Why Dont You?

[Bessell]

Why is it that only like 2% of british trials riders ride comps...

I want to know if you dont ride comps why dont you what is it about them that you dont like?

The cost?

Getting there?

Set up of them?

what is it?

What could we do to make more people go to comps?

Thanks

[gu trials]

i cant get down yorkshire and where most comps are due to cost and travel (i dont want that to sound like they are all down in yorkshire) i live in cumbria and there is only really blackpool one

[Matthew_Gibson]

Main reason why I didnt bother traveling is A)Never entered a comp before. Wouldnt know where to start at sections etc etc. there all at LEAST 2 hours drive away. and thats Blackpool. which is classed as too far north for some people. I suppose its just us Cumbrians that get forgotten.

THere plenty of good natty places in Cumbria that I havent touched. whats wrong with a comp in the lakes?? St Bees is one place thats awesome (well I think so)

[Bessell]

Main reason why I didnt bother traveling is A)Never entered a comp before. Wouldnt know where to start at sections etc etc. there all at LEAST 2 hours drive away. and thats Blackpool. which is classed as too far north for some people. I suppose its just us Cumbrians that get forgotten.

THere plenty of good natty places in Cumbria that I havent touched. whats wrong with a comp in the lakes?? St Bees is one place thats awesome (well I think so)

The not knowin where to start wouldn be a problem loads of people would help you out there, and they have a nice big sign sayng start and secton number. the driving thing is each to there own but many times do quite a few of us drive 3-5 hours each way to ride comps

[Revolver]

I don't do comps because I'm too pants at trials

=/

Also, I dunno where they are, or how to enter, or any of that.

I don't particularly mind not doing comps, for me its all about getting to strange places on my bike.

[Luke Rainbird]

The reason I have ridden comps in the past (albeit only a couple due to access) has been to try something a bit different with my riding. They've both been natural (as seems to be the norm) and that helped my riding no end; even just a day of riding teaches you so much it's insane! I couldn't care less for the actual competetive side of things - comparing myself to other riders doesn't really interest me all that much, I ride for fun not to be 'better' on a certain day/course than someone else - though i can see why to other people that may be important.

Each comp I've done I've met new people, all of whom have been a great laugh and despite riding differently to me (wallrides and spins are supposed to be commonplace on the moors, right?) or riding different bikes/sizes you instantly have a link with that person/group which makes the day all the more enjoyable

I feel the 'comp' scene could do with being made broader though, to both make comps more accessible for people who currently want to ride but can't and also to draw in new riders. It'd also be good to use these sessions to raise awareness of the sport, by way of making events more spectator friendly (very few people tend to stumble across a comp by chance).

I'd like to see the introduction of more 'jam' style events (red bull meets MAD Hop Idol meets DJ ride etc), along with the introduction of more man made or urban elements as opposed to the fairly monotonous format of X laps of Y sections over the rocks at location Z.

Still, that'd require someone to organise it and at present I haven't got the time to look into it myself, though if a few people (I know I discussed the idea briefly with Mr Rowlands before the summer) were interested in helping, or had contacts/info that could be of use, feel free to drop me a line

[Bessell]

The reason I have ridden comps in the past (albeit only a couple due to access) has been to try something a bit different with my riding. They've both been natural (as seems to be the norm) and that helped my riding no end; even just a day of riding teaches you so much it's insane! I couldn't care less for the actual competetive side of things - comparing myself to other riders doesn't really interest me all that much, I ride for fun not to be 'better' on a certain day/course than someone else - though i can see why to other people that may be important.

Each comp I've done I've met new people, all of whom have been a great laugh and despite riding differently to me (wallrides and spins are supposed to be commonplace on the moors, right?) or riding different bikes/sizes you instantly have a link with that person/group which makes the day all the more enjoyable

I feel the 'comp' scene could do with being made broader though, to both make comps more accessible for people who currently want to ride but can't and also to draw in new riders. It'd also be good to use these sessions to raise awareness of the sport, by way of making events more spectator friendly (very few people tend to stumble across a comp by chance).

