biffsgasgas Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) Ok so over the years I have heard of this from numerous riders. This weekend I heard it again. I am not convinced but I think a lot of riders are. Can an event be "too easy" to score well? You have to concentrate, you have to stay focused, if you make a mistake in an event that is not high scoring is that because its not challenging or is it because you didn't concentrate? I have heard pro riders say this. I think this was Bou's gripe about this years USA world round. I have heard clubman riders say this. Does it have merit? I personally think its an excuse. You should be ready to ride a class down as much as you are ready to ride a class up.... If you think that an easy event is harder to win and have a reason please provide your best reason as to why that it is harder to be competitive. BTW the scores this weekend didn't reflect the easy. Ohio has no shortage of mud this time of year. --Biff Edited April 8, 2014 by biffsgasgas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lineaway Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 An easier trials becomes mostly mental. People tend to melt down from the concentration and worry. Imagine being Bou and the worry about a poor scorer would be the norm, rather than his great skills. (By the way Bou fived and severely crashed on the section I scored both days. Easy?) Easy trials are not just hard on riders, it is hard on organizers. Try dealing with multiple ties in every class, what a nightmare! On the other hand we tried our first gate trials this weekend. Easy trials cannot hold a candle to the pressure of riding gate trials. A single dab can just destroy all points in a section.(High score wins.) In trials knowing you can just get by with just a single dab makes competition tight. With gate trials you have no easy dab, each dab is just like a 5! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thats_a_five Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Yes, I believe an event can be too easy. I recall one event where I killed the bike in one section, finished the day with 6 points (in 30 sections) and came in 6th place, out of 7 riders in my class. I think first place was decided among the ties with 0 total points by giving it to the oldest rider. What did we prove? Basically that all of us could ride the sections easily within our skill level. I think that trials is both a mental challenge and a physical challenge. There was no physical challenge. If I wanted just a mental challenge I would take up chess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalley250 Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 Yes they make for awful trials as its boring and unsettling as pointed out, stall n game over. You need challenging sections so that if you five its possible to pull it back. I think a good trial should at least take a score of how many sections there is to ride ie 40 sections 40 score. Ive gone to certain clubs and they have laid out trials far to easy and the rider numbers dropped off. I do the middle route or 50/50 and to step up to the hard route at Championship or Centre is too much Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greychapel Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 the definition of easy depends on your ability I,ve ridden trials, finished on a single figure score and seen riders on 3 figure scores, it wasn't easy for them! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asc Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 at club level it's not easy to set routes ,many decent riders who are o40 class feel a bit trapped ,low scores on 50/50 club route or maybe kill your self on the hard route,if i dropped 40 on the middle route there would be some big scores further down the entry,could be one reason why a few buy a twin shock.bit more of a challenge and not the big jumps and steps..really a no win ,what ever the organisers do you will upset someone. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cabby Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 the definition of easy depends on your ability I,ve ridden trials, finished on a single figure score and seen riders on 3 figure scores, it wasn't easy for them! ^^^^ this ^^^^ Recently I dropped down to ride with my girl at a trial, I dropped single figures where others dropped 80/90 marks. At first I thought how it it possible to drop so many marks then you remember where you used to be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htrdoug Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 (edited) So Biff,are you gonna run the V.C.series? I'm doing the Championship event in October and can Guarantee points will be taken Southern Indiana not to far for ya! Just a prevue,and the "Equalizer" comes after this I woulda liked to be at Fly but overloaded at work BTW,Agree with Biff,when scores are low you have to be perfect,I ride in a class with guys who have been doing it along time and they always do well,It requires tight concentration in every section to beat them on the "easy" days Edited April 9, 2014 by htrdoug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourian Posted April 8, 2014 Report Share Posted April 8, 2014 the definition of easy depends on your ability I,ve ridden trials, finished on a single figure score and seen riders on 3 figure scores, it wasn't easy for them! We must have been at the same trial Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan williams Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 This is one of those red herrings that gets thrown up from time to time. Ew bad image. The problem isn't one of easy vs. hard. For the lower classes a section can't be too easy. If a rider needs more challenge they can move up. The problem is consistency through a series. If the section difficulty is kept within a narrow range it's easy to pick the class that's right for you. If the section difficulty is too variable from event to event you get the Goldilocks and the three bears problem as riders shuffle back and forth trying to figure out where they belong based on their ability and penchant for abuse. This was a major problem in NETA when I was an officer and I made it a point to have someone I trusted, or myself, inspect and tweak section difficulty before each event. It was a pain in the ass but the end result was the classes settled down after a few years and there were very few gripes about section difficulty. The downside is the need for an experienced section designer who knows what to look for and the resultant wailing and gnashing of teeth by the trials masters insulted by your critique of their baby. But really, if ensuring a quality of experience for the membership isn't the function of a sanctioning body what is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breagh Posted April 9, 2014 Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Dan's spot on you've got to be consistent. This isn't helped by the number of routes as clubs try to cater for everyone. I feel it is a mistake to try and run trials to in this fashion,,you either cater for experienced riders or fun and beginners. That way riders know what to expect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffsgasgas Posted April 9, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 9, 2014 Thank you all. I can see both points. I personally feel that I have lost some of those Novice skills that I used to get complimented on so I can see where riding an easier event would be a disadvantage to me. I also know that any rider should be ready for obsticles at and below their skill level so for myself looks like I have to do some more work relearning and mastering some things. HTRDoug, I didnt bring my TY to fly this year so i decided to go with the expert class for TI season if i can make most of the events. See you in Ligoneer if your comming. Look for a guy in a tux that you dont want to see in a tux.... Dan, I also one of those not so trusted people for our event. Sometimes hit some times miss. You can not make everybody happy. --Biff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan williams Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 The one key element for the lower classes is danger. Make the penalty for failure in a section a crash especially a bad one and people quit the sport before they get good enough to enjoy a little danger. The penalty for failure in the lower classes should be a dab or a five. It's not necessary to make a section full of big hits when a small off camber on the setup for a medium size hit causes wobblies without the scare factor. Experienced riders are often lousy at setting up sections because they are no longer scared of what the beginners are scared of so they leave in obstacles that cause the sudden brake grab or the two foot down panic or pulling in the clutch at just the wrong time crash. Experts? Go ahead and beat them up, they've got an E on that plate they should know what they're doing but the lower classes need to be more tuned to the beginners and fun riders because the fun riders pay the freight and the beginners are on their way to being experts if they're not driven out of the sport first. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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