Thought I'd pass this along :)
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U.S. World Round at Spirit Mountain, Duluth
For immediate release: Jan. 7, 2002
Contacts:
Steve Ahlers, U.S. World Championship Committee chairman
(218) 729-6549 or tgc@cpinternet.com
Jim Winterer, U.S. World Championship Committee vice chairman
(651) 698-4082, or (651) 962-6404, or jcwinterer@stthomas.edu
World championship observed trials motorcycle
competition coming to Minnesota for first time June 1-2
Spirit Mountain in Duluth to host World Rounds 9 and 10
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A. -- The best waterfall-leaping and cliff-climbing motorcycle riders in the world will test their courage against some of the United States' most challenging and beautiful terrain here Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2.
Between 35 and 40 observed trials motorcycle riders from throughout Europe, Japan and North America will compete that weekend in the Spirit Mountain World Round, the ninth and 10th competitions that comprise the 2002 world championship series of the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).
Riders competing in the world-championship series will be coming to Duluth from the seventh and eighth rounds on Great Britain's Isle of Man May 18 and 19. Other rounds in the series will be held in Luxembourg, Spain, Andorra, France, Italy, Portugal and Japan.
This marks the first time a world-championship event has been held in Minnesota, and the first time since 1977 -- when a world round was held in Michigan -- that this level of trials competition has been seen in the Upper Midwest.
This is not the first time a trials has been held at Duluth's Spirit
Mountain Recreation Area, however. Overlooking Lake Superior and the Duluth's international harbor, Spirit Mountain is one of the region's top ski slopes in the winter. In the summer, its collection of rugged cliffs and stunning waterfalls has earned it a national reputation in observed trials circles. When it was one of the sites used in the U.S. championship series in 1998 and 2000, trials riders twice voted it the best national trials event of the year.
As with the earlier national events, the world-round competition in Duluth this June represents a joint effort of three clubs: Minnesota's Upper
Midwest Trials Association; the Wisconsin Observed Trials Association, and
the Duluth-based Northland Motorcycle Riders Association. And as he did with the nationals, Steve Ahlers of Duluth is chairing the effort. Volunteers from the three nonprofit associations have prepared the course and will score and staff the competition.
What is observed trials? In one of motorcycling's oldest competitive events and an "extreme sport" for generations before that term was coined, trials riders compete against each other, but mostly they compete against gravity and sometimes terrifying terrain.
Prior to a competition, a series of "sections," each roughly 50 yards long, are painstakingly designed to test riders' skill and nerve. The 15 trials sections, something like the 18 holes of a golf course, are located one after another along a loop. Once a rider enters a section, he or she attempts to negotiate its obstacles without "dabbing" (putting your foot down) or stopping or crashing. A dab or stop is like taking a swing in golf,
and the rider with the fewest points at the end of the day is the winner.
It's called observed trials because observers, sometimes called checkers, are posted at each section and carefully watch and score each rider.
In world-round competition, riders complete two loops of 15 sections each day. Each rider has six hours to complete the course, so time can become a factor. When riders start falling behind schedule, they can be seen flying along narrow loop trails at speeds that rival motocross racers.
Many spectators at the 1998 and 2000 national events in Duluth could barely believe their eyes when they saw riders launch their highly specialized motorcycles up Spirit Mountain's waterfalls and cliffs. The world-round sections, however, will be far more challenging; not a single section previously used in national-level competition approached the difficulty required to test the abilities of the world-championship riders.
Each rider is accompanied during the event by a "minder," who serves as a combination coach, water-carrier, and mechanic. The minder's most important role, however, is to stand at the top of cliffs or other dangerous locations and, if necessary, catch the rider or his machine.
Spirit Mountain course officials designed the event to take advantage of the natural beauty that the North Shore of Lake Superior is known for, and also to take advantage of a unique feature available at a ski hill ... chair lifts. Spectators can follow the course by walking on downhill roads from section to section. Action will progress from the rock outcroppings found at the higher elevations to the cedar-lined rivers and waterfalls at the lower
elevations. Spectators then can hop on a chairlift for a free ride back to the top, and the final cluster of sections.