I'd like to see the introduction of more 'jam' style events (red bull meets MAD Hop Idol meets DJ ride etc), along with the introduction of more man made or urban elements as opposed to the fairly monotonous format of X laps of Y sections over the rocks at location Z.

Still, that'd require someone to organise it and at present I haven't got the time to look into it myself, though if a few people (I know I discussed the idea briefly with Mr Rowlands before the summer) were interested in helping, or had contacts/info that could be of use, feel free to drop me a line

Think this seems to be the thought of alot of people.. but same as the have no time to make a change

[max-t]

I work Saturday nights most of the time and it's a pain in the ass getting to them even if I am up early in the morning transport is really crap. Trains don't run until 1 to Worcester and it's a pain in the ass for Mike or Matt to come pick me up. I entered one at Addingham though and really enjoyed it until it rained and my grips slipped off . I would recommend people to start though, it's great fun!

Edited October 7, 2008 by max-t

[Z o o !!]

Always wanted to have a go at em i suppose,

But im shite at natural riding, its hard for me to get to them ( i think ha ).

Dont really know how or when to enter ? and if you have to sign up before the first one of the season or you can just enter when you please?

Also ive heard talk of licences and stuff ? Many other reasons but im sure ive bored and you confused you enough already ha.

[gu trials]

would anyone consider a street comp ? walls, rails, crates etc ??

[SkiLLz]

I want to join one in a few months time but I'm scared So many good riders and I doubt I'll be good enough to match what they can do Plus the fact that I don't drive so i couldn't get to one and I wouldn't know where to begin at one.

[Luke Rainbird]

would anyone consider a street comp ? walls, rails, crates etc ??

Have a flick around for some info on the Exeter Indoor event from a while back; that was a HUGE success and for it not to be repeated/built upon would be a real shame

[DrDoom]

http://jforjustice.co.uk/banksters

[Ash-Kennard]

miles away, expencive, generally just mud, and i work saturday nights so feel like shit

[PaRtZ]

Have a flick around for some info on the Exeter Indoor event from a while back; that was a HUGE success and for it not to be repeated/built upon would be a real shame

http://tv.isg.si/site/filebrowser/partz

Exeter Final.avi

I enter comps and its a great laugh. I love the UK nationals... mostly because every round is different and they're spread all over the UK. Its such good fun going road tripping to scotland, or blackpool or surrey.

I guess some people just can't be arsed trying something different

[SkiLLz]

Not authorized to access that page

[PaRtZ]

Not authorized to access that page

how gay...Ill upload to trials tube one day. If you have a tv.isg.si account you can download it though

[SkiLLz]

I'll wait till you upload it

[JT!]

I rode tyke trials bike in 2004 i think.

Didn't enjoy riding in shit weather, and when it was good weather they put lines though streams, attitudes of other riders and observers were poor.

I think the main reason people don't go is that they're hard to get to.

[MattB]

Sometimes there hard to get too, espcially the ones in the middle of no where.

Crap weather and mud is very off putting.

The cost to some extent. But then if it was free the organisers wouldn't run them.

I think comps are a great laugh (espcially the last one in thetford) when the weathers good and your going round with mates ect.

Wanna enter some more in the summer.

Forgot to add more events like the EBTC brentwood demo. That was such a good day.

Edited October 7, 2008 by MattB

[psycholist]

To look at it from a completely different point of view - why should people be interested in competition riding in the first place when riding street locally with their friends was what got them into and keeps them interested in trials? There is a contingent of people who are willing to take even the most mundane activity and turn it into a competition (A good example I heard about a while ago was the UK hosting the world window tinting championships - yes they actually turned sticking sheets of tinted plastic onto car windows into an international competition ).

I'm guessing I'm not the only person here who likes trials specifically because there's no pressure to turn an activity i enjoy in my spare time into yet another tedious 'sport' - think about the pressure you'd get to join a local team if you happened to like kicking a soccer ball around but didn't like having to attend fixed training slots, match times etc.

