outlawtrials.com

Today will be a delivery day - Drum of Opti to go up the Valley, then back to ship more off via Courier. - The lack of snow has curtailed a lot of the snowmobile activity, but obviously the enthusiasts are still getting out in the Mountains.

It’s funny how our everyday life has changed with the advent of the home computer - while there is no doubt that they are fantastic for news, and information, they also have their dark side, with many forums used as battlegrounds by people using false names to “Slag” or defame others. - Sometimes “Spam” artists are able to steal a person’s identity to post garbage. - although we monitor some of the various sites, we have elected to stay off forums and debates that always seem to get twisted out of proportion.
The good part of the PC, is in being able to keep in contact with people all over the World in seconds. - We just received an email from an Ontario man, who found out about the death of his friend Rob Ross, by googling his name, which connected him to the blog report we posted many months ago. - As they say it’s a small World.
While the winter has been one of the mildest on record for us folks in the West, it’s funny how time creeps up on you, and all of a sudden there are things to check before the first event  - in our case this is April 3rd ( Easter Saturday)

I checked the supply box yesterday, for tape & cards, plus the other zillion things we need before going out on the hill - Trophies need to be ordered today or tomorrow etc etc.

What a fabulous day yesterday at Bear Creek - we had quite a large group out for some fun in the sun, with Peter making his first appearance of the year on the Sherco thumper, and Gord showed up from Midway. Barry, Rob, Terry & Jordan plus myself. - These rides are all about doing what you feel up to, with no pressure, but lots of coaching. - I managed to get some reasonable pics, before my camera decided to “Freeze up” on me ( not from being cold) - of course when I came home I just removed the battery & put it back in and it worked fine .!!!

I took the opportunity to “Test” the new Wulf trials pants, and these finished the day with no issues at all - they fit and feel good,  ( pics on the for sale section)  - Barry has the new XC pants, which look sharp with the new graphics, and we also have these in different colors.

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As expected  James Dabill (GG) - took the win at the British Championship Trial, but by all accounts the event was over the top for difficulty - Dabill lost 80 points with runner up Michael Brown (Sherco) over 100.- Jack Challoner (Beta) finished 3rd - Alexz Wigg (Beta) was 4th - The other scores were much higher. - Ian Austermuhle (Beta) took the equally high scoring Expert Class - ahead of Jon Walker (GG) and Gary McDonald (GG) -  A bad day for all concerned, including the spectators, as watching riders “5″ every section is boring to say the least.
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More news as it happens ———>>

Looks like it will be a spectacular day for whatever you want to do - for me it means meeting some of the lads at Bear Creek for some fun.

Last night was the Daytona Super Cross, and it proved to be a run-a-way win for Ryan Villopoto (Kaw) - he looked strong all night and was never headed in the main event final. - Chris Poucel won the Lites race, making it a double for Kawasaki - the Frenchman looked smooth. - Grant Langston had a huge “Endo” which red flagged the first final while he was carted off to hospital.

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I had a chat to Jimmy last night - no snow at his place in Elko, and he might just get his first ride on the Beta today - We live in quite the amazing Country, where a guy can Skii or snowmobile or ride his bike ( even boat) on the same weekend.

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I see that there were quite a few DNF’s at the Ioco Trial a couple of week’s ago - including the Expert Class. - Not sure why this was and certainly a bit unusual.

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More News later ———————————–>>Great day at Bear Creek today - pics on the gallery - more news tomorrow.

Another nice sunny morning in the Valley, and although there is still ice on Swan Lake, the tulips are starting to push through in the front garden, - a sure sign of Spring.

Last night I watched the Daytona 200, on Speed. - The win went to Yamaha rider Josh Herron - with Westby (Yam) 2nd and Rapp (Ducati) 3rd. - quite a few crashes, but I don’t think anybody was badly hurt, as most of these occurred while braking for the chicane going into the in-field section.

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I see that Dougie Lampkin has pulled out of the British Trials Championship round this weekend, as the ankle injury he got at the last Enduro is still bothering him. - This should leave the battle for top spot between James Dabill (GG) and Michael Brown (Sherco). - Although “Wiggy” (Beta) can sometimes post an upset.
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I think we will likely be riding at Bear Creek tomorrow - I will post any change on this tonight.

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As mentioned in an earlier posting, I have been reading the book “The Last Spike” by Pierre Berton. - This really is an amazing account of how Canada was explored and joined together, by the long CPR steel road.

Not being much of a History buff, I new little about the events of 1885, and how the Riel rebellion was likely an event that saved the railroad from going bankrupt. - the troops had to be mobilized quickly to deal with the uprising by the Metis in Saskatchewan, and although the line had long gaps around the “Shield” area in Ontario, which forced the troops to march through snow and bitter cold conditions for many miles, before climbing aboard flat decks. - The fact that they were able to accomplish this in short order, proved the value of the railroad to the McDonald government, and allowed the loan that saved the CPR. - Of course the book has much more to enthrall the reader, with details of all the great men involved, and the fortunes that were both made and lost in land speculation. The building of Cities like Calgary and Vancouver, which were just bush at that time, and the tens of thousands of men, employed to blast the tunnels through the Selkirk Mountains. - I rarely take time to read books, but I can certainly recommend this one. ( available at your local library)

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Looking at the results of the Daytona Short Track, I see that most of the bikes were 450 four-strokes although a few Harley’s are also listed. - It seems that engine size versus performance and weight, has always been the secret in racing.

