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Trials RR - long
Trials RR - long
So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
better next time now that it's not something new to me.
The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
(foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
rode out of bounds.
I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
next left turn.
Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
make. Another 5.
Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
trouble.
Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
to 4.5 pounds.
Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
Loop 2:
Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
need to learn to resist those.
Section 2: clean
Section 3: clean
Section 4: clean
Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
one split wrong.
Section 6: clean
Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
nailing this section.
Section 8: clean
Loop 3:
Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
Section 2: clean
Section 3: clean
Section 4: clean
Section 5: clean
Section 6: clean
Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
Section 8: clean
Loop 4:
Section 1: clean
Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
fine.
Section 3: clean
Section 4: clean
Section 5: clean
Section 6: clean
Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
uphill section later.
Section 8: clean
Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
and take the fun out of it.
Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
them.
All in all, a great day of riding.
Craig
So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
better next time now that it's not something new to me.
The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
(foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
rode out of bounds.
I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
next left turn.
Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
make. Another 5.
Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
trouble.
Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
to 4.5 pounds.
Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
Loop 2:
Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
need to learn to resist those.
Section 2: clean
Section 3: clean
Section 4: clean
Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
one split wrong.
Section 6: clean
Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
nailing this section.
Section 8: clean
Loop 3:
Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
Section 2: clean
Section 3: clean
Section 4: clean
Section 5: clean
Section 6: clean
Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
Section 8: clean
Loop 4:
Section 1: clean
Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
fine.
Section 3: clean
Section 4: clean
Section 5: clean
Section 6: clean
Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
uphill section later.
Section 8: clean
Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
and take the fun out of it.
Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
them.
All in all, a great day of riding.
Craig
Re: Trials RR - long
On Apr 14, 1:08 pm, Craig <googlegroupm...@yahoo,com > wrote:
> All in all, a great day of riding.
Going out there and ride is great, no matter what!
Was this trial event difficult as the ones I see on ESPN? There's no
trials here... I've never seen anyone riding a trial bike in a proper
way... I bet it is a lot of fun, when climbing a 10 meter tractor tire
is not required... :-)
-- Tiago
On Apr 14, 1:08 pm, Craig <googlegroupm...@yahoo,com > wrote:
> All in all, a great day of riding.
Going out there and ride is great, no matter what!
Was this trial event difficult as the ones I see on ESPN? There's no
trials here... I've never seen anyone riding a trial bike in a proper
way... I bet it is a lot of fun, when climbing a 10 meter tractor tire
is not required... :-)
-- Tiago
Re: Trials RR - long
On Apr 14, 12:02 pm, Tiago Rocha <diariodastril...@gmail,com > wrote:
> Was this trial event difficult as the ones I see on ESPN? There's no
> trials here... I've never seen anyone riding a trial bike in a proper
> way... I bet it is a lot of fun, when climbing a 10 meter tractor tire
> is not required... :-)
Not even close. There was nothing scary at all, and only a couple of
things that would qualify as obstacles. It's the tight turns, hills,
camber and well placed small logs rocks & roots that make it difficult
at the novice level.
None of the obstacles there would even raise an eyebrow on the trails
we rode in Idaho. The challenge comes from keeping your feet on the
pegs and staying in bounds.
Craig
On Apr 14, 12:02 pm, Tiago Rocha <diariodastril...@gmail,com > wrote:
> Was this trial event difficult as the ones I see on ESPN? There's no
> trials here... I've never seen anyone riding a trial bike in a proper
> way... I bet it is a lot of fun, when climbing a 10 meter tractor tire
> is not required... :-)
Not even close. There was nothing scary at all, and only a couple of
things that would qualify as obstacles. It's the tight turns, hills,
camber and well placed small logs rocks & roots that make it difficult
at the novice level.
None of the obstacles there would even raise an eyebrow on the trails
we rode in Idaho. The challenge comes from keeping your feet on the
pegs and staying in bounds.
Craig
Re: Trials RR - long
Craig,
Seldom do I ride with less than 5.5 in front, as the front tire will resist
"going over" things in a trials. the rear on modern bikes (tubeless) I take
4.5 on wet days, (would be less if I didn't weigh over 230, and I know if
the weather is in the 40's when we start (around 10) an warms up till we
end, I will have to let air again out, because it will pump up due to heat.
