We arrived at Horsford Downs for the trial on Sunday. It was looking a bit overcast and the sandflies were out.... Paul J gave us some clear instructions at riders brief “there’s a paddock with buffalo, don’t go there” and “there is a water hole at the end of section 2, don’t go there”. We were the set loose to test those new found skills from the training the day before.

I had the pleasure of riding with Karl, Brendon and Cullum who made everything look effortless as you would expect. We also had Bradley and David riding with us and they were looking very sharp after the training the day before.

The sections had a variety of terrain from slippery creek beds, to logs, hillsides and dry rock. There was enough in them to catch even the best of us out. Section 5 turned into more of a let’s see how many rocks we can ride over before we get to the end. And section 8 had had a few different interpretations from what I heard and saw.

I saw a couple of twin shocks tackle the intermediate line. Brent D’s TY was thrown at the rock slab in section 7 with a few revs in 1^st gear. Alan and Paul D rode the day in intermediate, even getting up section 4s hill which had me almost looping my bike at the top.

It was good to see a good number of riders and supporters out again. The sidechairs came out to play on the sections and one of the chairs and its riders went for swim.... Andy, Kendal and they weren’t the only ones to go for a swim but I won’t name names.

Thanks to those who put the trial in, it was a great day.

See you all at the next one.

Stef

It was the second training day we had experienced with Karl and Brendon and it was just as good, if not better than the last one.

It was the first time we had used the Horsford Downs property for many years. After a quick warm up, we headed towards our practice section that Paul and Rob had put in earlier. Paul had mentioned logs but I wasn’t quite expecting what we found. After some instruction on how we should be looking at tackling logs it was time to throw a bike over them. After a couple of attempts, Brendon separated the group and took them off to do some other training in a different area. The rest of us stayed with Karl to try and master the section. Ross was the only one I saw game enough to carry his front wheel off the bigger of the logs that we were all sumping.

After lunch we played follow the leader on the way back to the other area for more training. We were faced with another set of logs which everyone tackled with new found skills from the previous section. Brendon pulled part of the group aside to explain the art of hopping. The rest of us were faced with a double log and a gap big enough for a wheel to fall between (of course) to add to the trickiness the second log was higher than the first. There were a few minor offs, but everyone that attempted it made it up and over in the end. Quite a feat and I wasn’t the only with a smile on my face after getting over those.

We ended the training on that high. I think most of us were finding it hard to keep the bike upright by then. The improvement that was seen in people throughout the day in confidence and skill was amazing.

Thanks Karl and Brendon for another wonderful training day. Can’t wait for the next one!

Stef

Here are the revised results, our apologies for the omissions and errors on the previous results.

Summer Series 2 - Horsford Downs Feb 2010.pdf (38.54 kb)

There were a number of likely contenders for the Gumboot Award this month but the award goes to......Andy Beale for his brilliant attempt at the 50m Breathstroke with side chair outfit and swinger on his back. Unfortunately he was unsuccessful but did earn extra points for the poise and technique shown by managing to hit the kill switch before going under (and I do mean under). A great effort Andy, I will never forget the "fish out of water" impersonation you did with just your head sticking out of the water!! 

BEFORE.......

AFTER....

For More photos go to the Gallery

Hi All   

As promised I am writing to advise that we can now successfully enter the Taranaki rounds of the N.I Moto Trials champs online and conventionally.   

I would like to talk you through online entry:       

You will need ..........a credit card                            

..........to know your user name and password [these were created for you by MNZ and if you have not edited them you can. It is easy]                                       

If you do not know your user name and/or password you will have to click the "Online Licencing" then click Lost your password 

Now to enter:...click "Online Licencing" [this button is at top right of MNZ home page]  

             .........enter user name and pass word 

               .......check your Personal Information 

               .......if your Personal Information is incorrect then click Edit my personal information   

             .......then check Event Classes and click Enter event for the event you want to enter [at this stage only Taranaki Trial available]  

              .......you are then offered the Class you want to ride in. Click the tick box. Do not be concerned about the # box. It is for rider numbers. [As in MX] 

                ........you are then asked to read and accept terms and conditions of MNZ and click the tick box. Then click Submit 

               .........you are then asked to part with your money through conventional credit card format. Then click Submit   

YOU SHOULD NOW BE ENTERED 

For those who still need conventional entry forms they too are now available on the web an can be found by looking through Entry Forms in the "Information" section or clicking on the event date on the calendar on the home page and clicking Entry Forms. 

If you have difficulty I encourage you to be patient and work through this 'start up' of a new process that will benefit us further "down the track".    Please let Ravo, MNZ office or I know of any difficulties that you may be having. The problems, will probably be "fixable".

