outlawtrials.com

The ride up in the Lavington area near Vernon, yesterday afternoon proved to be quite enjoyable - I picked Ian up, and we parked in a cool spot near the creek.

I asked Ian which bike he wanted to ride - the Beta Rev 3 or the Sherco 4T, and although he rides a Honda 250f, - I suggested that he start out on the Beta. - Ian said he would like to ride some of the trails he usually did on his enduro bike, as a comparison, so off we went up the Mountain. - We were soon on a well marked single track, that had been used recently in a cross country race ( All the arrows were still up) - Ian was zipping along handling the Beta well, while I followed on the Sherco, using 4th gear most of the time - eventually we came out on a forest road, and passed Bardoff lake on route back to the van for a loop of around 20km - a neat ride on trails that I raced on many years ago. - later I showed Ian a couple of sections near the van, and must say I actually had more fun riding those on both bikes, than doing the long loop. - It’s always interesting to get a new rider out on a trials bike, as they are so alien to other bikes. - although we only scratched the surface, at least Ian can now relate to the stand up, go slow, sport.

Taff called to say that he will be riding the Falun Trial on Sunday - this is at Roger Flinkman’s place, near Wetaskiwin

In other Trials news I see Don Doerksen is the new Montesa Scorpa Importer for Canada - he takes over from Dan Fisher - Don has a retail bike shop in Mission, and always supports our events.

I watched the F1 qualifying early this morning, and it was McLaren driver Heiki Kovalinen who stole pole, ahead of surprise 2nd place man Mark Webber in the Red Bull car, with Kimi Raikkinen ( Ferrari) in third.

Looks like a great weekend for weather - We will be out tomorrow - probably go up to White Lake.

Today is a big day Stateside, with the flags waving and the bands playing - but down in Tennessee - the Fracy clan will be getting set for the National Trial - Hopefully Matt will have a good ride and enjoy the experience.

We had a rain storm last night, which  has helped to cool things down - it should also help the crews fighting the Forest fires in the area. - as long as there were no more lightning strikes.

This afternoon I am meeting another Trials prospect to ride up Noble Canyon near Vernon - he wants to try the Sherco and Beta.  - Gerry from PG also called and may be down this weekend for a “Go” on the Sherco Thumper. Sunday we will be out again - not sure of the location yet, may go to White Lake. ( Will post on Saturday night - check if you want to come)

I talked to Bob Work last night about the demo at 100 Mile for next weekend - he confirmed that this will be a BIG event - the car swap/show is getting lots of attention and all Motel space is booked for miles around. - A big contingent of bikes are all riding up from Vancouver, so we will have lots of spectators for the Trials Shows on Saturday and Sunday ( Four shows on Sat - Three on Sunday)

This weekend there is a Vintage Bike show and Flat-track race at the Vernon Stock car track - my neighbor  Art Gavel was busy loading all his old Indians and Harley’s early this morning. - there will be some neat stuff to watch, for all three days.

As mentioned the World Trials Circus is in Czecho this weekend - this is the last of a three week stint, before the riders take a summer break.

The F1 drivers are in England for the Silverstone GP, and early practice has already seen a few cars in the tire wall. - Both Ferrari and McLaren are setting the pace in the first two sessions .

more news as it happens ——>

Well I finally seem to have caught up on business after the long weekend - I missed doing any blog yesterday, as there wasn’t any big news, and I was running around. - It’s still cooking in the Valley, but the big storm that was forecast for last night, never materialized.

I see that Mitch Brown has posted a bunch of pics on the Second Gear site, of the Trial at Blackfoot Park last Sunday - he is the guy you see on many of my pics, with the white T shirt covering his head ( It was very Hot) - He shoots a lot of good video as well, of the racing activities in Alberta.

The next World Round takes place in Czecho this weekend - Tony Bou has a big lead over Adam Raga in the Series, with only three events to go after this one.

Dougie Lampkin had no excuses for his poor ride in Italy last week - he said on his web-site that it was a good Trial with well laid out sections - he just had an “Off ” day. - Michael Brown ( Beta) won the European Round at the same venue, but it looks like some of the other young Brits had a tough time in the hot humid conditions. - Alexz Wigg ( Mont) finished 4th in the Junior and with Sherco rider Loris Gubian winning again, the Championship is close. - Jack Challoner. like Dougie, had a bad day, but still leads the Youth by a healthy margin for Beta.

