Chairman At Full Chat
 
It’s the start of July now, and we are mid-way through the Summer events at the time of writing. June saw two successful events in the Carr Cup Testing Trial and the Spry Sporting Trial, held at a new venue, which worked well in the conditions. Next up is the Motor Traders Trial on July 6, an ASWMC Car Trial round, and this year we switch back to Waterloo Farm, North Petherwin, where we had run the event for several years with the kind permission of Simon Oates’ long-term passenger John Werren, who we very sadly lost last year.  We are very pleased as a club to be welcomed back to the family farm for this year’s event. 
 
Looking ahead to the autumn, our Tamar Trial planning is being ramped up now at this time of year, with sections being scoped along with the logistics, so watch this space for more info in the coming weeks. 
 
Hope everyone has been enjoying the generally nice weather we’ve been having, and as I have written a report of the Carr Cup I won’t ramble on too much in this piece and look forward to seeing many of you at an event soon. 
 
Simon R
 
 
 
Carr Cup 8^th June
 
Initial fears of the date being too much of a clash with a variety of other things were alleviated in the week leading up to the event with a flurry of entries.
 
Twenty-four starters on the day, and the venue kindly provided by the Greene family again, is excellent for this event, a huge field with little in the way of ‘hazards’ for any damage.
 
The weather was kind, not overly hot, but a fine spring/early summer day. We also benefited from ample offers of marshals, which were greatly received.
 
Six tests were run twice each in the morning, followed by a lunch break with catering kindly provided again by Vic’s Mobile Catering, which proved popular. We are again pleased to have them at our next event.
 
A few tweaks to the tests for the afternoon and time for three rounds before a mid-afternoon finish. The event seemed to go down well, thanks to Darren & Andrew for clerking and to Lisa and Lorraine for the paperwork for such a smooth-running event once again. 
 
Bike entries were a bit low due to a number of factors, but included three youngsters on solos and Tony Fry on his big road bike on a road tyre (brave man).  Three chairs provided great entertainment as always, with very little time separating them. A host of front-wheel drive production cars competed along with Adrian Booth’s TR, and young Oliver Cape driving a very smart Austin 7 Special. 
 
Congratulations to Phil Thomas for taking the Carr Cup just edging out Tom Greene, and Joe Martin for winning the John Pope Cup for Solos, along with a well done to the other award winners.
 
Thanks to all for entering, officiating, marshalling and of course to the landowners – a good, relaxed day was had by all. 
 
Simon Riddle
 
 
 
Spry Sporting Trial 14 June
 
Alan ‘Murt’ Murton had located a potential new site for a Sporting Trial at Willtown Farm in Broadwoodwidger, which is in the next valley to his property and owned by his friend Dave Petherick.
 
On our first visit we identified a couple of good steep fields with banks and well-spread trees.  A decision was made to run the ASWMC Championship round on the Saturday immediately prior to the Camel Vale Calvin Trial to make another great Devon/ Cornwall trials weekend.
 
Then Murt, Roger Teagle, and I visited the site on the Monday prior to the event thinking we had made a mistake as the ground was hard and bone dry. It looked like we would need to run on 10 psi tyre pressure limit, but rain was forecast.
 
Fortunately, the Gods were on our side as by Friday there had been something like three inches of rain. Murt, Andy Prosser, and I proceeded to lay out on Friday morning during a break in the rain. Andy’s fresh eyes and imagination enabled us to set out six very good sections, and there was even more heavy rain overnight.
 
We had an entry of nine with Alan Baker and John Cole coming down from Gloucester, and the welcome addition of Sam Teagle on his first Sporting Trial. I was ruled out for a variety of reasons but marshalled at the beginning.  There were only three or four marshals including Hilary Carrott and Karen Warren, who both kindly stepped in at last minute (Saturdays are always difficult). On that basis, we decided to run three hills four times before lunch, then another 3 x 4 in the afternoon, on free tyre pressures.
 
