M
anchester 17 MCC welcomed 61 riders to the second of their Dead Easy Trials last Saturday. The popular Haslins venue was the location and when the section setting team arrived early on Saturday morning they were greeted with driving rain and high winds, plus a fair bit of fog. Despite their best intentions, this made the trial more high scoring than normal. Nothing dangerous, just very slippery, water on grass and limestone.
On the easy route, Ant Harris piloted his Montesa round for a loss of three, which given the conditions was an excellent ride. He was followed home by young George Bowyer, who rides his Oset with gusto, under the watchful eye of father Rob, having a break from riding the big Triumph! Sam Slack, another youngster also lost five, a mixture of ones and twos. Next came a battle of the family Lomas', with young Jamie just piping Lomas senior by three marks, losing six and nine respectively.
On the harder route, young Harry Lyons rode really well to lose just three marks, all coming by way of dabs on section three. This section proved to be the hardest in the trial on this route, with a particularly tight turn through rocks proving to be the bain of many. Four riders then followed on five lost, Nick Gregory, and Callum Hedison. Also Lee Granby who intended to ride his beefy Ariel for Scottish practice, but mechanical issues before the start saw him switch to a tasty Cub. Mark Newman, also on five, rode an interesting Banville, a Bantam with a Villiers engine, clearly an effective combination.
There were a lot of first timers at this trial and all deserve a pat on the back for their efforts in tricky conditions. Not all completed the course and some ran out of time but their enthusiasm and determination shone through. It was difficult getting some off their bikes at the end!
Getting Observers for these trials is a headache and on many sections riders had to observe one another which is not ideal. Special thanks to the few who did pick a board up.
Next Dead Easy Trial Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May when of course the sun will be shining etc etc
Report: Roger Townsend
RESULTS
HARD ROUTE
Harry Lyons (Beta) 3 Nick Gregory 9 (Beta) 5 Callum Hedison (Sherco) 5 Lee Granby (Triumph) 5 Mark Newman (Banville) 5 Terry Shepherd (Gas Gas) 6 Martin Allen (Gas Gas) 6
EASY ROUTE
Ant Harris (Montesa) 3 George Bowyer (Oset) 5 Sam Slack (Beta) 5 Jamie Lomas (Gas Gas) 6 Alan Lomas (Gas Gas) 9 Jonathan Brown (Montesa) 10