World trials round Maldon Vic

[GMC]

Not losing it, just balancing while preparing for the next obstacle



Then the leap



This wasn't even a section, it was just the trail to the next section!!

[Tony T]

Thanks for the pics, Geoffrey. 
I wondered if it would be possible to get good pics around the crowd......... you did!

[GMC]

[GMC]

Thanks for the pics, Geoffrey. 
I wondered if it would be possible to get good pics around the crowd......... you did!

Thanks Tony, yes it was hard to get aound spectators, trees, shrubs, rocks, officials and minders while looking for a good angle for a photo.
Then there was sunlight to consider.
Took just over 800 shots, still working my way through them.
I like the way some of the sequence shots tell a story.

[smed]

Top pics GMC,did you notice a lot of the bikes had solid rear sprockets,some had sponsors logos all over them & some had fake painted on lightening holes ,perhaps solid is less prone to bending on rocks,also most run conventional forks not upside down,less prone to the chrome being damaged by rocks maybe

[Tony T]

Pardon my ignorance, but do the rules allow for being stationery and even going backwards these days?

[firko]

Jeez I'm disappointed I had to miss this event. We were all set, had a place to stay and all but I went and got sick and had to cancel. Bummer.

[tony27]

Main reason for running conventional forks is stiffness, the usd forks twist too much & go through fork seals on a regular basis on trials bikes.
The first manufacturers to change to conventional forks did so in the early 90s with all of them having swapped by about 95, Beta tried usd forks again in 2000 but they were so bad that a ugly afterthought fork brace came out during the year to stop the twisting, next year was back to conventionals

Current rules allow stationary balancing but not riding backwards, not 100% sure if at world level hopping either wheel sideways while stationary is legal at the moment

[GMC]

I was a bit ignorant of the rules too Tony, last I heard stopping was banned.
It seems that stopping and bouncing to turn is now in but they have a 90 second limit in which to complete each section.
Interesting to hear the minders yelling out the time as the rider goes through the section, they get real hyper near the end of a difficult section when time is tight.

[Tony T]

Thanks for that, GMC.
I was the same in that I thought the stationery/going backwards thing was still out. I've loved the videos I've seen from the event and I'm really sorry I missed it.
A mate of a mate owns land there and I could have camped for free, but had to shoot a wedding instead. 

[2T_vs_4T]

An excellent event with all the top guys, even saw Dougie Lampkin there too, he's was wearing a manufactures bib and checking the scores at the end of each section, must have something to do with Gas Gas, after retiring from World Trials before the start of the season. I even got a chance to hold on to Adam Raga's Gas Gas at the start of Section 3 on the final lap on Sunday afternoon, his mechanic ask me to hold it while he checked the tyre pressure so I got James to take a pic for prosperity (he's the son of friend, the five of us drove 18 hours from Brisbane).

[Canam370]

Top pics GMC,did you notice a lot of the bikes had solid rear sprockets,some had sponsors logos all over them & some had fake painted on lightening holes ,perhaps solid is less prone to bending on rocks,also most run conventional forks not upside down,less prone to the chrome being damaged by rocks maybe

 smed, a few of the sprockets I saw that looked solid were only conventional sprockets with a translucent cover over them. I presume this would be to stop sticks etc getting trapped in the sprocket holes causing a wheel hang-up.
 What an awesome event. It was a feast of people watching in the crowd too - ran into heaps of faces!
 It was also fun watching riders and minders doing sneaky gardening. Some of the minders worked as teams; one to distract the observer and the other to take care of business! The observers had to work closely together to maintain control in the section as plenty of riders/minders were playing the game.

[Tex]

Some pics I took here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/94704762@N00/sets/72157629943320498/

Tex

[David Lahey]

Trials can be run to different rules. At present the WTC rules allow stopping and hopping, but their 90 second rule greatly limits the amount of stopping so you don't see much.
Aussie trials can be run to the same rules, or with no time limits, or with stopping not allowed. There is even the ability to run a trial to rules that allows reversing.
Most trials in Australia nowadays are stop-allowed, without a time limit. There are some Aussie twinshock and classic trials that are run to no-stop rules

[Canam370]

Some great shots in that lot Tex.