Needless to say, Thomas Bricknell was virtually unstoppable and way out in front. Thomas dropped just 11 points to win the Spry Trophy, next was Alan Murton on 49 to win Class 3, Colin Flashman and Roger Bricknell (still showing why he has been a multiple British Champion) were third on 65 points. There were no retirements, so everyone was able to compete on the next day.
 
The weather held, the sections were superb, and full credit to Andy Prosser for his setting out skills.
 
Judging from the feedback at the end, this was an excellent club trial and we think that the site could be used next year for the Northgate Trial being a BTRDA Championship Round, and running approximately one month earlier.
 
As always, many thanks to the landowner (who was exceedingly accommodating) and, of course, the marshals.
 
Mike Wevill
 
 
 
Tyre Changing Equipment Review

The tyre changing rig and the wheel balancer
 
Regular tyre changes are part of the price you pay for trials riding, and this is particularly true if you use the same bike for other purposes. At 65 years old, my knees are getting a bit tired (groan) of being slammed into the sidewalls of recalcitrant Pirelli MT43 4.00-18s, so I decided to invest in something that would take the pain out of the task.
 
I cannot justify the cost of the Rabacondas that you see in action in the pits at the ISDE where tyres are removed and replaced in seconds by exhausted riders at the end of the day, but I found a lower-cost alternative.
 
Enter the Warrior tyre changer/bead-breaker rig, which I got in a package along with a Warrior wheel-balancing rig and a couple of Michelin-style tyre levers from Demon Tweaks https://www.demon-tweeks.com/uk/tools-workshop/garage-equipment/motorcycle-tools-equipment/wheel-tyre-equipment/
 
The Chinese-made equipment arrives in two boxes and with no instructions as to either assembly or use…just poorly-rendered monotone illustrations on the boxes themselves.
 
Luckily, it all bolts together in a fairly straightforward manner, but you need to put the arms for the wheel-balancer in the outer holes of the base to accommodate the hubs of most motorcycle wheels.
 
To use the tyre-changer, you remove the big wingnut on the central spindle and drop the wheel (with the tyre deflated and rim-locks/security bolts released (not like in my picture!) onto it before replacing the wing nut and tightening it down.
 
You then set the spade on the lever so it will press down on the area of the bead immediately adjacent to the rim, and work your way around by rotating the wheel.

Once you’ve broken the bead/rim seal all the way around, rotate the wheel so the spade is directly opposite the tyre valve (assuming you use inner tubes), shove the valve up into the rim, and use the two levers to lift the tyre over the rim with one each side of the valve while the spade holds the bead opposite into the well of the rim. The hooked ends of the Michelin-style levers engage with the tyre bead and reduce the risk of catching the tube.
 
Work your way around the wheel until the tyre bead is completely clear of the rim, then flip the wheel and repeat for the other side. The wheel should now be loose inside the tyre, and you can remove the tube. Remove the wheel from the rig, hold it vertically upright, and push the wheel down into the tyre, then fold the top of the tyre down and pull the wheel up and out.
 
You can also use the rig to fit the new tyre, using the spade to hold the tyre bead into the well of the rim while working opposite it with the levers, starting with one either side of the valve. Again, the notched end of the lever will grip the bead without stabbing the tube. I can’t over-emphasise how much easier the Michelin-style levers make the job.
 
Now on to the wheel-balancer.
 
Imbalance just seem to be something that comes with chunky tread and security bolts, so a lot of people don’t bother to balance off-road motorcycle wheels. This is a mistake in my opinion. You may not notice the vibration from an unbalanced wheel off-road, but your wheel bearings certainly do. And on a long-distance trial they add to the fatigue that can grip you on road sections, and will also contribute to high-speed weaves, corner chatter, and other nasty wobbles.
The Warrior rig comes with a small strip on stick on balance weights, which are practically useless for our purposes, so get a set of the brass weights that bolt onto the wheel spokes (available on e-bay etc).
 
First job is to use the handy spirit level on the base of the rig to ensure it is on level ground (the feet adjust to level the rig if required).
 
Then fit the spindle through the wheelbearings using the supplied cones to centralise the wheel. Tighten these into place when they are pushed as far into the wheelbearings as possible, so the wheel is held firmly.
 
