dabney footsmore

I have to agree with the T R A I L riding aspect, as the most fun I've ever had is at Ioco, doing what is known as :Follow Ted Til You Drop Dead. Ted Blow, one of the old timers in the club, knows the area so well....just fill your tank and follow him for a tour of the riding area, that is such an enjoyable way to spend a day.

Boots at least once, helmet once, gas container a few times.. ...luckily I have lent items to fellow riders and merely had to ask for a hand myself. I usually have a good tool kit and some generic spares and have helped out often in that regard too.

The PNTA is already in existence and is a very competitive series carried out annually between BC, Washington State and Oregon clubs. The NATC's idea is a good one, and luckily there are already a lot of regional series happening that could be rolled into this idea, using their current structure.

Dear Martin It's now apparent where you got your character and grace. Fred's wishes to be remebered in a positive and friendly way is very touching and most exemplary. Warm regards, Doug Williams

Now just add an A to F on the other side of each one, so any club can call it what they want, but still use the letter or number to define the skill required.

He is and forever will be a legend in his own mind. Also likes to live and take credit vicariously for Debbie Evans

The numbers should be standardized, however the class names can be whatever, as long as you have the number in parentheses. Your club may have Expert (1) Intermediate (3) A rival club may have Expert (1) Sportsman (3) The class names are not as important as a skill level number, as the number could be fairly close on a North American scale.

Wayne, Alan, Florin et al: Excuse my temporary memory loss as we have done concept this in the past, and a number of the top NATC riders were there. My club (CPTA) hosted the inaugural NAMU event in North American, in 2000 at Ioco. It was where the AMA and the CMA had to come together via the FMI and meld two different sets of class categories. Kit Williams (trials marshall) and myself sat down and wrote out the lines required for both governing bodies in regards to a points competition, and it came down to only 3 lines. (there are no beginner or junior type of lines in a CMA or AMA/NATC points event) Each rider, upon signing up, was shown how their respective class would pair up to either an A, B or C line. Then a corresponding sticker was put on their number plate for all to see. (A, B or C) The checkers had an easy time, for as the rider was ready to ride each section, the checker nearest the entry card would shout out his line category, (again, A, B or C) and both checkers would know which line (with splits obviously) was to be ridden. It worked so well that the eastern Canadian clubs used it for follow up events. It has also been used when a National (CMA) event and a club event were run at the same time, except you'd probably need a D line, as an example. We used it with the system of only one start time, ie, not a morning and afternoon group. However I am sure you could use it with a morning and afternoon group of riders. Your mileage may vary. So really, this has been done, we kind of stumbled onto it with great success, but funny how things get away from you. I can provide more info if required, however this has been mastered, just forgotten. Doug Williams

Yes, good point.....the name of the lines or classes are secondary, however the number of lines and their relative difficulty is what matters. As an example, 5 lines, and wherever you are, it could have the number in parentheses after the local class name. eg Expert (1) Advanced (2) Intermediate, Senior Intermediate, Sportsman, Clubman etc (3) Junior, Novice etc (4) Beginner, Bleeder etc (5) So wherever you ride, the number classification is what you would adhere to more than the name........a class name is secondary actually. The tough part is conformity on the 1-5 skill level requirement to ride without getting over your head.

Ahhh.......aren't you the famous actor with the screen name "Myles Longe"?

Big John Any luck with the new kit? Enquiring minds need to know.

Good point.....as well, the NATC has nothing in the way of a beginner, novice, junior or intermediate skill level line or class at an NATC event, so the governing body (AMA) could or should be the one trying to set standard class names, with your input and feedback, of course. I always thought 5 was the most you should have. Ishy used to say 3 was all they used back home, but it is different over here, and he may be coming around to our way of thinking. Within those 5, you can have subclasses based on age.....ie.....Intermediate and Senior Intermediate. However the lines are the same, and awards are optional beyond the 5.

Does this bulletin board have an ignore feature so I can read a thread but not Lane's constant drivel?

Yes, when we did the inaugural NAMU events, you only had to be a member of the sanctioning body of your country of origin. Canadian riders only needed to be CMA to ride in either countries' NAMU event, and the USA riders need only be an AMA member to ride either side of the border for the NAMU event. Ishy, in the PNTA series, I am pretty sure you need an AMA license to ride at Gold Bar, (perhaps their insurance is thru AMA)however the rest of the series does not require a CMA or AMA license. Doug Williams

Florin tried this years ago, using the old MC Trials as the message carrier. He really gave it a good go, and seemed to hit a lot of resistance, unfortunately. Some people felt they needed a semi stepping stone between 2 classes, and some others did not want to ever change their current class structure to match a continent wide approach.