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AMA/NATC National Observed Trials Ser ies STil l liCKiNG Seven-time trials champ GeoffAaron shows no signs of signs of backing off at series opener STORY AND PHOTOS BY SHAN MOORE/TRIALS COMPETITION NEWSPAPER e o ff Aaron mad e it very clear that he was in no way ready to give up his status at the top of the U.S. Trials order - at least not this sea son - by taking a pair of dominating wins at the opening two rounds of the 2004 AMNNATC National Observed Trials Series staged at the TrialsTraining Center near Sequatchie. For Aaron, the two events in Tennessee were carbon copies of each other. After turning in shaky first laps and with young guns nipping at his hee ls, the 31-year-old put it into a gear that no one else could find, and from lap two on, it was as easy as breathing in and out for the seven -time champ. The only person even close to Aaron by the end of each day was 1992 World Champion Tommi Ahvala, who was riding the event for exhibition ; therefore his points did not count. In fact, Aaron finished each day with less than half the points of the closest competitor Canadian Wilson Cra ig on Saturday and G Floridian Chris Florin on Sunday. Heavy rains during the week preceding the event filled the creeks and threatened to turn the trial into a slippery and difficult affair, but fantastic weather arrived for Saturday, and the deep running water in the ro cky creeks only added to the excitement for the 140 riders in attendance. On Saturday, Aaron got off on the wrong foot by taking a couple of uncharacteristically ugly rides on the opening lap, while his ERE/Gas Gas teammate, Craig, was keep ing his mistakes to a minimum. At the end of lap one, Craig led with 10 points, followed by Aaron with 12. U.S. Montesa 's Florin and Gas Gas-mounted Ryon Bell were engaged in a battle over third with 14 points apiece. South African Brent Ie Riche, on a Montesa , dropped 16 marks in his first-ever U.S. National start and held the fifth spot, while Sherco USA:s David Chaves was next with 19. The consensus after the first lap was that the top riders were suffering from 38 APRIL 21,2004 • CYC LE N EW S opening-day jitters . A couple of riders might have even been a bit conservative, thinking the sections wou ld be more difficu lt, which they proved not to be . However, the event was obviously to Aaron's liking - very technical and not too slippery - and by lap two , he was beginning to get into a rhythm , which spelled the beginning of the end for the competition. Aaron dropped only five more points in the re maining 30 sections to post the winning score of 17 marks . Craig remained cons istent , logging 25 points over the final two laps for a total of 35 and second overall, while Bell finished third , just one point back. Florin was fourth overall with 38 afte r having an off day, which included several unfortunate rides: a five when his handlebar touched the ground and another, which was later overturned, for crossing his tracks . Le Riche had the secondbest score on the final lap (a six) and finished in fifth position with 39 total points. Ahvala, riding as a noncompetitor, went 6-0-1 l ove r the three laps for a total of 17, tying Aaron for the lead. However, Aaron posted one more clean than the Finn, which would have placed Ahvala in second, had he been riding for points . Aaron started off badly again on Sunday by taking a two in the opening section, a relatively easy one, and a 40th Anniversary five in section 10, which featured an ominous, seven- foot rock wall. Florin cleaned the wall and finished lap one tied with Aaron for the lead with nine points each . But, just like the day before. Aaron turned up the heat and managed a two-poi nt sec ond loo p, then blistered the competition with a clean final lap for the win. "I was a little bit asleep at the wheel when I first took off each day," Aaron said. "I knew the event would be decided by just a couple of sections, so I just focused on the parts where I knew I needed to make up ground . For the most part, I was riding pretty well, so it was just a matter of cleaning up a few points