Trials and Tribulations

[m0t0-ryder]

Trials and Tribulations

Trials: a chance to test something out; a test.
and
Tribulations: a trying period or event; adversity

Observed Trials has been around since the 1960’s and has it’s largest following in the UK and Spain .
There are participants throughout the world though.


Today I went and watched the Expert level trials riders at Hollister Hills Upper Ranch.

If you didn’t catch it I had covered the Vintage trials at the same location on Saturday.
If you are not familiar with Trials motorcycle riding check out my first post for a briefing of the rules.

You can see the post on South Bay Riders Here.
Or on Pashnit here.

(same post on both forums)

I asked a few questions of the Ridge Runners, who were the group putting this event on.
These folks have been holding Trials events for over 40 years throughout Northern and Central California.
I was told that this was the first time this event has been held at Hollister’s Upper Ranch.
They had held events in the past (over 5 years ago) at Hollister Hills Lower Ranch but because the lower park is open to the public it was difficult managing the event w/o interference from the general riding public.

The Ridge Runners worked with The Hollister Hills rangers and came to an agreement on the use of the Upper Ranch and the location and placing of the trials sections.
I was told that the rangers were favorable to this event because it didn’t have a lot of riders riding fast all over the park. It was/is much easier to control and a lot less risky (due to the low speeds involved with trials riding) and a lot less destructive of the terrain since each section of the trials was in a very small area.
I sure hope it was a success and that they will be able to have a repeat event in the future.


Today’s event had 10 sections and each rider rode each section 3 times (three “laps”).
The classes today were Sport, Intermediate, Master and Expert.
As you would expect from an “Expert” level challenge the sections were much more difficult than the Vintage trials held on Saturday. They did still have different routes thru them based on the 4 levels of the competitors.
A few of the sections were in the same place as Saturday’s Vintage event but the lines were changed to throw some crazy obstacles at these exceptional riders. There were also a few completely new sections from Saturday.

Before the event started I rode around the course and checked out each section while the riders were at the riders meeting. There were many sections that I could not walk or climb up. Not without a rope or something to help me anyway.

What you will see next are some of the pictures of different riders challenging the terrain in different sections.
I apologize for the blurriness you will see in some of these photo’s. I was aiming at the obstacle and did not pan with the moving rider. The darkness of the tree sections also contributed to the shutter speed the camera (on auto) chose for the light condition.

Here’s a high level view of one of the sections. (section 7)


In the next pictures this section had the riders going up the hill over this horizontal tree, loop around an upper obstacle then come back down and jump back over the same horizontal tree.

First the Expert rider had to get “up” the hill by going over the tree.


Then he came back down and over the tree.
Yes, although somewhat out of shape this rider did land this jump and rode thru the finish w/o dabbing!


Here’s another Expert rider who has just jumped over the tree on his way back down.
He also landed this without dabbing.
Of course he first had to jump up and over the tree to get to where you see him here.


Here’s a Master level rider going over the “easy” side of the tree. (easy???)


Here’s an interesting “ghosting” shot of an Expert rider coming off the tree.


This section called for going up a creek bed, climbing the bank (with no room for a run up to build speed) then going back down the bank into the creek, continue up the creek and exit the other side.
Here’s a shot of a rider climbing out of the creek


Here he is going back down into the creek.


In the next section the Masters and Experts had to jump over another horizontal tree stump.
Here’s a rider just after he has lofted his front tire onto the stump… at speed.


Here he is coming back over another part of the same tree.

[m0t0-ryder]

Here’s a shot of another rider as he completes clearing the same stump as above.


The next section you see called for a big jump to get up onto a large rock.
This was in the shaded woods so the clarity of these pic’s is pretty poor.

Here’s a rider after he has jumped and is on the rock.
This pic does a good job of showing the vertical height needed to get atop this rock.


Here’s another rider just about ½ way to the top.
As you can see these sections drew spectators as well as other riders waiting their turn and looking for just the right line.


In this section there is another horizontal tree branch to clear.
This rider is about ½ way over it.


Same place but this rider is nearly over the tree branch.

[m0t0-ryder]

In this section there were various rock walls that had to be climbed or descended.
Masters to the right of the split sign


Experts to the left.


Again, from a different angle…
Masters to the right


... Experts to the left


There was another rock wall to climb here too.

[m0t0-ryder]

So it seems the theme here is trees and rocks.
OK… I have saved the best rock section for last.

If you checked out the Vintage event photos (from Saturday) you will probably remember this section.
They used the same section for # 5 on Sunday but completely changed the lines to be taken.
They threw in a few walls and rocks

Yes, he is going over that large rock.
You can see the “observer” standing on the rock holding a fist up, indicating no dabs.