NOW PLEASE ENTER SOON. THANKS.                                                                   

 Jim Henderson         

Commissioner

We also have an entry form you can download from our Entry Forms Page. 

Old Thumpers Twin Shock Challenge Top of the South is annually held at Pohara in Takaka on the Saturday with the Old Thumpers Moto Cross held on the Sunday.

It was a late 4pm start to the Non Stop Rules Trial with eight sections of four laps.  There was a good turnout of about 15 riders.  Expert class consisted of Karl Clark on his TLR250cc, Alan Duthie on his very special Triumph Tiger and Craig Wassell wheeled out of his shed his KT250cc for the first time from last year’s event and Paul Dowel on his Fantic 250cc.

First lap it was a tight battle and you had to concentrate on each section as a 5 would have cost you too much to gain back.  Karl lost 1 on his first lap with Alan losing 4, Craig on 6 and Paul on11.  The second lap Alan had a good ride to have a clean lap with Karl dropping 3, Craig 2 and Paul 4.  Going into the third lap Karl and Alan were tied up on points so the pressure was on.  Third lap Karl had a clean lap with Alan dropping two, Craig losing 3 and Paul on 4.  The last lap Karl lost 1 with Alan on 1 points, Craig on 3 with Paul on 2.

Overall the positions were Karl finishing first on 5 points, Alan on 7, Craig on 14 and Paul on 21.

Andy Beal took out A Grade on his Honda TLR, and it was fantastic to see a lot of the Christchurch girl and guys like Dick Gardiner and Brent Downs coming up to this event.

Was great to see all the other classic bikes, and I enjoyed riding this event.  Looking forward to next year’s event.

Thanks
Karl

Megaphone December 2009.pdf (506.26 kb)

 On the 29 January both Brendon and I headed to Christchurch as we were invited to help with some training with the Pioneer Trials Club.  Shane Brons kindly picked me up from the airport in his Subaru and to tell you the truth it scared me a little, all under the speed limit though ;) 

Saturday morning we woke to a fine day and we headed to the training area in Glen Elg Quarry with a good turn out of riders covering all grades.  The day went really smooth and Brendon and I were really impressed with what they were taking on board and improving as the day went on.  Both of us really enjoyed the day and it was good to see that we were able to help. 

On Sunday was a club day and there was an extremely good turn out of riders.  I took the Juniors around for the day and Brendon took some of the Clubman riders.  Four laps of eight sections were placed and it was an extremely hot day.  Alan dropped me off back to the airport after the trial for my flight home.  

I would like to thank Brendon for taking down my spare bike, Alan and his wife for putting us up and providing some lovely meals.  And also Brendon would like to thank the Pioneer members for supporting him and his business. Thanks for the great weekend guys and we were really honoured to be asked to help.  Look forward to the 13 February for the next training weekend. 

Thanks

Karl and Brendon

It really was a great weekend so don't miss this weekend at Horsford Downs for more of the same!! 

Jim has his January newsletter available online at the M.N.Z Website. It would be good if everyone had a read and commented on what he has to say. The M.N.Z AGm is looming and that's when rule changes etc. can be made tto improve our sport. Lets hear what you think.

Just click on this link. Trials Commissioners January Newsletter

What a fantastic start to the Pioneer Summer Series 2010. Thirty four riders and many supporters turned up at the Glen Elg oven on the second day of our summer. Half the field were fairly tired after a day’s training with Brendon and Karl, the rest had no excuse.

The sections had been quickly thrown in after the training by a large group of volunteers and turned out to be absolutely superb.

Three of the sections used for the training on Saturday were used. It was great to ride them in a trial and have the pressure of a score card to make you go clean.

Shane had an amazing start to the day on a borrowed Montesa 4RT, dropping only two points on his first lap. However once he got the feel for the machine he managed to lose far more points. Future President of the Pioneer club Alan Duthie had a lap on the Triumph cub to sort it out for next weekend and returned an amazing score of only seven points lost. He then jumped on the ex Shane Beta and pretty much forgot to put his feet down. Alan seems to have fallen in love with his Beta and must be a contender at the NZ Champs for either a win in A grade or Presidents

The club captain Scotty and John Hainsworth kept the pressure on finishing third.

Captain T put the pressure on in Clubbies and cleaned up both our future champions Bradley and David.

An awesome day. Twenty-four hours later I still feel dehydrated and exhausted and can’t wait until the next round at Okuku. Let’s try to get fifty riders to this one.

Keep your feet up

Alan