I really wish you were closer, I would have you trained to ride in no time.
fwiw, there is an art and skill to not only riding trials but walking the
sections to "pick your path". If you care there is a Ryan young video out
there that touches on that, BUT it doesn't cover Splits LOL!.
If you ever come to KS (Close to Wichita, {actually Douglass KS if you have
Google map to look at it is 1.5 miles east of town east west highway, about
2.5 - 3 miles south on Adams road} on 2nd Sunday of month to ride an event,
find me...)
"Craig" <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote in message
news:eb333569-e204-4d54-adf5-e76fff01d8ce@p39g2000prm.googlegroups,com ...
> On Apr 14, 12:02 pm, Tiago Rocha <diariodastril...@gmail,com > wrote:
>
>> Was this trial event difficult as the ones I see on ESPN? There's no
>> trials here... I've never seen anyone riding a trial bike in a proper
>> way... I bet it is a lot of fun, when climbing a 10 meter tractor tire
>> is not required... :-)
>
> Not even close. There was nothing scary at all, and only a couple of
> things that would qualify as obstacles. It's the tight turns, hills,
> camber and well placed small logs rocks & roots that make it difficult
> at the novice level.
>
> None of the obstacles there would even raise an eyebrow on the trails
> we rode in Idaho. The challenge comes from keeping your feet on the
> pegs and staying in bounds.
>
> Craig
>
Craig,
Seldom do I ride with less than 5.5 in front, as the front tire will resist
"going over" things in a trials. the rear on modern bikes (tubeless) I take
4.5 on wet days, (would be less if I didn't weigh over 230, and I know if
the weather is in the 40's when we start (around 10) an warms up till we
end, I will have to let air again out, because it will pump up due to heat.
I really wish you were closer, I would have you trained to ride in no time.
fwiw, there is an art and skill to not only riding trials but walking the
sections to "pick your path". If you care there is a Ryan young video out
there that touches on that, BUT it doesn't cover Splits LOL!.
If you ever come to KS (Close to Wichita, {actually Douglass KS if you have
Google map to look at it is 1.5 miles east of town east west highway, about
2.5 - 3 miles south on Adams road} on 2nd Sunday of month to ride an event,
find me...)
"Craig" <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote in message
news:eb333569-e204-4d54-adf5-e76fff01d8ce@p39g2000prm.googlegroups,com ...
> On Apr 14, 12:02 pm, Tiago Rocha <diariodastril...@gmail,com > wrote:
>
>> Was this trial event difficult as the ones I see on ESPN? There's no
>> trials here... I've never seen anyone riding a trial bike in a proper
>> way... I bet it is a lot of fun, when climbing a 10 meter tractor tire
>> is not required... :-)
>
> Not even close. There was nothing scary at all, and only a couple of
> things that would qualify as obstacles. It's the tight turns, hills,
> camber and well placed small logs rocks & roots that make it difficult
> at the novice level.
>
> None of the obstacles there would even raise an eyebrow on the trails
> we rode in Idaho. The challenge comes from keeping your feet on the
> pegs and staying in bounds.
>
> Craig
>
Re: Trials RR - long
On Apr 15, 1:35 pm, "PlowBoy," <A...@KS,com > wrote:
> Craig,
>
> Seldom do I ride with less than 5.5 in front, as the front tire will resist
> "going over" things in a trials. the rear on modern bikes (tubeless) I take
> 4.5 on wet days, (would be less if I didn't weigh over 230, and I know if
> the weather is in the 40's when we start (around 10) an warms up till we
> end, I will have to let air again out, because it will pump up due to heat.
Thanks for the air pressure tips. I'm wondering if my guage is
accurate, as it's a cheapo low pressure model. I rode the bike for
months without ever checking the pressure, then did and found it to be
4psi. I added air and traction dropped. Could be that the old Dunlop
801 on there is hard from age. I'm about 175lbs.
> I really wish you were closer, I would have you trained to ride in no time.
> fwiw, there is an art and skill to not only riding trials but walking the
> sections to "pick your path". If you care there is a Ryan young video out
> there that touches on that, BUT it doesn't cover Splits LOL!.
I have the Ryan Young video. The splits made perfect sense. It was
just apparently too much to cram in my head trying to remember every
detail as well as the splits. Once I loosened up and settled down the
problem seemed to go away. We'll see at the next event if that's still
the case. Riding with someone experienced would certainly help a lot.
