Queuing at Sections.

[turbofurball]

Well yes, the vast majority of trials I do are clubman ones.  Doesn't stop some people being super competitive and pushing others out the way to get in front, or being impatient for no good reason

[b40rt]

5 hours ago, collyolly said:

Learning is done at practice days or club trials not really at proper competition trials, just my opinion.

I

[2stroke4stroke]

7 hours ago, collyolly said:

Recent popular trial, 130 entries 20 sections on a single venue, couple of technical sections resulted in queue's. The problem is then compounded by riders passing the section and then doing It twice on their second lap so the queue never went away as these riders were effectively staying there for their second go rather than going off to do a full lap.

A couple of ACU rules ( probably every controlling body has similar ) , firstly sections must be ridden in sequence and more importantly when a rider fails a section he/she must leave it, often the wait is due to someone getting stuck, getting a five then continuing to try to ride a section and possibly getting stuck again !

Queueing in the sun having a chat and watching other riders is part of the sport, but the fun disappears when the line is 20 long, it's just above freezing in driving rain and that bloke has just got stuck again trying to get up a section he obviously is never going to get up.

I cant see anything in the ACU standing regs about being required to leave a section except where requested by the observer under stop allowed rules for "unnecessary delay".  My opinion is that we are all entitled to continue after stopping in order to get a go at the rest of the section for familiarity the next lap.  Real strugglers (including me at some trials) tend to go out the side to conserve energy anyway.

[2stroke4stroke]

7 hours ago, collyolly said:

Learning is done at practice days or club trials not really at proper competition trials, just my opinion.

I think you'll find that club trials are "proper competition trials", I find the increasing tendency of more recent riders to adopt the attitude that the rules don't apply at these events but still return a rather fictitious punch card (relating to second goes at sections and missing the markers etc etc) and regard their score as a real result more than a little annoying.

I don't know how long you've been riding but it's true to say that one never stops learning at competitive events.

Edited February 12, 2018 by 2stroke4stroke

[collyolly]

Yes you are of course right we are always learning, I was just trying to make the point that queues are often caused by riders attempting something beyond their abilities and once failing then continuing to attempt the next part which is still too much. 

This can obviously also be caused by the C of C making the section too hard for the class or weather changing the section and sometimes you have to ride through just to get to the next part of the course.

I am sorry if I have caused offence with my blanket comment but you have to use a bit of common sense if the queue is 20 riders long, don't hang about when you have already failed.

[lopez]

There has to be a balance

You can't stop complete beginners who can barely stand on a bike from learning in competition trials. Unless you want to have a complete shake up of the sporting regulations

If you do that, you start defeating the object of trials being a true clubman/grass roots sport and you make it inacessible

We have another big thread on this forum about how the sport is struggling for entries, and more people need to take the plunge and start competing, and then we have a thread here saying that people they shouldn't be entering events unless they can complete their sections and not cause a hold up for everyone else

I'm not taking offence, just trying to offer a balanced view. The sport cannot have it all ways.

As for me, if I fail, I swear at myself and then get out of the section as quickly and easily as I can without getting in the way.
Sometimes the only viable route is the remainder of the section, sometimes there is an easy exit path.

At the trial I did recently there was a lot of queueing where there were 2 tricky sections back to back, causing a bottleneck - but the only pushing in I saw was from kids being encouraged to do so by their parents.

[scifi]

I started in road trials as soon as I had a road license, at the age of 16, over half a century ago.    Lots of the sections were mud-baths, where the skill was in finding grip with our worn out tyres.  

Some sections needed rescue crews with a rope, to pull each rider out of the bog.  The team would throw a rope with a hook on the end,  at the rider, and then pull from a safe distance.   There was always a big queue at those sections, even though our trials were only one lap.

.

Edited February 19, 2018 by scifi

[justjosh9]

I hate queuing! I don’t really enjoy lots of people watching either to be fair ? 

don’t know how leaniant they are at other trials but I usually skip sections that have big ques and do them last. Last ride out I managed to do a whole lap and the people I ride with were still queuing at the same section haha. 

I find it ruins my flow and I get bored and not focused and just start dabbing here there and everywhere if there’s big ques and loads of people watching ?

[turbofurball]

My technique is to start last, because I'm going to come near last place anyway nobody seems to mind me just repeating the first couple of sections, and subsequently skipping any with a huge que.  I usually finish last, too, because I'm taking my time and stopping for a drink and a nibble as needed.  If I que I usually try and chat to other riders, rather than just sitting and twiddling my thumbs.

With that said, if any official asked me not to do things that way I would comply, and I actively avoid getting in the way of the competitive types when they get to the point of lapping me