Not sure where we will ride this weekend - I might just go up the hill - next week - I will be taking some Alberta riders out to Summerland - then on Friday we will head up to 100 Mile House for the Trials demo.

more news later ———————>

Well the long weekend turned out to be Hot Hot. - I made it to Calgary on Saturday afternoon, and hooked up with my new Sherco customer at Siggi’s place. - Sunday we were at  Blackfoot Park, and the first of the Second Gear/Seitzco Series. - Because of weather related problems the event had been postponed, and the long weekend date probably didn’t fit with a few riders, but it was nice to see Stan Bakgaard making his second Alberta Trial in as many weeks, and showing just how to ride the tricky “arena style” obsticles
It was great to see so many riders having fun and of course I met up with a lot of old friends - I will be posting pics of the event on the gallery asap. - After the Trial, I headed South to Jimmy’s - but unfortunately I only got as far as Coleman, before the road was closed because of an accident - “FIVE HOURS”  later - The Hiway opened. and I duly arrived in Elko at 1am - tired and thirsty- but luckily Jimmy was still up with some cold ones. - Next morning (really early) - we were out on the two Sherco 4T’s and enjoyed a nice ride alongside the Elk River  - we stopped to watch some White Water Rafters at a truly beautiful location ( see pics) - then later did a loop up Rabbit Mountain.

more news later —>>

With the ever increasing cost of gas, there will no doubt be a down trend in rider participation at many events ( All types) - This topic was talked about at the recent Stony Plain Trial, and it has been on my mind for the past few days. - I recall back in 1991, We planned on attending the Walt Healy Two Day near Rocky Mountain House, Alberta. - I had just bought a GM Box van, and with lots of room, a total of four other riders agreed to make the trip, and by splitting the cost of gas, we could have a great weekend, without breaking the bank. - Everybody could sleep in the van, and I would do the driving. - If this sounds too good to be true, then you’ve guessed it. - Thursday night rolls round, and I am ready in Kelowna to load up, when I get the first call ” Sorry Dave but I can’t go - the wife is etc etc” - that was Graham Manning, then Kevin Couves and Barry Van As, both said they couldn’t go either. - Sooo, that left Harry McKay and myself, sitting in my front room feeling pretty choked - I did some quick Math, and told Harry it really wasn’t on, as the cost of fuel would be about $300 - split two ways!! - A lot of money back then. - Well! as most people who ever met Harry know, he can be very persuasive, and we duly went to the Trial and had a blast.

The moral of that story, is don’t ever let your buddies down especially not at the last minute. - If you say you will do something or be somewhere. - THEN DO IT. - ( This old guy has a long memory) - Believe me, I have heard all the excuses in the World over the years, for why people couldn’t be at a Trial - Some guys had a Granny die three times!!!

This is sort of a reminder to the riders who have told me they will be at the 100 Mile Trials demo on July 12/13th - Please don’t let me down.!!!

I still haven’t heard if the Blackfoot Trial is on or off - I got a call last night saying it was off, but nothing official. - I have to go anyway, as I have a Sherco to deliver, and then maybe a ride with Jimmy on Monday.

Have a great long weekend everybody !!

It seems that a lot of events were hit by bad weather at the weekend - I just looked at the report on the Wainright Trial, which was held in Yorkshire on Sunday - Only 25% of the 146 riders made it around the eight mile loop before the clerk of the course stopped it. - The observers and riders were being battered by the wind and rain, and with the “Becks” ( Creeks) like raging torrents, it was becoming just too much even for the tough Brits. - It was Ian Austermuhle who led a Beta sweep of the results, but the pic I will add on my gallery tends to say it all.

This is a long weekend in Canada, and apart from the usual summer activities, there will be a Trial at Blackfoot Park put on by Siggi’s Second Gear Club, - I will be there to support this event ( as one of the sponsors) - but the weather can also be fickle in Alberta at any time, so we will keep our fingers crossed.  - After the Trial I will head South to stay over with Jimmy - we will try for a ride on Monday up rabbit mountain. ( Will post piccies next week)

There is also a PNTA Trial in Victoria, - they usually have a good turn out of riders for this series - Steve Doel and Heather Wall will be there to fly the Alberta flag.

The World Trials riders are in Italy this weekend, Adam Raga will try to make it two wins in a row, and narrow the gap on points leader Tony Bou.

more news as it happens ———–>

I spent yesterday drying out everything from the weekend - the back yard looking a bit like a garage sale, with the canopy top and riding gear all laid out in the sun. - Of course the big job was to wash the bikes - the North Saskachewan mud sets like concrete, and also turns the tires blue ( must be the oil!!)

That took a long time - and lots of Opti Spray to get things lubed and shiny.

It looks like the French World Round had similar weather to Stony Plain, with the scores all up around the ton. - Paddling contests are never fun, but they take on a dangerous aspect when they get to this level. -Lots of comments on the web about riders getting hurt or even killed if sanity doesn’t return to the World events.

Dougie Lampkin nearly didn’t get to ride as he came down with some sort of bug, that required urgent medical attention - he did well to place 4th, ahead of his Beta team mate Jeroni Fajardo.

