The weekend of the 28th June saw the annual return of Aqueduct Classics "Y Clasur Foel". This event breaks the clubs norm of 4 laps of 10 sections on close proximity land and ventures out into 30 miles of the most incredible forestry. The format this year was a two day event with the riders taking in 30 single sections on day one and 20 sections on day two. Sections are dotted around the 30 miles of forestry and logically grouped into three loops, each one returning to the car park to allow riders to refuel and take on much needed refreshments.Classes are restricted to Clubman and Elite only and entries are restricted to Pre-65, Twinshocks and Pre 90 Aircooled Monos only. Riders are set off in pairs at 1 minute intervals, each pairing being directed to a different loop. As well as drastically reducing the potential of queues this also leveled the effect on early riders having an advantage or disadvantage in the wide range of sections on offer.
To give you a view of the event we have two reports, one from the eyes of a competitor and one from one of the kind volunteers who give their time up to observe and ensure that we have the opportunity to enjoy such events.
Rob Sloggett (Clubman - Twinshock)
1982 was a significant year for me. After competing in local club events for 3 years and now a 14 year old, I had the opportunity to enter the "Aberfeldy 2 day trial". Armed with a brand new Whitehawk 200 (ran in at a couple of local events) I experienced my first "serious" trial.
32 years on it sort of felt the same, 2 days of competitive sections with a mixture of regular club members and entrants from all over the UK (and even as far afield as Switzerland). This time my bike was a Bultaco 175 Sherpa built 3 years before Aberfeldy and being significantly past the "run in stage". The previous weekend had been spent checking it over as the previous years 1 day event had taught me that whilst not brutal to the bike, the 30 mile day and the nature of the sections was certainly not to be taken lightly.
Both days started with changeable weather but no real sign of heavy rain and an early sign on at 08:45 allowed a brief time to chat with other competitors before the 09:30 start. I was number 16 so I was early out of the gate but due to the "off in pairs", the last rider (104) would be less than an hour behind the first bike away. My Sherpa did not look out of place with its flaking frame paint and weather worn tank although it is always nice to see the more exotic Pre-65 machine's lovingly developed by their owners or the range of twinshocks more closer to the "out of the box" shininess that my Whitehawk was back in 1982.
So enough of the scene setting, what of the event? Well this year did not disappoint and the club officials had spent time marking out some old favourites from the previous year as well as teasing out a good range of new sections. I am sure it would be quite dull to read about all 50 sections so here is a couple of highlights:
Day 1 Loop 2 (Sec 15 & 16) - this was used the previous year and I remember looking at it then and thinking "crikes". These two subs that ran straight through started with a simple uphill stream gully with shallow running water which then changed into 70 meter or so ascent up a range of rock steps. These mini waterfalls the previous year had taken two 3's off of me if I remembered rightly and my aim this year was to better that. My riding had come on as I had got more at home with the bike over the last 12 months so matching it or worse would be a bitter disappointment. Being an early rider through, the rock steps were still covered with slime and as I dropped into the section and hit the end of the first section a single dap ruined what would have been an enjoyable clean, the second sub went the same way with a single dap stabilising me after a particularly tricky step and I exited with a massive smile on my face and knowing that next year only two cleans would make me happy.
Day 1 Loop 2 (Sec 30) - the end of the first loop presented one of the few high bank ascents that are found on the Foel event and I am learning that these are definitely my area of weakness. Similar obstacles had taken my only two fives today and knowing how tight the scoring normally is I could not afford another. The clubman route presented three options at attacking the climb, a diagonal run through the entry gate with a brief left hand arch before firing up the bank or going right through the in gate, making a tight controlled left hand 270 to get in a straight line attack or finally missing the main apex of the bank and bearing left half way up and picking a less steep route across virgin moss and bracken. Not being comfortable with option 1, I chose to enter right, make the tight turn and attack it in a straight line. The little 175 engine tackles most things in first easily but for once I found myself wondering whether second would be more sensible and immediately realised that I do not practice enough using a range of gears and not being confident that it would pull clean from a slow attack point, selected first and entered the section. Gearing should not have been a worry and the dry bank offered loads of grip and as I hit the apex and dropped down a similar gradient the other side my potential clean almost turned to a five. The combination of front brake and full fork compression through me off guard and for a split second my next five loomed close. Luckily I was able to recover (not sure how!) and I exited the gate for another clean.
Day two followed a similar pattern and dropping 24/150 and 7/100 left me with a final position of 18th out of 38th. One less 5 would have moved me up 6 places and that sort of sums up how close and competitive this event is.
Last years Foel was quite unique. Starting with the 1 day Bantam Trial on the Saturday and then the 1 day Foel with 180 entries on the Sunday it was always going to be difficult to repeat expectations. This year the club made the bold move of "doing something different" and the 2 day Foel with a smaller number of sections on day two attracted a smaller entry but allowed those who travelled a long distance to get away at a reasonable time. I must be honest, I loved the feel of this years event. It felt leisurely, you had time to really walk the sections without significant queues and actually got a lot of time to chat to the other competitors. Next year returns back to the original format of a National Bantam Classic on Saturday 27th June and then a 1 day Foel on Sunday 28th June. I have got to thank the club officials for continuing to make competition both fun and interesting and laying on (in what ever format) something that really adds to the competition calendar.
Jenny Lyons (Observer)
What a great weekend we had in store for us at Foel. The early start in Saturday morning Cheshire rain turned into a warm welcome in sunny Foel – and rain again 4 miles down the track at our sections. We had soon set up our beer fridge in the river and sat down on a rock eagerly awaiting the first riders. Each and every one of them was grinning from ear to ear ! The river sections looked more difficult to ride than they proved to be, and the only real drama came when Colin made a mad dash for a plug spanner to sort out a flooded bike.
Sunday's quarry sections were just as much fun, with Colin's steep climb claiming a few casualties and my section being easily observed through the lens of a camera. As we were at the end of a loop, we were able to keep tabs on young Harry's progress, and by the time the last rider was through we were very excited!
The long drive back was used by Helen for her second ever driving lesson – it took forever but we finally got out of first gear.....
I'm not sure who had more fun at Foel – the riders or Helen, Colin and I. It was a real privilege to observe such a well organized trial for such a happy and appreciative set of riders. See you next year....although hopefully Colin will be back on his DOT by then.
Final results were as follows:
Pre 65 Elite
(First) Martin Stanistreet; Heanor; James; 11+5 = 16
(Runner Up) Chris Gascoigne; Longton; Ariel 370; 7+17 = 24
Pre 65 Clubman
(First) Bob Baker; Metltham; James; 6 + 1 = 7
(Runner Up) Graham Dawson; Metheringham; BSA; 7 + 1 = 9
Twinshock Elite
(First) Ian Pederby; Hatch Warren; Whitehawk; 6 + 0 = 6
(Runner Up) Martin Gilbert; Owley; Fantic; 13 + 7 = 20
Twinshock Clubman
(First) George Atkins; Beaworthy; Fantic; 7 + 2 = 9
(Runner Up) Eirain Davies; Burry Port; Fantic; 6 + 4 = 10
Pre 90 Clubman
(First) Darren Morgan; Neath; Yamaha; 7 + 0 = 7
(Runner Up) Gordon Wilson; Shawbury; Honda; 16 + 6 = 22
Full results of both days can be found on the Aqueduct classics website.