One for the panel.

As an observer, I sholud like to have the opinions of others on the scenario below.

Rider (often the better ones) gets well off line in a section and puts a foot down.

Said rider then spends several moments hauling the bike through 90 degrees and lifting the machine to their favoured position whilst trying to keep their foot in contact with the ground.

By the time they set off again their foot has moved through 120 dgrees and is a good 6 - 12 inches from where it origionaly touched the ground.

I'm sure the rider will feel he has lost one mark, (new rules) but is that right.

I find this applies more to the better riders as they are more likely to go on and clean the rest of the section. Where as the less able will cotinue to foot their way out of the section, thus getting a 3 and the question doesn't raise it's head.

I try to mark as I see but sometimes what you see isn't that straightforward.

Any comments ?

I once watched a section where a rider put his foot down at the top of a rocky descent then proceeded to ride down it dragging his foot behind him like a stabilizer on a child's bike. his foot leaves the ground and touches again as he drags it over rocks on the way down as you can imagine. it made no difference to his score as he dabbed twice More before the end of the section but i would of been interested to know what he thought his score should have been for that particular part.

I'd call it a 3 if his foot dragged.... and it would be a 1 of he had pivotted arond a statonary toe. Tough sh*t if he still thought it was a 1 - cheaky monkey.

As a rider and an occasional observer i'd say that the original scenario would be a 1. IMO if the offending foot is planted on the ground and moves a small distance while always in contact with the ground it is one dab, however it is sometimes very hard to call if you don't have a good sight of the foot. If the foot leaves the ground momentarily and is repositioned then it will be a 2 and so on.

I'm sure there will be plenty of different opinions on this, especially with the new rules in place.

In this case I think I would give a one.

However, the important thing is the observe everyone the same.

In this case I think I would give a one.

However, the important thing is the observe everyone the same.

Same here.

1 point lost so long as foot stays on floor and everyone marked the same

ah the luxury of 'no stop ' rules FIVE!! ( in my best len goodman impersonation)

However, the important thing is the observe everyone the same.

whatever you decide this is the most important bit. as long as you implement the same interpretation of the rules to everyone (as it's one of the grey areas, open to interpretation by the observer) then everyone's on the same hymn sheet.

Dragging your foot isn't a grey area Jamie. It's three. I agree about being consistant.

Edited January 23, 200917 yr by TooFastTim

It also seems the better the rider the sneakier they are at dabbing so the rest of us lose out in both ways, bugger

observing is a thankless task and some riders don't give them the respect they deserve as long as they turn up and mark everyone the same there doing a great job.

thank you to all observers no matter what club center or country for that matter, with out you were up s**t creek

Dragging your foot isn't a grey area Jamie. It's three. I agree about being consistant.

it's not grey to me, but will all observers at a trial take a similar line, and that's something you can't guarantee.

Here's another one that you see a lot on TV.

A rider hopos up onto a large rock and starts to slip back, they use their toes to stop themselves dropping off the edge but still have their feet onthe footrest.

This is often classed as a clean but is it really?

Here's another one that you see a lot on TV.

A rider hopos up onto a large rock and starts to slip back, they use their toes to stop themselves dropping off the edge but still have their feet onthe footrest.

This is often classed as a clean but is it really?

YES! foot still on pegs, cant be classed as anything else really

YES! foot still on pegs, cant be classed as anything else really

I thought that any part of your body (leaning against trees etc) is a one or more. Toes on ground whether the rest of the foot is on the footrest, still a one, or two etc.

Its when riders argue / question such a point that some observers say, enough's enough. Many trials I got to you see people who used to observe, walking round, while club riders have to give their ride due to shortage of observers.

So if you stop and lean against a tree, then providing the feet are still on the pegs then that's a clean too?