bob j

I don't usually enter into these types of discussions, but I have to register my feelings towards billyt's comments regarding Dave Rhodes' "myopic, self-serving politics". I think that most will agree that Dave has probably done more for the sport of trials in Canada than pretty well everyone else combined. He donates his own time and his own money generously towards the sport, and has built a truly enviable record of an ever-growing support for trials in Canada. The area where Dave operates (the BC Interior) always enjoys a very healthy entry for the area's trials, usually forty to fifty riders - sometimes more. Compare that to Ontario, where, with a population of some 13 million people, they manage to get only a couple of dozen people out to their main trials. I don't think that either the CMA or the WTC is obligated to lay out any plans for trials growth just because somebody is posting a demand for it on this forum. But I think that it's pretty obvious from the entries in the various trials in this country where the growth is taking place. As for the FIM affiliation, that really has no meaning to Canadian riders, since very few Canadians have any interest in competing internationally. This year, there have been zero Canadians entered in to the North American Trials Championships. For international experience, it's easy enough for a Canadian to join in a series such as the Pacific Northwest Trials Association series, and that does not require a membership of any particular organization. Things are going just fine right now, with a growing participation in our sport, and people supporting (or not supporting) the national sanctioning body of their choice. As a matter of interest, I think that it's rather obvious that the presence of two national bodies for trials in Canada has been extraordinarily healthy for the sport. Prior to the WTC, our national championships had become little more than a couple of dozen guys in Ontario getting together for a ride, to decide which one of them got to call themselves "national Champion" for the next year. The WTC changed all that with the amazingly successful national rounds in Ontario in 2009, and the equally successful rounds in Victoria the following year. And every year since then. This has made the CMA sit up and take note, encouraging them to try to equal the success of the WTC events. Unfortunately, the CMA has never been able to quite match the WTC's success in these endeavours, but the competition has been very healthy. Without the WTC, the CMA's national championships would probably continue to remain as small, lacklustre gatherings centred only in Ontario.

Any results, yet (Thursday evening)?

Steve, I'm not going to argue with you on a public forum, so this will be my final word to you on this topic. Henceforth, I will not be following this thread, and I won't responding to anything further that you may have to say. I will deal with your two allegations, though. Firstly, the phone call from your mystery informant. As I don't recall ever telephoning anybody about this matter, I really have no idea who this mystery person might be. As it happens, I don't believe that the FIM will be ousting the CMA any time soon, so I certainly would not have been telephoning people last January to announce the imminent departure of the CMA from the FIM family. That's just ridiculous. I'll give you the benefit of the doubt -- either your informant was mistaken in what I said, or your informant has me confused with some other telephone caller. Or possibly you were mistaken in what your informant told you. Secondly, on the topic of the no-stop rule. I happen to believe that the adoption of the no-stop rule by the FIM is a good thing. Where it has been implemented, it appears to have had a beneficial effect. So when I saw the proposal by the CMA to implement that rule, I thought of it as good news. And I wrote it up as a "good news" story about the CMA. As it turns out, while I was writing the story, the CMA voted to reject this FIM regulation, and decided to toss out the no-stop rule. My intention with the story was to show the CMA in a good light, portraying them as forward thinkers, aligning themselves with other progressive trials groups around the world. But it seems that the CMA is feeling a little touchy these days, and imagines itself under attack when that is a long way from being the case. That's it, I'm now done with this thread.

Steve, I did NOT tell anyone by telephone last January that WTC/MCC would soon be affiliated with the FIM. This is a complete falsehood. Actually, I believe that it's rather unlikely that there will be a change in FIM affiliation for Canada anytime soon. If you understand the politics of these things , you'll know that these old pals tend to look after one another.

No, Steve. I did NOT tell anyone over the telephone last January that WTC or MCC would soon be affiliated with the FIM. That is a complete falsehood.

I have not spread any lies, and I am getting rather unhappy with your continued claims that I am a liar. Give it a rest.

Steve, I can categorically tell you that it has never been published on TrialsCanada.com that WTC intended to become the Canadian FIM affiliate. That's nonsense -- how could a trials group become the representative of all motorcycle activities for a country? And I must admire your abilities in mind-reading and extra-sensory perception, in that you have been able to determine just what was in Sean Weisner's mind when he helped establish WEC. You should do a little fact-checking before you write this stuff. And what does it matter whether a group is associated with the FIM or not? CSBK (road racing) and CMRA (moto-cross) have enjoyed immense success without any CMA or FIM affiliation. It seems to me that having a choice between different sanctioning bodies is a good thing -- if one particular group enjoys a monopoly, then it never takes long before that monopoly is abused. That's a fact of life.

Nobody reads the TrialsCanada.com website any more, you say, Steve? So I wonder what the visitors to the site are up to. So far this month (with just 23 days gone) we've had 3,412 visits to the site, from 1,560 different people. And 75% of those visits are from Canada. Maybe they're just looking at the pictures...

Hi, I notice there was mention of GOV 130 on this forum. I do have a rather poor quality picture of the bike with the late Phil Mellers aboard. This picture must have been about 1954, as I first met Phil in 1958, and I'm sure he was riding a 500T Norton at that time, and then he was on a BSA Gold Star Trials soon after that. To see the picture, go to http://www.bobjohns.coastinternet.ca/ariel/philmellers.jpg If you go to http://www.bobjohns.coastinternet.ca/ariel and scroll down the page, you'll also see a picture of a rigid-framed GOV 132 ridden by Dick Bradley, in 1954. A close look at the picture shows that the "2" on the number plate appears to be in fresher paint than the rest of the number, which indicates to me that the works Ariel bikes and their number plates were quite interchangeable. Bob J