> If you ever come to KS (Close to Wichita, {actually Douglass KS if you have
> Google map to look at it is 1.5 miles east of town east west highway, about
> 2.5 - 3 miles south on Adams road} on 2nd Sunday of month to ride an event,
> find me...)
The main reason for buying the bike was to enjoy riding at home
without having to travel anywhere. I'm thinking Kansas is out. ;-)
Thanks,
Craig
On Apr 15, 1:35 pm, "PlowBoy," <A...@KS,com > wrote:
> Craig,
>
> Seldom do I ride with less than 5.5 in front, as the front tire will resist
> "going over" things in a trials. the rear on modern bikes (tubeless) I take
> 4.5 on wet days, (would be less if I didn't weigh over 230, and I know if
> the weather is in the 40's when we start (around 10) an warms up till we
> end, I will have to let air again out, because it will pump up due to heat.
Thanks for the air pressure tips. I'm wondering if my guage is
accurate, as it's a cheapo low pressure model. I rode the bike for
months without ever checking the pressure, then did and found it to be
4psi. I added air and traction dropped. Could be that the old Dunlop
801 on there is hard from age. I'm about 175lbs.
> I really wish you were closer, I would have you trained to ride in no time.
> fwiw, there is an art and skill to not only riding trials but walking the
> sections to "pick your path". If you care there is a Ryan young video out
> there that touches on that, BUT it doesn't cover Splits LOL!.
I have the Ryan Young video. The splits made perfect sense. It was
just apparently too much to cram in my head trying to remember every
detail as well as the splits. Once I loosened up and settled down the
problem seemed to go away. We'll see at the next event if that's still
the case. Riding with someone experienced would certainly help a lot.
> If you ever come to KS (Close to Wichita, {actually Douglass KS if you have
> Google map to look at it is 1.5 miles east of town east west highway, about
> 2.5 - 3 miles south on Adams road} on 2nd Sunday of month to ride an event,
> find me...)
The main reason for buying the bike was to enjoy riding at home
without having to travel anywhere. I'm thinking Kansas is out. ;-)
Thanks,
Craig
Re: Trials RR - long
On Apr 14, 12:08 pm, Craig <googlegroupm...@yahoo,com > wrote:
> So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
> a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
> better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
> local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
> close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
> kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
>
> The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
> turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
> trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
> this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
> mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
> only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
> series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
> bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
> riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
>
> I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
> trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
> loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
> and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
> which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
> other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
> newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
> places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
> class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
> took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
> better next time now that it's not something new to me.
>
> The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
> soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
>
> A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
> the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
> (foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
> can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
> if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
> than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
> it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
> if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
>
> For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
> loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
> all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
> lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
> each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
> rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
>
> Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
> scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
> rode out of bounds.
>
> I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
> real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
> tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
> front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
> next left turn.
>
> Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
> make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
> literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
> the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
> make. Another 5.
>
> Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
> missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
> the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
> trouble.
>
> Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
> the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
> had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
>
> Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
> greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
>
> I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
> and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
> that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
>
> As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
> much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
> according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
> significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
> to 4.5 pounds.
>
> Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
> and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
>
> Loop 2:
> Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
> need to learn to resist those.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
> one split wrong.
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
> nailing this section.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 3:
> Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
> in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
> nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 4:
> Section 1: clean
> Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
> Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
> fine.
>
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
> uphill section later.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
> on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
> but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
> Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
> second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
> to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
> admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
> my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
> the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
> commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
> and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
> and take the fun out of it.
>
> Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
> sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
> activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
> prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
> bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
> One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
> second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
> other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
> minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
> for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
> idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
> it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
> while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
> events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
> in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
> but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
> them.
>
> All in all, a great day of riding.
>
> Craig
Cool.
Heck with the score, last line says it all.
I'm still cheesed I never got feedback about my score in the scottish
trials I rode a coupla years back- I'm sure I won my class (street-
legal over 300lbs)
Dave
On Apr 14, 12:08 pm, Craig <googlegroupm...@yahoo,com > wrote:
> So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
> a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
> better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
> local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
> close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
> kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
>
> The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
> turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
> trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
> this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
> mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
> only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
> series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
> bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
> riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
>
> I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
> trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
> loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
> and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
> which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
> other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
> newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
> places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
> class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
> took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
> better next time now that it's not something new to me.
