Another fun-filled weekend at the Trials Training Center has come and gone. I always get anxious leading up to it and then a little depressed after it’s over. It’s stressful planning and making sure everything is ready. But, it is totally worth it. We always have a great time, I get lots of compliments and thoroughly enjoy seeing old friends and making new ones. This year was no different.
We had great weather again this year. Not a hint of rain and temperatures never went above the high eighties. The only complication was quite a few of the rocky areas we had used before were overgrown. I eventually found a decently open area but I still had to clear a few spots. After several hours, I set ten good sections, ripped out a bunch of poison ivy and poison oak, stirred up a hornet nest, and was bitten by a giant red ant. All in all, it was a typical year for the TTC.
I was glad to see a more even distribution of riders across the classes compared to last year. I always find it disconcerting to have no Beginners so I was quite pleased to have three this year. One of them was my riding buddy, John Winston, doing his first Trials competition ever. I think he rode quite well and should be ready for Sport next year. I also want to single out Nathan Hassler for winning the Expert class with some impressive riding. He won the Sport class last year and, as far as I know, did no other BikeTrials comps in the past year. He is a very talented young man, on both the bicycle and motorcycle. I hope to see him in more comps in the coming years.
As always, I have to give a huge thanks to everyone who helped out, especially my parents, and to the folks at the Trials Training Center who make it all possible. Also, thank you to all of the riders for coming out and making it an exciting event. I hope to see you all again next year.
By the way, all four Pro riders have expressed an interest in representing the United States at the UCI World Championships. As such, I will wait until I have the results from the T-Town Throwdown and know which of those riders are looking to go before I publish any details about the team.
Results
| Beginner (4 sections, 3 loops) | |||
| 1. | Tony Herald | 12 | |
| 2. | John Winston | 24 | |
| 3. | Gary Kyle | 37 | |
| Sport (4 sections, 3 loops) | |||
| 1. | Tim Cash | 6 | |
| 2. | Glenn Richardson | 8 | |
| 3. | Jordan Robison | 33 | |
| Troy Roberts | DNF due to shoulder injury | ||
| Expert (6 sections, 2 loops) | |||
| 1. | Nathan Hassler | 30 | |
| 2. | Christian Tucker | 51 | |
| 3. | JR Valandra | 53 | |
| Pro (6 sections, 2 loops) | |||
| 1. | Neil Willey | 10 | |
| 2. | Matt Meyer | 19 | |
| 3. | Dave Campbell | 24 | |
| 4. | Ryder Okumura | 25 | |
Pictures
Tucker
Tucker
Campbell
Campbell
Campbell
Winston
Winston
Winston
Valandra
Valandra
Valandra
Valandra
Valandra
Meyer
Meyer
Meyer
Meyer
Meyer
Meyer
Hassler
Hassler
Hassler
Hassler
Hassler
Willey
Willey
Willey
Willey
Willey
Willey
Okumura
Okumura
Okumura
Herald