If there were competitions local to me I might turn up, but based on my occasional messing with XC racing where I turned up, did the course (Occasionally even placing well) and realised at the end of it all that I didn't enjoy it anything like as much as just heading out on my own or with friends, with no fixed route, no pressure and no aggro, I've concluded that I prefer what I'm doing already to sucking the joy out of it by making it into a competition.

Based on the attendance at street rides in various cities around the UK, people are willing to travel for street sessions, so trials events rather than competitions seem to be the way forward if you're looking for numbers... In Ireland the biggest trials ride so far was in Galway a few weeks back with 5 people - though one bowed out pretty early after a nasty landing back wheeling a bollard, we had 4 in Limerick last weekend too. Given there are possibly 10 trials riders in Ireland, that's pretty good attendance, and it's growing as we're attracting more people to the rides we do as we go ...

[Rich Pearson]

I've got to say Adam, I love riding comps, its what I was brought up on as a trials rider, but there is one thing that is really making me step back nowadays; how seriously some people feel they need to take it. I know it sounds like a cop out, but I've never been to one single comp in my life that I havn't been there to have fun; getting up at 5am with my mum when I was 14 and driving 3 hours to ride somewhere like Hut Hill in the pissing rain and mud against three other competitors who I probably couldn't beat and paying £10 for the priveledge of doing so - I'd better damn well get some fun out of it. But there are so many people who can't see the fun side of a sport (sport: also referred to as a game. Game synonymous with fun. See where I'm going here?) and I just hate watching someone chuck their £1500 Koxx across a field because they messed up, or shouting at whichever respective parent has dragged their sorry ass all that way to ride. I can't be bothered with people like that, and I'm pretty sure that is why the UK has a relatively unregarded comp scene by the global community.

But I'll always go and enter the little comps on Dartmoor like the one on the 26th, where if people want to come along and see how relaxed a comp can be, they should check it out in the news section and come along.

Rich

[manuel]

1. Comps are pretty much to determine who is the best - I already know I'am the best.

2. Sections are too easy for me - especially the natural ones ...

3. People just don't take them seriously enough.

4. Nobody wears full lycra jumpsuits and pixie boots in fluro colours any more so I don't fit in.

I IS A LIAR

Edited October 8, 2008 by manuel

[Mr Rankin]

Comps rule......i personally travel a long way to ride the best comps there are and would recommend it to everyone. Improve your riding too.

Being competitive is not a bad thing imo. For example when i got riding in my local town or wherever, i go to improve my riding in ways that need improving so next time i come to an obstacle in a comp i am better equiped to handle it. Obviously i ride for fun, but to me the best feeling i get from riding trials is pulling off a move in a comp or cleaning a section when the pressure is on and you have one go at it.

just my personal view and totally understand if loads of people slate what i have just said

xxx

[Mark W]

Some people at comps were fun to be around, when I rode them. The Loughborough dudes were always sound as hell, and there were a good few people up for having a laugh, but after the millionth time you get snaked in a long queue by some Serious Business twat and their pushy parents it gets a bit tedious. It's sorta hard to have a laugh with people when some dickhead keeps pushing in in front of you, with their cock of a dad staring you out in case you point out that they're pushing in, or if you're having to ask a friend of your's to repeat themselves 'cos when they were talking to you some kid was throwing his bike and shouting and swearing because he was too shit to ride a section clean, and his Dad's joining in the shouting too.

The sections and stuff were usually fun (Only rode YMSAs), and even the long drives weren't bad, but the attitudes of what seemed like a growing group of riders really put me off competing any more. If I'm paying to ride somewhere, waiting to have 2 cracks at a set of sections having driven a considerable amount of miles, I'm not really up for some tools ruining it.

EDIT: Oh, and having some kid with his Dad standing with their arms folded trying to stare you out as you're riding a section is always good fun.