Lawless Creek, 5MAY2024

Trialsmaster, Berndie Lunsford, kept an eye on the weather forecast leading up to the event.  As much rain as was falling in surrounding areas, Blairs, VA was escaping the precipitation and Berndie reported all is well and the event is on.  That was a good call.  Mother Nature decided at the last minute to provide moisture to the overly dry terrain.  There was not tire swallowing deep mud anywhere however there was a thin layer of slick as s*** clay soil in some sections. 

I don’t believe there’s anything more challenging for a Trialsmaster than setting up an event in the dry and then getting rain the night before.  Some of the nine (9) sections that were perfectly designed for class difficulty turn to so slippery that walking sections became difficult. Putting a foot down to dab might result in a slip and failure.  Scores that might have been as low as single digits were many multiples higher.  Pretty amazing that in the Advanced class there were two tie breakers and overall scores within classes were close.  A “post-mortem” review of photographs from the event revealed that the Sportsman riders got a little creative with their line selection in at least one section.  I know the Twin Shock riders did the same in one section trying to keep the section challenging while removing the potential of a dangerous failure.  Riding at the club level has many advantages and on Sunday, modifying a line was key to maintaining fun in at least one of the nine sections.  After three loops and then assembling for the results and trophy ribbons, the sun came out and allowed for catching up with fellow riders, sharing experiences of the day and cementing the fact that it was indeed a great day.  Thanks Berndie!

Results:

EXPERT

 Jeff Hensley 49

David Webster 59

ADVANCED

Paul Fuelling 48

Mike Mazak 58 (7-cleans)

Alan Hensley 58 (4-cleans)

Martin Sturla 64 (9-cleans)

Joe Palrang 64 (7-cleans)

Alex Koper 70

Ed Romney DNF

SPORTSMAN

Bernd Koper 66

John Hendricks 77

Ash Harrison 82

INTERMEDIATE

Ken Prevost 32

Brian Merritt 65

Kim Brown 83

Scott Barber DNS

Rusty Lacy DNS

TWIN SHOCK INTERMEDIATE

Scott Porter 44

Jim Ellis 62

Michael Friesen 67

Rick Schill (EXH) 29

EXHIBITION

Randy Herndon

Joshua Hendricks

Kim Fuelling

Keith Bell DNS