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Stories: Hal Sanguinetti | Shawn Warner | Glad Bag Racing | Apr. 13, 2008 Race Report |
May. 18, 2008 Trials Report

Trials Report - 2/1/09

This past Friday, January 30th 2009, the 3rd event in the first full season of AVDRA trials...which was also a National Event, was completed by 12 riders at Speedworld Motocross Park.

The course consisted of 3 loops over 8 observed sections East of the National Track where the weekends vintage motocross races were held. All sections where laid out on the North and South side of the arroyo where Cross Country and GP events are typically held...this made for a few steep climbs and drop-offs. Also, since this was a National Event, Jim Rike and I thought we should step up the difficulty just a smidgen.

The trial began at 1PM after a brief Riders Meeting...which was heckled in good-nature by CAT regular Jim Wagner.

In an effort to keep the trial moving along, once underway we broke into two groups to buddy check each other...which would turn into three groups by the end of the event. One group started at Section 4, the other larger group started at Section 1. At this point I learned my first lesson of the day: "Make the first few sections, really easy sections...". Section 1 was difficult for those riding the 3 Line and Section 2 was difficult for everyone...a.k.a. the best any rider did at Section 2, was 2 marks riding the Expert Line. Sections 1 and 2 also started and ended on the same ledge above the arroyo...so that is where I learned my second lesson of the day "make sure you have enough room for more than three bikes in between sections, so you don't create a bottleneck". If either of these two sections caused you undue hardship or you felt you needed to seek counseling after the event...sorry, we will try not to do that again.

When the dust settled, scorecards were turned in and the jokes and heckling stopped...well, lessened anyway. The results for the National Trial were as follows:

Jim Wagner riding a Yamaha TY175 finished the Vintage Expert class with 27 marks. If you have ever ridden with Jim, or get the opportunity, you will find he really knows how to ride a trials bike and how to look for the best line; he also has the willingness and ability to pass-on that information...great you could join us Jim!!!

In the Vintage Intermediate catagory, yours truly rode a 1974 Montesa Cota 247 to earn 49 marks.

Their were four Vintage Novice riders, Buz Buring flew in from Washington DC and rode a borrowed TL125 Honda to take home the 1st Place Plaque with 54 marks. The guy that loaned him the TL, Bruce Sandground, came in 2nd position earning 61 marks. Bruce is the owner of the Tempe restaurant "Sign of the Whale"...stop by and have a burger on Sunday or Tuesday nights. I highly recommend the Fish 'n Chips too...and his mother-in-laws recipe for cole slaw is awesome.

AVDRA motocrosser Jim "Buckaroo Banzai" Rike rode his Ossa MAR to 3rd place scoring 69 marks...and Jerry Rewerts came all the way from Iowa to ride his beautiful BSA trialer to a 4th place finish earning 72 marks. Jerry gave us all a scare when he fell on Section 3 and rolled a few times downhill until he was stopped by a palo verde tree. A few spectators that witnessed the get-off said in unison "that is going to hurt tomorrow morning". There was also a fifth Novice...but only for 2 Sections. Joe Martin decided to enter the trial on a very hopped-up XL125, but after just two sections said this isn't the bike to ride a trial and departed...hopefully with enough interest and enthusiasm that we will see him again, riding a TL 125 maybe?

Riding the Twin-Shock Expert Class...Rich Palmer rode the event on his Montesa 348 with his typical smooth and deliberate style scoring 26 marks. Rich was also the lowest scoring rider of the day...Great Job Rich!!!

Riding the Monoshock Intermediate Line was Joe Reed, who "expertly" rode his Beta to a score of 27 marks. Did someone say "expert"...? Great Ride Joe!!!

In the Monoshock Novice catagory, William Henry rode to a 1st place finish aboard a Yamaha TTR125 scoring 72 marks...good to see you again Bill!!

The second rider in the Monoshock Novice class was Bob McDowell riding a borrowed 1985 Yamaha TY350. Bob was riding quite well when he put a foot down on the "Log Ride" Section 4 and aggravated an injury he received at a prior Cross-Country race...the pain was excruciating, so he rode in a golf cart back to the pits. At the end of the day I talked to Bob and he is fine, the pain subsided although he had a slight limp. And he remarked he has a knee-brace in his near future.

