All that Glitters is not Gold !!! but pretty darn close !!
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A pic I took of Steve Colley at the 1992 Scottish - the section is called “Piper’s Burn” with this last sub section very difficult & took a lot of “5’s” - Colley won the event that year. ( Taken with 35mm Pentax and Kodak film)
Chatting about old times with Babsy - we touched on to an event that we put on in Radium Hot Springs, back in the day - I got a call from a local guy, who asked if we could put on a Trials demo on this particular summer weekend as he wanted to promote the sport, in conjunction with a Summer Fair they were having.
After some phone conversations - I agreed we could do this but we would need some help in constructing obstacles because we did not have the capability to transport our stuff.
No problem he said and Barry drew up some drawings with what we needed to put on a good show - fast forward to the big weekend, and Barry and myself visited the place where the obstacles were ready to be set up.
This was on the Friday night, before the Saturday show!! - Barry took one look at the huge wooden ramp that they had built , and I sensed he was worried, so getting him in a corner, we talked about it and the end result was a chain saw and cutting about three feet off this monster wall.
We had a good selection of obstacles and also riders, as I recall Siggi was there, and had a big crash trying the Wall of Death - the fact that it was wet from overnight rain didn’t help!!- Darryl Heidrick, Adrian Brown and our buddy from OK Falls that had a lot of big throttle style, which kept the crowds amused.
With me doing the commentary and Babsy on camera - we had a really good weekend of which somewhere, I have pics - we had huge crowds who all enjoyed the action. -
Did we ever get any trials riders from this area or events to follow ? - No - but this could be said of many many places that we tried to promote the sport. ( I do recall a nice email from Doug of Blackfoot Motorcycles - who just happened to be going through at that time, and he said how much he enjoyed the show.
I will post some pics if I find them - I know we got some coverage in the local press as well - Did you know that we once had Global TV out at one of our Outlaw Summerland Trials? Can’t remember which one, but I know I was interviewed by Pat Kennedy the Sports Broadcaster - I also remember being on TV with Pat showing him what a Trials bike was all about ( Barry’s Fantic)
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We had a visit with Randy McBee yesterday - he dropped off some medals from the 1975 World Round that I set up. - Ron Mallett had these made up, I think I gave the one I had to Matt Fracy if I remember correctly. - Randy’s Dad (Denny McBee) had them in his old collection - I guess he got them when Ron died from Brain Cancer. ( at age 51)
On one side it’s inscribed with a design of the Calgary Tower with the words - Calgary Centennial 1875-1975, while the other side says FIM Trial Canadian Round 1975.
Ron looked after the paperwork as he was also the CMA Rep , and a good friend - in fact it was his idea to apply for this event, a HUGE undertaking in this first ever year of the World Trials Championship - I agreed to set up the course, and started on this as soon as we got approval from the FIM. - It took the best part of a year to put all this together, ending up with a 69 mile figure eight loop, and 40 sections ridden once.
I have recounted details of the event before, of how it poured with rain the day before, and made some sections too tough, even for the best riders in the World. - I was out front on the loop, checking that all my checkers were in place, buzzing around on my Yamaha Canada TY 175. - In fact I didn’t see one rider, ride one section that day. - I do have a CD of the 8mm film taken by John Whitby which is interesting (but no soundtrack ) Thanks to Janice Whitby for sending me this - I also have a copy of the program we printed up. - Great memories from the early days.
We had a ton of Canadian riders at that first World Round, a time when ordinary club riders could still manage to get through the sections, not like these days, when only the top five riders usually make it through a large percentage of the course. - Sadly times have changed, and not for the best in my opinion.
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Here is a video that Ricky Styles put together a few years ago.
=youtube.com The Good the Bad and The Ugly Trials Moto Style A Video I put together to capture some techniques and physics that trials moto ing entales. Also wanted to capture the beautiful place we live in and where w…
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As we head into the long weekend - a reminder for everybody to stay safe and for the folks that are planning o camp in Osoyoos - The forecast for today is +41 !!!!!!
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One thing we always notice living one block off Hwy 97 North in Vernon, is the number of accidents that happen on long weekends. - The long straight stretch by Swan Lake is listed at 100km, but with three turn off roads - there are always accidents because of the high speed and density of the traffic. - When this happens - all the traffic gets diverted onto Pleasant Valley road - right past our driveway. it’s very narrow, lots of pot-holes and a 50km limit. - However, it’s more like Pleasant Valley Raceway - especially in rush hour, so you can imagine what it’s like on a long weekend if there is an accident on the Hwy. absolutely crazy - but until a few more people get killed, I doubt City Council will do anything. ( Rant over)
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