March 18th, Carrol’s – No 2 Line Pohangina Valley

Results

I got a ride out to the event with Kane Veltman whose son Vinnie has just started riding trials. I rode with Kevin Pinfold & Warrick George. Vinnie also rode around with us for a good part of the day.

It took me two laps to start riding properly. My first couple of laps were in the twenty’s and it felt a bit like I was either getting a five or paddling my way through for a three. Luckily, on the last two laps, I pulled my head in and got a lap of twelve and thirteen respectively. Not quite in with Warrick and Kevin, but getting closer.

My biggest ‘YES’ for the day was on my last lap on section eight. The main obstacle was riding up a slippery creek. It also had a few tight corners in the creek which is not nice on slippery rocks. For the first three laps I dabbed my way through. On the last lap I looked where I wanted to go, got my wheels on the right lines, and, apart from one slip up, refused to put my feet down, and was rewarded with a one. For the record, Warrick only got a two.

Number one was beyond me and Kevin. There was an undercut rock and you needed to be a very confident splatter to get it. Kevin tried it once and didn’t get it. On the next lap he made an easier line for me and ended up riding it himself. It still took me until the last lap to do it, and I got a one. Despite our successes Kevin and I scored all fives for this section because we weren’t riding the proper line.

Vinnie completed his first trial and did pretty good, cleaning almost all the sections at least once. At the end of the day Phil Stevenson got him riding across the creek, which had looked pretty daunting at the start of the day.

I had a good day and i didn’t hear any complaints and so i presume that everyone else had a good day as well.

11th March 2018, 78 Makairo Road, Kohinui, Pahiatua (Craig & Nicky Ellingham)

Results

We were the first people to get there which is good because dad likes to be early to set up stuff. The only problem was that it was freezing cold. Thankfully it warmed up later on although my hands were feeling a little bit frozen on the look lap.

There were four of us in the ‘Junior’ Women’s class, but only two of us were actually Juniors. Hazel just wanted to have a fun ride so rode in the morning race with me. It was April’s birthday and she was going to go to a trail ride but it was cancelled so she just came out for a fun ride as well.

I got off the start line just in front of Hazel and April and caught up to the other girl, Ella, fairly soon after. I got a bit of a lead on Hazel and April but then I relaxed too much and they caught up with me. Then I stalled on a corner and April passed me.

On the next lap I passed her and pretty much led the other women for the rest of the race. Except that I’d made the mistake of trash-talking Hazel on the start line and, on the 2nd to last lap, she passed me and took off. I was feeling a bit queasy and didn’t give chase as hard as I should have and then it was too late. She was gone.

There was a tight 180 degree right-hander through a gate at the start of the chicane.  Just through the gate was a large macrocarpa that was in the way. The base of the tree always pushed the front wheel out and everyone dabbed. By the third lap I had it sussed and started clearing this ‘section’. It was all good until the last lap when I stalled with April right behind me. The gateway was too tight for her to pass me but I made a total meal of it and almost dropped the bike.

At the end of the day we were just about the last people to leave. We stood around the BBQ and pigged out on venison. On the way out the gate Nicky gave us a box of mutton. Awesome!

Ray Wrights’s Farm, Murray Road, Pukekawa

Results

Mum, Dad, and I were up that way for a Saturday cross country so we thought it would be a good idea to bring my trials bike up for a ride on the Sunday.

I was riding with Cody Davey.  I had a good start to the day, clearing section one on the first attempt. From there, though, it started to go a bit downhill for me.

I couldn’t seem to get my head screwed on properly. If I was getting the section it was all good but as soon as something started to go wrong I completely lost it and got a five instead of a three. Or just did stupid dabs and got a three instead of a one or a two.

My favorite sections were five and seven. Frustratingly, I only cleared five once. It had a very tight corner over some left hand rocks and I kept mucking it up.

I got two points on seven on the first lap because I was in the wrong gear for the hill climb but I cleaned it on the last three laps.

My least favorite was ten. You had to do a left hand corner going over this rooty vine thing and I stuffed it up all day. I probably should have walked it again but I didn’t and kept mucking it up.

I came second to last and really should have done better but, apart from a really bad score, I had a good day.

Waipuna Road, Waerenga

Results

Just after the start one of the younger boys (Alexander Macdonald, CRF150, from Te Awamutu) fell off going down a bank. I was right behind him and only just managed not to ride over him. It looked quite painful. The bike rolloed over him a couple of times and he got trapped underneath it. I stopped and picked the bike off him but didn’t hang around because I saw some of the sweep riders coming. He pulled out but wasn’t too badly hurt.

I didn’t have a great day. The track was a bit too fast for my liking. I was riding Brandon Hoskins Husqvarna CR150 again and, even though I didn’t have as much fun as at the last Bel ray, I’m glad I didn’t have to sit around all day waiting for the race to finish.

The main thing I didn’t like about the track was that about half of it was on farm tracks along the side of hills and it felt like you just had to make one mistake, especially early on when the grass was slippery, and it could all go wrong.

I finished very close to the bottom of the field and was a little bit bored but didn’t have any accidents  and their were a couple of bits that were quite fun to ride.

At the start of the senior race Charlotte Russ fell off and got knocked out. She was walking around later though and didn’t seem too bad.

18th Feb 2018, Hunterville

Results

Mum and I helped Kevin set out the trial. We did most of the clearing while Kevin did most of the section setting.

