- Our Club trial was held at Blacklands Farm, near Sharpthorne on a beautiful sunny but cold Autumn day. This venue features a lovely rock bottomed stream running throughout, with steep banks in places and deep water in others! Sometimes the two comcide which gives those section plotters of a devious nature something enjoyable to play with....
We had a great turnout of over 40 riders on the day, with a large contingent of guest riders on all routes, and I was especially pleased to see an additional 5 on the white route. , Sometimes it can be depressing to lay out a complete route and then only have two or three people ride it. Anyway, when I rode back into the car park after laying out it was great to see it full of vans, cars and bikes with riders all raring to go. There was plenty of banter going on and this seemed to continue throughout the day.
The first section is always difficult to judge, as you don't really want a'stinker' as the first one of the day, particularly with the ever present water at this venue. The white route was a little adventurous (sorry chaps!) and featured a big step out of the stream towards the end, with a jump back across the stream to finish. This raised a few eyebrows but was cleanable, as proved by guest rider John Penfold who shot up the bank clean as a whistle on every lap. This was not the case for fellow guest riders Steve Forrest or Adrian Brown who splashed back down into the stream on lap one. 'Adders' actually cleaned the section later, only to five it in a big way on his last lap falling back off the bank and landing flat on his back in the stream! Brrrr.
Stuart Read only lost a solitary dab on this section and rode well all day to take the win on 27 marks lost. This was a good ride, and nice to see Stuart keeping it together all day. Obviously the effects of the new girlfriend were not as stamina draining as some had alleged (No names - eh Pete !)
Stuart was only really troubled by the angled climb over rocks and tree roots at section 4 and the twists and turns of section 8. My own downfall was section three which cost me three on the first lap and later on a five when I'flicked' the bike around the turn and onto the top, only for the back wheel to be kicked sideways by the pixies leaving me on my ear in the mud. The frustration of knowing that a clean had been so near, and thinking no-one was around, resulted in a torrent of expletives which only stopped when I picked myself up to see Laura Forrest looking at me quizzically! Oops - sorry Laura!
The second section was a gentler affair, in and out of the stream with a sticky bank to finish, but still squeezed a couple of marks from Pat Lloyd-Jacob who was nursing his injured ankle and thus riding the Inter route on this occasion. Pat won the class by over 20 marks from Lewis Taylor, who had a great ride on section 8 on lap three to clean the sweeping turn and awkward roots. Pete Jenkins was just behind, with two fives on section 8 not helping his cause.
Scorpa's are becoming more popular within both the Centre and the club and took the top two places on the blue route with Simon Rye taking the win from Kevin Thompson. Kevin was riding the little four-stroke formerly campaigned by Emma, who has been treated to a shiny new Gas Gas. The Gasser looked lovely and I'm sure it will see Emma improve in leaps and bounds once she gets more familiar with it.
Simon's mum was spectating and whilst talking to her she mentioned that she had been at Blackmans before. This was not to a trial however, but when she was a girl guide attending the camp! I didn't like to ask when that was.
Karl Wooster had a very tidy ride on the blues to pip Antony Read to third place, with only section 8 causing Karl any difficulty - strangely it became more of a problem for Karl after it was eased? Malcolm Coles obviously had a very good day, as his scores show. When you look at the handicap score it shows how much better than normal his result was, much to the consternation of Jonathan Redman who was thus consigned to runner up spot in the handicap. Jonathan also had a good day to finish some 34 marks lower than the target handicap score, and only one five all day! It just shows that for both these guys all the practising is beginning to pay off.
Club members Nick Burr and Andy Mercer took 2nd and -3rd places on the red route, with Emma Thompson in a fine fourth place. Ken Cornish made the long journey up from Dorset to ride and finished tied on marks lost with Andy Pyke. Catherine Ross took the yellow route honours, still smiling at the end and helping take down the sections too!
Overall a great day out, with the handicap scores showing that the sections were about right for each route. Something of a contrast from last months mudfest at Don Barretts! The next club trial is our Xmas Charity special at Dons (maybe we need to speak to Luke's Dad or Roger as to what we should call it now?), and we will hopefully make it an easier trial for the occasion. I look forward to seeing you there.
Eric Clarke