>
> The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
> soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
>
> A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
> the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
> (foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
> can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
> if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
> than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
> it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
> if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
>
> For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
> loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
> all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
> lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
> each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
> rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
>
> Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
> scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
> rode out of bounds.
>
> I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
> real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
> tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
> front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
> next left turn.
>
> Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
> make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
> literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
> the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
> make. Another 5.
>
> Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
> missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
> the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
> trouble.
>
> Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
> the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
> had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
>
> Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
> greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
>
> I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
> and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
> that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
>
> As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
> much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
> according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
> significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
> to 4.5 pounds.
>
> Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
> and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
>
> Loop 2:
> Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
> need to learn to resist those.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
> one split wrong.
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
> nailing this section.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 3:
> Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
> in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
> nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 4:
> Section 1: clean
> Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
> Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
> fine.
>
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
> uphill section later.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
> on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
> but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
> Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
> second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
> to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
> admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
> my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
> the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
> commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
> and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
> and take the fun out of it.
>
> Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
> sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
> activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
> prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
> bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
> One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
> second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
> other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
> minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
> for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
> idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
> it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
> while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
> events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
> in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
> but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
> them.
>
> All in all, a great day of riding.
>
> Craig
Cool.
Heck with the score, last line says it all.
I'm still cheesed I never got feedback about my score in the scottish
trials I rode a coupla years back- I'm sure I won my class (street-
legal over 300lbs)
Dave
Re: Trials RR - long
On Apr 14, 12:18 pm, XR650L Dave <spamTHIS...@yahoo,com > wrote:
> I'm still cheesed I never got feedback about my score in the scottish
> trials I rode a coupla years back- I'm sure I won my class (street-
> legal over 300lbs)
The 1942 (IIRC) AJS 500 looked to weigh about that much. Looked like a
museum piece and won it's class against much newer old bikes. Pretty
neat to watch.
Craig
On Apr 14, 12:18 pm, XR650L Dave <spamTHIS...@yahoo,com > wrote:
> I'm still cheesed I never got feedback about my score in the scottish
> trials I rode a coupla years back- I'm sure I won my class (street-
> legal over 300lbs)
The 1942 (IIRC) AJS 500 looked to weigh about that much. Looked like a
museum piece and won it's class against much newer old bikes. Pretty
neat to watch.
Craig
Re: Trials RR - long
************************************************************
>On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:08:28 -0700 (PDT), Craig <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote:
>So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
>a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
>better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
>local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
>close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
>kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
>
>The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
>turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
>trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
>this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
>mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
>only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
>series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
>bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
>riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
>
>I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
>trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
>loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
>and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
>which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
>other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
>newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
>places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
>class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
>took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
>better next time now that it's not something new to me.
>
>The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
>soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
>
>A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
>the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
>(foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
>can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
>if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
>than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
>it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
>if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
>
>For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
>loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
>all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
>lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
>each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
>rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
>
>Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
>scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
>rode out of bounds.
>
>I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
>real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
>tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
>front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
>next left turn.
>
>Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
>make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
>literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
>the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
>make. Another 5.
>
>Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
>missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
>the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
>trouble.
>
>Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
>the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
>had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
>
>Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
>greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
>
>I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
>and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
>that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
>
>As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
>much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
>according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
>significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
>to 4.5 pounds.
>
>Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
>and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
>
>Loop 2:
>Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
>need to learn to resist those.
>Section 2: clean
>Section 3: clean
>Section 4: clean
>Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
>one split wrong.
>Section 6: clean
>Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
>nailing this section.
>Section 8: clean
>
>Loop 3:
>Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
>in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
>Section 2: clean
>Section 3: clean
>Section 4: clean
>Section 5: clean
>Section 6: clean
>Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
>nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
>Section 8: clean
>
>Loop 4:
>Section 1: clean
>Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
>Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
>fine.
>
>Section 3: clean
>Section 4: clean
>Section 5: clean
>Section 6: clean
>Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
>uphill section later.
>Section 8: clean
>
>Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
>on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
>but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
>Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
>second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
>to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
>admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
>my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
>the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
>commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
>and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
>and take the fun out of it.
>
>Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
>sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
>activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
>prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
>bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
>One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
>second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
>other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
>minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
>for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
>idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
>it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
>while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
>events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
>in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
>but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
>them.
