atomant Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 As a CofC I was wondering how to pitch the level of a trial in relation to its level of difficulty whereby everyone gets as much as possible out of the trial. I know you have A & B grade trials which dictate that but even they differ somewhat in their level of difficulty so I am after some customer feedback please I rode a Llanfyllin trial on saturday and there was very little in the way of anything too taxing on the route I rode (Novice) and it was a nice ride round. No injuries for a start and I really enjoyed it. Is this something that other people enjoy or would they prefer it harder? Age also has something to do with it I would suggest. Your thoughts on this would be greatly appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barrybaines Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I`ve got too say as a relative new comer too the sport I do occasionally get worried about injury so don`t mind the easier stuff but at the same time the last trial I done was quite a challenge (my first normal route) and although I droped a lot of points I can easily say it was my best trial too date. Ok I voted 50/50 but that is mainly dependent on terrain that the course is set out on. Say for example it was all wet slushy mud and wet logs i`d prefer it too be a bit more relaxed, but if it was all streams and rocks/steps I enjoy the challenge! Hope that makes sense but this is obviously all due too my preferances and riding style I guess Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neonsurge Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I think the answer to this question will always be subjective - I like trials where the clubman sections are tricky but cleanable (for me) if I concentrate and ride to the best of my ability (which I almost never do of course). There's always going to be a significant difference in ability between the worst and best rider in any given class (especially in the lower classes) so one person's easy clean is another person's scrambling 3 or crash 5. I personally feel that the clubman B routes in my area tend to be on the difficult (but not impossible) side and that's fine for me, even though my name usually appears towards the bottom of the results! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerroger Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Some way if indicating how hard a trial is would be useful to the new-comer. I failed to finish my first trial - I only later found that Evesham Club trials tended to be on the hard side! The best trials have a good mix of sections - I don't mind struggling on a third of the sections if I can clean a third and safely ride the other third. Trouble is that one man's five is another man's clean. Having said that, the most enjoyable trials are the ones that are a "trial" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted June 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Some way if indicating how hard a trial is would be useful to the new-comer.Normally the trials are advertised as an 'A' or a 'B' grade trial and some people mention that it has a beginners route or whatever.. We all know trials is a 'risk' sport but how much of a risk do riders want to expose themselves to based on their ability? I would like to ride more challenging stuff but I aint capable any more so I dont. (When I do, I fall off and get injured ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpa3 Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Some way if indicating how hard a trial is would be useful to the new-comer. I failed to finish my first trial - I only later found that Evesham Club trials tended to be on the hard side! The best trials have a good mix of sections - I don't mind struggling on a third of the sections if I can clean a third and safely ride the other third. Trouble is that one man's five is another man's clean. Having said that, the most enjoyable trials are the ones that are a "trial" My first ever trial was en Evesham one, I lost 112 on the easy route. The following week I rode with the Stourbridge club and only lost 27. Since then the Evesham club have introduced a third C route which is very popular. I have set out trials more recently with three routes for the Stratford Club. Even then I have had people say the C route is too easy but the B route is too hard, we could do with something in between! Abilities in trials really do vary so much, it is impossible to give every rider exactly the right severity. I am Clerk of the Course for the Stratford Club trial at Top Farm near Broadway this Sunday, we will have FOUR routes at this one. The trouble with multi route trials is the confusion with the markers. So with this in mind we have decided to use coloured arrows for each route (instead of blue left, red right etc) which will be marked from the start of the section right to the end. ie: The Experts just ride between the red arrows and ignore any other colour. The Clubmen the blue arrows etc. I will be very interested to hear from the riders after the trial to guage how this works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyrothers Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 In my opinion, sections I find frustrating are of an often unnecessary length (GPS to get to the end) which also inevitably causes lengthy queues and also complexity of markers often where there are upto 4 routes through one section (usually created by blind panic out of control which way do i go, is that a yellow or green marker). Bottlenecks are inevitable in any trial but when its every section it becomes a joke and does unfortunately remove some of the pleasure. I've done my share of CofC, "luckily" when all trials had 1 route.....! (showing my age now!!) Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted June 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I am Clerk of the Course for the Stratford Club trial at Top Farm near Broadway this Sunday, we will have FOUR routes at this one.We have four routes at every trial we do hence the comments by Andy above saying it all gets a bit confusing for some. Its a pig to set out as well trying to keep in view the riders seeing it for the first time and working their own route out. We did one trial earlier this year with 5 routes - an extra hard route for Ross ,Wiggy and co to ride and seemed to go ok. They didnt have any problems working out their route anyway I think to cater for all abilities, 4 routes is essential . Thats what I am hoping I can find out from this thread whether thats the general view or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bikerdude2006fr Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I did my first trial out out here in france on sunday! I was umming and arrring about what course to ride and in the end i chose the yellow route! out here the difficulty starts with easiest = black then yellow, green, blue and sometimes realy hard is red. I decided against the easiest just because i felt the black would have been too easy, i dropped 67 marks over 3 laps of 10 zones, but realy enjoyed it! It was a good challenge and was swelteringly hot, and just made it an amazing day! and i dont think i did too bad for only having 3 months of mototrials experience under my belt I think peoples opinions differ with age, because you have the older guys who just wanna get out on their bikes and ride around, whereas us younger lot want to go and be challenged! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel dabster Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Don't think you would want to tackle the Black route at Sardent dude!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted June 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I think peoples opinions differ with age, because you have the older guys who just wanna get out on their bikes and ride around, whereas us younger lot want to go and be challenged!If my body repaired at the speed it did when I was 18 , I too would ride more challenging stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis_gasgas Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 I voted 50/50 although im pretty young and want a challenge most times its nice to have a few easy sections which you can get through without loosing loads of points every lap which keeps the spirit up i think. Although im not top of my group im going to start trying a harder course because i feel that im not going to improve doing what im doing and want more of a challenge and when ive accomplished the challenging things then i will be up a level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scorpa3 Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Another option I was considering, was to allow a 'any route goes' class on a no award basis. This could be called the sportsman class. Riders would be allowed to choose any route they wished, even change lap on lap, with the results being a record of the marks lost with no total at the end. The only rule would be that they told the Observer before attempting the section which route they were going to try. The results of the sportsman class would be meaningless to everyone apart from the rider themselves, but this would allow competitors to have a go at the harder sections after a lap or two, or maybe try them on the first lap and decide to ride the easier sections after that. Basically this would give riders five choices. A,B,C,D or S. I appreciate that this is yet another complication, but I am just trying to provide a service and good value for money at our club trials, thus appealing to the maximum number of people. I welcome any thoughts on this idea. I could introduce it at this weekends Stratford Club trial at Top Farm if anyone would like to give it a go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atomant Posted June 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 Another option I was considering, was to allow a 'any route goes' class on a no award basis.This could be called the sportsman class. Riders would be allowed to choose any route they wished, even change lap on lap, with the results being a record of the marks lost with no total at the end. The only rule would be that they told the Observer before attempting the section which route they were going to try. The results of the sportsman class would be meaningless to everyone apart from the rider themselves, but this would allow competitors to have a go at the harder sections after a lap or two, or maybe try them on the first lap and decide to ride the easier sections after that. Basically this would give riders five choices. A,B,C,D or S. I appreciate that this is yet another complication, but I am just trying to provide a service and good value for money at our club trials, thus appealing to the maximum number of people. I welcome any thoughts on this idea. I could introduce it at this weekends Stratford Club trial at Top Farm if anyone would like to give it a go? I might come to your trial this weekend - I like the idea of being able to try a different route if you want to section on section. I might have a go at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coxy Posted June 20, 2006 Report Share Posted June 20, 2006 the harder the better, i ride the middle route or clubman route and i always seem to do better when its hard and do cr*p on the easy stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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