28th May 2017, MT Erin Station, 731 Middle Road, Havelock North

Results

It was raining consistently all day. On the first lap the sections weren’y too slippery but I wasn’t having fun. I was getting heaps of fives and had a bit of an argument with dad.

Despite this I had my only clean of the day on section eight.

The second and third laps were so slippery that it was hard to walk, let alone ride.

Sections eight to eleven were all along the top of this bank. When riding between them you had to half pull your bike up from the hill to stop yourself falling down the bank. The observers were falling over when they came to click your card.

One girl, at the end of the day, had black shoes on. She said that, at the start of the day, they were bright green.

A few of the sections I didn’t even bother attempting on the last couple of laps. I didn’t have a go at seven because it had a bank with almost no run-up and no grip. Even Kevin Pinfold mucked it up on the last lap. I didn’t do nine for pretty much the same reason. It was a pity I was being impatient and not waiting for Kevin and Daniel because they found an alternative route on the last lap.

On twelve half the intermediate grade, including me, didn’t attempt it. The ones who did got fives, execpt Kevin who got through it once for a three, the only person in Inters to get through it all day.

I had an awesome day – it was great to have an excuse for playing in the mud.

27th May 2017, Rock Station, 3169 SH 5, Te Pohue, Hawkes Bay

Results

Mum, dad, and I stayed at my Aunty Marie’s for the weekend.

Saturday was easy but I was riding badly and it took me two laps to warm up.

In the morning, on the first section, I had problems with my carburettor. Mum and I went back to the van to fix it and Carl Robson, who was riding past, stopped to help. This sped things up a bit. It wasn’t the greatest start to the day.

Ashley and Troy Andrews ride Cross Country and MX but they had never ridden a trial before. There first ever trial was this weekend. Ashley was roughly mid-p[ack and did quite well. Troy came almost last but didn’t disgrace himself.

Also there was Jane Bennett who does Cross Country and Enduro. She’d been to one club trial before but that was last year.

I was racing a bit on my last lap because I thought it was going to rain and make the sections slippery. It’s sort of funny because that was my best lap by a lot.

My favorite section was number two. Most of it was fairly easy but there was this bank at the end with a small step-up just before it. A few of the better riders had some stuff-ups on it so it was really cool to clean it on my second lap.

My most disappointing section was one. On my second lap I was going up a small bank and my footpeg caught one of the flags and pulled it out of the ground.

It was basically farmland with a rocky creek and a few trees which they based the sections around. The creek was a bit different from the creeks I normally ride in. Instead of a whole lot of rocks it was just one big one with a few bumps and holes in it.

I didn’t have that great a day but that was just me. It was really cool for Gabby because she came third in the Intermediate class.

21st May, Ana Akers, Awahaou South Road, off No 4 Line, Pohangina Valley East

Results

When I helped set up on Saturday I thought it was going to be a fairly easy trial. Sunday wasn’t so easy and the worst sections were the ones I helped set. Steve Bird and I had set sections two, three, and four.

I cleaned every part of two, just never at the same time. I was terrified of three. At the top of the bank was a stump to ride over. On the first lap I bailed out and got a five but, by the end of the day I was cleaning it. On Sunday Kevin made some small alterations to four because the bank at the start was too difficult in the wet. Much to my annoyance I never cleaned it. On the last lap I got a five because I was going too fast and couldn’t stop myself from flying out of bounds.

Kevin also had to change the intermediate line on two. There was a difficult line to a log and a bank that was a bit more than intermediate.

I got through all the rest of the sections for less than a five and, on six of the eight sections, for less than a three.

The most annoying section of the day for me was five. The first lap I’d fought really hard for a three, got it, then completely forgot about the last small bank and got a five. It happens. You forget about flags and miss them. What shouldn’t happen is doing exactly the same thing on the third lap!

I rode with Kevin and Warwick. They are both miles ahead of me. Warwick got 16, Kevin got 34, and I got 81.

Phil Costello was riding A grade but wasn’t riding with us. He was racing around to finish quickly and only did three laps.

Hugo Neale was there on his Oset. It was cool to see him riding his first event.

I had a great day despite my score being a little high.

14th May, Ian Muirs, Whitemans Valley Road, Upper Hutt

Results

Some days you should just stay in bed. This weekend started with an argument and somehow never seemed to recover.

Mum and dad had gone to Cambridge for the last round of the National CC and then to Ohakuri (Atiamuri) for Round 1 of Sean Clarkes Dirt Guide series. I was home alone and not really sure what I wanted to do. In the end I decided that I wanted to go to the trial so I contacted Geoff for a ride to Wellington, and teed up uncle Robert to drop me at Geoff’s on Sunday morning.