Gently lower the spindle onto the rig’s bearings. The wheel will rotate so the heaviest part is at the bottom. Note the highest point on the rim and fit a weight on the nearest spoke to it. Rotate the wheel again. It the wheel comes to rest in the same position, either remove the weight you fitted and fit a heavier one, or if it is already as heavy as you can go, fit another weight to the nearest adjacent spoke. If the weight ends up at the bottom, fit a lighter weight.
 
You’ve balanced the wheel when it stays where it is put after rotating it half a turn or so.
 
Make sure the grub screws that secure the weights are fully tightened, take the wheel off the rig, and refit to the bike.
 
Take the bike out for a short spin and marvel at how smooth and comfortable it is now. Then do a last check on the grub screws, and pat yourself on the back.
 
Richard Simpson
 
 
The Devil in the detail
 

Off with the old… 

…and on with the new
 
This is a cautionary tale, concerning my greed and poor attention to detail.
 
A few years BC (Before Covid), I found myself with some money to spare. I had worked for a Ducati dealer in the 1970s, and a first thought was to buy one of the glorious bevel-drive V-twins that had made such an impression on me back then. No chance…you were talking the kind of money that would buy you a terraced house in South Wales.
 
OK, so how about a newer Ducati…well there were some Monster money pits available at my kind of price, but all would need more cash than I had spending on them to get them decent. Or there was the visual horror that was the Multistrada Mk 1…oh God, no. But anything decent, like an 888 or 916 Superbike, was already beyond my reach.
 
So, on to plan B. An Aprilia Mille. A 1000cc V-twin contemporary and rival of the 916 in the glory days of World Superbikes, but apparently more practical and reliable by far than the Dook as a road bike. Prices were still affordable, and presumably could only go up. And I’d owned an Aprilia before (650 Pegaso) and it had been 100% reliable and a great bike to ride.
 
So, I found a Mille for sale at a local independent dealer. Good nick and in the correct glorious red on black colour scheme, and fitted with an Aprilia Factory Racing titanium exhaust to boot.
 
See it, want it, buy it. Kept it under cover most of the time, but pulled it out for the occasional ride on dry, sunny days. And that’s where the trouble started. Hot day + slow riding in holiday traffic = locked back brake, with a solid pedal.
 
Investigations reveal that the brake master cylinder is concealed under the fairing and bolted directly to the engine crankcase. No wonder it gets hot!
 
There is an aftermarket kit available that relocates the MC and its remote reservoir to the footrest, with the MC now vertical and in the airflow. That should do it…except it doesn’t. While the onset of the problem is delayed the brake still overheats, with the fluid boiling, the caliper seals crisping and the whole lot smelling like a drum-braked lorry that’s just been driven fully loaded down a steep hill.
 
So, I decided to throw more money at the problem. A genuine new Brembo MC, and as the old caliper is now suspect and new genuine ones both expensive and difficult to find, a replacement caliper from HEL, made just down the road near Exeter.
 
New parts fitted, and I start on the tedious task of doing a complete bleed on a drop-in (underslung) caliper. It takes hours, so I resort to pressurising the reservoir by cutting around the valve of an old bicycle inner tube, hoseclipping it to the reservoir, and pressurising the system with the aid of a bike pump. Works a treat.
 
Feeling very pleased with myself, I am wiping the reservoir cap clean prior to refitting it over the little rubber boot when I notice something. There are two tiny indentations on the underside of the cap. Finally, something clicks in what’s left of my brain. Are these in fact points where there should be vent holes in the cap?
 
Because heat from the engine is making the brake fluid expand in the reservoir, but the air-tight lid is preventing the pressure being relieved by movement of the diaphragm. When the brake pedal is released, there’s nowhere for the fluid to return to, so it remains under pressure between the master cylinder and the caliper.
 
I use a Dremel to create two pin holes in the cap at the marked positions, and take the bike for a test ride in the heat of the day, bedding the new brake in carefully by riding slowly and making repeated gentle applications. The brake doesn’t lock up, although I am getting decent heat into the caliper and disc, and the engine coolant temp goes to over 90 degrees C. In its previous state, it would have overheated and locked.
 
