michael_t

Insurance here does not consider trials to be a speed sport and therefor you can run an event under your clubs general liability the same as putting on a trail ride or a picnic. I can call up the insurance company (or send an email) letting them know the location and the name of the land owner so they are also covered and they send me a certificate for the day in question at no additional cost. We have worked hard with the insurance companies but it has paid off.

Our local ski hill just closed this weekend... very tempting .

Certainly is an interesting topic. I am not sure trying to figure out how prices have held up with inflation or the cost of other sports is overly relevant but I do think it is interesting to figure out what riding a trials event is worth to people. Unfortunately it is not that simple as events are worth different amounts to different people. There are people who are willing to pay to fly to Scotland rent a bike pay the entry fees to ride the SSDT and I am pretty sure the entry fee is the last thing they are thinking about. There are also people who won't even ride in a trials event if you paid them to. If you really want to ride a trials event enough to go out and buy a trials bike and start practicing regularly you would most likely pay what ever the price was (within reason). We have been putting on trials events for the past 6 years and don't charge the riders. We put on 5 events a year at different venues around the region typically 8 section 3 or 4 laps with 3 lines (Jr, intermediate and advanced). I really enjoy laying out sections and organizing the events it is all volunteer effort put in by people who enjoy the sport. It is actually a lot of work and there are travel costs, fuel costs, wear and tear on equipment, marking tape ..etc. There are countless hours involved but not really that much more than actually practicing for and riding in the events so to me it is just part of the sport. We have put on events where we have been paid to have the event as part of a show. At these types of events we pay the riders. To me this seems like a better way to run things, make it a good enough show that you get spectators and sponsors covering your costs instead of the riders. We do charge riders when we fly in a pro rider to do a training day but I feel people see the value in supporting that rider and covering his costs. Despite the training days being the only events that costs the riders they are the ones that get the most riders attending. So organizations are kind of stuck in setting what they are willing to pay or charge riders to ride in events and then figuring out where to get the funds from or where to spend them... You could just keep doubling the fees until people stop coming or keep doubling the pay until you got more riders. I bet the results would be you would see little effect the first and second time you doubled it. I would say there are very few that run events like a business and typically just charge what they have always charged with the fear of losing people. Which is why I feel trying to rationalize the fees against inflation has little relevance. Sorry for the long post... waiting for things to warm up so we can get our season started .

Yes it is crazy what a difference looking ahead makes it is darn near impossible if you look down .

Hi Gary, Welcome to the forum. Canada is a rather large country... We have a couple of TY riders here in the Maritimes any chance you are on this coast? Cheers, Michael

Well I didn't get to do any riding but given we were headed to London the latter part of the week family was very encouraging about me buying something .

It was a spin off of the WEC Word Enduro Canada, I agree the name could have been better thought through. People got fed up with the way the CMA was running things so decided to give people an alternative for enduro and trials. Some feel it splits a very small sport, others feel it gives us twice as many events to have fun at. Come on up and give both a try and see for yourself. As far as I can tell they are both great! I ride WTC as that is all we have here in the Maritimes. I also represent the WTC for the Maritimes and organize most of the events. I think we are a bit to small to have 2 organizations on the East coast so we went with the cheaper option. Might turn out to be a bad decision if my sponsor wants me to go pro and ride internationally one day (but kind of unlikely as I am 53 yr old intermediate rider) .

Great job Steve!!! Always fantastic to see Canadian trials in the news!

Can you post a video of what you are doing today?... it may help for making appropriate suggestions.

Never mind... I have been told that "we" will not be riding the Ilkley Grand National. Family comes first and all of that. We will be in the area earlier in the week so I might still get a chance to look around a bit. Apparently we need to be closer to London for the weekend... Still might try a simpler event a little further South on the Sunday. It was nice to dream for a bit and it certainly does look like a fantastic event!!! Best of luck to those lucky enough to attend

I am not sure if trials riders in the UK are the same as they are here but typically if you politely suggest that trials rider shouldn't try to do something it is almost impossible to resist. So I am not sure if you are trying to goat me into it but it is working .

