Friday January 14th 2022
The caption for this pic read - Happy Carla’s Day - no idea who took it or where and who the lady rider is - We do know that the bike is a Beta Factory !!! - We have one of the 2022 Factory 200’s on order - the first year for this model - “You Snooze- You lose”
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Yesterday - I watched a Trial video from the UK on UTube - It was a Southern Experts event - obviously all on private ground, but the organizers did a good job of finding a limited selection of sections - old log piles, muddy gullies etc. - The stars on the day were Alexz Wigg - Jack Dance and Sam Connor ( still going strong) - they seemed to float through the slippery stuff, as the regular club riders floundered. - I was impressed by the one young lady rider Alicia Robinson - I know she has competed at the top level this past year and it shows. - Nice to see the gals getting out - we hope to have a class for them in our Okanagan Trials at some point soon!!!
Looking at the “Closed to Club” type of event on Private land - it reminded me of why I enjoyed the English/Welsh Trials so much, as they were always long distance - usually around 50 miles for a club Trial - which would take in everything from paved back roads that linked up to farmers land and open moors. - In other words, it was always about variety of sections. - The video I watched, while very good - was limited simply by what was available in the area.
Naturally, this is why any Trials that I organized in Canada - were set up in this fashion - although it soon became evident that many riders were out of their element in this format - both physically and mechanically !! - ( I laughed when some would say that they thought they would enter the Scottish - most had no idea) -
I remember in 2002 at the Annual Outlaw Trial at Summerland , a West Coast rider approached me after the first loop and said - “We have to go around again?” - Yes I said IT”S ONLY 13 KM. - At the Scottish riders do 100 MILES per day for Six days. and at the old fashioned trials that were a part of my heritage - we usually rode our bikes to the event ( maybe 50 miles) - competed in the Trial - ( maybe 70 miles) then rode our bikes home again !!
I know a lot of you have heard this before, but I think it’s worth mentioning, because a lot of what I see today at events, is not fun for the newbies. I do think that our current organizers do their very best - but I recall a comment by my old buddy Adrian Brown (RIP) - He would look at some sections set up at various events in BC and say -”They’ve been watching too many videos Dive” -(pronounced in his Cockney accent.
Did you know that only 40% of Trials bikes sold since 1970 in Canada were used in Competition ? When I told the Yamaha Factory people this in 1973 - they were astounded. ( That was why they made the extra seat kit for the TY)
.And another Fun Fact - Did you know that Outlaw supplied over 300 cross bar pads to the Gas Gas Factory in the early 90’s? - ( Of course they copied them and we didn’t make any money anyway)
Did you know that Outlaw Supplied World Champ Dougie Lampkin and his Dad Mart - with toolbelts and Back-packs?
We also supplied Mick Andrews and some other Brits with our Outlaw Products back in the day.
With the warmer weather, more people will be getting the “Itch” to get out - ( Even in the snow) - and without doubt, in spite of what I have said above - some of the best times you can have, is out riding with your buddies. - Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to help show a lot of new riders different off road trails in the Valley. - Hopefully I can still get out this year again.
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Some interesting results from the 1970’s - the Glory Years for Yamaha and Stevie Baker ( an American but riding for Yamaha Canada)
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Winter riding requires a special kind of skill - and one we had no option but to practice in Alberta winters - But when I moved to BC - we had a lot of fun riding over at East Kelowna, and one of the bikes that I had in my stable for a while was a Rathmell Replica 350 Mont - this bike was in a class of it’s own climbing steep hills in the snow - pulling 3rd gear plus lots of torque. Fun times - this pic is of Steve Troupe out on his similar model in Ontario.
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And just because!!!! This is for Andrew!!
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Going to Baja ? - Seems like not all roads are open.
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Quiz - Who is this rider on the Trials bike ? Hint he rode a 125 MV in the TT.
