Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

'If'O•• M The Trials And Tribulations Of Trials Riding If it is realized that the whole success of any trial depends on those willing mortals the Ob..,rvers - it is imperative that no undue delays occur and a favored practice is the employment of a "Back Marker" usually a member of the promoting club and known as a skilled trials man and finisher. H~ can if wished actually compete and rides as last man of the The Nori Fellow is the Dom de plume of a motorcycle equipment dealer in Birmingham, England. The author has participated in trials events extensively, both as a rider and as an official. This is the first of three articles; it covers the rules and techniques of tirals riding. Subsequent installments will deal with the bikes themselves, and with necessary equipment and repairs. By The Nori Fellow Cycle News East This aspect of motorcycle sport originated in Britain and it is only during the last few years that the appeal of trials or "bogwheeling" has spread to other countries. Wherever the two-wheeler is in use the various forms of the sport have one element in common - that of speed, with riders competing alongside each other wrestling the last ounce of speed which their own capabilities and their bikes allow. From out-and-out grand prix road circuit racing - short track, flat track, indoor stadium dashes, grass track, speedway, enduros...all have this firrst past the post and the check flag as the signal of victory. Most of these events have been heavily commercialized and the newest, motocross, is now a top professional crowd drawing spectacle. Results form a big advertising spread for the successful marques and the top works professionals make a handsome living at their chosen sport. Essentially a young man's game; it is seldom a man remains at the top much after the 30 year old mark. So we ask - why is trials riding so different and where is its appeal? First, speed is of no consequence in determining the results and when we come to examine later the various trials bikes in use and on the market we shall see just wh y. The trial or contest is truly bt'tween the rider and the organizers or course plotters. The course should provide as varied type of obstacles (which we will call Sections) as the terrain will permit. Over a 30 to 50 mile route the organizers will try and include off beat rough trails in the riding of which will be included - rocks, mud, sand, steep ascents and descents, tight turns and a water crossing or small river bed. These variables all go to make up the enjoyment of the trial as each test or obstacle requires a different method of attack and a thorough knowledge of the capabilities of one's machine and own capacity to surmount the obstacles. For choice a course of the out-and-home variety is preferred. The Chief Course Marshal who will be responsible for the actu'!1laying out of the ..,ctions may include a long rocky climb up a gully or dried-up river bed. He will then divide this in to sub-section 1-2-3-4-5 etc; according to the overall length. Each sub-section will be controlled by an Observer who allows only one rider at a time to attempt his section. Every section or sub...ection will be marked with a prominent card indicating "Section Begins" and "Section Ends" at its finish. These denote of course the extremities of the hazard to be ridden between which penalty marks may be lost. If the section doesn't have natural boundaries as in the case of a deep gully or river bed, then frequent markers each side of the section will be fixed between which the riders must proceed. It is a good idea that these side boundary markers be colored differently. Red for the left boundary is easily remembered - RED keep RIGHT - with Blue usually for the other side. The object is for the rider to complete the passage through the section nonstop and feet up. The Observer positions himself where he can observe the whole attempt. He will watch particularly for the momentary foot dab - the wily trials type wiII try this usually on the "blind" side of the observer. Persistent footing to maintain forward progress is easily seen; whilst easily seen and recorded is the complete stop or failure to maintain forward progress relative to the general direction of the section or going outside or the wrong side of the boundary markers. Each competitor will have his riding number affixed to his bike's forks in a forward· facing direction and the same number attached to his person facing rearward. The Observer is provided with an Observer's Card which is headed with the Section name, the sub-section number and his own name and address. The card is divided into numbered squares in which rider's performances are recorded. The most universally used markings are 0-1-3 Be 5.0 will be marked where the rider completes the section feet-up non stop within the prescribed boundaries. A I penalty will be recorded if a single touch or dab with a foot is made and 3 when more than one foot dab or continued footing to maintain forward progress is made. The maximum penalty of 5 is for stopping, dismounting machine (quite often the rider is not a willing party to this operation), disturbing or going outside the boundary markers, or failing to maintain forward progress relative to the indicated direction of the course. A crafty move may be attempted by the rider doing a loop within the boundaries. Stopping refers to the combination of man and bike, NOT the stopping of his engine as it is possible on a descent to stall the engine and still maintain balance and forward progress. This feat of skill demands no penalty. The number of sections making up the whote trial will vary but 30 can be regarded as a minimum with 50 more than enough to sort out the winners who are of course those with the least loss of marks over the whole course. The recordings are taken from the Observer's Cards handed in at the finish. The previously mentioned