The entry link appears to be broken. I have no idea if I can swing it but would it be at all possible for a rider from Nova Scotia (Canada) over 50, novice take part in this event? It just so happens I might be in the area that weekend but would need a bike to ride .

http://www.asphaltandrubber.com/news/gas-gas-rescued-spanish-firm-torrot/

Thanks that is very helpful. I hadn't thought of the Sammy Miller option that does sound good. I just heard back from my cousin and she is heading skiing later in the week so I will most likely head North to visit her then return to London for Saturday night and am warming the family up to the idea of doing a trials on the Sunday. My cousin has a couple of Aston Martins but funny enough didn't offer one up as a loaner to strap a trials bike to . Thanks for the offer of suggestions h62 but I seem to be flooded by ideas from friends and relatives as far as non trials things that I "must" see/do .

Yes I agree that getting to Scotland would be an adventure in itself, especially if I drove the whole way... but sometimes getting to a place is half the fun. Driving 12hrs with the family for a ski holiday is pretty typical for us so figured it was doable. After a little more thought if I'm going to Scotland it would be best to go for the SSDT so best to take Scotland off the plate for the time being. I do have a cousin in Yorkshire so that is probably the very furthest I would go. I am guessing that if I went to a riding school they would have all the kit so I wouldn't have to be carrying mine the whole trip which would be a big plus.

Thanks everyone! I would be willing to go as far as Northern Scotland not shy of a little snow . Sounds like the big question for me is it better to spend a day on training or actually doing an event. 25 mile lap and 50 sections sounds a little daunting... I can't see doing too many laps that size

Hi All, I received a little bonus at work and decided on a whim to take the family to the UK during the school break. We are leaving Nova Scotia on the 12th of March and catching the AMA SuperCross race in Toronto that evening then flying to the UK on the 13th. Landing in London and flying home on the 22nd. That is as much as we have figured so far. Before the family fills up the agenda with touristy stuff. I am hoping to make a bid for one day of trials related activity. I tried this last year when we flew to British Columbia but was only partially successful as was only able to squeeze in a quick visit to the GasGas importer (it was fun but I would have liked more time so I could have tried out a bike or 2 ) I am coming from NS where there is only one trials dealer and they sell about 1 bike a year. I started riding trials by buying a bike and putting on events at my place. I am 53 this week and have been riding trials for 5 years but am still a novice. We now put on 4 or 5 events a year and have about 12 riders who come to the events. I have never ridden outside of NS. So is there a bike shop, an event, a training day, a demo day, or anything else trials related that I should really try to fit into our visit to the UK? At this point I am happy to hear of options anywhere in the UK. Ideally there would be something near by that I could drop my family at as there attention span at trials related things is about 30 minutes . I did use a fair number of brownie points to squeeze in the SX race so figure one day is all I have left to spare at this point . Cheers, Michael

Congratulations !!! Sounds like a great choice... can't wait to hear how you make out with it. Be sure to take some pictures and video so you can share your progress .

Certainly nice to have choices in life... that sure is a good looking piece of kit. Almost as pretty as my Sherco

Rolling out of the updated factory in March...

Pretty darn sexy...

I thought I read somewhere that the plan was to build 2000 bikes this year so at 80 bikes a day that is only 5 weeks. I suppose you also have to figure how many 2016 bikes are they going to sell before people will want to be buying "factory" models or waiting for the 2017 models. This is certainly going to be a much smaller volume year given they are just getting started now. It sure is interesting times in the trials manufacturing world.

http://www.thumpertalk.com/wiki/_/why-spark-plugs-can-make-or-break-your-bike-r357

All trials bikes are special . Raga is certainly making the TRS look awfully good so far !

I suppose it depends how many days they plan to be producing. They may just do a set run of X# bikes then focus on tooling up for Enduro's or something...