>
>All in all, a great day of riding.
>
>Craig
***************************************
Thanks for the ride report. I sure enjoyed it.
Your experience reminds me a lot of my last trials competition up in
Baraboo, WI, back in 2001. That day, I found that I did better if I
didn't walk the sections first. It was too much for me to remember in
the "heat of battle". Maybe also, that I ride better when I don't
try to analyse it too much.
Good Riding,
Jim
Wudsracer/Jim Cook
Smackover Racing
'06 Gas Gas DE300
'82 Husqvarna XC250
Team LAGNAF
************************************************************
>On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:08:28 -0700 (PDT), Craig <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote:
>So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
>a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
>better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
>local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
>close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
>kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
>
>The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
>turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
>trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
>this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
>mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
>only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
>series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
>bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
>riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
>
>I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
>trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
>loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
>and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
>which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
>other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
>newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
>places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
>class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
>took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
>better next time now that it's not something new to me.
>
>The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
>soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
>
>A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
>the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
>(foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
>can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
>if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
>than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
>it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
>if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
>
>For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
>loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
>all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
>lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
>each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
>rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
>
>Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
>scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
>rode out of bounds.
>
>I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
>real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
>tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
>front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
>next left turn.
>
>Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
>make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
>literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
>the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
>make. Another 5.
>
>Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
>missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
>the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
>trouble.
>
>Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
>the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
>had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
>
>Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
>greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
>
>I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
>and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
>that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
>
>As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
>much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
>according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
>significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
>to 4.5 pounds.
>
>Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
>and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
>
>Loop 2:
>Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
>need to learn to resist those.
>Section 2: clean
>Section 3: clean
>Section 4: clean
>Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
>one split wrong.
>Section 6: clean
>Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
>nailing this section.
>Section 8: clean
>
>Loop 3:
>Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
>in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
>Section 2: clean
>Section 3: clean
>Section 4: clean
>Section 5: clean
>Section 6: clean
>Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
>nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
>Section 8: clean
>
>Loop 4:
>Section 1: clean
>Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
>Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
>fine.
>
>Section 3: clean
>Section 4: clean
>Section 5: clean
>Section 6: clean
>Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
>uphill section later.
>Section 8: clean
>
>Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
>on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
>but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
>Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
>second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
>to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
>admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
>my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
>the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
>commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
>and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
>and take the fun out of it.
>
>Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
>sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
>activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
>prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
>bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
>One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
>second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
>other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
>minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
>for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
>idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
>it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
>while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
>events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
>in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
>but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
>them.
>
>All in all, a great day of riding.
>
>Craig
***************************************
Thanks for the ride report. I sure enjoyed it.
Your experience reminds me a lot of my last trials competition up in
Baraboo, WI, back in 2001. That day, I found that I did better if I
didn't walk the sections first. It was too much for me to remember in
the "heat of battle". Maybe also, that I ride better when I don't
try to analyse it too much.
Good Riding,
Jim
Wudsracer/Jim Cook
Smackover Racing
'06 Gas Gas DE300
'82 Husqvarna XC250
Team LAGNAF
Re: Trials RR - long
>>On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:08:28 -0700 (PDT), Craig
>><googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote:
>
>>
>>All in all, a great day of riding.
Says it all, great commentary and most excellent recap.
KW
>>On Mon, 14 Apr 2008 09:08:28 -0700 (PDT), Craig
>><googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote:
>
>>
>>All in all, a great day of riding.
Says it all, great commentary and most excellent recap.
KW
Re: Trials RR - long
Thanks for posting, as someone just getting into the trial thing, only
done one, I liked reading it. Congrats on 3rd.
Rex McKinney
"Craig" <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote in message
news:d57737c5-9460-4173-be71-9e222a5eef05@l64g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
> So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
> a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
> better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
> local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
> close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
> kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
>
> The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
> turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
> trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
> this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
> mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
> only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
> series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
> bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
> riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
>
> I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
> trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
> loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
> and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
> which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
> other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
> newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
> places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
> class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
> took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
> better next time now that it's not something new to me.
>
> The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
> soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
>
> A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
> the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
> (foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
> can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
> if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
> than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
> it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
> if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
>
> For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
> loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
> all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
> lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
> each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
> rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
>
> Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
> scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
> rode out of bounds.
