Chris, Scott and James Dark and myself laid out 8 sections on the Saturday ready for the trial on Sunday.
Section 1 was as you entered the wood and for blue and white route riders involved negotiating the big log. Red and yellow route riders had a more gentle route with some twists and turns and over the rock path. The log took marks off most riders on the early laps, but with some aggressive riding later on a few cleans were seen.
Section 2 had the white and blue route riders over a log into the bowl (blue route changed on lap 2), with Tom Horsburgh and Antony Read cleaning the section on all of the 5 laps. The red and yellow route proved to be easy with few marks lost except a slack 5 for Ben Edwards on the first lap.
Section 3 was an expensive section for Mike Hammond on all the laps on the yellow route with 4 x 3s and a 5. Trevor Howell on the red route dropped a loose dab on the last lap to ruin the four cleans he had up until then. This was the bogey section on the whites for Stuart Read, loosing 17 out of a total of 40 for the day at this section.
Section 4 caused loads of trouble for the blue route riders on lap 1 but with a change for lap 2 which eased the section at the start, Rob Edwards, Ben Northover and Matt Don managed cleans here. The loose soil and cambers cost all riders dearly for a lack of concentration on this section.
Section 5 was over logs with some turns. White route riders dropped marks on the really big log pile with Simon Mepham on the twinshock Honda never getting to grips with this section. Yellow and red route riders had an easier time with cleans from most after a jittery first lap.
Section 6 saw some riders failing to master the section and others having good rides with no loss. Chris Dark on the twinshock SWM had a total of 4 here. Rob McKenzie finally cleaned this on lap 4, but lost 5 on lap 5.
Section 7 was tight on the blue route with a log, drop off and tight turn taking marks off all with the exception of Ben Northover. Rachel Measures cleaned this section on the yellow route on laps 3 and 5.
Section 8 for yellow route riders was costly for all except Casey Moore who cleaned all 5 laps - well done Casey. On the white route, Simon Mepham dropped a total of 2, whilst Scott Dark and Stuart Read were clean all day on this section.
Feedback from riders was that the trial was a little harder than our usual Club standard, but scores did get better as the day went on. The loose soil and cambers meant that marks were lost with slight lapses in concentration.
Thanks to all those who helped take down, and a big thanks to Doug Chandler for the use of this excellent piece of land.
Full results are on the website www.rrnd.co.uk, but the best on the day were as follows:
White Route - Stuart Read - 40, Scott Dark - 45, Simon Mepham - 48
Inter Route - Chris Dark - 63
Novice Blue - Tom Horsburgh - 36, Ben Northover* - 59, Matt Don - 68
Over 40 Blue - Rob McKenzie -51, Antony Read - 56, Rob Edwards - 79
Red Route - John Yardley - 11, Trevor Howell - 36, Luke Edwards - 61
Under 16 Red - Hannah Moore - 17, James Dark - 23
Yellow Route - Casey Moore - 9, Neville Lewis - 47, Rachel Measures - 53.
Happy riding!
Colin Don
Competition Secretary