The weekend of the 14th and 15th of September saw Aqueduct Classics hold its annual 2 day trial which enters the closing stages of the annual series. With overnight camping an optional extra, the weather forecast of a bright Saturday followed by gale force winds overnight and heavy rain on the Sunday made the prospect of the event interesting to say the least!
Following a late cancellation of the venue by the landowner on lunchtime Friday, Russ and the team had about 3 hours of light Friday and the start of Saturday morning to mark out the 10 sections and 4 routes that make up the normal Aqueduct event. Saturday's event was attended by 62 riders who enjoyed a dry set up with the sections containing a mixture of sweeping turns, cambers and banks with a small amount of stream sections thrown in to provide a nice variety. Sunday saw things change drastically for the 38 riders who turned out for day two as the day started out dry but by the end of the 2nd lap for most riders, a gradual increasing drizzle started to change the grip levels across a number if the key sections.
The event also saw the introduction of a sidecar class as Aqueduct dipped their toe in the water into this category. We were lucky to have Bert White attend with Carl in the chair and during Saturdays event a small group of us were treated to a days tuition in a small number of sections that were laid out especially for this reason. On the Sunday, Bert and Carl rode a number of the solo sections alongside the normal entry and we are hoping that this informal approach will encourage more outfits or people wanting to take up / have a try at sidecars to give it a go.
Section reports this time come from Rob Slogget (Clubman Twinshock class), Mark Gaskell (50/50 Twinshock class) and Paul Owen (50/50 rigid class). Paul recently took top honours in the International Manx Classic trial in the Rigid Class on his 1949 Bantam.
Paul Owen: I was riding the 50/50 class which is an adaptation of the clubmans route and forms a bridge between that class and the Elite class. I found all of the sections challenging but if I had to highlight a few it would firstly be section 2 as it had a bit of everything. Slippy heather droping across the stream then up over a short bank and around a tree. Back into the stream with a tight right for a steepish climb about 15 metres over wet slippy loose rocks with a sharp left hand turn at the top onto a muddy step into a right turn exit gate. My other section would be section 4, as you entered it down a slight slope and over a stream and left around a tree. Then over a rock face that was so slippy that I almost fell on my bottom just walking the section! It felt like ice until it had scrubbed off, but once across you had to turn on a small muddy bank and back across. You then came up against 2 large rocks that if you didnt get your front wheel right you would take a dab or worse. Then up another rock face and a slippy bank turning left and following the section to the out gate. The other 8 sections all had their own tricky challenging bits to them, from loose mud to the tight turns in section 5 that was in the open on top of the mountain. This had wet grass and could have been so easy to lock the front end on the banking between the trees in the turn. To top it off the views were great and the tracks between the sections were enjoyable to ride.
Mark Gaskell: Saturday's Green 50/50 Intermediate route took more marks from me than it should have, pilot error being the main cause! Sections one through to five saw me lose one dab per section, but sections six to ten were my downfall. On six I lobbed my bike at the observer, twice, thankfully without injury to either party, but two 5's, a 2 and a clean doesn't make for a good score. A silly 5 on section seven riding outside a flag gave the observer there a chuckle, adding to a single dab. Section eight got trickier as the day wore on as we had to cross the rut made by the clubman route, but the 2 marks lost there I was happy with. Section 9 conversely, got easier as the day wore on and the groove developed, my 3 marks here being from the early laps. Section ten was an embarrassment though, a 5 on the first lap put me off for what should have been a straightforward ride, and I lost a further 3 marks. A puncture, then a fouled plug adding to my woes.
On Sunday, a sombre start as the club remembered one of our members sadly taken in a road accident, a minutes applause as a celebration of his life.
The sections were mainly unchanged, as the weather was expected to do that for us! I managed sections one to five for the loss of only 4 marks, but six again was my nemesis! A 5 for cleaning the wrong route, two 3's and a 2. Sections seven to ten only took a further 5 marks to leave me with a much healthier score, as we rushed to finish before the impending monsoon took all the grip away!