>
> I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
> real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
> tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
> front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
> next left turn.
>
> Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
> make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
> literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
> the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
> make. Another 5.
>
> Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
> missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
> the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
> trouble.
>
> Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
> the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
> had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
>
> Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
> greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
>
> I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
> and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
> that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
>
> As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
> much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
> according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
> significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
> to 4.5 pounds.
>
> Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
> and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
>
> Loop 2:
> Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
> need to learn to resist those.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
> one split wrong.
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
> nailing this section.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 3:
> Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
> in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
> nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 4:
> Section 1: clean
> Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
> Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
> fine.
>
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
> uphill section later.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
> on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
> but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
> Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
> second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
> to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
> admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
> my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
> the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
> commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
> and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
> and take the fun out of it.
>
> Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
> sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
> activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
> prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
> bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
> One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
> second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
> other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
> minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
> for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
> idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
> it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
> while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
> events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
> in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
> but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
> them.
>
> All in all, a great day of riding.
>
> Craig
Thanks for posting, as someone just getting into the trial thing, only
done one, I liked reading it. Congrats on 3rd.
Rex McKinney
"Craig" <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote in message
news:d57737c5-9460-4173-be71-9e222a5eef05@l64g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
> So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
> a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
> better and the event was only 50 miles from home. For me, that's as
> local as it gets - most good riding is 3++ hours from home. Being that
> close, and with signup not 'til 10 am, I got to sleep in and see the
> kids before I left the house. All riding should be so easy.
>
> The event was held at a huge estate owned by a gazillionaire. As it
> turns out, someone in the family rides, and there's a nice network of
> trails on the property. Apparently this someone is a trials fan, so
> this was the third annual vintage trials event held there. There are
> mountain bike races there from time to time, but I think this is the
> only moto event. It was round two of the Mid Atlantic Vintage Trials
> series. MAVT has modern classes too, but the were at least two vintage
> bikes for every modern bike there. For the level of section I'm
> riding, there's no advantage to a modern or vintage bike.
>
> I signed up for the Modern C class, being that this was only my second
> trials ever, and the first one was six years ago or so. I rode the
> loop early and walked the sections, trying to understand the ribbons
> and course markers. I had trouble on a couple of sections figuring out
> which way to go, but figured I'd watch someone else first. At the one
> other trials I did years ago, they had separate sections for the
> newbies, so I didn't have to try to read course splits. Here (and most
> places), the sections are all together with signs directing you by
> class to where you need to go. They're very logical and clear, but it
> took me a while to sort them out for some reason. I hope that it's
> better next time now that it's not something new to me.
>
> The ground was soft, with lots of greasy mud on the surface. No real
> soupy spots, just a layer of slick stuff on top.
>
> A little bit of info to make this make more sense. In observed trials,
> the lower the score the better. A single point is given for a dab
> (foot down, lean on a tree, etc.) up 'til three dabs. After that, you
> can dab all section long with no additional penalty. A five is given
> if you crash, ride out of bounds or stop forward motion for longer
> than a second (this is either vintage specific or club specific, as
> it's definitely not a rule in current modern events). A ten is given
> if you don't attempt the section. A "clean" is no points.
>
> For some reason, they asked us to start on section two on the first
> loop so that's where I went. There was a fairly long line and people
> all over walking the section in between riders to figure out their
> lines. After watching someone on my line go (lines are different for
> each class), I got in line. I dabbed in the very first turn and then
> rode the rest of the section clean. Good way to get started, I guess.
>
> Section three I dabbed once toward the end, but was given a 5 on my
> scorecard. Turned out I'd misunderstood the ribbons at the top and
> rode out of bounds.
>
> I cleaned the fourth section, barely. It looked simple, with the only
> real tricky obstacle being an off camber tight right hand turn. I
> tucked the front on that turn, but just hit the gas and pushed the
> front for a long time before it hooked up just in time to make the
> next left turn.
>
> Fifth section I walked three times, really focusing on the splits to
> make sure I knew where I needed to go. Then I lined up to start and
> literally went the wrong way out of the gate. I'd focused so much on
> the later parts that I never even looked at the first turn I had to
> make. Another 5.
>
> Section six I thought I cleaned with ease, only to get a 5 for again
> missing a split. Jeeze. Between the jitters of doing something new and
> the task of trying to memorize the whole thing I was clearly having
> trouble.
