A hard overnight frost made the journey over to Biscathorpe a slower than normal process for the 60 riders that attended the first round of the club championship for 2014. With an entry that was evenly split between all three routes, resulted in all the sections having the same amount of deterioration as the thawing ground turned wet and slippery, which in all fairness is not unusual for Biscathorpe in January.
Just over a handful of riders on the premier route managed to keep their scores to single figures, three of these being the class winners. Trial winner Andy Webbe riding his Ariel lost just 3 marks, 2 on section 3 and a dab on section 7 which was perhaps one of the easier hazards of the event. He did in fact put in a top-notch performance on section 4 and was the only rider to return a clean sheet for this section. Unit and Two-Stroke winners Brent Cordon and Robin Cobb lost all of their marks on section 4's muddy climb and decent that then sent riders over a camber to turn through a tree lined ledge to the exit, definitely one of the hardest sections of the trial. Section 5 also proved tricky as the day progressed, early cleans changed into mid trial 3's and in some cases last lap 5's. These 2 sections were the main mark takers for the Intermediate riders, all but 1 returning double digit scores, Mick James rode his big Pre-Unit BSA for a very impressive 9 marks lost.
Clubman riders also found it hard going, winners laurels go to young Harry Grundy, second time out with the club on his Rigid Bantam returning the winning score of 13 marks lost, Richard James followed Mick's example winning the Pre-Unit Clubman on 14 marks lost, followed by Unit winner Kevin Ladley on 16.
As well as Harry's excellent ride on his Bantam other Rigid Bantam riders also had a good day, Graham Dawson on his dads old bike won the Two-Stroke Inter route and Mick Dawson on the new Rigid Drayton was one of that handful of riders in the premier class to record single figures, a great result since it was his first championship trial in the Expert class after being the winner of the Intermediate class for 2013.
Again our thanks goes out to all the observers that braved the cold but dry day, our second round is on the 16th February at Wickenby and we look forward to seeing you all then.