Now this rock obstacle doesn’t look as bad.
Same rider, still “clean” (no dabs)


Next up is a wall climb.


And what goes up… must come down.


Here’s a rider “setting up” to go over a rock.
They will hop the bike, sort of like it’s a pogo stick, to move it around without going forward or backwards.
This is how they often set up or align themselves for the next obstacle in a section.


Here’s an expert going up and over one of the rock obstacles.




Once again defying gravity as he climbs a wall.

[m0t0-ryder]

OK, the preceding photo’s were from section 5.
Now we will move onto the gnarly rock section, section 7.
The first picture of this post is an overview of this new section (7).

This riders name is Cody Webb from Watsonville and he is the # 2 rated trials rider in the US.
He is 18 years old (from what folks said) and IMO was the best rider out here today.
Here he is heading into the start of section 7.


Here the observer doesn’t even have to take his hands out of his pockets.
Cody cleaning another part of section 7.


While on this rock section I had a problem getting far enough away w/o falling off the rocks.
So the next few photos have clipped off some of the rider as I was just too close to get them all in.
This clean jump from rock top to rock top was quite impressive!

(and yes, it was quite a ways down if you fell off the back side)

I believe the next photo to be my best picture of the day and am really sorry that I didn’t get the top of Cody’s head in the shot. It would be a total stunner if I had.
When I set up for this photo I was as far back as I could get w/o going over the edge.
This shot shows Cody jumping over one rock. What it doesn’t show is him landing on his rear wheel on another rock, balancing for a second or two then jumping down to the ground below to clean yet another section.


Here’s another rider on the rock section.
As you may notice the riders would occasionally take a dab and accept the point (against them) so they could line up for the next portion of the section. Hey, better than falling and getting a 5.
This rider is wheeling his bike into position, with a dab, so that he can continue on.


Now he’s set up to continue on. (no dab here, just balancing on skid plate)
He is rocking the bike in an effort to get the rear wheel back into contact with the rock, so he can power the rest of the way over the rock.


To get between these sections the riders (and me) got to ride the trails. There were directional arrows and ribbons to direct us from section to section. (no judging here, just riding)
It was just under 6 miles for the total loop.
To get from section 9 to section 10 they had directed us down a rain rutted path that was pretty damned technical itself.
On my second run thru this section we were confronted with a couple of 4x4 vehicles working their way up.
They stopped long enough to let us get by them.

If the second 4 wheeler hadn’t been there I would have just gone under this guy!
As it was I needed help getting the KTM up the short bank to get above and around this wheeler.

[m0t0-ryder]

Here’s a couple of the trophy’s that were up for grabs at this event…
The British American Cup Challenge aka Derek Belfour Trophy.


Looks like Lane Leavitt had a nice winning streak


As did Webb & Leduc.


There was also the Lane Leavitt Challenge trophy.


With past winners names engraved on the back.
(sorry for the poor picture)

[m0t0-ryder]

OK, so the event was over and the judges were tallying points.
Since I had never had the opportunity to ride Hollister’s Upper Ranch I headed out to get a view of the place from the top. Here’s a photo I got while on this excursion…
This is looking West Northwest. You can see a quarry (white area above the KTM) and a winery (through bushes in front of KTM). These are off of Cienega Rd. well past Hollister Hills Park


While I was up there I heard a wheeler coming my way.
Shortly thereafter this Volvo came around the corner.
Now THIS is a cool looking rig.
First time I had ever seen one.


Hope you enjoyed my pics from this event.

If you ever get the opportunity to go see a trials event you should really do it.
Just watching these guys gives a person a whole new perspective on what a motorcycle can go over.
But… I would leave the really difficult stuff to the pro’s.

[xmailman]

Cool pictures. The part you forgot (what?) was that in most trials events when you come down some steep embankment you have a hard turn at the bottom. They, the organizers, never throw in a nice simple roll out, too easy.

If you get a chance go to an indoors trials if they come back to the bay area. Couple of years ago it was at the Cow Palace. Huge man made obstacles that the riders go over. If there is a tie in points then they do the course timed. Lowest time wins.

I'll look to see if I can find an old post on the event. It was so... awesome.

Bill

[demenshea]

Wow, John, that must have been something to witness. Some absolutely amazing riding going on there, especially since there seems to be a lack of seats on the bikes. Gotta stand for those manuevers!! Man!! Amazing.

GREAT photos John!!! thanks!

[Orson]

Thanks for posting

I've always enjoyed watching trials