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The Ossa factory have released more details of the projected date for their new Trials bike - Marc Colomer is involved with the testing, and although there has been no official word on who will be the Importer in the UK, the name of Nigel Birkett has been mentioned, and maybe Mick Andrews, will be involved.
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At the FIM Conference in Paris, rules were adopted to cut down on the noise level of both MX and Enduro bikes (Hooray)

The only changes to the World Trials rules (Outdoor) were in regard to the time limit in sections - this will now be cut to one minute ( If I read the translation correctly) - and the starting order will now be one rider per minute, with the Championship leaders from the previous event, being first to start - Youth will go first, then Junior followed by Toni and the boys. - I wonder how this will go over? - I didn’t see any changes to the number of helper riders allowed, which in some cases amounts to three or four.

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The Popular Brianza Trial was held in Italy last weekend, in cold wet conditions with snow in the Mountains. - It was again a battle between Fabio Lenzi (Mont) and Dani Maurino (GG) with Lenzi taking the win, but third spot went to a new kid named Andrea Vaccaretti in his first ride on a Beta.

Sam Zuccali (Beta) took the Senior class, while The sportsman went to  Bonetti colored person (Beta)  - Yes that is how the translation was printed out. !!! - A bit like when Ben Hemmingway is listed as Ben Appletree etc.

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More news as it happens ——————->>>

Late with the blog today, as I had to zip down to Summerland to pick up toolbelts. - While there, I had a coffee with Peter and we took a drive out to the Trials area to check out the snow conditions - still quite a bit around the road going in, so that spot will have to wait a few more weeks.

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Michael Brown (Sherco) and Alexz Wigg (Beta) finished 1-2 at an Indoor in Europe last weekend - some good images on Heath’s r2w site.

This weekend is the first British Championship Trial, with James Dabill (GG) looking to beat out his pal “Browny” - but Doug Lampkin is also entered so it should be interesting.

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The Road Race lads are all in Daytona this week - Larry Pegram has been fast in practice on the Ducati - the week will see a number of races, which is always the traditional start to the season.

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We have decided to hold the “Adrian Brown Memorial Trial” on Saturday April 3rd - which is Easter Saturday. - This will be at Yankee Flats near Vernon, and a poster with other details will be on TC later. - We plan on making this a low scoring “Fun” event and it will be sanctioned by WEC. - email me if you need more info or directions ( These are on the poster)

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The World Superbike in Australia proved to be exciting, with British rider Leon Haslam (Suz) winning his first ever World Superbike event, when he took the first race, however it was Privateer Ducati rider Carlos Checa who stole the win in the second race.

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I see that Heath of r2w fame, had a good ride last weekend in the UK - he credits his new 290 Evo for his success in the muddy conditions. - Another rider singing the praises of the new Evo is Steve Fracy, who says young Matt found grip in many places where others were spinning at the Victoria Trial.

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We now have limited quantities of both Michelin and Dunlop Trials tires in stock - give a call for prices etc.

The Wulfsport Trials Helmets are proving to be popular, and we have just received another shipment of those in the various colors. - We will also have more of our Outlaw toolbelts in stock this week.

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Today is “St David’s Day” - or the day when all Welsh people remember their Heritage. - It is “Traditional” to wear a “leek” in your lapel, although I have never seen anybody do this.

The Gold medal Hockey game was certainly exciting, with Crosby finally doing the deed for Canada, but it was close.

One of the funniest things I saw during the various medal presentations was when one of the Womens Hockey Team - “Hucked” her “Flowers” over her shoulder into the crowd. - There was a lot of criticism about these looking like              ” Cauliflowers”

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In Spain - the first “Open Free” Championship is now in the books, but the same guy won - Tony Bou finished ahead of Jeroni Fajardo (Beta) and Adam Raga (GG) with Albert Cabestany (Sherco) 4th.

The Victoria Club held their first Trial of the year on Sunday and we have heard they had a good turn out - results will be up on TC later today. Seems they dropped a couple of classes, and the Senior/ Sportsmen all rode as one big Intermediate Class.

More news later ————————->>>

A beautiful sunny morning in the Valley - great day for riding, but we have decided to stay home and take in the final day of the Winter Olympics namely the Hockey game.

Although the huge costs involved in promoting these games in Vancouver, have a lot of people ( including myself) wondering where the money is coming from. - You can’t deny the dedication of the athletes, and get caught up in the excitement of all the different sports.

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As reported on my “Whats new” page - Stan will be riding the Scottish, along with his buddy from South of the border, John (Ishy) Isherwood. - It will be interesting to see how the heavy snow in the Highlands effects the “Burns” by the time May arrives.

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Ryan Dungey took the Super X win in Atlanta, last night and now has the points lead in the series - a number of big crashes on the night, with main contender Ryan Villopoto taking a header over the bars.

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