There is still plenty of work to do clearing sections and access trails for the Nationals so we will hold a couple more working bees next month. The first on the 4th of July and the next on the 18th. Please contact Derek Scott on 03 3544243 or 0274323646 if you can help out on either day.

Kaikoura Overall results 2010.pdf (67.62 kb)

Bolting a chair onto the side of a trials bike makes no sense. Sidechair trials are almost unknown in the civilized North Island, but we had heard that in some parts of the wild South Island they exist as some sort of rite of passage into manhood. Well, we North Islanders are men, too. The Kevs (Tither and Pinfold) with their Gasser and The Johnnies (Lawton and Ravenscroft) with our Beta boarded the Queen’s Birthday ferry, heading to Kaikoura to take on the South Islanders and to prove our manhood.

John Lawton was to be the rider, I was to be the passenger. Lawton has strong opinions on everything. I strongly disagree with nearly all of his opinions. Riding one of these chairs, the first thing that becomes apparent is that the normal ways do not work… turning the handlebars to the right is no guarantee that the bike will go that way. So after a few arguments with the machine we realized that we needed to invent new ways to get favourable responses from it. Then we discovered the second thing… it is not very useful if the rider and the passenger cannot work together – they need to be on the same page, and unless the machine is on that same page then there is no chance of the combination working as a whole.

We planned to use our natural abilities to overcome any challenges. The result was a complete failure. We completed the first day’s competition in last place and had some spectacular crashes along the way. Seeking to improve our performance, that evening we decided to compromise – I would do everything that Lawton told me to do without question and I would do nothing else.

With this revised plan in operation, on the second day we were making progress, until, in one section Lawton forgot to tell me where to go. As we crashed, we entered into a lively debate about who should do what and when.  Following the debate, a second compromise was reached that evening – together, we would plan our attack on each section and we would work as a unit.

With this cunning plan in place, we made spectacular improvements on the third day, attacking each section with testosterone-loaded aggression, but in a marriage of harmony – with each other and with the machine. We ended the third day in first place, clearly the most improved team in the competition and leaving no doubt that we are real, hairy-chested men (I mean that in a sensitive, caring-for each-other sort of way).

John Ravenscroft

Present: W Merriman, K Pinfold, K Tither, T smith, C Robson, B Cooke, J Henderson and Bonnie McHardy [MNZ].  

GRADING / CLASSES 

Section setters need to try to benchmark standards on section “levels’ as opposed to rider “levels”;           

i.e.….White line [entry level]… sections should be able to be ridden by a 125cc “Trail bike” while sitting on the seat.                       

Blue line …rocks and ledges no higher than the knee.                       

Green line.. As for Blue with ONE added element of increased difficulty but with limited risk of injury.                       

Yellow line..rocks and ledges at waist height and turns able to be ridden without the need of “hopping”                       

Red line… rocks and ledges shoulder high.                       

Orange line…large but “ridable” elements 

A study of “points lost” by Gary Samson was submitted and assessed as an accurate snapshot of the sport and deemed to contain ideal targets for organisers to “aim” for.  The ‘thrust’ of the statistics showed that the A grade is the grade that is consistently too difficult.           

The workshop also discussed the easing of downhill elements as they are the elements that are potentially the most dangerous.   

Organisers of events need to ensure that section standards are adhered to so as to avoid riders changing classes to suit “section difficulty on the day”. 

Riders to nominate the class they will be competing in [at beginning of year] and to stay in that class. To change a class they will need to seek the consent of the authority who shall be the Commissioner and the Island Coordinators. Riders may make a spontaneous decision [because of injury etc] to ride another class but will forgo any points in that class. 

The “Green line” will be available to any rider of any age. This gives a ‘stepping stone’ class for “Blue liners” Trophies be awarded to winners of the “Green Line” [we may have to call it C grade] by host clubs of championship events. MNZ will award trophy and certificates annually to the prize-winners of the President class who will still contest that grade.  

HOW TO RUN A MOTO TRIAL MANUAL 

The commissioner is asking for ANY good ideas to be submitted that can go into a simple book form to help with the running of a trial from its inception to conclusion.This will hopefully be available next year to guide cubs through the pitfalls of:           

Budgeting           

Administration           

MNZ requirements           

Timelines           

Funding and expense problems           

Laying out good courses           

Section setting            

Image           

Job descriptions           

Logistics           

Observers           

Briefings           

Results

If you can write with any authority on any of the above the commissioner would be very keen to hear from you.                       

One of the points that were regularly mentioned when talking of running a GOOD trial was the need for GOOD section setting and this lead to the topic of:            

TIME PENALTIES 

There was consensus that agreed to the fact that a well organised event was less likely to run into a “time penalty” problem. 

There was a consensus that agreed that there be a maximum of THREE difficult elements per section per grade that very occasionally may need to be stretched to FOUR. 

There was a consensus that a rider who is constrained by “time” is a danger to themselves and OTHERS and that there was a need to make changes in the interest of safety. 

The commissioner along with this workshop recommends that, should an event fall into the category of having a “time penalty problem” [that is more than two riders likely to be affected], the organisers should make available, persons with clippers to be at the ‘start’ of sections to clip ‘5s’ for any riders wanting to ‘take a 5’. [These riders should be able to take a 5 without queuing] These ‘clipper persons’ could come from club members who have finished their riding and will be furnished with EXTRA clippers so as not to upset the flow.             

SECTION PEGS 

It was agreed that the sport needed more uniformity in the area of section boundary and grade marking pegs. All agreed marking tape was best but in conjunction a minimum standard for pegs was agreed upon;           

Boundary markers [red and white] to be square [minimum size yet to be advised] or rectangular [in the case of seismic pegs]           

Grade indicators to be of “traffic light” design for red, yellow and blue lines. These to be a white peg with red, yellow and blue arrows [minimum size yet to be advised] on the front.           

Orange and green arrows [minimum size yet to be advised] to be on their own separate pegs [that is one arrow, one peg] Green to have a white border for visibility. [A later suggestion of a white border for Orange too]                

OCEANIA            

A consensus agreed that the annual Trans Tasman Oceania competition should continue in concept as an event separate from the Australian or NZ championship events. That is at separate times of the year and Easter has worked well to date.                

TRIALS DES NATIONS            

With a positive “feel” from the workshop followed by an enlightening seminar on fundraising, the commissioner is enthusiastic enough to be calling for participants for a proposed TDN team to compete in Scotland in 2011.            

GENERAL 

It is PARAMOUNT that ALL trials riders “tick the box” to indicate that we are in fact Trials riders when we licence with MNZ. This is the only “count” that is done on discipline percentages and has a bearing on distribution of SPARC funds. “Let us show that we are a significant group”                         

J Henderson Commissioner 

Post script:

Most of the outcomes will be in action for 2011 but the Commissioner is changing from the perceived format of having to queue “for a 5” to the aforementioned not having to queue [as long as there is no interference with ‘traffic flow’] as of NOW. That is immediately. 

There will be a “call” for interested riders and a manager to attend TDN in 2011 coming from MNZ VERY SOON.