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Mornin’ bloggers – We sometimes get asked about how the sport of Trials was back in the 50’s -60’s – long before the Spanish got involved and while this was a huge step in bike development . In some ways I think it was the end of how the sport was supposed to be . – At least at the World level.
Obviously, because of our age, we have lived through all these changes and technical updates, we have seen riding techniques both improve until they are beyond what a normal club trials rider ever wanted to do.- – Sammy Miller once said, that if you are not going ahead, you are standing still – but Sammy now has the biggest Vintage Museum to show just how great things were back in the day.
I know that the new breed of young Trials riders, want nothing more than to show their skills on hopping and bopping etc – and if that is what they want – good luck to them..
As most of our bloggers know, we started promoting Canadian trials in 1970 in Alberta – We did it the way we thought events should be run, based on our UK experiences. – Obviously these became successful – and awarded us the first ever FIM World Round in Canada. – Trials bikes sold because people could relate to what they saw, and would perhaps want to give the sport a try.
Moving on to the present day, what we have is the FIM promoting Arena style Trials in the outdoors with huge man-made rock sections which I really believe will someday cause a serious injury.. -( Already a couple of very good young riders out because of falls)
They have tried to make Outdoor Trials into Spectator events -something that the sport was never planned to be. – Remember – a Trial was supposed to be a test of the reliability of the bikes, and the stamina of the riders.
Of course, the Indoor Arena events, should continue, but only during the winter months, or at special shows.
It’s good to see a lot of old style events still happening in the UK, in fact my old club has one in a couple of weeks – a 40 mile loop.
At the other end of the spectrum we see the huge increase in Vintage or Classic Trials – This weekend is the Leven Valley Two day – an event that is always oversubscribed, and uses a lot of the sections, Scotland is famous for. – John Hulme has posted a ton of pics from the first day, but as these are copywright protected, we can’t show you. – We can show this neat shot taken by Wendy McKay at the top of Pipeline, with Harry and his buddies. – I wonder how many “cleaned” it.
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UPDATE – British Ladies Team win at TDN
- Spain wins Men’s Team class – Again
- Brits come 2nd in Men’s class
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