There was a lot of talk about the high gas prices around the camp fire at Stony - no question that this will have an effect on attendance at events in the future - Both Steve Richardson and myself had to dig deep into the wallet to get to the Alberta event, and it is becoming hard to justify the expense. ( As much as we love the sport)

It was good to see Stan Bakgaard at the Trial, he now has a Sherco Cabestany special, and of course is riding as well as ever - he had a great battle with Chris Tronnes in the Expert Class. - When you see high scores from these riders you know conditions are tough - Chris lost an average of 2.9 points per section to edge Stan who lost an average of 3.2 per section. !!!
I see Tony Down is also feeling the pinch in the economy Stateside, and has sold seven of his beautiful vintage Trials bikes.

More News as it happens ——————>

I have now compiled the Final Results of the Outlaw Series and these have been sent to Steve Fracy and Taff Parfitt as well as Bob Johns - There were lots of ties which were broken by the riders score at the Summerland Event. -

The winners in each class were :

Expert Chris Tronnes

Advanced Taff Parfitt

Intermediate Bob Fredericksen

Senior 45  Ross Rathbone

Junior Mark ONeil

Vintage A Steve Fracy

Vintage B Steve Richardson.

I’m hoping that Taff will post on the ATRA site and Steve the Island Club site and that they will go on Trials Canada ( When Bob gets back from sailing the Blue Pacific) - In the meantime if you wish a personal copy - just email me and I will forward.

We are now back in the Okanagan, after a fun filled weekend at Stony Plain Alberta. - We arrived at the Trial location on Friday night, and met up with Taff, Harold etc - the camp fire stories lasted well into the early hours, with Bobby entertaining on his Banjo.

Saturday morning, I was up early, to meet with a local lad, who had come out to try the Sherco 4T - a beautiful sunny morning, and we really enjoyed the ride around the Trials loop ( unfortunately he couldn’t stay for the event)

At 11am the Vintage boys got going, and tackled the 12 sections in the river valley, which was wet and muddy after some heavy rain ( more on this later) - Section number one took an unexpected five from Doug Harrish, when the Honda failed to get over the final log, but the other riders all started well. - Steve Richardson was out from Gambier Island, and had some good rides on his special Ty 175, as did Mark ONeall on his Yamaha, - Berny Lehman found the TL 250 Honda a bit of a “handful”, but everybody had a lot of fun, in this Classic event, which is a big part of the Outlaw Series. It was Doug who took the win, ahead of Steve and Mark, with Bernie looping his immaculate Honda on the last steep climb out of the valley, which will mean a few trips to the parts store to fix it.

The rain started around 6am on Sunday morning, and lasted pretty much all day, making the sections extremely difficult, for the modern bikes - in fact even with some changes, it soon became obvious, that this was going to be a tough high scoring event. - We saw lots of good rides on some sections that it was almost impossible to stand on - the Expert boys finding grip where others were floundering - Chris Tronnes used his local knowledge to good effect, and took the win, over Stan Bakgaard, with Steve Doel and Jacek Jablonsky,fighting it out for third.

The advanced class proved to be really close, and in the end it was Hardy Hartwig, who edged out Taff Parfitt by one point, with ever smiling Rob Stobart finishing third. - Banjo Bobby struggled around on this, his first visit to Alberta - the dragging clutch on his Gasser adding to his problems - but although he had some “Flashes of brilliance” - he finished down in 5th place.

I took lots of pictures over the two days of competition, and these are now up on the gallery, the full results can be seen by clicking onto the ATRA web site at www.albertatrials.ca -

All that remains is for me to compile the results from all three Rounds ( asap) and post on all the web sites. - Congratulations to all the riders who participated in the series, and to the organizers who spent many hours, setting up the events.

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We will be leaving for Stony Plain Alberta this morning         ( About a ten hour drive) Weather looks good so far.

The only news I could find this early was from Europe where Casey Stoner has set fastest lap in Moto GP Practice at Donnington Park England - and Filipe Massa was the quickest first time out in France for the F1 crew.

More news and pictures, when I get back from AB on Monday night. —————->

The sun is shining and the birds are tweeting to start another great day in the Valley !! - However on checking the Edmonton forecast, I see that they are saying mixed weather for the weekend, with light rain for Sunday. - After looking at the storm damage from the area on TV last night, I suspect that Taff might need to check out his sections for water damage.    ( No worries for Bobby’s Gasser - we’ll fit a snorkel!)

I think the Fracy clan are heading Stateside this weekend to contest one of the Nationals - so good luck to Matt on that - Hope you all have a good time & kick some Butt.

It’s the French World Round this weekend, and as the observers have a history of being very partisan, you can expect to see some “Lenient” scores for any rider flying the local flag .

The F1 drivers are also in France this weekend, but I think Sebastian Bordais will need more than crowd support to get on the podium. - Look for a strong showing from Ferrari at this one .

Donnington Park in the UK will host the Moto GP Round on Sunday, American rider Ben Spies will make his debut at this event.