I was riding with Kevin, Warrick and Daniel Herbert from Taranaki. I didn’t get to see many of the other riders.

We had some new riders. Abe Herbert, who’s Daniel’s little brother; my nephew Jack Richardson; and neighbour Vinnie Veltman. They were all under 10.

We also had a new Senior, Ben Rasmussen. He didn’t hand in his card but mum said he easily coped with the Sportsman class and should provbably be up a grade or two.

Daniel has gotten quite a lot better lately. For instance, he’s now hopping both wheels. He narrowly won A Grade from Warrick and Kevin.

I was the only one to clean section one all day, which was good because I got beaten on all the other sections.

For the first three laps I fived six on the first bank. On the last lap I managed the whole section for a two.

All the sections were hard but not impossible and were fun to ride.

I had an awesome day.

Bel Ray Rnd 2, NZ XC Champs Rnd 1, John & Mark Sattrup’s, 1337 Hetherington Road, Huntly

Results

It was raining steadly all day, which was good and bad. If it hadn’t been raining it would have been a very easy track. With it raining, I was soaked through and, at times, couldn’t see properly.

Daniel Hoskins lent me Brandon’s Husqvarna CR150 to ride. I had a quick go on it aty Daniel’s place on Friday to get used to it but, on Saturday, it still took me a couple fo laps to get comfortable.

On the first two laps I got stuck on a hill. The start of the hill was easy enough but then it turned l;eft and it got a bit steeper and rougher and I couldn’t quite keep my momentum up in the greasy conditions.

On my third (and last) lap I gave it a ton of throttle and tried to keep the front wheel pointing, more or less, towards the top. I got up.

My last lap was better than my first two laps and I was having a bit more fun on it. The most important thing of the day, and the most important thing of the event, is that I didn’t come last. Tayla Hoskins rode the senior race afterwards but had some trouble with her back and struggled a bit. I had an OK first two laps and quite a goof last lap and had quite a good day.

CROSS-COUNTRY NATIONALS BEGIN

EARLY CROSS-COUNTRY ADVANTAGE

Sunday 4th Feb 2018, Andrew Clement’s, Wiremu Road

Results?

I got a ride over with Kevin Pinfold.

The trial was at Andrew Clements farm. None of the sections were in the paddocks; they were all in the trees. This was good since it was a really muggy day.

I started the day off riding with Kevin and was having a great time. Then my fan stopped working and the bike started spitting coolant everywhere so we went back to Kevin’s van. Eventually Kevin managed to figure out what was wrong and get it going again. I went out ahead of Kevin to finish my second lap and then, because I was tired and we’d gotten a bit behind eevryone else, I just did my last two laps as one.

This was a mistake because I wasn’t riding with Kevin anymore and didn’t have anyone to tell me to pull my head in.

Even though the rest of the day was pretty tiring I still had one ‘YES!’ moment. There’s this tree and it has a whole lot of really ugly criss-crossing roots radiating out all around it that they use as a section for a lot of the events that they have there. It’s quite difficult.

On my third lap I cleaned it. I don’t want to brag too much but, as he bet me on almost every section, I’ve just got to say that the best that Kevin got was a two.

I was a bit hot and bothered and didn’t enjoy the trial as much as I should have. I liked most of the sections and I was just having a bad day.

Afterwards we went for a drive in Andrew Clements new Aston Martin. I wish I’d been wearing my Garmin Sports Watch… because when he accelerated my heart beat quite a bit faster.

Saturday 3rd Feb, 533 Galpins Road, Marton

Results

I haven’t been to a XC in a while. Usually I don’t have much fun, mostly due to having to ride the KDX which is big and heavy and I’m always a bit nervous on. This time, though, I was feeling a lot more comfortable on the bike. I don’t know whether it was me just finally getting used to the bike or if it was the track, or a bit of both, but I had an awesome time.

The track was mostly on farmland, with a few bits in the trees. It was good that I was tryi9ng to go a bit faster becuase the ground was very bumpy and hard but it got smoother the faster I went.

There was nothing that was hard but it wasn’t boringly easy either, and there were a few bits that were really cool to ride.

One bit was a few metres of trees in the middle of a paddock so you could come towards the trees fairly fast, then pull the clutch in, and coast through the chicane of trees, then open ther throttle on the other side. It was pretty fun.

We also rode a bit on the motocross track. I wasn’t looking forward to it. Mostly because, if I fell off, everyone would see, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was still my least favourite part of the track but the rest of the track was pretty awesome so I can’t complain.

There were quite a few injuries in the senior race and they even had to get a helicopter in for one guy but the junior race that I was in didn’t have any problems and I had a great day.

21st Jan 2018, 408 Puketoi Road

Mum, Mark, & I went to the practice day. We thought it was going to be a trial but, oh well, we still had a good time. Unfortunately Mark’s bike wasn’t going properly.

I was riding Hazel’s Techno (we’ve still got to pick up my bike from John’s) but I swapped bikes with Phil Stevenson quite early in the day.

Mum started the day off a little worried that she wouldn’t be able to keep up and that she’d slow them down but it all worked out and, apart from her face-planting at the end of the day, she had fun.

It was farmland with a lot of small rocks and quite a cool gully. The gully had a small stream with rocks scattered about.

The hill climbs were good. There was quite a daunting looking one with a step near the top, and another ugly looking steep papa ramp.

I was trying to do floating turns and was playing around on some banks. There were just seven of us riding but it was a great day.