A Fistful of Mud
A Fistful of Mud
Shortly after our move to the Northwest Alison made a good friend at work, Karen. Not long after their friendship began, it transpired that Karen's better half raced bikes off road. The girls tried for months to get us to all hook up and for Motorsickle to do some filming. Now you boys know what it's like when your partner pressures you to meet someone, the first question is "What are they up to? Is this guy a complete sadsack?" Turns out I was wrong on all fronts, I eventually managed to meet Dave at his house for a swift beer one day.
Dave has been participating in Trials riding since he was a teenager and it's fair to say that he's pretty damn good at it. Following the beer I agreed to hook up with him at a trial and get some footage. As usual life got in the way, the camcorder I had been using died the death, My decent digital SLR got dropped and I was commuting silly distances to work each day. It just felt like it was never meant to be! I was saved by a special offer at one of the supermarkets and picked up a 7Mp compact digital camera for £50, I was back in business.
Dave currently runs with the Mac Trials club, I have to say that I have never met a friendlier bunch of people, they were all smiles all of the time and the club spans all age groups from 18-80! Trials as a general rule are not races and are similar in some ways to golf as a spectator sport. Golf!? I hear you cry, well like golf you have to move as an audience from one stage to the next. This makes for a more relaxed approach straight away, you can move at your own pace and decide whether you want to stay at a particularly challenging stage or move on and follow your own champion.
The first trial we attended was a road trial, typically we were late and missed the beginning. Little did we know that the trial was not set in a single location, the riders actually move from one farm to another to complete each stage. This makes it quite difficult for spectators as the route covers around 10 miles. The issues on that day were compounded by the fact I only had the compact camera to film with. We managed to catch up with Dave and his trials partner Trevor at lunch time and it looked as though Dave was doing well, having been awarded a 'clean' on several stages. The points are based on how many times you put your feet down when attempting a stage and a 'clean' is the best outcome for a rider. Trevor insisted that I try out one of their bikes on a patch of grass to get some idea of what they are about. I'm no lightweight when it comes to bikes but the sheer torque of the Dave's 300cc put the wind up me!
The second trial we attended was a much greater success. The trial was held in a disused quarry near Congleton and I had just taken delivery of digital hard-drive camcorder. The location was perfect for ambling from stage to stage, the quarry also offered some of the most dynamic biking obstacles I have ever seen! At one point a young rider spotted me standing atop a quarry wall around forty feet above him, the face was near vertical and he came tearing up. I had to most phenomenal footage of the lad's front wheel rising up in front of me as I ducked out of the way. Then his mate followed and unintentionally chose a more difficult path, the result was a near stall at the lip at the top! Where any normal person would have leapt clear of the bike, this lad gunned the throttle and forced the bike to hop skip and jump to safety. I turned to see Dave and Trevor clean the stage they were currently riding over a couple of dead trees. I walked around the next stage because it all looked a bit easy and I couldn't understand why these riders were tumbling. What I couldn't see as a spectator was the leading path up the hill was only 8 inches wide, it is no small wonder that these guys and girls have difficulties. We caught some fabulous footage of Trevor tumbling as he lost control on a flat piece of grass ( how we laughed). The thing to remember is that unlike other sports, these trial aren't on tracks, this is all based on the symbiosis of man and machine versus nature, that's where the thrill lies for both rider and spectator.
Unfortunately the Slob luck returned when I managed to corrupt all the footage from the second trial. To say I was devastated is an understatement! What I can say is that Motorsickle are going to follow Dave and Trevor throughout 2008. Check our video links for the teasers!
Dave has been participating in Trials riding since he was a teenager and it's fair to say that he's pretty damn good at it. Following the beer I agreed to hook up with him at a trial and get some footage. As usual life got in the way, the camcorder I had been using died the death, My decent digital SLR got dropped and I was commuting silly distances to work each day. It just felt like it was never meant to be! I was saved by a special offer at one of the supermarkets and picked up a 7Mp compact digital camera for £50, I was back in business.
Dave currently runs with the Mac Trials club, I have to say that I have never met a friendlier bunch of people, they were all smiles all of the time and the club spans all age groups from 18-80! Trials as a general rule are not races and are similar in some ways to golf as a spectator sport. Golf!? I hear you cry, well like golf you have to move as an audience from one stage to the next. This makes for a more relaxed approach straight away, you can move at your own pace and decide whether you want to stay at a particularly challenging stage or move on and follow your own champion.
The first trial we attended was a road trial, typically we were late and missed the beginning. Little did we know that the trial was not set in a single location, the riders actually move from one farm to another to complete each stage. This makes it quite difficult for spectators as the route covers around 10 miles. The issues on that day were compounded by the fact I only had the compact camera to film with. We managed to catch up with Dave and his trials partner Trevor at lunch time and it looked as though Dave was doing well, having been awarded a 'clean' on several stages. The points are based on how many times you put your feet down when attempting a stage and a 'clean' is the best outcome for a rider. Trevor insisted that I try out one of their bikes on a patch of grass to get some idea of what they are about. I'm no lightweight when it comes to bikes but the sheer torque of the Dave's 300cc put the wind up me!
The second trial we attended was a much greater success. The trial was held in a disused quarry near Congleton and I had just taken delivery of digital hard-drive camcorder. The location was perfect for ambling from stage to stage, the quarry also offered some of the most dynamic biking obstacles I have ever seen! At one point a young rider spotted me standing atop a quarry wall around forty feet above him, the face was near vertical and he came tearing up. I had to most phenomenal footage of the lad's front wheel rising up in front of me as I ducked out of the way. Then his mate followed and unintentionally chose a more difficult path, the result was a near stall at the lip at the top! Where any normal person would have leapt clear of the bike, this lad gunned the throttle and forced the bike to hop skip and jump to safety. I turned to see Dave and Trevor clean the stage they were currently riding over a couple of dead trees. I walked around the next stage because it all looked a bit easy and I couldn't understand why these riders were tumbling. What I couldn't see as a spectator was the leading path up the hill was only 8 inches wide, it is no small wonder that these guys and girls have difficulties. We caught some fabulous footage of Trevor tumbling as he lost control on a flat piece of grass ( how we laughed). The thing to remember is that unlike other sports, these trial aren't on tracks, this is all based on the symbiosis of man and machine versus nature, that's where the thrill lies for both rider and spectator.
Unfortunately the Slob luck returned when I managed to corrupt all the footage from the second trial. To say I was devastated is an understatement! What I can say is that Motorsickle are going to follow Dave and Trevor throughout 2008. Check our video links for the teasers!
- Slob
