Shan’s Texas Trials Notes… « Trials and Enduro News

3May/110

Shan’s Texas Trials Notes…

Shan’s Texas Notes:

Andrew Oldar on one of the "massive slabs" of Texana Ranch.

The National Trials opener in Blackwell, Texas, is in the books and it was a good one. It was hot and windy on Saturday, and cold and windy on Sunday, but that didn’t take away from the excellent event that took place at Texana Ranch. The Central Texas Trials Association (CTTA) did an great job of organization, and we had aan encouraging turnout: almost 130 riders.

If Texas is any indication it’s going to be a competitive year in the Pro division. Cody Webb and Patrick Smage were pretty close in ability, and the only difference in the two was a few dabs here and there. Pat struggled with a nasty step on Saturday, which he fived on the second and third laps, but other than that the two were pretty much dead even.

Patrick got it all together on Sunday and both riders finally made the incredible massive wall in section nine. The two went 5-5-1 on the wall and the trial ended up being decided in one of the easier sections when Webb took an unfortunate dab in an easy part of section 8.

Both riders came out of Texas with some momentum. Cody was happy to prove that last year’s title was not a fluke and that he can win on the new Beta. In fact, Cody has been on three different bikes in the last three years and his win marked the first win for Beta since Geoff Aaron rode for Cosmo back in the 90’s.

Meanwhile, Smage got some redemption for what he considered a disappointing season last year, getting a win over the 2010 champ.

It was cool seeing Webb and Smage talking each day after the event. These guys seem to be good friends and there is no animosity between them.

It will be interesting to see what happens when the series moves to the next two venues, Pennsylvania and Tennessee, where it will be slippery. Cody maintains he’s better in the slippery stuff than in the dry. And Patrick is from Wisconsin… enough said. In Texas, only a couple of sections – two on Saturday and one on Sunday – challenged these two guys and I really believe the entire series will be decided by just a handful of sections over the course of the year.

Of course, Keith Wineland was a solid third on both days, and is very capable of getting a win in the right conditions. The Colorado rider is working a full time job now and I don’t think he has the resources to be as fully committed as Pat and Cody are.

Behind Wineland we have a bevy of up-and-coming young guns. Bryan Roper was the most consistent (and impressive), with two solid fourths. He just barely edged Karl Davis Jr. for the spot on Sunday, but Karl ended up with the most cleans.

Roper failed to make some of the bigger stuff, but looks really solid in the sections and in my opinion has the best technique of the bunch in the medium-sized stuff.

First year Pros Eric Storz and Andrew Oldar were impressive in their debuts in the “big” class. I saw Eric get over a giant rock slab that was on an incline and the only other guys to make it on the first lap were Smage, Webb and Wineland.

Logan Bolopue is looking like the “next big thing” to come out of the Expert class. The Pennsylvania rider had nearly half the points of the second place finisher each day. Although the entire class – Nathan Hassler, Ian Delaney, Max Nelson, and Chase Harker – all looked talented. Rounds three and four will be in Logan’s neck of the woods, so look out you guys.

We’re starting to see the real payoff in the Pro and Expert classes of Mr. Bill’s efforts. I don’t think this guy gets enough credit for what he does. If you don’t know of him, Mr. Bill (a.k.a. Bill Markham) has been running his Youth Trials/Youth Nationals/Youth Trials Schools for more than 10 years now and he’s doing a great job of teaching our young riders correct technique and good attitude. Thanks, Mr. Bill. YOU ARE AWESOME!

The Clubman class was a good decision. The NATC voted to start the class last year as an entry-level class and in Texas there were 26 entries! I saw a lot of guys having a good time in that class and for sure it is allowing a few folks to participate who might have been intimidated to ride one of the other support lines.

Be sure to check out the June issue of Trials & Enduro News for more details about the Texas Trials, including plenty of trick bike stuff and a more detailed look at the sections and how they affected the outcome.