steptoe

Three wise men look like George Morton,Jack Spencer and Jack Sheppard.

Thanks,Mikee!!

Dougie Lampkin had enduro commitments in Italy so Jack Sheppard stepped up on the mighty 125 Beta Evo.Rather him than me you need to trust the digger driver.

A 125 is likely to make you work harder with your technique and therefore a better rider in the long run even if you find the big stuff harder in the short term. Having said that it is amazing what J Sheppard and Saleri get those 125,s up in the youth worlds. Also Sheppard has won adult expert A British Championship rounds. The last one in kent involved some massive steep climbs and steps that most good centre experts would walk away from. He is a fair size lad 6ft+ 180cm tall. Also a friend of mine has just bought one as a spare for his lad doing nationals.Last week he made a comeback onto the local expert route and reckoned he had loads of fun and his best result in 15yrs!! The choice is yours but have ago on both. Personally I think its worth saving up a bit more and getting an evo. I like the idea of the 125 because if you have a good result you can remind your mates that you were only on a 125 and if you dont you have a ready made excuse!.... Good luck with whatever you decide

Out of schoolboys now but even years ago this trial was poor and getting the same critiscm. The man behind it obviously does not listen and it is a shame this club still gets a round when other clubs are more competant and more enthusiastic do not. Last years effort was better at Bracken Rocks but set out by a different crew who new what they were doing but there efforts were slightly undone when many of the good bits were taken out before the start!! It also had the backing of Mansfield Maun so much better organised. Having been a clerk of the course myself I do not criticise other peoples work lightly. However, we did eight full seasons of school boy Nationals.Some were better than others, but on the whole very good trials. This is the only one that I dont believe deserves the National status when it is run at Ipstone. I can only sympathise with the families who spent time effort and in some cases a lot of diesel to get to an easy club trial which all experienced parents and riders know can turn into a lottery. I used to get the impression the COC had all our money in advance then spent as little time and effort as possible even cutting the time limit so he could disappear early. I really dont know why this club still gets nationals,I'm all for giving people a chance but apart from last year when different people were involved this club has a long record of poor schoolboy nationals. For the status and reputation of the British Championship something needs to be done. I would hate to think clubs considering running a national wold think this is an acceptable standard.

I am with Mick on this one. Trials that are decided on luck with the human element of observing, who is best at pushing in the ques and riding fast between sections are not the way to go. It also short changes the spectater because instead of the riders you are interested in being in action for 5 hrs some were finished in less than 3. It really messes things up if you are trying tofollow a group of riders. If you want to kill the WTC this is the way to go A solution could be to have 5 easy sections so the riders trying to break in to the wtc can at least have some encouragement to turnup again,5 medium and 5 bloody horrendous to give the top boys a chance to showcase their talents and clawback that wild 5 they had whilst hanging on for a clean. Clean after clean section after section is not exciting or interesting for TV or if you are there. Like with most things,extremes are not good the middle ground is usually the best compromise. A winner in the 20 odd mark lost area usually produces a good trial. A fatal mistake in Portugal was that the organisers would not take any notice of the riders who warned them of a fiasco on Friday then made very poor modifications for the second day(bigger steps with longer run ups which tend to cancel each other out) when the riders were proved right. Please future organisers listen to the riders if enough of them voice concerns.

Just heard that Jack Sheppard has landed at the event thanks to the supreme service from Dougie Tours. Well done drivers Mart and Ben Hemmo. Jack Challoner was already there in the TTT truck. Jonny Richardson is there. Wiggy should be there soon making a full British contingent. You must NEVER write the Brits off. Espiecially when the Lampkins are involved! The sheer grit and determination to get there makes me proud to be British. GOOD LUCK LADS!!!

Perce, I guess you are talking about the 2006 round. I think 95% of people there would agree that it was a superb trial as befitted its National status. I cannot believe you were not offered another round it is a great loss to the series. few people could argue that richmond always put on excellent nationals (eg Scott). How is it decided who gets a round?...........Do you have to have the right connections???

