SaladBar and LBD III Hannah Butler are TM's next weekend. Should be fun (if I have anything to say about it ).
Is this a 2 day or just a 1 day event. I would like to come with my 5 year old son on Saturday and watch some sections if it is a competition day. I work Sunday's so can't make Sunday's unless I am "having an Eye problem..." Rick
Two day event. Morning riders are beginner through Intermediate, kids and and others. Afternoon (1:00 PM or so) is advanced riders including one bad ass lady rider or maybe two. Saturday will let you see the whole deal, hang out afterwords and get someone to let your son ride an Ocet, you ride someone's trials bike. Just ask and be friendly, everyone there will be ubber nice and your always welcome. Time to buy trials bikes, you will be able to beat your son for a few years maybe.
I dont know about that son beating part. The only way I beat my son is to stay out of the class he is riding in. Rick:huh
Hey ATeamNM- my wife and I tried a trial's event in Angel Fire in 2006 and met Garrett who gave a tour of the lower sections. He wasn't the 6 foot bohemoth he has turned into, I think he was 7 or 8 and we also met Rachel at Sipapu before she became one badass lady. Sold our trial's bikes to Rob ONeill when we started adopting children. I have experienced the Trial's group and yes you all are ubber nice and would love come and spectate and possibly see my son on a tuned down Osset. May not be able to make it Saturday as we have a soccer game until 1130 so soonest we could make it up would be 2ish. My Angel Fire event was in the novice, having ridden dirt and street for 15 years I thought I would nail it, didn't realize how hard it is to ride a motorcycle slow. I hadn't sweated that much since I was 15 and had broke into my Dad's stash and was waiting for my punishment. I think I lost 10lbs and Larry and Sherry gave me a beer after my last section. It tasted sooo good even though I think it was a PBR, but it was ice cold. If we don't make it up this weekend, we'll shoot for a San Ysidro event where I will have to ask someone for the gate combo again. I think I have 2 combo's for the gate, if they are still valid. Looking forward to seeing how far Devin's boy has come as his and my son are pretty close in age. Thanks for the invite and hope to make a meet in the near future! Rick
Larry and Sherry were there this past weekend. Had a beer (or 10) with 'em around the campfire. GREAT to see those crazy kids again! Neither of those old combo's are even close. We are in Roswell next month, then SanYo in November and December. Come on out!
HhMmmm! 39 riders at lake fork pitifull. Be lucky then to have 30 at Roswell. The board should do away with the overall awards till they figure it out! This club don`t `print` money like the USA.:huh
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The quest for all of these individual "state championships" is hurting attendence more than anyone will ackowledge. Guys sandbagging in a class all year to win something instead of moving out of that class intimidates anyone that has even remotely thought about moving into that class. Why come out and ride amateur (or novice, or anything) when there is a career amateur hanging out there just to win a title. Back in the days of MX we used to give points for each podium finish and when you had a certain amount of points, you moved up! Period. This allowed the newer riders a chance to fill those slots and actually win something. Not many riders will continue to come out and get beat by the same guys year after year with little to no chace of ever placing. I feel fortunate that the guys and the class that I am in now is very competitive and no one is bagging it. We also usually have one of the largest classes. I do realize that some guys shoot themselves in the foot by not practicing and then coming to the events only to get whupped up on. BTW, some of the first events of last year had 17 riders in Clubman. WTF happened to all of those guys? We do need to do something about the downward trend. I have only been in the club a short time and it is really noticeable. Is the relative difficulty scaring away guys? It sure does seem as though the skill leve required to be in a certain class has moved up. I started in INT and it certainly wasn't then what the INT riders are riding now. SEPARATE CLASSES FOR EVERYONE!!!!!
Between the economy, guys getting slower(older)and all our changes in classes the last three years has messed with the fun factor of NMTA. Lake Fork was always our premier event. We pushed over a hundred riders several times. Sadly you lose riders faster than you can add them when things are harder for our mature sport. The thirty to forty somethings are the ones that keep clubs alive. Start catering to the wrong age group and you will see a club die. It has happened in the past to NMTA for the same reasons. Late seventies and early eighties 12 riders were not uncommon. Hope we can change a few things to reverse the trend.
Central Arizona Trials is having the same soul-searchings. Trials masters are encouraged not to beat up the middle-aged guys who don't ride enough. We cancelled at least one event where attendance couldn't cover the land use fees. A few of the missing riders have showed up at the recent events, and it's good to see them. Trials isn't brutally expensive, but it costs a few hours a week and a few hundred a month to practice, travel, repair, and wear out a bike. The family guys multiply that by supporting young riders and it can get out of hand. [ My wife and I blew up a few VISA cards in the day, trying to be bicycle racers..!] On the other hand, getting whomped by lineaway-on-an-antique- motorcycle at San Y this spring was one of the highlights of my year... the guy should move up!!
The variable here is that the track stays the same in MX. Move up a class in trials and things get harder/scarier. I've given this all some thought as a relatively new rider. My main competition this year and last has been older guys who are moving back down as they age. Maybe the sections are getting harder too - I don't have enough time in it to say. I can't fault them for wanting to move down, and the organization I ride with is small and doesn't have any senior classes. What they do have for the vintage guys is Master classes. Win two titles (was one until this year) in any class and you must move to Masters. This lets guys who are comfortable on a certain line compete with each other and moves them out of the way so the new blood has a chance. Unfortunately, they don't do this for modern riders - it's primarily a vintage organization. There's also a rider or two who I think should move up, but the rules don't make them. They're not coming to enough events to win championships. Ultimately, if the rules allow it and it's the class that they find fun, I can't find any fault. It looks like I'll win a championship in my class this year. I'm not quite ready to move up at this point, and I don't know that I will be by the start of next season. Maybe, but after sitting out six weeks due to a broken rib this season, I don't feel much need to push. The plastic trophies and paychecks don't change if I move up. Fortunately, the organization offers an "exhibition" class which will allow me to ride different lines in different sections so that I can ease into the next class. It's a no-points, no-championships, just-for-fun class. I'm looking forward to it.
OK, I got it! Just like anything, make it fun and they will beat your door down to do it. Well.......that....and free beer!
I agree that the state championship pursuit, career riders and economy have had some impact on the NMTA attendance, but I gotta wonder just what all those riders are doing that's keeping them away. Hell, for most of the ABQ riders it is no more than an 1 1/2 hr drive. For myself, this event was hard to get to because I had to pull my son from school to make the trip up north and getting him back in time to get a good night sleep to go to school monday morning is also a challenge. I did debate not coming due to the the school issue and the distance we have to drive but both my son and I agreed that LakeFork is just too good to pass up. For us, Roswell is our closest event (3 hour drive) and I am not sure that I can pull off another trip that interferes with school.
I can't imagine he does not make good grades? If so, then school will not educate him those few hours like being with Dad in the wilds of New Mexico riding a motorcycle all weekend?
