X-Trial Starting The Countdown Clock

[doxiedad]

In X-Trial the course clerk stands at the start of the section, gives the rider the OK to begin, and then walks away. But the countdown clock doesn't start until the bike has moved past the base of the first challenge. A manual stop watch would be too subjective and inaccurate. Is there a hidden electronic device or photo eye?  

[trapezeartist]

I have always assumed it's manual. And they seem to give the rider a small amount of margin.

[faussy]

The stop clock you see on tv would not be the official time being used, but I also can't see trials using anything more sophisticated than a guy on the floor with a stop watch. I remember a year or two ago Marcelli got timed out once despite the stadium/tv clock still showing he had 2 seconds left. I rewound the footage and he was correctly timed out, the tv clock was slow to start. Anything optical I doubt would work as sometimes the riders exit the sections by jumping off the last obstacle in lots of different directions. I seen last weekend Andrea Rabino lost out to Berta by something like 0.1 seconds, it was definitely less than 1s. I highly doubt they are timing riders to that accuracy.

Im still undecided whether I like so much of a time element being involved. I get the 5 minutes total time to ride 5/6 sections in the first round, but when it gets to the final and they have ride the section forward and backward within a minute, I'm not so sure. Busto had a great ride last weekend on a section even Bou fived and got timed out by 1 or 2 seconds. Then there's the element in the superpole round that if you five the last section at the start you can beat the guy that fives the last section at the end because he spent more overall time. I think Raga used that to his advantage in Barcelona and ended up winning superpole

Edited February 12 by faussy

[doxiedad]

I guess the stopwatch makes sense. Superpole tiebreaker and forward/backward one minute - In my book a five further into the section is a better ride than a five near the start. They've got it backwards! Forward/backward in one minute in the final is a ridiculous amount of pressure and the riders take big chances. Yes, it's fun to watch but it's difficult and dangerous enough without any time constraints. At their level these guys are in the entertainment business. There are only a handful of top world level riders and having any of them out for the season isn't good for the sport. Thanks. 

[lemur]

If you are going to allow the riders to back-up then timed sections start to make sense, it's the best way to avoid what happened in the past where riders took way too long in the sections.  imho If the time is too short for a section, somebody built the section too long,   lol electric eyes?  ...you can buy a sports stopwatch for about 6 bucks.

[trapezeartist]

On 2/12/2025 at 11:05 AM, faussy said:

Im still undecided whether I like so much of a time element being involved. I get the 5 minutes total time to ride 5/6 sections in the first round, but when it gets to the final and they have ride the section forward and backward within a minute, I'm not so sure. Busto had a great ride last weekend on a section even Bou fived and got timed out by 1 or 2 seconds. Then there's the element in the superpole round that if you five the last section at the start you can beat the guy that fives the last section at the end because he spent more overall time. I think Raga used that to his advantage in Barcelona and ended up winning superpole

I have to agree with you. I'm all in favour of a time limit to keep the show from stagnating, but let's not turn it into a race. Also the point in a section where a rider gets a 5 does have an influence on the overall timing, which really makes that aspect a lottery. Perhaps a time limit (not necessarily the same every time) for each section would be much better than an overall limit for 5 or 6 sections.