Report Ken O'Brien
Heavy overnight rain and the cold winds had ceased so the the Sun shone once again on the righteous for Oxford's Good Friday Trial at Folly Farm Beckley and this was the venue for Ixions 3rd club champs for 2025 where a good entry of riders set off to tackle 10 sections four times with a mix of mud roots climbs ditches and rocks that sorted an outright winner in each class.
James Carter made short work of the Expert class with a loss of 9 powering his 250 TRS to four cleans on the long nadgery sandy bank of section 4 which included a drop into a swamp then a blast over a stricken fallen tree.
Local Ace Jason Clifford dropped a miserly 7 guiding to victory the Vertigo though section three for a couple of prods laps one and two then a couple of cleans in the 50/50 class.
Chris Hurworth was on the pencil for this one starting with a soft-going drop then a splash though shallow water before a tough ditch crossing where a rooted bank awaited there were no clean sheets recorded here on the harder routes.
Tony Cowley 250 Sherco put an impressive performance in showing his skills from the days gone by are still lingering losing a solitary mark at section two.
A steadying prod on his first visit was enough to take the win in the Clubman class on the yellow middle route .
The section comprised a fallen tree then a tight turn with a steep drop to a cambered ledge before the tricky bit a third gear blast out over roots where the prod was recorded.
Alan Taylor TRS 250 was a close second on 2 with Mark Wallington 250 Sherco on 3 with a furthest clean verdict over Andrew Earnshaw 300 TRS with all losing their respective low marks at different sections.
A good entry of Eased White route riders covered various classes with Nick James WR 250 DOT taking the Pre 65 class with a creditable 19 mark loss.
Adrian Steele 250 Beta easing back into the riding groove after a recent back operation lost 2 and will be back on the harder route in due course.
Simon Dowling Beta put a good performance in also after a recent injury recovery to take Best Sportsman losing six marks.
Section ten wasn't as easy as it looked a cambered drop with a gravelly turn through Gorse next a controlled approach to the edge of a bog before a slick climb the the ends high up the bank, a fair few marks were lost here although the afore mentioned rode clean with ease.
The best performance on the White route was claimed by Robert Bremner in the Twinshock class piloting his aging Fantic 249 around for a one mark deficit.
Paul Toplis 310 CCM Armstrong was on gold but for an unfortunate stop at section three last visit when a bramble fouled the chain and dragged rider and machine to an abrupt halt.
A pair of secateurs were laid close to the scene so foul play was suspected by the inspecting crowd.
The offending dab was placed first lap at section 5 a tricky affair of a hundred yards or so downhill rooty cambers with a double tree crossing to finish the section.
Joe Pusey was best Youth A whilst Poppy Carter took the best Youth B class both now on 125 power.
Joe and Poppy both had excellent rides at section four a former Graded Hill that had dried sufficiently to use as conventional section but still fairly tough as the Old Oak Tree turn had developed a single berm type turn where exact speed was crucial for the clean.
Well done to all and many thanks to all who helped on the day.
Next Trial the Big Hills of Beckley Farm 11th May.