A great feature of the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area is that it is
designed to easily accommodate spectators. The site is well-marked and accessible from Interstate Highway 35 as you approach Duluth from the south. There is ample free parking. Many of the sections are within a block or two of the parking area, pits and starting gate. Spectators also are welcome to tour the riders' pit area; no special passes are required. Concessions and
rest facilities will be available at all section areas. The course is
designed so that riders and spectators take different routes to the
sections.
Gates to the event will open at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2. The competition will run from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Cost for tickets is $20 per day, or $30 for both days.
Advance tickets are available from World Championship Trials, 5340 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, MN 55811, or via e-mail at tgc@cpinternet.com. Raffle tickets, at $1 each, also are available at that address and site. The raffle's grand prize is the winner's choice of a new Gas-Gas, Beta, Sherco, Montesa or Scorpa trials motorcycle.
While competitors at Duluth will be riding for world-championship points, they also will be vying for the Wagner Cup, an honor that has been part of all world championship events held in North America since 1975.
The cup is named for Dr. Wiltz Wagner, now of Indiana, a founding member of the North American Trials Council (NATC). The somewhat delicate cup, which features four bighorn sheep, is kept permanently at the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) headquarters in Ohio. The name of every North American world-round winner since 1975 is engraved on the cup, which will be
on display at Spirit Mountain.
The Duluth event is sanctioned by the FIM, AMA and NATC. Principal sponsors are the five U.S. distributors of trials motorcycles and equipment: Gas-Gas USA; Beta USA; Sherco; US Montesa (based in Minnetonka, Minn.); The Tryals Shop (Scorpa); Ryan Young Products; and ERE (Extreme Riding Entertainment).
Other sponsors are the Duluth-based Aerostich-Rider Wearhouse, Spy Gear, and Miller Lite, distributed by Better Brands Inc.
Riders will begin arriving in Duluth to start practicing on Wednesday, May 29. They are not allowed on the sections before the event, but will use a special area set aside for practice. Spectators are welcome to watch the practice sessions May 29-31, but a one- or two-day event ticket will be required.
For more information, including directions to Spirit Mountain and
information about accommodations in the tourist-friendly Duluth area, visit the event's Web site at: www.worldroundusa.com. A good site to learn more about the sport of trials in general is www.trials.net.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
U.S. World Round at Spirit Mountain, Duluth
For immediate release: Jan. 7, 2002
Contacts:
Steve Ahlers, U.S. World Championship Committee chairman
(218) 729-6549 or tgc@cpinternet.com
Jim Winterer, U.S. World Championship Committee vice chairman
(651) 698-4082, or (651) 962-6404, or jcwinterer@stthomas.edu
World championship observed trials motorcycle
competition coming to Minnesota for first time June 1-2
Spirit Mountain in Duluth to host World Rounds 9 and 10
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.A. -- The best waterfall-leaping and cliff-climbing motorcycle riders in the world will test their courage against some of the United States' most challenging and beautiful terrain here Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2.
Between 35 and 40 observed trials motorcycle riders from throughout Europe, Japan and North America will compete that weekend in the Spirit Mountain World Round, the ninth and 10th competitions that comprise the 2002 world championship series of the Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).
Riders competing in the world-championship series will be coming to Duluth from the seventh and eighth rounds on Great Britain's Isle of Man May 18 and 19. Other rounds in the series will be held in Luxembourg, Spain, Andorra, France, Italy, Portugal and Japan.
This marks the first time a world-championship event has been held in Minnesota, and the first time since 1977 -- when a world round was held in Michigan -- that this level of trials competition has been seen in the Upper Midwest.
This is not the first time a trials has been held at Duluth's Spirit
Mountain Recreation Area, however. Overlooking Lake Superior and the Duluth's international harbor, Spirit Mountain is one of the region's top ski slopes in the winter. In the summer, its collection of rugged cliffs and stunning waterfalls has earned it a national reputation in observed trials circles. When it was one of the sites used in the U.S. championship series in 1998 and 2000, trials riders twice voted it the best national trials event of the year.
As with the earlier national events, the world-round competition in Duluth this June represents a joint effort of three clubs: Minnesota's Upper
Midwest Trials Association; the Wisconsin Observed Trials Association, and
the Duluth-based Northland Motorcycle Riders Association. And as he did with the nationals, Steve Ahlers of Duluth is chairing the effort. Volunteers from the three nonprofit associations have prepared the course and will score and staff the competition.