out-and-home course is favored by most riders and prevents bunchin~ at sections and cons.equent delays. Neutral ground between a multi-subsection grouping is often used especially when the whole length of the group cannot be seen from its start. This neutral (non-observed) ground provides a no-penalty stopping place for riders who, rounding a bend, find another stalled rider in their path. They can wai t until the stopped man gets going, or in the event of a bike failure it can be hauled out of the way in this neutral ground. When is a rider in a section? Where between-section neutral ground is used a rider IN a section as soon as his front tire passes the "Begins" card and until his rear tire clears the "Ends", Where sub-sections run nonstop (no neutral ground) a rider is clear of one sub-section when his front axle passes the "Ends" card - he is of course immediately IN the next section and under the watchful eye of the next Observer. An Observer must be firm but fair at his job - he records what HE sees happen and not what the rider says or his watching friends say. He is the sole judge. He will be wary of the crafty types who will try to "bend the rules to their own gain." Examples are the type who holds back from his attempt in the hope that other riders will indicate the best "line" or churn out the obstacle such as a large rock in the path. Observers must have the power to call on riders in numerical order of arrival at the section - Refusal incrues the 5 mark maximum penalty for the section. Then the rider who first walks a section to inspect same and kicks any obstruction out of his chosen path - the rider employing the "Long Dab" usually brought into use on a very tight turn the "plot" being to drop one foot ahead and pivot round it whilst still keeping the bike on the move for the intended I mark only loss. The balance artist who leans his body against a tree or high bank with feet on pegs - seemingly a clean but a close watch will often reveal a momentary "stop" and thus a 5 mark loss. Listen not to the pleas of those wanting another attempt because they did not see the boundary markers or whose gas tap had turned itself off. How difficult should sections be? In many years of trials riding and course plotting I avoid any section that r consider cannot be "cleaned" by at least one rider in the entry. If a section stops the whole entry then an observer's time has been wasted and riders are disgruntled. Try to avoid sections which deteriorate badly with the passage of riders so that a section cleaned by some of the early arrivals becomes impossible for the tail-end Charlies. Avoid dangerous sections such as steep descents at the bottom of which may lie immovable hazards such as trees or rock walls or the like. The rider on a bike out of control can come to serious injury so ensure a clear run-out or at the worst a nice soft bog. Too deep water is not a fair test of riding ability - axle depth should be the limit in depth. When rock steps are included, and the more expert rider will take these up to 2 feet high, use them as an ascent. More rider self satisfaction is gained in cleaning rock sections than in possibly any other but the physical effort required is considerable. entry who have been sent off from the start at one minute intervals. He will leave 10 or 15 minutes after the last man of the normal entry. He will try and keep riders ahead of himself on the move and if he comes across riders with mechanical trouble and who are unlikely to get going in a reasonable time - will "retire" such. Tackling the sections therefore as official last man he will advise Observers that they can close their sections and remove all markers and section cards. Route marking of the whole course can be either by th e issue to each rider of a direction Route Card and/or marker cards placed at road junctions or turns. Two inch colored card squares nailed or fastened high enough beyond the reach of likely saboteurs are a favored means. Red card denotes righ t turn; blue is left tum and white-straigh t on. After a righ t or left tum it is advisable to fix a white-straight on card indicating the correct turn has been made. When working out results it may be found that in spite of the numerous and varied sections a tie has resulted and so some pretrial regulation must be included advising on the method of determining ties. One method is the winner has "cleaned" the most sections. Or gone farthest round with the loss of marks. Or a special test may be employed for breaking ties only. One such is the combined brake and acceleration timed test. On a downhill stretch Line A is marked across the road. 20 yards down will be Line B and Line C a further 10 feet down. The rider will start from Line A with dead engine in neu eral gear and give one push to gain momentum. He will b1'llke and come to a complete stop between Lines B Be C then immediately start his engine - tum and accelerate back over Line A. The whole operatipn will be timed from Line A back to the recrossing of Line A. When results are issued it is usual to start that any protests at the results must be received within so many days of issue of results accompanied by a protest fee returnable if protest upheld. A good course plotter will endeavor to layout sections in such a manner that varying types of trials machinery ranging from the mini to the big banger may have their riders equally catered for. The big powerful "Bogwheeler" may gain some advantage on the full bore climb whilst the small compact mini 125cc job be in its element in the tigh t nadgery turns. This all adds up to variety in the choice of sections and the enjoyment of the majority of the entry. In the next issue we will examine the trials machinery on the world markets, giving specifications and equipment fitted. An example of the "long dab". as explained in test. & :. ... '" ,..: Ii « " ~ w Z W ...J U > U

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