mr b Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 I've rode the Lyn Traders Trophy Trial now for the last 5 years and i must say what an awesome trial it is. Its a national trial so therefore has 2routes around some fantastic land in north devon. Thing is, the amount of pot hunting GRABBERS who claim they are clubmen and ride the easy route(which i must say is far from easy but alot more managable than the expert route). If you win a award you do get a cash reward which is very nice but how can you give it a good go when you get damn good experts riding your route and basically stealing this from you. If you wanna be a big boy then surely ride the big boys route, the people who do this know who they are. I find that it disheartens you and when you travel 3hours to ride this trial it some times makes you think that why bother. Such a shame of one of the best trials around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 I think there should be a national register and if someone wants to ride a route "out of class" then they ride for no award. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr b Posted June 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 Totally agree,you also need the club to help out with this cause they know the main culprits also( to be fair not all of them but definately the people who take the money) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
totalshell Posted June 9, 2006 Report Share Posted June 9, 2006 when i was cycling ( along time ago and six and a half stone lighter!) we had a grading system for races 1st catagory, second catagory and 3rd catagory you started out as third cat and when you had 3 top 5 finishs up you moved to 2nd cat or you could race out of class for no award no pot hunting no one really wanted to ride in a class lower than thier ability when mountain bike racing came along it had a strong 'ride because i like to' background so they came up with the 'fun ' class, no awards no finishing order just your time next to your name, we still knew who the 1st finisher was though but that didnt really matter cos it was you, your bike and the big hill.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boofont Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Up here in Scotland there is three classes of rider. Novice, Non-Expert and Expert. You win a National Trial in your class and are promoted to the next class. You can still ride the easier route, at the end of the trial the scores will be listed as: Novice A's, Novice B's, Non-Expert A's...etc. The awards are listed on the trial entry form so riding out of class may result in a no-award ride but at least you know before hand. The class of rider is controlled by the SACU and listed on each riders licence. I spoke to the ACU about their system and as far as I know there is no differance in rider skill with respect to the registration card? The rider just picks the route to ride and that's that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ourtea Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I completely agree with the pot hunter syndrome that plagues the Lyn Traders trial. I have ridden the event three times and have travelled three hours to the event with the philosophy that I am going there to have fun, and I do enjoy the ride. However, the award winners in the clubman class are the same people year after year and they are seriously good riders who would cope with the expert route. I know some will say that don't bother going there if all you want is a plastic trophy.. you can get them from a High Street shop if thats all you want. The point is, when you compete, you need to have something of a level playing field regarding fellow riders in the class. With no grading system, the whole "select your preferred class" leads to abuse of it when former centre champions end up claiming to be clubmen. After all, you don't see Steve Saunders riding the clubman route just because he's turned 40 years old !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I think we should start naming names......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cota kid Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I think we should start naming names......... <{POST_SNAPBACK}> You start then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j@mes Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 i rode and made a mess of it but some of those riders dont ant to ride the experts but would probably ride for no awards. where do you stop though there will always be riders better than you and riders worse than you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikespace Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 This is a tricky one. I ride the Expert route...I'm 'approaching 40'...I'm over 18 stone. I manage fairly well at most trials on the expert route. I have a dilemma at some of the nationals. I asked around for the Lakes 2 day which route I should ride. I opted for the clubman route eventually, and would literally have died on the Expert route. The Manx 2 day for the last few years I've ridden the Expert (National route), and I'm left fairly crippled on the nights in between Last year I think there were only about 50 of us on the hard route and I was I'm sure in the last 10-15. There were riders far better than me on the clubman route. This year I p[lan on riding the clubman route. Who says who can and can't ride one route or another? I really couldn't give two hoots about an award, but I wouldn't mind being able to walk (and have a pint or two in between) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mort Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Apart from nationals and youth events as I know little about them to coment and youths need encouragement ,why does everyone feel the need to award everyone for everything these days.Some Trials seem hand out 'thanks for turning up' trophies to all. Just the top few riders in the experts,youths and pre-technoligy classes deserve the credit at the event and shoud be recognised for that as that sets the standard for all other riders to aim at. If like me,you have no chance of reaching that level and just love a day out on your bike,just ride what ever route you enjoy and who cares what anyone else is up to.Unless you are the best rider on the day does a bit of plastic mean anything? If the only awards availble were to the winner of the hardest route would this would spoil the glory hunter/professionial day. There needs to be routes and classes for everyones ability not prizes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old trials fanatic Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 Does annoy me on my return to trials to see ex centre champions who have also won Nationals riding the clubman route. Now this "shouldnt " be a problem except that some of the organisers are now making the Clubman route tougher as the ex centre champions are finishing on 0,1,or 2 scores and tougher sections are required to seperate the winner??????? Thats when it becomes stupid. Suggestion: The winner of a Clubman class rides the "Expert" route for the rest of the season????? Wouldnt be a problem for them as they are obviously good enough but would ensure that the Clubman route is kept at the right level for the Wobblers who after all are the grass roots riders who have kept the sport alive so that the "stars" can have an event to "pot hunt" at Enjoy your ride tomorrow wherever it may be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikespace Posted June 10, 2006 Report Share Posted June 10, 2006 I've often thought "If you win the clubman class, then you were riding the wrong route". Now that may seem a little unfair, and there may be the odd exception, but if the classes are based on guesswork, then that may well be true???? If I won the clubman route before 40 I'd be feeling guilt rather than pride I think. Not trying to wid anyone up here by the way, as I'm regularly in the position of deciding which route, and these are things that play on my mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 I also think that at 40 there should be some kind of unwritten rule that you can ride any route you wish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikespace Posted June 11, 2006 Report Share Posted June 11, 2006 What is National clubman level though? - we've had this before. I would class myself as a centre clubman rider - I'm expert. We're not talking anything below Inter are we? Probably right about the over 40 rule Dabster I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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