A passing rider has the right of way

Thanks. Being fairly new to the sport, this is all very interesting to me.

I hear this alot, Today it is `old style`.
Old style: 10-30yard wide ribbon, multiple lines, a logical flow to the section, fun, challenging, real turns- never the same.
New style : 2-4ft ribbon, rarely more than one line, obstacle,ribbon, nice flat place to hop, obstacle,hop,ribbon,hop obstacle, another poorly thought section, ribbon hop! (could have been set in the church parking lot) Why does section 5 end at the start of three? Oh yeah , so Mom can see!:eek1

3 or 4 riders in the same section at the same time-that sounds like a great new sport!

It's called The Scott Trial. Its been going on for a while.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=835939


http://www.richmondmotorclub.com/category/scott-trial/scott-trial-history/

I know three people who have been hit and crashed out by the same guy on the loop in different events. Two of them said they never had time to react and didnt even know he was behind them. There is NO GOOD REASON to ride like that. Pass ALL YOU WANT, just do it safely. If your a good rider, with reasonable mental capability, it shouldn't be a deal breaker. I dont mean to imply that you pass recklessly , but only to clarify my position. To me, it's also part of the trials experience to meet friendly riders and families. Being polite is a good thing for the sport IMO.

My Dad told me a story about him getting stuck in a big peat bog at the SSDT (back in the 80's). He could not get his bike out and was wet, cold, tired, and fed up. Along came the current world trials champion and his minder -who stopped and helped him get his bike out. Even with the three of them, it took several minutes. He was proud to be part of a sport where the world champ would help a sportsman rider and was just amazed he would do that. He in turn always felt this was a vital part of the sport and was well known for helping people in need at events.

The UTE cup is a special event - the good news is that, NOW, any rider feeling really anxious to pass, can just smoke a joint and chill out....

The Ute Cup always had the coveted Flaming Arrow award for fastest time. Pretty sure it went away for that fuzzy warm feeling.

There are people that "take" advise differently. A competitor riding the 12 mile loop in 1st gear, just idleing along overall just being pokey for no reason, AND those guys that take 20 minutes per loop to sit at the pits, to just BS and what not, are thumbing his nose to everyone that has to stand there and wait until those riders "bothers to finish" or times out. Our clubs, afternoon classes judge (Observe) the morning riders, and vice versa for afternoon. Yet, seems to me, that every trials weekend we have SLOW ASS riders, EVERY weekend they use up the alotted time, and the 15 minute grace, which means I been out there judging for 3.5 hours, and now I dont get to eat when I get back to pits, because they dont move start times for our class (which is also a good thing, becuase I drive for 2.5 hours to get to the meet). It totally pisses me off to see people just pissing time away. Having had an issue, like flat tire and now they are hurrying to finnish, I have not only respect but usually cheer those guys on. but the dragging your feet and ass around the loop like a pre-school kid that doesnt want to get on the bus, is bullshit.

Riding the loop slow, isnt totally bad advice, but to me should NOT been said that way. It leaves too much, well, open for interpretation. Better choice of words (IMHO) would been "move along, 'as if you were at work' compared to a stroll in the sunset, with your girlfriend, on a pier somewhere." and I mean not a government job LOL I mean I have seen some slow ass people in government where you have to drive a stake to prove they have moved. You just got to keep moving, you take care and KEEP MOVING without being reckless. I dont "race" down any loop (except the parts where it is fun/easy to do so). 4th gear 1/4 throttle should be fast enough on the flat easy areas, and under control enough, and still not wear you out.

Nice......

Best FB quote, was "I know I can get rich now, selling junk food and pot from anywhere" and another chimed in with "Bundle them" Yahahahahaaa...

3 of the last 4 years. Last year I was injured. This year I got 14th.
Yes, I am one of the young fit Mountain Riders. Home altitude is 7000 feet. And no, I don't have much energy the Monday after the event.

La Garrita is my favorite venue, for many reasons, but mostly for the very long trail sections. (sure its quad trail, but it still rippin good fun) I have maybe a little more energy and power than skill and dexterity for my class, a long punishing loop starts to level the playing field, or at least thats the way it seems sometimes. I like four loops at our regular trials for the same reason. That and more trials is always a good thing. This is a conversation about passing though, and Ute Cup is a good example of it working well. Some riders are very slow or very tired, or riding home a broken machine or person. Then there is Hillslamer, who is damn hard to keep up with. The fast guys keep panties unbunched until a safe place to pass, or the slower rider holds up in a flat spot. I have never seen it be a problem, though I did get a babyhead jammed in my rear wheel during a pass and nearly wad both of us. 1 of 2 times I have ever had a wheel jam on a motorcycle.

For me, time elapsed has at least a mental correlation with exhaustion. I have tried riding trials slow, taking my time, thinking about the sections, and I didn't do any better than running through them. Plus, the checkers were anxious to get me through so that they could clean up, which is not conducive to focus. I get a big endorphin buzz from really moving on trail, it never, ever, fails to get me stoked. This helps with pain and dramatically improves focus, at least for me.

Our club (CAT) has a cutoff, no grace, so the morning checkers get at least 40 minutes for lunch before we ride in the afternoon. We also can start at any section on a checked trial (buddy check sometimes) It was my habit to pick an empty section to start, which usually meant I could go as fast as I wanted for most of the trial. In Expert I need the advice of the others and end up with the usual slow lap, watching and learning (and fighting down a certain amount of terror). As mentioned above, 2nd, 3rd, 4th lap, the pack will be spread out, and is usually small to begin with, and you can get your shred on.

Bottom line, don't be a twit. There is no money in this for any of us, only the respect of our peers.

I didn't get to ride Trials in the old days, but I've come to detest what I call "follow the ribbon sections". I think that single line, narrow sections are largely the product of unimaginative or just plain lazy section designers.

Best sections ever are rock gardens usually found at the ute cup. You have an entrance gate and 100 yards later an exit gate and it`s almost as wide with no obvious line!:huh

I'll chime in here, but with a funny story about slow riders on the section trail.

Last spring while riding (more casually than I realized) down the section trail headed back to the scoring table, sitting lazily on my ass aboard my crap-a-lap TS Reflex, I was passed rather forcefully by a......Beginner rider. "Geez, what's your hurry?" I thought aloud. I had blown through the entire Trial in 1 hour and 10 minutes (it was not a particularly long nor challenging Trial) and we had plenty of time left. Afterward during lunch, TilleJaques (yeah) came up to me and chewed me out (you know you did! ) for riding down the section trail "like a blind old lady on her way to tea!!" I doubled over with laughter, as I am usually one of the ones hotfooting (hotwristing??) down the trail. I apologized for being "that guy", and told her to rev the bike to let me know that you are there next time. She said she did rev the bike several times, and I continued to fuddy along ahead of her "just to be funny". Now keep in mind, I'm on a box-stock (somewhat) Reflex with a stock exhaust on it, which makes less noise than a Singer sewing machine at full song. I never heard her.

Point being, make yourself known when you want to pass. Do whatever it takes, and don't take for granted that the rider in front of you knows that you are there, especially when passing a fat old TS rider daydreaming about his next beer........ :slurp