Uncle Robert has never let me down. Without his help I would have hardly gone to any club events this year. Geoff also is a great help. I can usually rely on him to give me a ride. To say that I really appreciate it is an understatement. Geoff always stops at the BP in Otaki and Sunday morning was no different. As usual he shouted me a hot chocolate. It’s sort of funny because the people at the service station always seem to recognize us.

I haven’t ridden a muddy trial in ages and I just didn’t cope with the conditions. The sections seemed too tight and I just couldn’t get myself to commit to anything. On section eight I had a silly fall because I just wasn’t focused enough. I fell and jammed my thumb on a rock. Boy did it hurt! This section must have had a bit of a curse because Gerald Bull (one of the twin shock guys) had already had a nasty fall on this one and had needed assistance to get back to his car.

It was quite a high scoring day for everyone but especially for me. Along with Paul Wheatley, I got the most number of fives of anyone. I never made it through sections two, four and eight all day.

Eight was a bit of bad luck. The first time my back wheel skidded out because I picked the wrong line. I thought it would work but it didn’t. The second time was my silly fall, and the third time I stalled it.

Two had a steep bank with no run up. The first time I made this bank but then failed to commit to the last climb. The other times I never even made the first bank.

Four was a wickedly tight zig-zag up a steep hill where each turn involved footing. All the yellow riders struggled but I still think that I should have been able to three it. I should have been able to drag mysdelf through the first couple of corners but the last one was a bit steeper and harder and there never seemed to be enough momentum. By the last lap I had basically given up and didn’t even make a proper attempt. My excuse is that my thumb was sore and I was tired.

By the time Geoff dropped me back at Awahuri I was exhausted. It was an OK trial but not a great day.

7th May 2017, Maddix Park, Rowe Road, Tauranga

Results

On Sunday morning on the way to the event one of the observers thought he was going the wrong way so he turned around and ran into one of the other observers. They were OK but their utes were written off.

I didn’t like Sunday as well as Saturday. I thought that the yellow lines weren’t as well thought out as Saturdays were. I quite liked seven although, frustratingly, I never cleaned it. It was tight corners and hilly stuff which is usually my favourite sort of riding.

It took a while for prize-giving to start. By the time it started a lot of people had already left. I picked up Daniel Herbert and Jason Day’s trophies as well as my own. Carl Robson from Ixion picked up four or five trophies to take home for other riders. By the time he went up for his own trophy he looked a bit over it.

I had a bad day but Gabrielle seemed to be enjoying herself. She deservedly beat me by 11 points and it could easily have been more. For instance, the first time through section four, she rode really well and was just about to exit when her front wheel unexpectedly went sideways on a gravely slope and she was down. An unlucky five.

6th May 2017, Muirs Farm, 746 No 4 Road, TE PUKE

Results

I went up with Kevin Pinfold and Phil Stephenson. It was a bit weird. Mum and dad were travelling up at the same time but I couldn’t go with them. They had to take uncle Robert’s small Subaru, full of computers and stuff. Anyway, we stopped at gumboot town for dinner and, nek minnet, mum walked in to the subway. I’ve been to events without my parents but it seemed funny to be travelling seperately and bump into them.

We stayed at Andy Anderson’s. He used to be a Manawatu rider. We got to Andy’s at around 10:30. I took a while getting to sleep and woke up tired. On Saturday morning I was exhausted. I stumbled out of bed, got the keys from Kevin, went to the van and got my nutri-grain, and then, in full zombie mode, handed the keys back to Andy! Oops. They were both wearing the same chequered shirts and I was eyes down and not really paying attention. Embarressing.

Despite being exhausted I had a great day. I was having fun and that made me more confident which meant I attacked stuff harder, and rode better.  It is easier to clear obstacles than it is to push your bike over them. Because I wasn’t having to push all the time I stayed fresher.

My favourite sections were four and six. Section four was the boulders.  Over one smaller boulder, through a gap, then back over a much bigger boulder. The gap was tricky. It was much easier to miss it altogether but it was hard to get the right line off the first boulder because it was slippery. The scary bit was the drop off the top of the bigger boulder. It wasn’t actually that bad but the first time I couldn’t stop myself from dabbing before dropping over. But the bit that always worried me was the step up onto the first boulder. It was only about a metre but it was vertical and the top of the boulder was sloping and splippery. It always looked so easy to get wrong.

Section six was the first one in the trees. There was a steep, almost vertical climb of about 3 metres that caused me no end of problems. Nearly everyone else seemed to cope with it ok but I spent the first two attempts desperately scrambling to avoid a five. It involved a lot of pushing and wheelspin just getting up the last metre. However the real killer was  the basketball-sized rocks at the end. Over one group would have been bad enough but then there was a tiny square of dirt where you had to make a fairly sharp left hand turn and then up onto a confused mess of rocks and roots turning right to exit between two trees. It looked hard to get a three. It looked impossible to clear. On the last lap I had to use my foot to get into position for the exit rocks and then I nailed it. It was a bit out of control as I careened right and bounced through the finish flags, but I didn’t dab! I got a one.

