Although I did come fairly close to being last again, I finally overcome the trend and managed to finish 5th (out of 10 in the class, and 3 DNFed with injuries on the last day!!).
I really stacked the deck this year by getting my younger brother to enter the event - he is genetically related to me, and less experienced at trials, so I though I would have a fair chance at getting second to last this year :laugh:
I have a lot of digital photos from the event, and will put them on our club website later this week if you're interested in having a look. IXION Web Site
After giving other people a hard time about writing ride reports after their events I supose I should do something too, so here goes;
The event is run over a three day weekend, and each day scores towards the final placings, but if you don't finish one day then you are deemed to have not completed the event so DNF. We have basically four lines in each section, and I was competing on the easiest line in our lowset grade as a Clubman rider (similar to your Sportsman grade I think).
The first day was held on grassy farm country, and was overall a pretty good ride. There were 10 sections which were ridden in four loops - all the sections seemed to challenge each of the seperate grades, and all seemed to be about the right level for each grade. There was one exception for me in section 9 which became impassable on our line after the first three riders went through (I was number 8!) - everyone else just fived it all day after that... I made some silly mistakes pretty much all day and ended up in 5th place(on about 61 points) by a margin of about 20 points to 4th place. No major crashes and no bruises at all - a minor surprise. The bike performed well, the body held up well, but mental concentration problems made for some awkward little moments and some excellent entertainment for the observers. The worst moment was when going up a short steep hill the bike jumped out of second gear, and I went really fast backwards for a distance. I will remember to NEVER change gear when in the middle of a section again.....
The second day was held in and around a small creek bed, with lots of river stones. Again I finished in 5th place on 55points, about 20 points to 4th place (I see a pattern forming here!). This was my best day, and I did have a couple of awkward moments, with the worst being a simple little bank on the exit of the last section (previous attempts gave me a one and two cleans) - I lost concentration for a few seconds, then messed up my line and the bike rode perfectly up and over the bank, while I was falling gracefully backwards to the bottom on my butt!! I another section I got a small bruise on my left shoulder after trying to push a 2' diameter willow tree over - I didn't manage to move the tree very much, but did scare it a little I think. The bike again ran smoothly all day, the body coped quite well, and my head was a too easily distracted and not quite up to the job.
The last day was a complete nightmare - Lots of 1 to 10' diameter limestone rocks, and again 10 sections and 4 laps. Rocks are not my best friends :whiner: . I found this out for sure on the first lap when I fell off a smallish bank about 6' onto my right forearm. My whole arm and the fingers on my right hand didn't work very well after that, and hurt a fair bit for the rest of the day. (I think a major contributor to the pain was caused by the copious amounts of sun screen I had put on to stop getting sunburnt, slowly mixing itself into the grazes on my arm :whiner: ). On the second lap I managed to launch off another small bank onto some more rocks onto my right forearm again. The next accident was worse still as I again landed on my right forearm (I can see another pattern forming here!) - except this time I also managed to munch three of the fingers on my left hand as well - after this I didn't use the clutch much because I couldn't use the usual fingers (have you ever tried to pull the clutch in using only your little finger??? Its a lot harder than I expected).
Overall I managed to really ride badly all day (not up to my usual high standards) and finished again in 5th place, on 95 points and about 40 points behind 4th place, but luckily still 20 points ahead of 6th place. Sections that I would normally get through without much trouble seemed to be almost impossible, and I ended up with lots of threes, with only 5 cleans all day. One of the guys from my club who I normally ride with won our class by a decent margin, but he is a far better rider than me as far as skills on the bike, but also in his mental attitude to riding. The bike performed faultlessly all day, the body is a big mess, and I do need some counselling to re-adjust.....
So there you have it - Wayne and rocks officially don't mix without a fair bit of pain and anguish. As a side note I did manage to slowly navigate the course one last time thanking all of the observers for helping to get the bike off me, and also for not laughing as much as they could have done....
Next year the trial is going to be held in an area notorious for the size and roughness of their rocks..... I might be buying some new elbow guards and upping my medical insurance :thumb:
This whole experience has really shown me how much trials is a mental and confidence sport. Even if you have sufficient skills to negotiate the course, you still need the ability to focus on what you are doing and concentrate, plus the confidence to get stuck in and do the business. Ah well maybe the year after next I'll be in contention :) ( Next year has lots of rocks you see.......)
