12 replies to this topic

[needlongerlegs]

Hi,

Just recovering LOL from entering the Essex n Suffolk's Trial on Sunday @ Raydon,

I'm very new to all this, I found the trial quite a challenge - a good thing, I'm not moaning its only my 3rd attempt.

I attempted every section and received 165 out 210 points (I came last LOL)

But I'm surprised so many of the "Novices" look like experts to me.......

Is the Novice really the clubman and should I be looking for Beginners / Wobbler's trials..

Just like to hear peoples thoughts on difficulty factor, a couple of the guys there said different clubs run at different leaves of difficulty.

I'm off to practice jumping over logs without bailing out

LOL

NLL

[bilc0]

needlongerlegs, on Oct 20 2009, 03:49 PM, said:

should I be looking for Beginners

Yes this is where you should be,stay there until you keep coming 1st or atleast in the top 5's then you should think about moving up.

Edited by bilc0, 20 October 2009 - 03:02 PM.

[Telecat]

Novice covers a large number of riders. Many Are clubman but some are Youths on their way to Intermediate level or Older riders coming down the scale especially at Centre events. Look out for the Novice/Beginners series as the course tend to be set for riders who are starting out. Usually you will have the absolute beginners course with a harder Novice one for those who have a few rides under their belt.

[Wherry]

You did well to stick with it and get round! Think I may have chatted to you at some point. Anyway..

Yes they all vary from club to club, of course, but Bilco's right you're probably better off at this stage on the beginner routes. However not all trials are set up with a beginners route and it can be a bit of a lottery when you turn up - best thing is probably to ask before you enter it. The trial on Sunday was a Novice Centre Championship round so was never going to be on the easy side and if the top Centre Novices are losing 20+ then you as a beginner are probably in for a tough day. Having said that the similar championship round at Bramford did have a beginners route so you never know! I'd ask before entering just to make sure.

All the Norwich Vikings Beginners/Wobblers trials will be good for you, obviously.
Essex & Suffolk Border usually have a beginners route.
NSJMCC would all be good.
Ipswich MCC some do some don't.
Lowestoft Invaders are usually pretty hard!
Diss MCC ones would be good.

I'm not familiar with the Essex clubs but someone may fill us in on the details for them in due course.


It may be some time in the future but the jump from Novice to Inter is pretty exciting too let me tell you!

[max1956bikes]

yes its hard when you first start.when i first started 35 years ago there was only 1 route so was very hard,but i kept trying,then came along 2 routes that was great,now theres 3 or 4,so keep practising,it gets easier.

[Unbalanced]

Hey dont worry about other people Trials is about challenging yourself. I am still woefull but enjoy it to much. There are always a few people about that should move up. Just pracdtice practice and never be ashamed of asking for or taking advice.

[The Addict]

There should be loads of beginners trials around, there certainly is around the Midlands, the term Novice from what I have seen means very little to be honest, I see many riders entered in Clubman route Nationals and many of them take some beating even though I would personally class myself as Expert/Intermediate depending on the trial entered. I've never got to grips with the class system at all as it really doesn't show how good a rider actually is, same can happen in Road Racing with the Novice Jacket. The Clubman route is normally the next route down from Expert/Hard but you will find ex Expert riders riding this route who are more than capable of getting round the Hard route no problem and still drop significant scores on the B route at some trials.

One of the great buzzes of Trials especially just starting out is the learning curve, you can really see big improvements very quickly with some practice, keep at it and as said before ring the clubs before entering to see how hard a trial is likely to be for a newbie,what routes and the sort of terrain it will be. You can enter a club trial one week and drop 100 on one route then next week drop 5 they can vary that much.

Good luck fella, falling off means your trying hard and pushing yourself nothing wrong with that in Trials

Can anyone explain out of interest how the grading system works???

Edited by The Addict, 20 October 2009 - 05:25 PM.

[KICKSTART101]

Hi there, well regardless of how you did i hope you still enjoyed yourself at our trial on Sunday?

Our events normally attract some of the youth and beginners therefore we often cater for them with a "beginners" route which would be one step down from the one you rode.