Well done to Dai And Kay Bedford and the club members for putting on a great trial on a great bit of land with a good variation in sections. Yes it was tough, it is a British Championship after all! The breeding ground of future Dougie Lampkins! This trial justified the considerable expense many parents incur getting their offspring there. It can be frustrating travelling to a national and finding a more testing trial could have been ridden locally! It was great to see the top lads have a five without the trial being lost. The hard sections brought out some awesome rides.

Boner Good advice fom everyone here. But very importantly staycool!! it is highly possible that your lad will for what ever reason fail stuff he would breeze through in practise and it is very easy to get frustrated for him /at him before you realise whats happening!!! Dont worry because this effects all riders at times right up to British Championship level. I know this from several years of being a trials Dad and I think most experienced Dads would agree. Keeping the lad in a good frame of mind is more important than some people realise so leave saying things that may cause an argument or upset him are best left for practice sessions. Even after several years I find this easier to say than do!! Any way Hope you have fun and letus know how you get on

Welcome back I would re loctite the bolts at the top of the front frame stays near the top of the rad,the rear bashplate bolts and disc bolts as on some bikes these are prone to coming loose. Also if you plan to do alot of riding in the wet I would strip the electrics off the bike an replace with a yam style kill button and if you ride alot in clayey mud space the front mudguardup by 10mm. Apart from checking allthe bolts for tightness I dont think there is much else out of the ordinary that you need to worry about as long as the Keihin carb behaves better than the Mikuni fitted in the past have fun

thanks guys Jack went to see Brian Simpson yesterday. He had electro magnetic treatment then it was on with the dark glasses for the laser treatment. he also measured up the unswollen left hand for a brace (when you cut the plan out and turn it over it should be the same as the right) as he wasnt happy with the plaster cast that nearly goes up to his elbow. He said that he should be able if all goes well to help the healing process but is non commital at this stage. Certainly a totally different approach from the NHS and it will be interesting to see how it goes

British Championship youth B leader Jack Sheppard crashed out of the superb YMSA 3 day at the weekend on the second day. He had ridden his socks off the previous day riding up a class on the top route finishing second to team mate Jack Challoner. On the second day,disaster struck after coming back off a rock step at the end of the second lap. Jack landed on his back and the betas handlebar used the back of his hand to soften its landing leaving him in immense pain and braking the metacarpel bone He has been back to hospital today after some temporary work and the opinion is that it will be 6 weeks in plaster. This of course means that his lead in the Youth B british championship will almost certainly disappear in two weeks time in the Isle of Wight and also the ymsa championship is now questionable. This is likely to cause more pain than the injury itself. Jack would like to thank barry Burton, Ian Mchonnacie and their helpers for the whole weekend. Not wanting to miss out on the legendary sunday night was the reason for the delay in Jack getting it X rayed!! Also a big thank you to everyone who helped at the section and who have been asking after him. On a positive note he thinks because he now cant write hes in for an easy time at school next week!!!

In my opinion the only major thing wrong was the time being too short A 6hr limit would even have cancelled out the anomally of the B,s jumping half a lap. Why do I say time was short? Because you dont usually get top 3 riders in these type of events asking for fives because they are short of time and still getting penaltiies. Some of thes lads have 40/50/60 British Championship rounds under their belt and very rarely get caught on time so it is unlikely to be lack of experiance. Besides if I had set them out I would like to see the aces have ago at them rather than be forced toride passed it to the observer collect a five then off to the next one. So if the club is reading this thanks for a great trial,please dont let this deter you. In my opinion the sections were the right severity for a british championship,the venue and observing was good. Just another half hour and if you like B,s do all the sections in order andyou would have a trial beyond sensible criticism.

Thanks alot guys lots of good info. Can I get to the clutch by putting the bike on its side without draining the oil and taking the r/h cover off. Thanks again