Peter Hardsteen also rode his first-ever trial aboard a very cool Honda RTL250. Peter signed up for the Beginner catagory since this was his first trial, and had yet to ride the RTL. After two Sections Peter upgraded himself to the 3 Line...which wasn't surprising to me, because Peter and I were in the same road racing school, earning our vintage road race license, at Sandia Raceway a few years ago. Peter earned 40 marks riding the RTL...great ride Peter, and we hope you ride with us again!!!

I'd like to think everyone had a great time...enoying the comraderie, the old bikes and the trial itself. I'd like to express much appreciation for those who took a day off work to come out and ride with us...thanks much.

Also a special thanks to Dave Boydstun and Nancy Ferguson of AMS Racing for their support...and Gary Johnson, Bill Henry's son and Dave Claytons two sons for helping clean up the course at the end of the event...and of course Jim Rike, Bob and Dianne McDowell for their efforts in the course layout. Your efforts are all greatly appreciated.

And finally...don't forget to mark your calanders: Saturday April 4th is the fourth and final event of AVDRA's first season of Trials.

Hope to see you then...

Trials Report - 12/27

Nine riders participated in the December 27th AVDRA Vintage Trial, the
2nd of a four event series and the first full season for AVDRA trials.

The observed sections were staked during the dry weather, then we had
a few days of heavy rain. While taping and marking the sections the
following weekend we made some changes…but not quite enough. During
the first loop we made additional adjustments to a few sections either
before all riders rode the sections or after all rode the section
once. The largest change was to avoid the arroyo that was fine sand
during the dry, but had been flooded to a sizeable pond from the heavy
rains.

As usual, Nancy Ferguson did a great job with organizing sign-up and
Pam Gorman helped with sign-up and was on-hand to help during the
event. Thanks a ton ladies.

Rich Palmer once again, showed us how it's done on his Montesa 348
riding the Expert Line in the Twin Shock class for a score of 41
points. A black and white photo of Rich and his Montesa from the last
event in October was on the event trophy…great ride Rich!!

AVDRA motocross fast guy Roger Kenyon rode with us for the first time
on a Kawasaki KT 250, that looked like it just rolled off the showroom
floor. Rogers's dry wit and expert riding skills scored him 37 points
on the Novice Line in the Twin Shock class while having a fun
afternoon on his KT. Hopefully we will see Roger and the green
machine again at coming events.

In the Vintage Category Robert Bergman rode his 1st ever trial on a
recently purchased early Honda TL 125 to score 45 points, edging out
Jim Rike who rode his Ossa MAR buckaroo-banzai style to 46 points.
Robert has been practicing on his Honda near his home so his skills
looked much better than a guy riding his first event. Great job
Robert...!!!

Yours truly rode a Yamaha TY 250 on the Intermediate Line scoring 53
points.

Veteran New England Enduro Rider Bob McDowell rode the AVDRA
Cross-Country in the morning and the trial in the afternoon on a
borrowed 1985 TY 350 in the Mono-Shock class. Bob rode the Novice
Line scoring 53 points and remarked on the 3rd loop that despite being
a motorcycle enthusiast for nearly 40 years, this was his first trial
and he learned lots…mostly to be successful, you need to really go
slower. Great job Bob and hope to see you ride with us again…!!!

There were three entrants in the "Run What Ya Brung" category. Joe
Reed rode his Beta Rev 3 to a very respectable 24 marks on the
Intermediate Line and Eric Hodgins rode his Yamaha-powered Scorpa 250,
also on Line 2, scoring 44 points. Great job guys and we appreciate
modern-bike riders joining us…

Also in the "Run What Ya Brung" class was Dave Fulkerson riding a
borrowed XR Honda. Dave rode sit-down style for most of the event and
scored 40 marks on the Novice Line. Thanks for joining us Dave, we
hope to see you again soon.

