do local classic club trials. If you do then there is either something wrong with the club or you should take up knitting.