Sportsman class

[2shock]

Who is the Sportsman class really aimed at?

With my very limited experience of trials i assumed non-competitive, new or older riders wanting a non dangerous ride.

But i keep seeing what look like rather good riders taking the class very serious. This doesn't bother me at all, but am a bit botherd when i hear them complaining it was ''too easy'' and see they drop very few points.

If organisers heed thier complaints and make sections more difficult where do riders like myself (frankly a bit rubbish!) or new riders go??

For various reasons i just don't want to ever ride a section that requires skills i simply don't have to avoid injury.

Whilst they could easily go up a class, and maybe only come mid field rather than win, but surley they would still enjoy it?

So how about this as a solution. Sportsman class not even shown on the results, and no award's of any sort given?

Or if you finish top 3 one year automatically move up a class??

If it's considered i'm seeing a problem that doesn't exsist please tell me, but also please tell me how I get around it.

Practice more maybe?!

Edited December 29, 2010 by 2shock

[pete_scorpa3]

I know what you mean and it's something that's wound me up in the past, but as I've got older I've mellowed a lot.

I take it you are talking about an event where there are awards? People who like an easy route at a trial and win the awards time after time are only kidding themselves, but there again aren't the majority of club riders only riding for the fun of it anyway so what's it matter?

If there's no awards, it really doesn't matter, everyone knows who the culprits are when they see the results and one day you might even get the satisfaction of beating them and moving up a route yourself.

Pete

[dan williams]

I've been beating that drum for 20 years. In New England we actually made a major effort several years ago to cater to the lower riders so they would have fun and bring their friends into the sport but we've slipped away from it again and membership is falling dramatically as older riders leave the sport and newer ones get beat up in the lower classes and quit.

[toofasttim]

It's called sandbagging

[2shock]

Taking Scorpa Pete's point about awards, i didn't explain myself very well.

What i mean is, that if there is a recognized 'winner' of a class and goes on to be published anywhere (from a club result sheet, to the T&MX) that seem's to be enough to motivate some to try and 'win'.

And some are obviously happy to ride in a class below thier real ability to do it.

I honestly have no problem with riding in the same class, and being beaten every time, by people who are, and always will be much better than me.

I just don't want them to influence the severity of sections so as to suit thier ability, which can then spoil a trial for the less talented.

After all, even us 'wobblers' pay to enter

If riders want more challenging sections, there are always classes above that they can move up to, but there are none below for me and people like me to move down to!

[ormplus]

wee have a sportsman class in scotland . scottish champs. main route is premier next is sportsman then clubman .sportsman is for the better c/man,and the sportsman is for the experts who dont want to do the premier any more.if you are exp and under 35yrs you dont get champ points,over 35yrs you do .you can win it only once if an exp,exp can keep on riding in sportsman but dont get champ points.

[atomant]

We set-up a trial as a one off that you could ride whatever route you wanted to when you got to the section. If someone wanted to ride all the easy ones they could, and if someone wanted a bit more of a challenge on one or more sections then they went up a route ( or 2 in some case). You were scored and marked against the route you rode but the scores were arbitary and for no award (unless you rode one type of section for the whole route and the scores would be as you would expect). You could then just look back over your marks and see how you faired on the harder routes you rode and compare with others who ride those routes all the time.

If you are just riding for fun then its great as how many times do you get to a section and wish you were riding a different route than the one thats laid out for your class just because it looks more challenging or interesting. Its cool if you don't take it all too seriously

Edited December 29, 2010 by AtomAnt

[4ourtea]

I think you'll find that most organisers/clerks of the course will not pander to the riders who continuously ride on a route that is "too easy" for them. In my experience (and I am C of the C in two or three trials each year), if a rider completing the Sportsman route says to me its too easy "cos I've only dropped one mark" or "there are three of us on clean - how are you going to produce a winner?" I tell them that they are clearly too good for the route and next time I expect them to ride up in the next class / route.

Our club's Sportsman route is intended to cater for newbies and sportsmen (definition of the word "sportsmen" being: people who are riding for fun and also just to be able to stay involved as a rider in the sport of trials). They are invaluable in making a trial viable (can't run one when there are only 10-15 riders!) so we need them.

Pot hunters that stay in the easiest class they can get away with need to be discouraged from that sort of thing. I think it is fair for any club to approach such riders (if they've been doing it for quite a while) and tell them that they should ride up a class/route or they will be marked as riding on a "no award" basis because the class is intended for less able riders and that they clearly do fall into that category.

