pete_scorpa3

Unless I am mistaken (which is often the case) the new version can be customised to show specific 'new posts' where the old version just showed my content. Plus I feel that it can be accessed easier too. My eyes are old, and it certainly feels like an improvement to me.

I think the 'view new content' feature is really good.

This was an absolutely superb ride at section 5, by this time the section had deteriorated badly and many riders were failing on the roots at the top.

I ditched my gloves after the first hour or so, the water was running off the sleeves of my jacket and my gloves were soaked. It was actually colder with them on. I did notice a couple of riders wearing surgical gloves, but how effective they are I have no idea.

The biggest of the 'Three Sisters' in Dovedale. This section was graded, only the very determined got past the '1' board.

Here's a shot of Mark Hicken exiting the middle of the 'Three Sisters.'

Cold riders didn't stop the trial, cold observers didn't stop the trial, snow on the ground didn't stop the trial. It the dangerous conditions on the road that stopped the trial. We just couldn't take the risk that someone was going to get hurt riding a trials bike, with no lights, along the A44 in freezing fog with snow on the road. Things got bad around 11 am, some riders had been going for two hours, others had just started. We considered shortening the trial, we considered changing the route, but in the end there was no option but to call it off and tell the riders to make their way back as carefully as they could. Many were fortunate enough to have fiends with vans nearby and loaded the bikes up. The descision was not made lightly, but I believe it was the right one. Had we been able to complete 20 sections, there may have been a case for awarding half points, but many riders didn't get further than section 10 before we called it off, so any results would be meaningless. Pete Section six.

The Colmore Cup Trial was abandoned today when the heavy rain that had been forcast for the Midlands turned to snow early in the event. Snow combined with freezing fog, forced the organisers to make the difficult descision to stop the trial after most of the riders had completed just ten sections. The conditions on the roads around the Cotswold Hills were not safe, visibility was down to a few metres in places along the five mile drive from Dovedale to Hancocks Wood. The Stratford-Upon-Avon Club would like to thank the riders for reacting so well to the descision and also give a huge vote of thanks to all the observers who stuck at their posts until the bitter end. Here is a picture of Ross Danby at the biggest of the 'Three Sisters' in Dovedale which was a graded climb. Ross was one of just six riders to reach the 'zero' board. The picture shows how bad the conditions were. Pete

This is very common and one of the arguments against having a control tyre. However, it shouldn't be a reason to discount the idea completely.

I can't see that it matters providing the importer doesn't undercut the retailer. I recently needed a small component, I rang a well known dealer in Stroud who put one on order as they were showing out of stock. I also tried Gas Gas UK and ordered one from them also. Bike was 'off the road' until the part arrrived and it was a cheap item, so I thought it would be worth having a spare anyway. Two packets arrived a week or so later, both on the same day. One from the dealer and one straight from Gas Gas. To my suprise, the item from the dealer was £3.50 and the identical part from the Importer was £5.00. In this case, it's good to see that the importer did not undercut their dealer.

Yes, it is a five. I had the very same thing recently. I knocked out a peg from the easy route (which was actually not even in my way) with my foot and was given a five. I didn't argue but did feel the descision was wrong, upon checking the rules it was the correct call. Pete

There's two different issues here. Rushing around the course to gain an advantage is acceptable, in a wet muddy trial this can make a huge difference, however it is against the rules to ride the sections out of order. If you see evidence of this, you are within your right to bring it to the attention of the Clerk of the Course who should take the appropriate action. Pushing in at the front of the queue is not against the rules, but it is against trials etiquette and should be discouraged. Riders who regularly do this are often 'thick skinned' and consider it their right and won't give a damn what you say, but if enough people make a comment, it is likely to have some effect. Always avoid confrontation when possible, a polite "Excuse me, there's a queue here" might do the trick. I've seen a rider kicked over into a bush for queue pushing, everyone cheered and he looked a fool but the person doing the kicking (he kicked the bikes rear wheel, not the rider) was in the wrong and that's worse than queue umping.

Whether your decision was right or wrong, calling an Observer an idiot is unacceptable, the rider could justifiably have been excluded from the event for this under TSR27. I know people who would have handed him the board and walked away and may well have smacked him in the mouth for good measure too.

I would not blame the observer at all and certainly not blame the rules, under either set, the correct score should have been a 'five.' As you will see from Alexz' own reply (earlier in this thread,) a 'two' was a generous score, it could easily have been 'five.' Dodgy observing didn't cost him the win, but it must have been frustrating for him to see others scored more leniently. None of us know what the observer saw, he (or she) gave a 'two and you can see why when you watch one of the videos, when you watch the other video you could understand a 'clean' being given. Even with the benefit of two video's from similar angles, things look different. And the observer only had one chance from one angle to decide on the correct mark.

Over the last 30 years people have changed, (I'm sure no one over the age of 30 needs me to point this out) but we don't have loosers any more, we just have runners-up. This may, or may not be a good thing, but it does meant that many people are not used to loosing. We are also allowed to question authority much more, authority has to be accountable (agian this may or may not be a good thing)so it's to be expected that riders will at least ask about their score. I'm not making excuses, but it is a sign or the times, we're all (young and old) different to how we were 30 years ago. I observe a few times a year (and am a clerk of the course a few too) it can be frustrating when a rider questions a score, but providing they don't argue with my descision, personally I have no problem with that. I will tell them why they scored what they did. No problem, straight after the attempt, I should be able to. If they question their score later in the event, they may not get an answer,as you can't remember every ride. Pete

From this angle, I can see why the observer might have thought there were two dabs. But then from the angle Darren was filming, it looks more like a roll back, hence a five under either set of rules. Not an easy call to make, even with the benefit of two videos. If you are following this thread Alexz, how would you have marked the ride looking at these videos?

Many of us remember your post previously concerning 'stop-non stop' rules http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/topic/39103-no-stop-not-working/ it's fairly obvious that you are against non stop, however the issue of Alexz's score is not one of the rules but one of observing. Pete

Makes you appreciate why we ended up with time limits for each section!

120 riders entered with 13 reserves.

I agree, providing the two bikes are in comparable conditions. I was just saying, at that age you really do need to take a good look at the bike and not just go for one or the other because they were a better model. Pete