At the end of the day I was surprised to see that I had beaten Gabrielle by 10 points. I have only beaten her once before so that was pretty cool.

9th April 2017, Opawe Rd, off the Pohangina Valley East Road, Pohangina

Results

I got a ride out to the event with Uncle Robert. I had to get there earlier than usual to help set up. Adrian Walcroft was going to do it, but something came up. I only set section five (5,3,3,2). All I did was copy it from last time we used that property.

My line went up a small bank then right in a sort of uphill corner, down a bit over the other side of the hill, along a bit, a right corner, through a tight squiggly bit of rocks that was way harder than I thought it was going to be, down a bank, round another tight right-hander, then up a bank (where I always dabbed at the top), then turn left along the side of the hill and out.

I rode A Grade in Manawatu for the second time. There was one or two sections that were too hard for me. Seven (3,3,3,5) had an extremely tight right hander that left you parallel to a bank that you then had to turn onto and go up. It had some stuff to ride over (a log, with a rock in front of it, etc) that was fairly difficult and, to finish it off, you had to go up a bank with a vertical rock at the top, then straight away go up another small bank.

Most of the event wasn’t too bad. I even cleared a section on my last lap that Kevin didn’t get all day (section one, 5,5,1,0). As well as that, section one had a tight left hander on some rocks. Kevin made it look hard and I, at least on the first and last lap, made it look easy. It was exactly my sort of corner.

On the third to last section (seven, my five) I fell and bruised my leg and re-hurt my wrist which I had fallen on last weekend. Up to being parallel to the bank I was cleaning it (I think) and I tried too hard to not put my foot down. In retrospect, I should have steadied myself with a dab.

Seven was a quite a major section for another reason. On the second time through the first tight corner I hopped my back wheel twice to the left without loosing my balance.

It was really good riding with Kevin. He seemed to be having quite a good time as well. I wasn’t quite sure sometimes if he was laughing with me, or at me. Section six (3,3,2,1) had a steep bank that freaked me out a bit so I was giving it heaps and wheel-standing over the top, almost flipping it. Kevin couldn’t hide his amusement at that one.

Merv gave me a ride home, as I live only ten minutes from his house. He was going to give Callum a ride as well but his van was getting full and Nick Parkinson was happy to drop Callum off.

Despite the sections being a bit hard for me and hurting myself I had a really good day.

2nd April 2017, Grant McEwen’s, Upper Durham Road, Opunake

Results

On Sunday morning I felt like I had just been hit by a truck. The last thing I wanted to do was move, let alone get on a bike. It didn’t help that it was drizzling. Once I was on the bike, however, things started to get a bit better.

My first lap could have been worse but still, it did not blow people away with its amazingness. Wayne, Luke’s dad, arrived near the end of the first lap for a look. Around the start of the second lap Craig, Wayne’s brother, also turned up.

The sections were down at the river, in a similar spot to the first day of the Nationals eighteen months ago.

The weather never let up. The drizzle persisted all day and, by the end of it, I was soaking.

Seven was my waterloo. Lap one was a stupid early slip on a mossy stone. Lap two was an even stupider fail on a boulder that I easily cleared the next time. By lap three I made it to the final bank where my nervousness stopped me committing fully. I don’t know whether or not I could have made it but it probably looked worse than it was.

My favourite section was three. A big boulder, up a bank, a right turn at the top on some small rocks, back down, veer left, up a bank capped by a small boulder that made the last 30 cm vertical, tight left, back down round to the right, and up an ugly looking bank, back down, u-turn, up a  slope, over a rock, sharp right, left over some rocks, and then out.

The sharp right at the end was what stopped me clearing this section. I sort of needed to be turning almost in mid air to easily get round.

I keep having what seems like bad luck. I would have cleaned section four on the last lap except the bike slipped into neutral. I can’t remember whether it was because I hit a rock or because it wasn’t properly in gear. On section ten I wouold probably have got another one but my fingers refused to respond when I asked them to pull in the clutch. They seem to get tired. Either my technicque is wrong or I am just not strong enough.

In the meantime, Wayne was getting a little frustrated with Luke. Luke was great but Wayne is way more experienced. On the last lap Wayne took over. He was much firmer, especially about getting me to slow down on the rocks, etc. He also made me walk all the sections again.

Daniel got 12 cleans, Gabrielle got four, and I got one. More importantly, Gabrielle got seven fives while I got eight. She should have beaten me. I don’t know how I did it but I just managed to beat her by ONE POINT! So, my second clean in yellow, and my first win, albiet scratchy, over Gabrielle.

A huge thanks to the Thompsons, I wouldn’t have coped without you.