Madison Heights 19NOV2023

From the mind of our host, Ed Beehler

“Once upon a time in a land, far, far away…….

Considering how it started, the final CVOTC trials event of 2023 ended well.  Twenty-five riders showed up at Madison Heights to enjoy a day in the woods looking at rocks, leaves, trees, logs and pondering the best lines thru Mother Nature’s obstacles as envisioned by our Trialsmasters, Mark Barnette and Gary Heyer.

Dry weather and gusty winds meant the sections contained many more leaves than usual which added uncertainty and difficulty.

The Rider’ Meeting started on a very heavy note with the announcement of the demise of Mark Barnette’s ego; RIP.  The cloud of emotional gloom was significantly denser than the smoke from the ongoing forest fire 20-miles to the west.  The sole surviving Trialsmaster, Gary Heyer, described the gruesome event in detail.  Teary eyes were common throughout the usually festive crowd.  Many considered loading up the bikes and going home immediately.  After much debate, it was decided that Mark’s ego would have wanted us to continue the event in its (pronoun unknown) absence.  “One foot in front of the other soldier!  One foot in front of the other!”

Considering the time of year, the weather was close to perfect.  The day started out as chilly and ended up in the low 60’s.  A little bit of rain earlier in the week would have increased traction considerably on the hillsides.

The riders broke up into 4 groups.  Five riders in the Expert/Advanced group, 7 riders in the Sportsman (gender blind at best) group, and 7 riders in the Intermediate/Vintage Intermediate/Novice group, and 6 riders in the Exhibition group.

The Intermediate/Vintage Intermediate/Novice group was a wonderful mixture of varied ages, talents, riding styles.  All had some rides that were impressive as well as some that were discouraging.  A frequent comment in this group that followed a less than stellar ride was “I really do need to practice more….”

As usual, rider comments varied from the lines were “too tough” to the lines were “just about right.”  The eternal quest for the perfect event for riders of various skill level continues.”

Results:

EXPERT

Erik Salmela 5

ADVANCED

Martin Sturla 12

Mike Mazak 25

Joe Palrang 26

Paul Fuelling 33

SPORTSMAN

Pawel Bistram 13

Alex Koper 19

Matt Simpson 21

Bryce Lunsford 40

Bernd Koper 52

Berndie Lunsford DNF

VINTAGE SPORTSMAN

No entry

INTERMEDIATE

Rusty Lacy 56

Kim Brown 69

VINTAGE INTERMEDIATE

Michael Friesen 31

Scott Porter 41

NOVICE

Kim Fuelling 16

Nadine Petruccelli 61

EXHIBITION

Ash Harrison

John Hendricks

Josh Hendricks

Gary Heyer

Christian Alva

Mark Simpson

Leslie Matheson

Rick Schill