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Why do we ride trials?


dadof2
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It was the announcement that Dabs was not riding the SSDT that prompted me to think about this.

I started off road riding on old bangers that we had to get along the roads (at risk of prosecution) to get to where we could ride them. I had been to motorcycle events (MX grasstrack and road racing) from about the age of 3 and read MCN and MCW and MCM about as soon as I could read but despite reading about trials and watching the Scott had no interest about taking part when I bought my first trials bike. The reason I bought it was to get along the road to my off road areas legally. It was only after some time and because of someone I got mechanical help from (who already rode trials) that I decided to ride in competition. I rode regularly for quite a few years the motivation to get better and better. After I "peaked" that was no longer a motivation and I just ride occasionally for fun. I seem to have reverted back to my origins were most of my riding is about having fun on any off road ground rather than competing. I intend to ride a few trials but no longer really know why I do it.

Wonder what dabs motivation is - 3rd in WTC?

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I look at what my friends (Do have the odd one) and their families do at the weekends and compare it to what we do.

It's normally gie mundane like read the papers,walk in the park, couple of pints, visit relations. watch the footie etc.

I'm jumping off big rocks on a 20hp pogo stick with junior there's nothing better.

 

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We were a motorcycling family, Dad rode his Enfield the seventeen miles to work and back all week then at weekends the family were packed into the Ivory Calthorpe and sidecar for visits to relatives, the seaside, etc.

I rode a pushbike to school, when I was sixteen added a Cyclemaster 32cc rear wheel to convert it to a moped, then as soon as I could afford whilst still at college bought an old AJS, which was my release to adventures, tried my hand on the rough exploring tracks around my home in the Yorkshire dales then tried a few trials and enjoyed it.  Finally achieved sufficient riches to buy a second-hand AJS rigid trials model and began to ride seriously - but soon proved that my local contemporaries, Arthur Lampkin, Peter Gaunt, Peter Fletcher, Artie Ratcliffe, Stan Holmes, etc., were way above my standard, so settled for just enjoying myself and helping with the organisation of events, and eventually reporting events for the press.

Eventually reached a fairly intensive pressure job in my life and found that riding in trials (by then in the pre-65 movement) I had to concentrate on the riding or I might hurt myself and that concentration meant forgetting all about the pressures of the day job, marvellous.

Now my eightieth birthday is close and I'm still enjoying my version of the sport, no longer actively involved in the actual events but very much involved in recording for posterity the story of offroad motorcycle sport - not many 'hobbies' I suspect could match the sixty-plus years of pleasure (and friendships) that my hobby has brought me.

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I ride for fun, skills and exercise, with little interest in competing. I ride what challenges me and I can't get my head around the desire to ride something so far within your capability that you'd clean most sections, luckily I'm also not very good. 

I was a junior kickstart fan.

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I have been riding trials since the 50s,and like Laird I am approaching the big 80 I still ride my VFR on the road and my Beta 200 in selected trials ( I don't do brave any more) My daughter having told someone that dad still rode bikes was asked my age, she replied IMMATURE That's what trials does for you

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I love to ride pushbikes and motorbikes off road; I don't like going fast, and going slow without some reason gets boring very quickly, so trials it is!

(yes, I play at doing light trials-y riding on my mountain bike too)

 

There is more to it than that, but that's the long and short of why I do it :)

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