Photos from Verdon 06 ..day & night.. can be found here:

http://www.photostrial.com/

And here's one I took earlier.

Top of the hill day 5.

very nice now can you bring all that terrain and weather back here too South West England?

It was a nice trial.......but nothing like the Scottish !!!!

Yes, nothing like the SSDT....warm , dry , sunny and....proper lunch stops.

20 years ago I found the Scottish too hard for my body & wallet. So France it was.

While Verdon is the best of the French trials, (IMHO) we could have done with a few more sections per day this year and some, on the green route, were very simple. However the course and day 3 in particular, was superb. Lets hope it runs next year.

Mike H

Bruno going up the wall

looks like a fantastic spot for a trial of most interest though weas the picture of Jean Michel Bayle is that the same guy who rode supercross in the early nineties and has a dealership in Manosque southen France now..

Yes, Thats the man. JMB - the only man to spank the yanks at both Supercross & MX, went on to ride 250 & 500 GP (road race). Always keeps a trials bike & rides the Verdon each year - sometimes only a day or two if he's testing for Suzuki.

Edited September 11, 200619 yr by hrc1

A couple more pics, the first is The King of Bling Nigel G.

And the second is the Wheelie King and sometime minder to the stars, Kevin O.

HI hrc1

Do you know if this same event will take place this year??..If so, I would be very interested in doing it, so any more info. about it would be gratefully received. Thanks..stu

HI hrc1

Do you know if this same event will take place this year??..If so, I would be very interested in doing it, so any more info. about it would be gratefully received. Thanks..stu

Do sardent first stu would suit you better i feel

Yes, regs are out see http://www.boade.com/

& yes thats the venue of the recent World Round & a brilliant place to ride. Usually there are only 4 or 5 sections in this vast trials park which you enter from the hills above. This years route looks better planned than last year when one monster long ride was great fun, but made for a very late dinner/hotel etc.

My pics from 02 - 06 are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/motomerlin

& I wrote a little about the earlier trials here: http://www.motomerlin.co.uk/moto/tales.html

There should be 3 or 4 of us going down this year, get in touch if you're interested,

Mike

Edited May 30, 200719 yr by hrc1

Having just returned from said venue I have to admit it's pretty amazing. The French are so lucky to have that kind of terrain available to them without the UK-type whingers and tree-huggers complaining. The scenery is stunning and, even as a non-rider, it looks like some great Trials terrain.

Don't know where you stay when you're there, but we stayed in Castellane about 20k south of the venue. Beautiful little town - very traditional old world France with a nice restaurant in the town square and a few good bars to fill your evenings.

Having just returned from said venue I have to admit it's pretty amazing. The French are so lucky to have that kind of terrain available to them without the UK-type whingers and tree-huggers complaining. The scenery is stunning and, even as a non-rider, it looks like some great Trials terrain.

Don't know where you stay when you're there, but we stayed in Castellane about 20k south of the venue. Beautiful little town - very traditional old world France with a nice restaurant in the town square and a few good bars to fill your evenings.

This trial winds its way up the Verdon Valley & so we stay at Digne le Bains, then Andre les Alpes & finally Val D'Allos. I see one day finishes at the Trials Park this year, so we may try the chalets there. We usually spend a morning "warming up" at the Boade venue. I just go for a gentle trial ride, whilst the younger riders with us usually crash too much and then have a panic stricken rebuild on their hands or the next days start. I'll have to see if I can spot the WTC sections, only to walk of course!!

Thanks Mike..and dabster.

Having passed it by the dragon, I think I will not get away with 5 days of riding...(it will definately be on the cards when the little 'un is a bit older though!)

However, I'm still gonna try and do something in France this summer..2 or 3 day one would be good. Do you have any more info on the sardent one dabster?...like when it is?

Thanks again for the info Mike, and like I say I'll definately be on for it sometime...I probably should have waited to pop the question to the dragon since I've only just got back from doing a 2 day one in Wales.

STU

Okay, other French Trials...

Sardent 4 days, about 14th July, thats the one Dabster refers to. Lots of English riders do this. I haven't for a few years.

There's a new 3 dayer on in August. La Nouvelle Classique des 3 Jours des Monts d'Azur with the Trial Happy Ecole, but its a very long way south.

Others you've missed or this year - Indre 3 day at Easter - rode this year and it was brill, its the nearest & have moderate section plotters!

And there's the Aveyron 4 day usually in late May