>
> Section seven was the toughest by far. Looking at the lines, I thought
> the B line actually looked easier than the C, but I dunno. Anyway, I
> had to basically paddle up one hill but I kept moving and scored a 3.
>
> Section eight was another one that looked pretty simple, but the
> greasy mud and off camber caught me and I scored a 3.
>
> I finished up my loop with section one. I blew it on a slick up hill
> and had to get off and push. That was the first and only 5 for the day
> that I got from the terrain - the others all came from my stupidity.
>
> As I finished that section, the checker said it looked like I had too
> much air in the rear tire. I checked it and it was 4.5 pounds
> according to my guage, so I dropped it down to 4 even. It made a
> significant difference in traction. I dropped the front .5 pound too,
> to 4.5 pounds.
>
> Between getting the jitters out of the way, learning to read the signs
> and the air pressure change, the rest of the day went much better.
>
> Loop 2:
> Section 1: 1 point for a dab that I really didn't need. Definitely
> need to learn to resist those.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: 5. I thought I had it figured out, but still managed to get
> one split wrong.
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. I did better here, but still felt a long way from
> nailing this section.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 3:
> Section 1: 2. Got too close to a vine and it pulled the clutch lever
> in. Dabbed twice recovering from that.
> Section 2: clean
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Felt better than last time. Felt like I might actually
> nail it if I got lucky on the next loop.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Loop 4:
> Section 1: clean
> Section 2: 3. The whole first half of the section was a train wreck.
> Not really sure what happened. Regained my composure and did the rest
> fine.
>
> Section 3: clean
> Section 4: clean
> Section 5: clean
> Section 6: clean
> Section 7: 2. Stupid dab early and then one in a tricky rocky, rooty
> uphill section later.
> Section 8: clean
>
> Total score for the day was a 44. 27 on the first loop and then 8,4,5
> on the next three. I was a little bit frustrated with the first loop,
> but after I loosened up and worked the bugs out I felt pretty good.
> Overall I'm pleased with the day. That score was good for third, and
> second beat me by one point. The winner scored a 30 which seems doable
> to me based on my scores for the last three loops. I guess I should
> admit that there were only four riders in the class. Still, comparing
> my scores to the vintage C class, I felt like I did fine. More time on
> the bike and some focused practice would help, but I'm not making any
> commitments. The whole point of this was to have a relaxed good time
> and that's how it worked out. I wouldn't want to take it too seriously
> and take the fun out of it.
>
> Random thoughts: Between riding the loop early and walking the
> sections and then doing four consecutive loops, it's a good 5 hours of
> activity. Cutting wood all day Saturday probably wasn't a smart way to
> prepare and my knees weren't happy about that. Otherwise I'm a little
> bit sore (good sore), but not bad at all. Not as bad as post-enduro.
> One thing I didn't like was waiting in line for the sections. On my
> second loop I got lucky and didn't have to wait, but on each of the
> other loops I did have to wait often. Usually no longer than 5
> minutes, but that's too much time to think about what could go wrong
> for me. My eyes were burning and I had a headache from sitting behind
> idling bikes in line all day. I learned later to stay back a bit but
> it was too late by then. The club was great - very laid back and fun,
> while taking the competition seriously. I'll probably do more of these
> events as they come close to home. I don't see me getting to caught up
> in the whole thing since I bought the bike to be able to ride at home,
> but it is nice to ride with other trials bikes and maybe learn from
> them.
>
> All in all, a great day of riding.
>
> Craig
Re: Trials RR - long
"Craig" <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote in message
news:d57737c5-9460-4173-be71-9e222a5eef05@l64g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
> So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
> a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
> better and the event was only 50 miles from home. <snip most excellent
> ride report>
That sounds like a great day of riding in my book, Craig.
Thanks for the report.
Tim H
"Craig" <googlegroupmail@yahoo,com > wrote in message
news:d57737c5-9460-4173-be71-9e222a5eef05@l64g2000hse.googlegroups,com ...
> So I was going to do a trials event last weekend but the heavy rain &
> a 2 hour drive convinced me to sleep in. This week the weather looked
> better and the event was only 50 miles from home. <snip most excellent
> ride report>
That sounds like a great day of riding in my book, Craig.
Thanks for the report.
Tim H