Being a novice championship round on Sunday I think it did tend to attract the more capable novice riders in the centre which is why perhaps we didn’t put beginner’s route in.

As a rule we don’t generally try and make our events too hard unlike some other clubs in the area. Next time we run a trial you are more than welcome to come along the day before to give us your views on what you think would be acceptable, Like any club we are always keen to receive feedback, good or bad so we can improve on this next time.

As other members have said the novice route can vary from club to club but this goes for the expert/inter routes to. Not every club runs a beginner route but more often than not the novice route should be suitable for you, Norwich Vikings are the only club who run some events purely for beginners.

My advice would be to stick at it, like many others I have risen over time from being a struggling novice rider to a mid-range intermediate. Practice and more practice is always the best thing if you hope to improve.
Hope to see you about at more events in the future.

Adam

[needlongerlegs]

KICKSTART101, on Oct 20 2009, 06:39 PM, said:

Hi there, well regardless of how you did i hope you still enjoyed yourself at our trial on Sunday?
Adam

Enjoy it....I loved it mate, serious giggle, even when my shirt got caught on a tree in section 8 and nearly had me off the back

LOL

NNL

[CVGMmartin]

As a begginer completing a "difficult" trial even if it means getting fives most of the time is an achievement to be proud of, and even more so if you managed to enjoy yourself, but it is hard to get the sort of practice needed to improve if you can't make a reasonable attempt at the section. Ride these trials by all means because it gives you an idea what to aim for, but ride in some begginer trials where you are able to get through sections with a few cleans and single scores, that way you get to learn from the successes and not from trying to figure out every time what went wrong. Like Max1956, when I started riding in the late 60s there was only one line and riding a 250cc James commando (approx 300lb, not the villiers engined one) around a midland centre trial with sections laid out for the likes of Scott Ellis, Jeff Smith, Sam and Bob Cooper, Steve Wilson, etc was not a good learning experience and infact put me off trials. I took up grass track racing instead and only came back to trials (vintage that is) after moving to Canada.

[stixnstonesbrokemybones]

needlongerlegs, on Oct 20 2009, 02:49 PM, said:

Hi,

Just recovering LOL from entering the Essex n Suffolk's Trial on Sunday @ Raydon,

I'm very new to all this, I found the trial quite a challenge - a good thing, I'm not moaning its only my 3rd attempt.

I attempted every section and received 165 out 210 points (I came last LOL)

But I'm surprised so many of the "Novices" look like experts to me.......

Is the Novice really the clubman and should I be looking for Beginners / Wobbler's trials..

Just like to hear peoples thoughts on difficulty factor, a couple of the guys there said different clubs run at different leaves of difficulty.

I'm off to practice jumping over logs without bailing out

LOL

NLL

I'm in the same boat - just aim to have fun and get round - turn up, walk the sections and have a go. As long as the bike keeps going you'll generally improve each lap but also finda couple of sections that just don't seem possible. Keep smiling, stock up on washing powder and enjoy the experience.

Weekends just don't come fast enough,

[rabie]

really late notice but if your willing to travel a bit we're running a beginners and wobblers trials at Canada Heights (just through the tunnel in Kent) with a really easy route (for LDT riders on enduro bikes) and an easy route (easier than a centre/group trial) - open to any ACU member with day membership available. Most of the trials clubs up here in Norht / West Kent run these sort of events, with about one a month - see nktc.org.uk

[steve]

max1956bikes, on Oct 20 2009, 04:58 PM, said:

yes its hard when you first start.when i first started 35 years ago there was only 1 route so was very hard,but i kept trying,then came along 2 routes that was great,now theres 3 or 4,so keep practising,it gets easier.

The guy that posted this comment saw me when I first rode. He told his friend 'There's Steve Bird, he will never be any good as long as I've got a hole in my ar*e!!' (You probably didn't know I knew you'd said that did you?)
A year later I was upgraded to Expert and the following year won the club championship.

How do you manage without the hole in your ar*e? He He.


We've all been there and I'm sure you will get plenty of help and advice. Keep at it and ENJOY IT