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Looking Back: 25 Years of Trials in Lanark

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“Observed Trials” is a sport like no other in all of motorsports. It isn’t about speed but control, and not about how fast you get through a section of rough terrain but how “cleanly” you do…or if you do! Points are accumulated for putting your feet down, stopping, stalling, falling or going out of the marked off “observed” sections of a riding course. Like golf, the least points at the end of the day wins. Unlike golf, it is a great use for a piece of rural property!

Trials is the oldest form of motorcycle sport, and one the BMA has been involved with for over 50 years. It has evolved with the technical developments of bikes, and today would be unrecognizable to early participants where just getting through a rugged piece of countryside on a fragile turn of the 20th century bike would be an achievement. In fact, the sport has changed a lot just in the last 25 years.

In the late 70s I moved to the Ottawa area with my family when I was thirteen. Thanks to my father, I grew up around trials and had already ridden several events with my Honda TL125. In new surroundings, I soon found out that a group called the Bytown Motorcycle Association ran trials events at Hazeldean near Kanata. In fact, this was the last active area of the “old” BMA after many years of MX and other competition. I participated in a couple events there with the Honda, beating myself up pretty good in the process. Soon I had a street license and was out of dirt riding for a while, as the old BMA finally succumbed to inactivity.

It wasn’t long however before things would go full circle. Trials bikes were changing radically with the monoshock revolution of the 1980s. The sport itself changed and sections became much more difficult. Only the best riders could fully exploit the new machines while a large glut of twinshock bikes left over from the 1970s trials “boom” period were suddenly uncompetitive.

Before long, vintage (or twinshock) events became popular, catering to these bikes (and riders?) not quite up to the rigors of modern national events. In the

Ottawa area, Dave Makin soon started running events in conjunction with the Canadian Vintage Motorcycle Group (CVMG, who had started to do the same in other regions). Dave had recently purchased a property in Dalhousie Township, which was perfect for events since it offered a great variety of terrain and potential sections in a relatively compact area. Lots of elevation, trees, mud, roots, rocks and water could be found and worked into events, and have been for 25 years now.

“UNLIKE GOLF, TRIALS

IS A GREAT USE FOR

A PIECE OF RURAL

PROPERTY”

I soon picked up a 250 Honda trials bike, which I rode for many years. For a period the CVMG schedule was packed with numerous spring and fall rounds with upwards of 40 riders competing at Lanark, Christie Lake, Wakefield and elsewhere. A wide variety of machinery could be observed from English 1960’s BSA singles and Triumph twins to 1970s Spanish two strokes such as Montesa, OSSA and Bultaco. Survivors of the earlier Japanese flirtation with trials bikes were present, with almost every brand represented: Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki and even Hodaka.

In more recent times the Lanark trials tradition continues on with a couple dozen riders coming out to a spring and fall event each year. A lot of water has run through the sections over the years, with many faces coming and going. However the theme of good and safe (but not always clean) fun remains. Ironically some machines that were running modern events 25 years ago are in the vintage class now while most of the old British bikes and even Spanish two strokes once prominent have now largely disappeared from events. Of course, the early monoshocks are now 25 years old and the definition of “vintage” has changed, as even air-cooled, drum-braked monos now have

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Looking Back: 25 Years of Trials in Lanark

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dedicated classes in places.

A good turnout of riders including BMA members was present for the 25th anniversary event September 26. It can be difficult to build sections catering to a large discrepancy of machinery and rider skill level. As Dave Makin noted, the range of bike and rider ages in attendance again surpassed 50 years! However as Dave and crew showed, it can be done successfully and four lines of difficulty in each of the ten sections (times four loops) could be found catering to novice riders, intermediates, advanced and expert monoshock riders. As always some old favourite sections were used, or re-used with new twists, and a good variety or terrain could be found with something for everyone. With many lines to choose from, something suitable existed for every bike, from my 1950’s Ariel to 1970’s twinshock bikes through to Dave Southam’s

trick new 2009 Montesa-Honda 4RT. The machine that has won the World Trials Championship for the last four years with Spaniard Toni Bou.

Here, of course, you won’t find the high-flying, rock-hopping acrobatics that is the World Championship. Those guys are simply from another planet and even top national level riders from many countries struggle to compete at that level. Club trials are a little more down to earth, appealing to mere mortals. It takes time to get good at trials and, unlike roadracing or MX, you can’t even ride the same course as your heroes. Instead, you are relegated to the “bunny hill” that is the novice line for the first while! However, continued efforts will be rewarded with more challenging sections as well as skills of balance, throttle control, wheel placement and line selection that will translate into other bike sports. While the glossy US dirt bike

magazines often promote MX as the route to off-road racing “stardom”, trials riders know otherwise! Just ask WEC champions such as David Knight, Kari Tiainen and Giovanni Salo.

As always we will never break any motorsports attendance records. That’s OK though. Trials riders remain a loyal and dedicated group who can and do participate in the sport for many decades. While events will tax your ability, the speeds involved generally mean you can count on making it to work on Monday despite any “getoffs”. However, the sport will always suffer a little in this era of the two-minute attention span. Proficiency takes a little time to develop and a new rider that gets beat up and spit out at an event is often likely to not be seen again. Successful organizers such as Dave always go out of their way to ensure there is a novice- friendly line and even some coaching available to rookie riders to help the learning curve, in addition to a warm welcome. If you have always been curious to give it a try, beg borrow or steal a trials bike and try to come out next year.

Thanks go out to Dave Makin for 25 years of great trials riding and memories.

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