It was a great show... Funny how sometimes you just have to say why not just give it a try. It was too bad I only got to go to the first day before heading out on vacation... thank goodness for Stephane and Steve not to mention all the riders that really made it happen. If Paul-Yvan had not commited to riding all 3 days it would have been a real show stopper.
It all started last year you can read the whole story on the NS Dualsport forum as I just tacked this years event onto last years thread...
http://dualsport.ca/Forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9479&PN=1&title=ns-indoor-trials-eventLast year I basically just dragged in a car and then hobbled together whatever I could find around the arena and we just had local riders. This year Stephane said he could ask his friends from QC to join us and he could build a few obstacles (a bit of an understatement... it cetainly up staged last years show
.
The real point of the shows are to promote off road riding in NS... Trials is just a bonus. It is great to have a mic infront of a large group of people so you can really let them know what the riders are doing and how much fun it is... I always say this isn't like TV please do try this at home
... It is surprising how many people come up and say they had no idea people did trials riding any more.
As far as the Maritime Riders I bought my bike in July of 2008 and at that time I was aware of about 4 riders but knew there were a few more out there... currently I have an email list of 31 people (plus I know of one trials rider that doesn't want to be on my list) of the 32 people - 21 actually have trials bikes the rest are interested in getting one or have ridden at events by borrowing a bike. It seems every year we add a couple of riders. I started putting on trials events the end of 2009 the first one involved getting Stephen Fotheringham and his son to come down from Quebec and put on a training day for all types of riders... after that I started putting on actual trials events and each one gets a bit better than the last as I can reuse sections and terrain that has already been cleared out a bit. I have tried for 3 events a year for the last couple of a years. I have yet to go to a trials event that I didn't put on so it is hard to compare.
I think having a set practice day has also been a big help even though we don't get many bikes out but if anyone wants to give it a try they know where we can be found and we are always willing to loan a bike if somebody wants to try it.
I would like to see more junior riders get involved and we may need to set up sections specifically for trail bikes to encourage kids to come out and try the sport without a big investment... just as a fun way to spend a day with like minded kids... adding an Oset class would be a dream come true... I have talked to Oset and they are very supportive but I just don't have it in me to invest in a stable of bikes for kids to use (and get hooked on trials
).
I think it is great to keep communications open and keep supporting each other across the country... the WTC has been very supportive and when riders like Stephen Fotheringham, Paul Yvan Belanger, and Jonathan English volunteer their time (and their kids time) to help promote trials riding outside their local riding areas it really shows how strong a trials community we have and is certainly something I am very proud to be part of.
It also really makes a big difference for me when people send feedback so thanks for the asking
!!!
Cheers,
Michael