What is observed trials? In one of motorcycling's oldest competitive events and an "extreme sport" for generations before that term was coined, trials riders compete against each other, but mostly they compete against gravity and sometimes terrifying terrain.
Prior to a competition, a series of "sections," each roughly 50 yards long, are painstakingly designed to test riders' skill and nerve. The 15 trials sections, something like the 18 holes of a golf course, are located one after another along a loop. Once a rider enters a section, he or she attempts to negotiate its obstacles without "dabbing" (putting your foot down) or stopping or crashing. A dab or stop is like taking a swing in golf,
and the rider with the fewest points at the end of the day is the winner.
It's called observed trials because observers, sometimes called checkers, are posted at each section and carefully watch and score each rider.
In world-round competition, riders complete two loops of 15 sections each day. Each rider has six hours to complete the course, so time can become a factor. When riders start falling behind schedule, they can be seen flying along narrow loop trails at speeds that rival motocross racers.
Many spectators at the 1998 and 2000 national events in Duluth could barely believe their eyes when they saw riders launch their highly specialized motorcycles up Spirit Mountain's waterfalls and cliffs. The world-round sections, however, will be far more challenging; not a single section previously used in national-level competition approached the difficulty required to test the abilities of the world-championship riders.
Each rider is accompanied during the event by a "minder," who serves as a combination coach, water-carrier, and mechanic. The minder's most important role, however, is to stand at the top of cliffs or other dangerous locations and, if necessary, catch the rider or his machine.
Spirit Mountain course officials designed the event to take advantage of the natural beauty that the North Shore of Lake Superior is known for, and also to take advantage of a unique feature available at a ski hill ... chair lifts. Spectators can follow the course by walking on downhill roads from section to section. Action will progress from the rock outcroppings found at the higher elevations to the cedar-lined rivers and waterfalls at the lower
elevations. Spectators then can hop on a chairlift for a free ride back to the top, and the final cluster of sections.
A great feature of the Spirit Mountain Recreation Area is that it is
designed to easily accommodate spectators. The site is well-marked and accessible from Interstate Highway 35 as you approach Duluth from the south. There is ample free parking. Many of the sections are within a block or two of the parking area, pits and starting gate. Spectators also are welcome to tour the riders' pit area; no special passes are required. Concessions and
rest facilities will be available at all section areas. The course is
designed so that riders and spectators take different routes to the
sections.
Gates to the event will open at 8 a.m. Saturday and Sunday, June 1 and 2. The competition will run from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, and from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Cost for tickets is $20 per day, or $30 for both days.
Advance tickets are available from World Championship Trials, 5340 Miller Trunk Highway, Duluth, MN 55811, or via e-mail at tgc@cpinternet.com. Raffle tickets, at $1 each, also are available at that address and site. The raffle's grand prize is the winner's choice of a new Gas-Gas, Beta, Sherco, Montesa or Scorpa trials motorcycle.
While competitors at Duluth will be riding for world-championship points, they also will be vying for the Wagner Cup, an honor that has been part of all world championship events held in North America since 1975.
The cup is named for Dr. Wiltz Wagner, now of Indiana, a founding member of the North American Trials Council (NATC). The somewhat delicate cup, which features four bighorn sheep, is kept permanently at the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) headquarters in Ohio. The name of every North American world-round winner since 1975 is engraved on the cup, which will be
on display at Spirit Mountain.
The Duluth event is sanctioned by the FIM, AMA and NATC. Principal sponsors are the five U.S. distributors of trials motorcycles and equipment: Gas-Gas USA; Beta USA; Sherco; US Montesa (based in Minnetonka, Minn.); The Tryals Shop (Scorpa); Ryan Young Products; and ERE (Extreme Riding Entertainment).
Other sponsors are the Duluth-based Aerostich-Rider Wearhouse, Spy Gear, and Miller Lite, distributed by Better Brands Inc.
Riders will begin arriving in Duluth to start practicing on Wednesday, May 29. They are not allowed on the sections before the event, but will use a special area set aside for practice. Spectators are welcome to watch the practice sessions May 29-31, but a one- or two-day event ticket will be required.
For more information, including directions to Spirit Mountain and
information about accommodations in the tourist-friendly Duluth area, visit the event's Web site at: www.worldroundusa.com. A good site to learn more about the sport of trials in general is www.trials.net.