Rob Sloggett: After enjoying a great day on Saturday with Bert learning sidecar it was back to the now trusty Bultaco 175 to continue with the clubman twinshock class. The day started out badly with the bike slipping off the sidestand whilst walking section 4 and needing a return to the car to change the front brake lever. A trip repeated later on at the end of lap 2 due to the chain jumping off between sections reminded me that my focus on preparing the sidecar outfit meant that my basic checks on the Bultaco had started to slip a bit! But the riding was a great mixture of sections which allowed those coming up from the Novice route to have that natural step up without it being too taxing but included a good range of more demanding sections that took higher marks from the upcoming riders but gave the more experience clubmen something to go after. Section 6 was a great example of this with a reasonable entry and exit but a cracking mid section obstacle in the form of a diagonal camber bank approached from a left hand turn. Two lines existed, high left close to the tree with some routes or wider right with a natural vee in the bank face supported by a small craggy rock. Section 7 was short but mischievous. A simple down hill entrance of only a few seconds dropped you into a rutted gully requiring an almost 180 left hand reversal of direction within 2 bike lengths long and the same wide. A simple climb out finished the section. Straightforward during the first two laps but as the drizzle set in and the bikes chewed up the gully my first two cleans turned into a pair of threes on the last two laps taking almost half of my points for the day.
This venue always throws up a variety of surprises and a huge thank you to the club officials and helpers who came out at short notice following the late change of venue. Thanks must also go to the team of observers who in some cases gave up both days of their weekend and finally to the "lovely baps" and the other backroom teams who keep the club going! Finally another thank you to Bert and his colleagues for helping with the sidecar tuition.
Saturdays Results:
Pre 65
Novice: 1) John Hobbis, 29 marks, Triumph 200 2) Pete Thomas, 37 marks, Royal Enfield
Clubman: 1) Harry Lyons, 18 marks, Bantam 175 2) Pete Cottrell, 29 marks, Bantam 175 3) Rob Goodwin, 31 marks, Francis Barnett
Intermediate (50/50): 1) Phil Alderman, 11 marks, Triumph Cub 2) Paul Owen, 21 marks, Bantam 175 Rigid, 3) Tony Bradley, 24 marks, Triumph 218
Expert: 1) Russ Jones, 32 marks, Francis Barnett, 2) Ady Green, 72 marks, Francis Barnett
Twinshock
Novice: 1) John Hampson, 29 marks, Montesa 2) Pete Thomas, 37 marks
Clubman: 1) John Sowden, 6 marks, Honda 2) Neil Francis, 7 marks, Montesa 3) Roger Smith, 17 marks, Yamaha
Intermediate (50/50): 1) P. Yapp, 9 marks, Fantic 2) Dylan Davies, 12 marks, Fantic 3) Alex Barrie, 18 marks
Expert: 1) Steve Martin, 13marks, Majesty 2) Kev Ellis, 35 marks, Fantic 3) David Woodward, 41 Marks, Honda
Pre 90 Mono
Novice: 1) Gaz Thomas, 9 marks, Yamaha TY
Clubman: 1) Stephen Richards, 27 marks, Yamaha TY 2) Andy Steele, 60 marks, Yamaha TY
Modern
Novice: 1) Ben Jones, 14 marks, Gas Gas 2) Jake Jones, 77 marks, Beta
Clubman: 1) Ian Emery, 5 marks, Montesa 2) Martin Johnson, 18 marks, Montesa 3) Patrick Forde, 48 marks, Beta
Intermediate (50/50): 1) William Davies, 35 marks, Beta
Expert: 1) Owen Edwards, 67 marks
Sundays Results:
Pre 65
Clubman: 1) Harry Lyons, 12 marks, Bantam 2) Pete Cotterall, 29 marks, Bantam 3) Rob Goodwin, 39 marks, Francis Barnett
Intermediate (50/50): 1) Colin Fray, 9 marks, Dot 2) Paul Owen, 15 mark, Bantam Rigid 3) Harry Edwards, 18 marks, James
Expert: 1) Russ Jones, 22 marks, Francis Barnett 2) Ady Green, 79 marks, Francis Barnett
Twinshock
Novice: 1) Pete Thomas, 42 marks
Clubman: 1) John Sowden, 10 marks, Honda 2) John Doolan, 14 marks, Yamaha 3) Rob Sloggett, 15 marks, Bultaco
Intermediate (50/50): 1) Dylan Davies, 3 mark, Fantic 2) Eirian Davies, 16 marks, Fantic, 3) Mark Gaskell, 22 marks, Whitehawk
Expert: 1) Kev Ellis, 40 marks, Fantic
Pre 90 Mono
Novice: 1) Gaz Thomas, 0 marks, Yamaha TY
Clubman: 1) Stephen Richards, 20 marks, Yamaha TY
Modern
Novice: 1) Ben Jones, 10 marks, Gas Gas 2) Jake Jones, 69 marks, Beta
Clubman: 1) Ian Emery, 3 marks, Montesa 2) Kenny Roberts, 67 marks, Beta
Intermediate (50/50): 1) William Davies, 20 marks, Beta