I really stacked the deck this year by getting my younger brother to enter the event - he is genetically related to me, and less experienced at trials, so I though I would have a fair chance at getting second to last this year :laugh:
I have a lot of digital photos from the event, and will put them on our club website later this week if you're interested in having a look. IXION Web Site
After giving other people a hard time about writing ride reports after their events I supose I should do something too, so here goes;
The event is run over a three day weekend, and each day scores towards the final placings, but if you don't finish one day then you are deemed to have not completed the event so DNF. We have basically four lines in each section, and I was competing on the easiest line in our lowset grade as a Clubman rider (similar to your Sportsman grade I think).
The first day was held on grassy farm country, and was overall a pretty good ride. There were 10 sections which were ridden in four loops - all the sections seemed to challenge each of the seperate grades, and all seemed to be about the right level for each grade. There was one exception for me in section 9 which became impassable on our line after the first three riders went through (I was number 8!) - everyone else just fived it all day after that... I made some silly mistakes pretty much all day and ended up in 5th place(on about 61 points) by a margin of about 20 points to 4th place. No major crashes and no bruises at all - a minor surprise. The bike performed well, the body held up well, but mental concentration problems made for some awkward little moments and some excellent entertainment for the observers. The worst moment was when going up a short steep hill the bike jumped out of second gear, and I went really fast backwards for a distance. I will remember to NEVER change gear when in the middle of a section again.....
The second day was held in and around a small creek bed, with lots of river stones. Again I finished in 5th place on 55points, about 20 points to 4th place (I see a pattern forming here!). This was my best day, and I did have a couple of awkward moments, with the worst being a simple little bank on the exit of the last section (previous attempts gave me a one and two cleans) - I lost concentration for a few seconds, then messed up my line and the bike rode perfectly up and over the bank, while I was falling gracefully backwards to the bottom on my butt!! I another section I got a small bruise on my left shoulder after trying to push a 2' diameter willow tree over - I didn't manage to move the tree very much, but did scare it a little I think. The bike again ran smoothly all day, the body coped quite well, and my head was a too easily distracted and not quite up to the job.
The last day was a complete nightmare - Lots of 1 to 10' diameter limestone rocks, and again 10 sections and 4 laps. Rocks are not my best friends :whiner: . I found this out for sure on the first lap when I fell off a smallish bank about 6' onto my right forearm. My whole arm and the fingers on my right hand didn't work very well after that, and hurt a fair bit for the rest of the day. (I think a major contributor to the pain was caused by the copious amounts of sun screen I had put on to stop getting sunburnt, slowly mixing itself into the grazes on my arm :whiner: ). On the second lap I managed to launch off another small bank onto some more rocks onto my right forearm again. The next accident was worse still as I again landed on my right forearm (I can see another pattern forming here!) - except this time I also managed to munch three of the fingers on my left hand as well - after this I didn't use the clutch much because I couldn't use the usual fingers (have you ever tried to pull the clutch in using only your little finger??? Its a lot harder than I expected).
Overall I managed to really ride badly all day (not up to my usual high standards) and finished again in 5th place, on 95 points and about 40 points behind 4th place, but luckily still 20 points ahead of 6th place. Sections that I would normally get through without much trouble seemed to be almost impossible, and I ended up with lots of threes, with only 5 cleans all day. One of the guys from my club who I normally ride with won our class by a decent margin, but he is a far better rider than me as far as skills on the bike, but also in his mental attitude to riding. The bike performed faultlessly all day, the body is a big mess, and I do need some counselling to re-adjust.....
So there you have it - Wayne and rocks officially don't mix without a fair bit of pain and anguish. As a side note I did manage to slowly navigate the course one last time thanking all of the observers for helping to get the bike off me, and also for not laughing as much as they could have done....
Next year the trial is going to be held in an area notorious for the size and roughness of their rocks..... I might be buying some new elbow guards and upping my medical insurance :thumb:
This whole experience has really shown me how much trials is a mental and confidence sport. Even if you have sufficient skills to negotiate the course, you still need the ability to focus on what you are doing and concentrate, plus the confidence to get stuck in and do the business. Ah well maybe the year after next I'll be in contention :) ( Next year has lots of rocks you see.......)