Also, we have always laid out a Line 4 for beginning riders…although
we've only had one person ride Line 4 for about 3 sections and then
asked to move up to the 3 Line. We try to make the Line 4 a learning
experience with safety being the biggest concern in the layout. We'd
like to see riders bring a buddy, wife, girlfriend or child to
participate…so we will continue to create a 4 Line. I am trying to
get my wife to participate at the next event and maybe she can bring
along a girlfriend who trail rides a TTR Yamaha, so they can learn and
have fun together. Pam Gorman has also expressed an interest in
giving trials a try…

Lastly, we appreciate all who rode with us Saturday…we hope you had a
good time, enjoyed the comraderie of a buddy-check trial and will ride
again soon with AVDRA trials. On that note, mark your calanders…the
next AVDRA trial is Friday January 30th. You've been working hard, so
take the day-off from work, sleep-in a little, watch cartoons, load
the bike and make a leisurely drive out to Speedworld, maybe eat lunch
on the way, for a 2PM start for the National Trial.

Hope to see you there…!!!

Trials Report

Shawn Warner

Summer is finally here, as the 6 entrants of the AVDRA Trial held on
Sunday May 18 learned the event was on the Valley's first 100 degF
day...!!!

The event consisted of 8 sections, most were on the tougher side with
several step-up inclines. During the first loop most of the days
participants achieved several "Five's"...largely due to
underestimating the traction available on the dry terrain.

The morning started with a cool (relatively speaking, of course)
breeze...however the first three sections were in the arroyo on the
East Side of the Speedworld property,and it was plenty warm below the
walls of the long trench. The first observed section was fairly easy
to warm-up, the second a little more difficult, and the third section
was the most difficult on the Loop...which offered three fairly steep
climbs to participants riding Line 1 or 2.

The Trial entries included 11 year old Mitch Warner riding the 4-Line
on his Orion pit-bike in the Mini category. Mitch scored a 46 for the
day, and several riders pointed out how well he did on a bike with
such small wheels. This was also Mitch's first-ever trial. Which was
timely, because he just recently gained enough weight to start the
125cc four-stroke on his own...!!!

Also riding the 4-Line and his first Trial, was Bruce Hulig on a
borrowed Honda Reflex. Bruce scored the lowest total for the day at
25 marks. And 24 of them were on the first Loop...so he was
definitely getting the hang of riding a trials bike. Bruce also
earned the respect of other riders as the most-colorful rider for the
day wearing his CZ motocross jersey and Harley-Davidson logo helmet.
Bruce remarked how Trials is much more social than motocross, so we
hope to see him riding with us again.

The third rider on the 4-Line was Zack Warner on his Yamaha TY 250
wearing the Monster Energy Drink jersey. Like Bruce Hulig, most of
Zack's marks were earned on the first Loop and he remarked how much
easier the 2nd Loop was by comparison.

The lone rider on the 3-Line was Jim Rike riding his Ossa Mick Andrews
Replica. Jim had some difficulty keeping the MAR running on the first
Loop. However, a new plug and some carb spray helped the Spanish
mount run much smoother for him for the remainder of the event.
Considering Jim's natural riding ability, he will be moving up to the
2 or 1-Line soon. Let's move 'em up...!!!

There were two riders on the 2-Line. Bruce Sandground riding his
Honda TL 125 dressed in Potomac Vintage Trials livery...and myself,
riding my Montesa Cota 247. Being the Trials talent he is,
Bruce made the decision to handicap himself early in the first Loop by
breaking both his clutch and brake levers. Riding with the broken
levers, Bruce ended his day with a score of 39 and I finished up with
29 marks.

Overall it appeared everyone had a great time, although it was quite
warm by the time we finished up. Thanks to everyone that attended,
and those that didn't make the event we hope to see you soon.

Also, special thanks to Nancy Ferguson for helping out with sign-up
and other administrative tasks...

Thanks again all.

AVDRA Series Sponsors

AVDRA ~ National Series Sponsor - Sun Cornerstone Group Inc.

AVDRA ~ National Series Sponsor - The Motorcycle Accessory Shop

AVDRA National Associate Sponsors

AVDRA ~ National Series Sponsor - MotoCenter

AVDRA ~ National Associate Sponsor - Mobley's Bultaco Parts

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