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Sorry, he's quite right. It was a while ago and my memory's not great, but still, I should have tried a bit harder to remember the details! I've removed my comments (and I suggest you now remove yours so it doesn't make reference to the original one). Please pass on my apologies to a fully clothed Ben S.

The Knill trial due to run tomorrow has been postponed due to deep snow making the roads there inaccessible. There were nearly 130 entries with more on the day so it will hopefully be re-run.

Sounds like a superb way to get new people involved.

Great idea. Does it work?

So to sum up the last few posts, there isn't space at the moment for the sport to become more popular. Sounds fair to me. Do we really want it to be more popular? There are positives, yes, such as bigger national competitions, more future-proofing against the march of the green politician and possibly bikes and maybe even events becoming cheaper for riders. But there are also negatives, such as events becoming more effort to organise (more people will want to come in and ride than help organise, right?), the possibility of big promoters changing the sport beyond recognition (having raced in rallycross for years I have seen this happen) and the increased PR difficulties of having more, and larger, events for the sport. Not to say that it can't grow, and certainly not to say that it can't progress, but it surely has to be sustainable and well thought through.

Here's one of Ben street riding in Bristol in case you haven't seen it:

Ah, yes, that suddenly all makes sense. Thanks for indulging me! Your video looks good, will aim for that kind of angle with mine.

Just bought myself a chesty but not used it yet; I think it'll be miles better than my helmet mount. What's the benefit of running the camera upside down as everyone seems to do?

Good luck with the competitions; they'll improve your riding no end and you'll meet loads of other nutters just like yourself! Enjoy.

Thanks Ben. In that case, as I ride in Devon I might be better sticking to the X11s I know don't puncture on the rocks.

I've been using X11s and need a new set soon; I notice that the X Lites are only about a fiver more per tyre than the X11s. Do they wear faster? Are there any disadvantages to them over the X11s? I assume from reading through the threads on here that they perform better.

Thanks again all. I don't think he looks on this forum, so I'll risk it and reveal what I got him: Six Days in May DVD (thanks scottishsteve for the ebay heads-up) Acerbis hand guards for his trail bike A home-made voucher for a stay at the Biker's Rest B&B with two days trials practice on their land Ben - that book looks good but is pretty dear!

Cheers all for the advice. Looks like I'll be doing as many trials down here as possible then, ready for an assault on a championship next year once I'm road legal and ready for the expert route. Is this a gap in the market for a championship for which you don't have to road legal, or am I in a small minority of people without a licence?

I'm looking to do a full national trials championship in 2013; I'm currently riding at Clubman level in the South West but wanting to make the step to Expert soon. I'll hopefully be dovetailing it with a crack at a South West championship and the West of England series. Based in Devon but happy to travel, mostly. I have a modern Sherco 250 and no road licence (as yet), so it needs to be a championship with no road work and that will accept modern bikes. Does the Normandale championship have a modern category? And are most of their trials single venue? Any recommendations of championships to consider, whether from happy personal experience, vigourous spectating endeavours or wild armchair speculation, will be gratefully considered.

Thanks everyone; some great ideas. I'll have a look at everything suggested and see what might tickle his fancy.