2009 Regional Event Results – Trials at WVMBA, Eleanor, WV – May 30th

The event turned out great!  This was the inaugural trials competition at the WVMBA Mountain Bike event in Eleanor, WV.  It was only the second year for the cross country so we are very excited to have trials included.  It was also a huge thrill to me to put on a trials event only an hour from where I grew up and cut my trials teeth.

When Larry Perkins first contacted me about this event last Fall and we met to look over the terrain options, I was a bit apprehensive.  There was very little trials material there.  However, then Larry told me that he had a friend who owned an excavating company and would bring in whatever we wanted.  I couldn’t have been more excited.  Imagine getting to build your own sections from multi-ton rocks, logs, concrete forms, spools and other wacky stuff!  It was a blast!

Larry also pointed me to some decent rocks on the hill by the XC trail.  When we looked at them in the Fall, they looked quite usable in the reduced foliage.  However, once Spring hit and everything grew up, they turned out to be less than ideal.  Nonetheless, Larry and I cleared a couple of fair sized areas and I broke out the old-school sections: rolling ups, slippery logs and off-camber, muddy hillsides.  I wondered if the Beginners would be able to “ride” them better than the Experts and Pros.  As it turned out, most everyone remembered how to ride their trials bike instead of just hopping.

Then came the man-made sections.  You will see in the pictures that I had some pretty cool stuff to work with.  I wish we had time to build more sections but we did well with what we had.  Even though I decided to run the event using NATS rules, these sections were really more like UCI ones.  Also, they proved quite a bit more challenging for the riders.  Expect more of the same next year.

I look forward to doing this event again next year.  The riders all seemed to enjoy themselves and several made a point to  say that they will come back.  Larry and the local spectators really seemed to enjoy seeing trials first-hand.  I have to thank all of the riders for putting in the travel time to get here and showing their appreciation.  Another thank you to my parents for their indispensible help.  And finally, a HUGE thank you to Larry Perkins and the Putnam County Park board for letting us put on this event!

Results:

Pictures

Rosenberg

Eberle

Eberle

Eberle

Eberle

Benson

Benson

Lodolfs

Janicki

Janicki

Glazer

Kleffman

Bayley

Bayley

Browne

Browne

Bennett

Bennett

Morgan

Thompson

Ligon

Ligon

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