After two successful rounds of using our new format which go towards making the trials look and feel a lot more professional, it was the turn of the Scottish Bike Trial Club (SBTC) to host their Round.
After two weekends of hard work from the devoted few and a big digger which was provided by sponsors Aquawash and kindly operated by Lewis Munro, we had three new sections and three old ones heavily altered, so they were nearly new.
Unfortunately the forecast didn’t look good for Sundays event, and the sections were slightly eased. We had use of the Aquawash hospitality trailer and other than it filling up with rain and the awning nearly coming off it was a good addition!!
Section one was next to the start area and consisted of placed concrete blocks and tyres in various positions. The rain made the tyres slippy but the results show that most of the riders coped and most scored on the low side. The Elite section had two concrete posts standing upright with seven feet between them and the second one being nearly ten feet high. The Elites found the gap tricky mostly due to the wind, but they all gave it a go.
Section two was an old section with the end modified for the Inter to Elite riders. Starting with various boulders and logs to work around or over depending on class climbing up hill finished with newly place boulders and concrete blocks. This section was eased up as the ground became very muddy between the rocks and logs.
Section three started with more new rocks and finished on the old pipe section with most of them being moved to provide some awkward riding. The green and white route ended up on not so high but long seesaw, which some coped with and others maybe need to build one in the garden!
Section Four was again an old section with many editions to make it feel completely different. Unfortunately Aaron Duke came off the last boulder and landed on his back requiring a hospital visit and retirement from the trial. Reece Seymour also in the spirit of the event questioned the marking on Expert route as the Clerk Of Course (COC) had missed a very easy sneak line up onto the first huge boulder. It was duly rectified and the COC wishes to thank him for his honesty.
Section Five was again partly an old section with some new elements built into it. The green and white routes seemed to struggle a bit with the climb up and around a large flat boulder and took most of their marks. If they succeeded in conquering the first part then the rest of the section was relatively easy to the end gate. The last step for Elites had to be altered on the first lap that made it too easy, so on the second lap with the weather improving the easy route was removed and the section barrier tape opened up to allow a longer run up through the mud. Some got it and some didn’t mostly depending on wheel size.
Section six was again an old section with so much changed for all routes, it was mostly all new. This was a very long section with some very hard parts for all routes and took quite a few marks of everyone. This was also on the top next to the car park and suffered a lot from the windy conditions all day.
Scottish Bike Trial would like to thank all the sponsors, officials and observers on the day, without them the trials would not run.
Lastly thanks to the girls in the café for keeping everyone well fed and watered through the day, and there service is now becoming legendary with this trial with the homemade cake.