VOL. 51 ISSUE 44 NOVEMBER 4, 2014 P63
It's just not trials to me. It takes
away some of my favorite aspects
of trials. My style doesn't suit no-
stop well and I don't enjoy it as
much. The sections are not as
good and it's not as impressive
to watch. Coming into a corner
knowing you can't stop is frustrat-
ing to say the least. The incon-
sistency in scoring is the biggest
problem with it, but even if that
wasn't an issue, I wouldn't want
to ride with those rules."
Smage was forced to ride with
the rules when he competed as
part of the U.S. squad at this
year's Trial des Nations in Andor-
ra, were Smage and teammates
Bryan Roper, Andrew Putt and
Daniel Blanc-Gonnet finished a
credible third in the International
division.
"I practiced some no-stop
before the event and thought I
would be up for the challenge in
Andorra," says Smage. "But after
walking the sections, all my mo-
tivation to ride was lost. The way
they have to set the sections for
no-stop just doesn't interest me
as much. Motivation and want-
ing to ride plays a huge factor
in doing well. When that is lost,
it tends to affect results. I did my
best given the situation, but I feel
like I should have done better.
Had it been normal rules, I think I
would have ridden better."
As to what he thinks needs to
be done to bring back the interest
in Trials here in the United States,
short of going to something like
a no-stop rule, Smage thinks that
money is the root of the problem.
"It's hard to speak for all the