One last thing that I struggle to get my head around is - what enjoyment does a good quality clubman rider get by being able to say he won when the people he beat were beginners or the like!! Each to their own I guess...

[2shock]

I think you'll find that most organisers/clerks of the course will not pander to the riders who continuously ride on a route that is "too easy" for them. In my experience (and I am C of the C in two or three trials each year), if a rider completing the Sportsman route says to me its too easy "cos I've only dropped one mark" or "there are three of us on clean - how are you going to produce a winner?" I tell them that they are clearly too good for the route and next time I expect them to ride up in the next class / route.

Our club's Sportsman route is intended to cater for newbies and sportsmen (definition of the word "sportsmen" being: people who are riding for fun and also just to be able to stay involved as a rider in the sport of trials). They are invaluable in making a trial viable (can't run one when there are only 10-15 riders!) so we need them.

Pot hunters that stay in the easiest class they can get away with need to be discouraged from that sort of thing. I think it is fair for any club to approach such riders (if they've been doing it for quite a while) and tell them that they should ride up a class/route or they will be marked as riding on a "no award" basis because the class is intended for less able riders and that they clearly do fall into that category.

One last thing that I struggle to get my head around is - what enjoyment does a good quality clubman rider get by being able to say he won when the people he beat were beginners or the like!! Each to their own I guess...

[2shock]

Thank you all for such positive and sensible feed back.

I did think that maybe the opinion and need's of a 'mere Sportsman' would get short shrift!

I think the answer for me is to choose my events with care, and if necessary decline sections that look potentially painful.

Oh, and to practice!

Cheers

[cabby]

What of the riders who wish to ride the same route as say their mates or sons, should they also be encouraged to "step up" but all they want to do is have a fun with their "mates" or "sons" ??

[baldilocks]

What of the riders who wish to ride the same route as say their mates or sons, should they also be encouraged to "step up" but all they want to do is have a fun with their "mates" or "sons" ??

no reason why they cant, they just ride different variations of the same sections anyway.

[2shock]

What of the riders who wish to ride the same route as say their mates or sons, should they also be encouraged to "step up" but all they want to do is have a fun with their "mates" or "sons" ??

No problem whatsoever.

It's the one's who choose to ride to Sportsman route, and then complain that the trial was too easy for them, and try and apply pressure to make the class harder that i'm talkig about.

Incidentlly, I often ride with a decent clubman, and whilst not on the same route we're still at the same section's together

[gazzaecowarrior]

Im probably going to annoy everybody here but I think people should just be allowed to ride whatever route they wish. It's up to them. For god sake they are paying to ride so let them have that choice. Who cares if they win or not ? It's not affecting how you ride your own bike is it ? Trials (and sport in general) isn't just about winning or losing. It's about having fun on your bike. So if somebody wants to clean every section to get their sense of achievement well let them do so. At the same time encouragement should be given to somebody who has stepped up a class and is going round with a scorecard of 5's and 3's. It's an old cliche but 'its the taking part that counts'. Our club has a good plicy that if you win your class, the year after you can only compete in the same class on a non award basis. That way, for those people who gain pleasure from polishing trophies who didn't win, they get to have a better chance of winning silverware the next time.

[4ourtea]

"Incidentlly, I often ride with a decent clubman, and whilst not on the same route we're still at the same section's together"

I couldn't agree more 2shock... I know a father and his son ride around together at every trial they do - son rides the expert route (and very well too!) while dad rides the alternative/sportsman route. They are inseparable throughout the day, have a great ride around together and enjoy their day. What works for them can work for every kind of "partnership" : mates together, father & son, brother & sister, old geezer & lady friend - it works for them all and (importantly) without the need for altering any section severity.

For those who want to ride the same sections as their mates/sons/etc. - no problem. I fully appreciate people like to have their own little battles within a trial and to do this they need to ride the same sections. All I'd say is, if you are clearly a very able rider and better than that which the course is intended for, yet you want to ride it because your less able mates/sons/etc. ride it, do so but (perhaps) opt to ride for no award and certainly please never complain about it being "too easy".

Just one last word of reassurance to you 2shock - I am certain that all clerks of the course will be unswayed by someone riding on the easy route and asking for it to be tougher. The C of the C's response would always be "Fine lad - you want tougher? Ride the next route up!!!!". Alienating riders and scaring them off by making the easiest route tougher is not an option - that route is the entry level route after all, and the one that first timers will gauge whether the sport of trials is something they want to do.