There was no stopping Ian Austermuhle at Middlesbrough & DMC's Two Day Charity Trial held over the weekend of 5/6 September.
Now well established as part of the trials calendar, and also attracting riders from a Lincolnshire & Lancashire the club was also raising money for the Great North air Ambulance, with the final total at £500.
The fantastic venue situated at the head of Fryup dale attracted a healthy entry of 116 riders over the two days, the weather in the week building up to the trial provided lots of rain, leaving the sections, especially the wooded ones in a very challenging state, despite that the sun came out, just as the first riders set of on Saturday afternoon for 12 sections to be ridden three times.
The action got underway with a tricky rock section in the woods, with a jump onto a huge monolithic rock to finish for the experts, whilst not causing any problems to the top men, those watching were treating to some spectacular riding. I was section 2 where marks started to slip away, a short run up to a large rock to finish, took 2 from Austermuhle, where his nearest rival Jack Peace lost six after a five on the first lap leaving the youngster on catch up from then on, despite making ground up on the very Muddy section 4 odd dabs throughout the second half of the sections meant Ian was comfortable on 6, compared to Jacks 17, with big rock fan Jack Howell on 21, sadly Jacks challenge would end on day two with a broken chain tensioner. The strongly contested Inters class saw 'evergreen' Dave Pye finish a clear 11 marks ahead of Sherco mounted Lee Magee, his class showing on section ten rivalling the expert scores over the twisting rock climb to lose just two, compared to Magee on 11, occasional rider Jak Holtby, making a Beta debut lost just six here, whilst Clubman A, the most supported class with 44 riders adourning green numbers, was going to be a tough one to call. It was another Veteran rider, Steve Williams, making his annual pilgrimage to this event, to put one over brother Alan who ended the day leading, just 14 marks lost, including just 4 on the treacherous section 4 where the final slippery climb brought many to a halt, however 2nd place man Mike lees was masterful here losing just a single dab. The huge six foot water fall had more than a few riders worried, including a spectacular five from Phil Manton, as he lost control flipped the full bike. None of the top men managed to nail this each lap, but Liam Ashurst had his moment of glory with a clean each lap. Richard Mee had a stonker in clubman B losing just 11 marks, but as he was not to return on the Sunday, it was Chris Laws at the top on 33, just six ahead of Catherine Alford, herself a previous winner of this trial.
After a night around the camp fire and one or two beers Sunday dawned with bright sunshine and a challenging 15 sections laid out to test all. Austermuhle continued where he left off with some very consistant riding, but he did not have it all his own way, a five at the new section 'the rock garden' where Ian failed the double rock step rising some 10 feet gave Peace an opportunity. Chris Alford moving up to the expert course after been top Inter last year, shone here with a loss of just five in total. Peace was looking a real challenger as the trial went on, the long winding rocky gully of section 11 still remains un cleaned, this beautifully natural section saw the a best of a two this year, again from the charging Peace. The technical rocks of number 13 saw Austermuhle regain control with three easy looking cleans, to a total of 4 for young Peace, so it was 28, to 32 on the final day, allowing Austermuhle to take the overall win, his 1st at this event. David Pye also ensured his grip remained tightly on the 'yellow jersey' with a loss of just 39, leaving him well clear of smiling Ian Hopley, after a great weekend's competition. Sadly Mike Lees couldn't maintain his Saturday form and eventually finished 7th, no mean feat for a very occasional rider. Williams held on to the win, losing just 20, a score matched by Phil Perry would put himself up to 2nd place, but best on the day was the usually consistent Mark Doughty on 19, to move himself into the top 3. A special mention to Liam Smith who has only been riding trials for seven months, yet completed the very tough green course, beating some very experienced riders in the process, watch out 'Establishment'. As with the other classes the overnight leader Chris laws maintained top spot. Alford made in roads of the final challenging gully, but gave away the inroad on the innocuous looking camber and rocks of number 6, where Laws went clean, Charlotte Kimber putting in a much better ride on the second day also went well here, just a single dab, as she moved up to finish in fourth spot, just losing out buy one mark to Ian Garbutt, who just hung on to the final rostrum position.
A great weekends sport was had by all in well supported event in challenging conditions, the club would like to thank all who helped make this year's event possible, hopefully see you all next year.