Well I rode my new bike in my first trial for about 3 months. Mainly because I'm still recovering from a back injury, which is still hurting a little bit, and has left me very unfit and out of practice (I kept hopping on the bike and wondering where the handlebars were before realising that I was facing the wrong way :yikes: ).
The trial was held in an area which used to be a limestone quarry, so there were plenty of dry grippy rocks. Because the smaller rocks being moved around by each passing rider, we had to pretty much walk each section each time we rode it. 4 loops of 10 sections, ranging in severity for my grade from "tasty" to "I'm going home right now".
There were only two sections that I didn't manage to clean by the end of the day, one with a 40 metre uphill that my back couldn't handle, and one where there was a smallish drop off, which jolted me about a bit too much. Apart from that the trial was well set out, but reasonably tough. Most of my rivals were scoring below 50 points, and I ended up on 79, which wasn't too bad (at least I was under 100 points). I did surprise myself that I still remembered to not put my feet down too much at times, and was particularly proud of one section where most people were getting 2s and 3s, and I managed to clean consistantly. Overall I was cruising around enjoying myself and enjoying the bike, the trial and pretty much everything. I was pretty relaxed the whole time, which meant that the next morning I wasn't even slightly sore, and also that I was riding pretty well for me. It just dosn't get much better than that......
I was feeling the strain by the end of the day, mainly because of all the walking we did (mostly uphill for some reason?). I need to spend a bit of time on my pushbike now that my back is getting better and gain some fitness. It is nice to know that I'm finally on the road to recovery, and that I can still ride the bike probably at the upper end of my personal skill level if I'm relaxed and not putting myself under lots of pressure.
The new bike definitely made a huge difference, with nice smooth power and suspension, and I think it generally made my riding look smoother than it was. Roll on the National Champs next year, as I think this bike quite likes me as it didn't really land on me at all - compared with my old bike which seemed to chase me around just to try and squash me. Total damage - one small bruise on my left elbow, and a blister where one of my knee pads was rubbing on my lower left leg.
A beautiful fine day, new bike to scratch on the rocks - what more could you ask for? They even had free beer at the end of the day....... :cool:
The trial was held in an area which used to be a limestone quarry, so there were plenty of dry grippy rocks. Because the smaller rocks being moved around by each passing rider, we had to pretty much walk each section each time we rode it. 4 loops of 10 sections, ranging in severity for my grade from "tasty" to "I'm going home right now".
There were only two sections that I didn't manage to clean by the end of the day, one with a 40 metre uphill that my back couldn't handle, and one where there was a smallish drop off, which jolted me about a bit too much. Apart from that the trial was well set out, but reasonably tough. Most of my rivals were scoring below 50 points, and I ended up on 79, which wasn't too bad (at least I was under 100 points). I did surprise myself that I still remembered to not put my feet down too much at times, and was particularly proud of one section where most people were getting 2s and 3s, and I managed to clean consistantly. Overall I was cruising around enjoying myself and enjoying the bike, the trial and pretty much everything. I was pretty relaxed the whole time, which meant that the next morning I wasn't even slightly sore, and also that I was riding pretty well for me. It just dosn't get much better than that......
I was feeling the strain by the end of the day, mainly because of all the walking we did (mostly uphill for some reason?). I need to spend a bit of time on my pushbike now that my back is getting better and gain some fitness. It is nice to know that I'm finally on the road to recovery, and that I can still ride the bike probably at the upper end of my personal skill level if I'm relaxed and not putting myself under lots of pressure.
The new bike definitely made a huge difference, with nice smooth power and suspension, and I think it generally made my riding look smoother than it was. Roll on the National Champs next year, as I think this bike quite likes me as it didn't really land on me at all - compared with my old bike which seemed to chase me around just to try and squash me. Total damage - one small bruise on my left elbow, and a blister where one of my knee pads was rubbing on my lower left leg.
A beautiful fine day, new bike to scratch on the rocks - what more could you ask for? They even had free beer at the end of the day....... :cool:
