overthehill

you have to be mad to ride those sections anyway at least i ride the route - not like some

I got a pair of Jitsies - apart from being too thick they do not even offer as much adjustment at the top end as the originals - I had to turn them out in a lathe to let the nut/axle recess into them - they dont tell you that you need a lathe with a 4 jaw chuck to fit them to a montesa when they sell them !!! stick with the originals and spend your money on a good chain

wherever you look - he's sitting at the end of the section - he must have been run over a good few times

photo facing the other way !

Yup - you cant beat the scenery

Obviously we are very concerned. for the first time this year we had arranged to get local supplies without the need for our own tanker. All we can do is hope that the mad panic that is sweeping Scotland subsides. There is enough fuel if everyone stops hoarding it. The problem is Diesel in most places, and although trials bikes don't run on diesel (which one of our committee members knows as a fact) our observers vehicles and army land-rovers do. we are in constant communication with the people who know, but nothing is certain. The local companies and organisations have been very supportive and will do everything possible to help us out. we will keep you all informed as soon as we know anything more - but in the meantime 'DON'T PANIC' the SSDT is still on.

its the afternoon thats different - one of the sections makes witches look tame, and don't worry - you will still finish with the usual Monday afternoon challenge

there is a reason that we dont go to hotels anymore - for those of you who remember the infamous lunch stop of '83 - the establishment was the Inveroran hotel, the weather was diabolical, and the conduct of the competitors matched the weather. The hotel was trashed, curtains used as towels muddy boots cleaned on the carpets. I remember it was my first day of my first scottish - i wondered what i had let myself in for and couldnt wait to collect my card and get out of there. After that lunch stops fizzled out. So its a burger, a cuppa and a bit of fruit from the van. - you will be given a token when you hand your card in and it will get you a fine selection of grub. there will be plenty left as Gizza5 isn't riding this year sorry Gizza - couldnt resist - do you remember Inveroran?

when you say vintage bike do you mean it in the true sense of the word - what i'm really asking is would i be able to ride it on a 1932 Rudge? I have for some time been thinking that we need a real 'Vintage' reliability trial in this country - something like the ssdt used to be when it first started. Wouldn't it be good to organise for the Centenary year of the ssdt (2011) a vintage reliability trial around tracks and unmetalled roads in the Scottish highlands. you could handicap the bikes with the older the bike the less handicap and a free entry to anyone entering on a bike pre 1920. anyone out there fancy organising such an event ?

No -Bigjohn has defiantly got two feet - but i think he doesn't like wearing the footpegs out so he keeps them on the ground.

Excellent quality considering their age - I assume they were slides or have been scanned from the negatives. all my colour prints from the 80's are washed out. BJ - Do you think we could put Edramucky back in for the centenary? - it will break up the long haul from Gorgie cattle market

here are the rest of my 1980's photos I have lost the negatives and only have a few prints left so have scanned them and put them on photobucket - see link below - Some colour ones to follow from 1982 photobucket link

YES -at last - well done pm me with your address and i will post off your prize when they are printed

i also took a good photo of vesty in 1980 but will keep that one for this years programme but here's another shot of JR from the same year while you still keep guessing.......... the mystery rider was consistently a top 20 finisher of the era

Do you ever wish you didnt start something !!! the above is rubbish - Mart must have first ridden the SWM in 1980? although he is down as Bultaco in the programme - HELP BJ the year is 1980 the photos are of course Schreiber Lampkin with J Reynolds watching and the mystery rider who is .............??

right some more clues the other side of the top picture makes it easy and should also give you the year so its down to the third picture for the prize

ACL = anterior cruciate ligament -its the most common ligament to damage and once torn doesnt repair itself, your knee gives way unexpectadly and you quite literally fall over when you least expect it. the repair involves using a bit of either your hamstring or patellar to make a new tendon and invloves quite invasive surgery (involving drills and blood !) wilkipedia explanation more common cartilage damage is where bits of cartilage come off and float around the knee causing pain and sometimes loss of movement - (sounds like Kinells complaint) its quite simple to fix through keyhole surgery. However for those of you in the UK the big problem is getting our NHS to do anything about either. - you have to make a real nuisance of yourself and persist - they will do everything to put you off having any operation - i spent years going to physio and consultations before putting my foot down (with the risk of my knee collapsing ) and getting them to put me on the waiting list. - once on the list however i cannot praise them enough - i had surgery within the year and brilliant physio follow up and my knee now works. i dont need a brace riding trials but do keep the muscle built up with cycling. braces are no replacement - go back to your GP and dont give up.

sorry guys just realised that i might have thrown you a wobbly the second photo is of course Mart with JR watching him but it was not the same year as the other two - it was 81 when mart first rode SWM. so its now down to the other photos as the bonus one has been guessed correctly as a very young Johnboy. (some stickers for you slapshot - see me in the fort)

Cti or Donjoy the bottom line is that unless you pay the best part of

Gizza - you seem to have a real hang up about the flags in bogs? if you consider the lonely existence of a course marker, he is off first thing in the morning every morning (and that starts on sunday) and as they work a day in advance of the trial they never get to see any of the event - no bikes, no spectators, no social gatherings, no meeting up with old friends to savour the atmosphere, they are in the middle of a deserted windswept moor with 200 flags round their belt and a hundredweight of markers on their backs. The way we were all taught by the late WD to lay flags was in a straight line - if that goes through the middle of a bog, well thats unfortunate, but it is also quite amusing for us knowing that the unwary riders will face a 'bog challenge' the next day and of course knowing that our backmarkers will have to go into the bog to get the flag. - its one of our small pleasures in the job - and i bet its years since you've been caught out anyway

my stickers are still safe - keep guessing another clue and a bonus point for identifying who this is - the same year

first post to name all 4 riders and the year will receive a 2008 ssdt programme and a couple of stickers through the post from HL (she doesn't know this yet) to make it fair for those who don't have 'six days in may' i have removed the riding numbers BJ - give the guys a chance and hold back - you can referee ! ps the 4th rider to be named is the one with the suzuki jacket on - (I thought I knew who this was but now having second thoughts - BJ can keep me right)

I wouldn't take my Benly anywhere near mud and your right Boner - they sound lovely especially when fitted with original 'race kit' meggas.

quite right - its also worth cleaning out your radiator at every opportunity, scottish bogs have a habit of choking your rad - a good mudflap on your front mudguard helps as well.