Baby it’s cold outside!! brrrr – but maybe we are all getting a bit soft? Back on March 3rd 1965 – Babsy, and myself, along with baby Helen, arrived at midnight in Calgary with the temperature listed at -20 F . As has been reported before, my first thoughts as we exited the plane ( down the steps) and that cold air hit me -with snow all around was “What have I done ?”-
Babsy and I were only chatting about some of these early experiences we had back then – she reminded me that she was wearing high healed shoes and a light coat!!
Of course we were soon all kitted out with warm clothing, and Babs used to take baby Helen out in the stroller, even when it was -20 or colder – all wrapped up, but cold enough her little eye lashes were freezing.
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Moving on – the answer to the Thursday quiz was John Jones on a converted Kawasaki 175 Enduro – he was sponsored by Manly’s I believe back then in Toronto. – John was an English rider who like us had emigrated to Canada, and along with John DeGruchy and others, travelled out to Calgary to ride the National Trial we put on. – I recall that the September weather was spectacular as I set up a 30mile loop near Bragg Creek. – But as has happened a few times since – you can’t trust Alberta weather, and we had a dump of about 2ft of snow on the Saturday night. – Oh! boy, what to do,? – well the show had to go on, as we also had some riders up from the States and other places.
Therefore, I led the riders around the loop in the deep snow, as most of the “arrows” had folded over or disappeared. – This event all happened not long after I got my leg out of a cast, and I was also now riding a Blackfoot Motorcycle Montesa, along with other team members Murray Nutt and Wayne Adderson.
As you can imagine – the day was not the greatest as everybody struggled in the conditions – John Jones took the win on his Kaw, which somehow kept going after seizing up. – For me my first competition on the Monty ended up with me pushing it down through the last few creek sections, after it sucked in water – with the help of US rider Danny Smith – who remarked that he wasn’t too keen on “Paddling contests”. – You will see that Danny had some rather unusual head gear!!
As usual back in those great Alberta days – We printed up a Program this shows John Jones riding a Bultaco SherpaT in the Scottish Six Day Trial – The section -no longer used is called Edra-Mucky.
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Quiz for today – Who are these Trials riders dabbling at Scrambling back in the day???
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As most of our readers know – some of the best rides you can have on a Trials bike, is up in the Mountains – This pic is from quite a few years ago, from a trip we made up high in the West Kootenay area – lots of old mines here, as you can see the remains of one old cabin.
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Another old pic showing the main street in Kelowna in 1904.
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Don’t forget Outlaw can supply with everything you need to enjoy the Sport of Trials – Bikes & gear – check out our Wulf Trials gloves – still only $25.00
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If you ride Trials, it’s likely that you have done this the odd time, and yes the Beta rear fenders do break – but not always!! However the good news is we always have them in stock!!
