Do yourself's a favour and chuck the book in the bin,it's just full of politic's about trialing.

Never read it never will.

Just get on your bike's and get stuck into the section's and have fun.

ENJOY.

totally agree with you mate - just get out and ride

Do yourself's a favour and chuck the book in the bin,it's just full of politic's about trialing.

Never read it never will.

Just get on your bike's and get stuck into the section's and have fun.

ENJOY.

Which rule book are we talking about here? Assume you mean the ACU Handbook? If so can't see any "politics" in it?

If you dont agree to abide by the ACU or the governing body, whose auspices the Trial whose "Sections" you mention are being run under, then you should not be a license holder. If you are not a current license holder you should not be entering in a Trial. Sections only exist within a Competition otherwise you are just riding over "countryside" probably, but not necessarily if you have the landowners specific permission, illegally and therefore part of the factor contributing to the demise of the sport of Trials. As in the passing of the Parliamentary act to make all vehicles carry and display a registration mark without which they will be seized and the owner prosecuted.

So sorry cant follow your logic there.

Do agree about "have fun" but without rules there can be no competition. Without competition there are no Trials.

Thanks for shareing anyway

Edited March 1, 200719 yr by Old trials fanatic

I agree 100% there OTF, well said.

What brought this one on bilco?

Yes i mean the ACU book,it sound's like it's full of twist's and turn's until anybody that read's it does'nt have a clue how they should be riding a trial, and at what rule's they should be riding it.

My first trial was as a schoolboy in the early 80's,i turned up they told me how to ride a trial and what was expected of me.never ever saw a rule book then, i just rode the trial.And thats how i continue to do so.

End of.

As we all know now there's 2 diffrent set's of rule's these day's.

If im not sure what kind of trial im turning up at i call up the club before hand and ask,or ask at the start.

Im sure if more rider's done that before a trial there would'nt be all these problem's dare i say it "with non stop or hopping in section's".

In my opinion it's only the club's that should hold the rule book and then it's down to the club to explain to the rider if they don't understand what there doing there.

P.S

Thanks for the info on the tank,paul.

I see where you are coming from with this, but the organising body needs to have a set of rules for an event to take place otherwise it would just be a free for all. So with that in mind, competitors need to be made aware of the rules.

This isn't just what marking system is being used, but many other things which we need to adhere to. eg items of safety.

If only the clubs had a rule book, how would riders be expected to follow the rules which need prior consideration? Imagine people ringing up the secretary of an event asking about every rule..... 'do I need a helmet at you trial?' or 'can my six year old ride a Sherco 290?' etc etc.

I think the ACU have a good system with the rule book. That doesn't mean that I agree with every rule, now that's another debate........

That's another good point billy.

A green observer to a rider that's read the rule book inside out is like honey to a bee.

I know we've had this topic before many time's,but no one has ever mentioned that it could be the book that is the stem of the problem's.we know it's not all the rider's doing it but as we said before it only take's one rider to upset an observer and that's the end of that.

I dont see why it can't just be down to the club to mail out the rule's of the trial with the reg's.that mean's both side's know what's going on.

At the end of the day what can be more simple than riding through marker's apart from that big rock in the way .

As for the safety aspect offcourse that should be stated,i was'nt having a dig at that side of thing's

Sounds to me that your a taker and not a giver........ You mention it's down to the clubs, I presume you are a member of a club, so maybe get involved with the organisation and you will see why a rule book is needed.

Clubs really do need to explain to observers as well, week in week out i get marked using different rules by observers in the trial. Can't blame them as its a struggle to get them in the first place....getting hard to remember which clubs use which rules.

So by throwing away the rule book this will help...... how????????

Yes, ofcourse the rules need to be explained/written/understood correctly. There is room for improvement, but the original post suggested that we threw the rule book away.

Sadly I have just skimmed through the Trials bit of the ACU hand book and its quite short and concise, but I do work in the Phamaceutical industry where we have more rules and regs than you can shake a stick at.

The method of marking and the definitions pages from the ACU hand book could easily be stuck to the observers boards to help new observers and remind the rest of the rules.

I often never know what rules I am riding to anyway! I always try the no stop method then your pleasantly surprised with the outcome!! look its a 3 not a 5!!!

Just because the rules get misinterpeted doesn't mean the rules are the problem. Most of these issues seem to be lack of communication. The organizers, observers, and riders all need to know the rules in place at each event.

This could be easily handled with a meeting in the morning before the start. Call all riders and observers around and quickly cover the basic rules. No need to go over everything, but at least bring up the most common issues or rules that may change from one set of rules to another.

As to problems on course. I agree with not making problems with the observers at the time. But it would seem helpfull to have an official "protest" method. Back in my MX days, we could file a protest if there was a problem with a rider.

You might be able to do the same here if there is a problem with a score from a mistake in understanding or applying the rules. Just file when you return from the current loop and it could be reviewed by the event organizer. Maybe this would take too much time?

We have to realize the riders and observers are all human and make mistakes. There should be a way to rationally discuss any possible problems.

Edited March 2, 200719 yr by Chader

This post was about throwing the book away, the issues with observing rules and observer training are good ones as is the lack of communication but these problems aren't caused by the book.

However, concerning protests; The observers decision is final and cannot be appealed against UNLESS it is a case of incorrectly applied rules.

(That is when both you and the observer agree on what happened but can't agree with the score.) For example, you had a stationary dab and the observer awarded a five and you think it should be a two for a stationary dab.

In this case you are within your right to proceed with an appeal as laid out in the appeals procedure.

As this thread develops it it becomes obvious that if every body actually read the book we are throwing away then all the questions above would have sorted them selves out.

May I dare suggest that if most of the people against the ACU had an accident then they would be first to put a claim in.

I never thought much of the "organaisation" until you start getting involved yourself. Then you are glad of a rule book as it protects those who give up their free time and incur expense to allow people to just ride!!!

the "book" is maybe a menace but it is the rules that govern our sport...whether we like it or not.

It's also great for balancing that uneven table...