Observed Trials Riding

Observed Trials Riding

by Chad Ison

Publication Date: 6/2000

Bike Trials is a sport that emphasizes precise balance and control while riding over a designated area of difficult terrain without using your feet to regain or retain balance. Events are conducted over an obstacle course including such natural or man-made hazards as mud, rocks, water, logs, walls, pallets, cable spools, picnic tables, cars, etc., and can have any number of sections. It is not a race. Only one rider is "observed" at a time. It is slow, sometimes so slow that a rider may even stand still or back up, as long as he does not put a foot down while he's doing it.

Trials could be compared to golf. In golf you play a hole starting with a score of zero. You then move to the next hole and again start with zero. When you are done, the person with the least number of combined strokes is the winner. In a trials competition, the riders will ride a designated piece of artificial or natural terrain called a "section" starting with a score of zero. Each time they have to put a foot or hand down (dab) they are scored a point by the observer. Each dab (foot or hand) adds a point to the rider's score. They then ride down the trail to the next section, where the process starts all over again. The rider with the lowest total score wins the event.

The range of skills and techniques employed by the best riders is deceptively varied, subtle, complex, and at times, brutal. Imagine trying to fling yourself and your bicycle up and over a three-foot boulder. Or edging down a ten-foot four-by-four strategically placed between two large wooden cable spools; then hopping two to three feet from one spool to another before landing on the ground and charging your way to the top of a car. How about leaping and balancing your way up a mountain stream loaded with rocks, logs, boulders, tree stumps and waterfalls? That's only a part of what an observed trials course can hold for the rider.

Observed trials is a battle between the rider and the terrain. He who makes the fewest mistakes wins. And, since it is a solo battle, a rider can practice at home, in the woods, or the city - even on level ground, perfecting skills such as balance, turning, and brake control. Trials-type obstacles can even be setup in one's backyard to practice on.

Bicycle trials, or trialsin in Spain, or Cyclotrials in England, started slowly in America. Bike Trials comes from Motorcycle Trials. Motorcycle trials riders wanted to give their kids something to practice on before moving up to motorcycles. Some of the kids grew up to love bike trials more.

There are four different classes at competitions in the United States - Beginner, Sport, Expert, and Pro. Depending on your class, you have either two or three minutes to complete one section. There are usually about five different sections that are done in order two or three times. One penalty point is given each time riders touch the course with one part of their body. Five penalty points are given when riders touch the course with more than one part of their body. When a rider reaches five penalty points in one section, they are finished with that section until the next loop.

There are two categories of competition, one for each kind of trials bike:

Stock Bike Class - This is for all riders on traditional, unmodified mountain bikes with a minimum 40" wheelbase, functional rear deraileur with five or more gears, no skid plate, no more than 10 1/2" chain-ring clearance and chain-rings on one side of bottom bracket only and a minimum of 26" front wheel and 24" rear wheel. A typical stock bike section might require the rider to negotiate tight turns on level ground, logs under eight inches, hills with questionable traction, and drop-offs of less than two feet. Stock bike sections designed for riders with Beginner to Sport skill levels serve as an orientation to the flagging system and bike handling skills used in observed trials.

Trials Bike Class - This is for competitors with modified bikes, minimum 20" wheels, brakes on each wheel, propelled by a pedal-crank system. Trials bike sections can have turns that are tighter than the turning radius of most bikes, unlimited logs or rocks, with vertical faces, drop-offs, double logs, plus all combinations of any type of surface traction.

During competition a rider may repair or replace the bicycle between sections. If a rider replaces the bicycle, it must be of the same type and must be approved by the event director. Any bicycle that is determined by the event director to be dangerous will not be admitted to the event.

If a rider is competing in both stock and modified classes in the same competition, the rider must choose to complete one class or the other first. The rider must then do the entire competition for that class before starting the next class.

An organizer of a trials event must discover, design, clear and mark sections. The terrain chosen must be carefully marked with boundaries for each skill level and must have start and end gates. Small changes in the amount of room prior to an obstacle, or in the riding angle across a slope, can have a major affect on turning room or traction. So, a trials event can be quite mental, for not only the rider but the organizer as well.

If you add the mental aspect to the physical, note the extraordinary range in skill levels between a Novice and an Expert, and appreciate a wide range of naturally beautiful terrain - then perhaps you will begin to sense the attraction this sport offers its enthusiastic followers and participants.

For more information on Observed Trials Riding, check out the following website: http://biketrials.com/