CUMBERLAND COUNTY MCC GREENHEAD TRIAL

On Sunday 12 December Cumberland County M.C.C ran their Greenhead club trial under a clear blue sky and in bright sunshine. Starting at Baggra Yeat near Caldbeck two courses were used, one harder Clubman course for more experienced riders and an easy course for beginners and those wanting a more gentle day’s sport.

Sections were set in the slippery streams of a small valley then climbing up over the top of the fell to a double section with its tricky turn onto a shale bank that caught out quite a few Clubman who didn’t quite carry sufficient speed from the bottom and span to a halt half way up. Next, dropping down from the highest point of the fell, came a relatively simple gulley with a small rock outcrop near the end followed by an old favourite used for many years at this venue, and still taking marks off many a rider. This steep sided narrow gulley with an awkward twist half way up, lots of loose boulders, and quite a few holes made this quite a test for most of the entry.

After a run across a very boggy fell bottom, Heather Ellwood observed another winding narrow beck with a turn out to the left for the easy course and a five foot angled slab at the end for the Clubman course. The last section of the lap observed by Tony Smith, was a blast up a fairly simple fell side for the easy course riders, but this section proved to be perhaps the hardest section of the day for the Clubmen as they had a rough rocky start followed by a two foot step up onto a slippery slab of rock and an equally gripless climb out to the end cards. This caught several riders for a five, with a very fine line between success and failure

The Clubman course was won by Dave Braithwaite on his new Montessa four-stroke for loss of 8 marks, followed in second place by Beta mounted Gary Bingley on 12, with Graham Teasdale third on his Gasgas on 23.

Jonathan Walker, riding a Beta, was best B-Class on the Clubman course with a loss of 31, followed by Mark Batty on his Gasgas, on 34.

The easy course was won by Chris Moiser, riding a Gasgas for a loss of 5 marks. Brett Arkwright came in second on 6 marks on his Scorpa followed by ex-Northern Centre Motocross Champion, Norman Barrow, riding his Gasgas with a loss of 10 marks.

A-Class rider, Simon Ovens, lost 44 marks on his air-cooled Yamaha TY250.

It was interesting to see quite a few riders out on old twin shock bikes with Mike Little and Robin Oliphant joining the Pattinson brothers as well as Mike Batty who never rides anything other than his trusty old James. Also worth a mention was Mike’s son Carl Batty, who wrestled an old Suzuki RL250 round the Clubman course for a loss of 69 marks.

The Club would like to thank those who helped organise this event, Peter and Gary for marking out, all the observers and the Lake District National Park Authority.

Clubman course

1) D Braithwaite 8 Mont 4RT
2) G Bingley 12 Beta
3) G Teasdale 23 GasGas
4) P Woof 24 GasGas
5) G Miller 27 Scorpa 4-stroke
6) M Rapley 30 Mont
7) R Oliphant 33 SWM T/S

Easy course

1) C Moiser 5 GasGas
2) B Arkwright 6 Scorpa
3) N Barrow 10 GasGas
4) J Moiser 12 GasGas
5) M Moffat 13

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