So, that’s fixed it. But did I really need to throw all that time and money at the brake, or could I have fixed it in five minutes with the Dremel?
 
I’ll never know.
 
Last question. What’s happened to the bike’s value?
 
Well, it’s not been a good investment so far. Values have remained unchanged, or even dropped slightly since the end of the Covid bike boom. Never mind, it still looks very pretty in the garage and ‘rides lovely’ (as they say in Wales) on the road. Value things for what they are, not what you think they might be worth in the future.

Chairman at Full Chat

It seems Spring has fully sprung, so I hope everyone enjoys the welcome longer evenings. As the national classic trials scene heads towards its Summer break, we have a good programme of our own and other local events to look forward to.

No club events of our own in April but several members were either competing or marshalling at various locations on the MCC’s 101st Lands End Trial over the Easter weekend. Results have not been finalised yet, so can’t give a shout out for club members’ performances.

Marshalling on Crackington with a sprinkling of fellow club and committee members, meant an early start, with the first competitors due around 4.50am. Nigel and I had taken a look on the Thursday to see if we could do something a bit different, it was limited what we could do but we formed a bit of a deviation and put a restart on some steps. The prolonged rain on the Friday and a cracked pipe near the top of the section meant we had a constant stream of water washing the section out all day. It was tricky for the bikes though, we saw several caught out on the section. A long morning as it was gone midday by the time the section closed.

Next up is the Northgate Sporting Trial on Saturday 17th May at Ashleigh, Lifton, which for the first time is a BTRDA round so hopefully this will be well supported. Unfortunately we have had no end of issues with our bank recently, so whilst Mike and Jan continue to work hard on the solution – which I’m sure you can imagine is no easy task when it’s becoming more and more difficult to speak with someone to sort these kind of things out, we are running this event as ‘cash on the day’. Hopefully by the time the summer events are here we will be back online. 

All for now
Simon R

Important: Please note our Chairman’s comment above regarding cash payment for trials entries. The Executive Committee emphasise that this situation is entirely of the bank’s making, and the finances of the club remain as healthy as ever: – Editor


Never say never again!

Simon Oates finds he is doing the Land’s End Trial, after all

The Liege was going to driven by someone else in the Land’s End Trial this year, but they decided to do other things over Easter. This resulted in me entering the trial (I’d said no more MCC trials after the 2025 Exeter and my dismal performance on that day) and wondering why I did it!

Paul Price from Gloucester who is an owner of two Lieges and is also a well-known Sporting Trials competitor, offered to be my wing-man. He drove down to Egloskerry on Friday, had a gourmet lunch (stew) lovingly prepared by my wife Alison and got ready for the start of our 24 hour trial. Waterproofs were called for, even with the roof up and we departed north to Rob Haworth’s farm near Bude for 8.30pm  with Rob and Elizabeth’s Liege leading the way, and John and Natasha Early sandwiched in the middle with their car, while Rob and I were back-marker.

The rain was persistent as we trundled towards the start at Bridgwater. Probably the most dangerous part of the trial was when we followed the M5 from Tiverton to Bridgwater, where the three of us had dropped to 42 mph on the motorway and I was tail end Charlie. John Early’s car had developed an intermittent engine fault and wouldn’t go any faster and every time a lorry went past it provided a lovely cold shower in the cars.

This wasn’t a good time for my rear fog light to fail and luckily it didn’t. Bridgwater reached, topped up with fuel and through scrutineering at the Rugby Club, we mingled as we waited for the official start 4 hours and 40 minutes behind the first bike.

Whilst surveying the cars in the car park I spotted the closing car of Rex Ward, a nice little white Suzuki Jimny with black door handles. Out with the microfiber cloth to dry the doors and black gaffer tape to cover the door handles both sides to slow them down and give the last cars a bit more time if they broke down. Knowing Rex, he’d recycle the tape on something else!

Competitors had been issued with a lanyard and a too big control card that had to be cut down to fit comfortably (I folded mine in half – Ed) which had to be pierced / stamped at control points, including the start. The rain had eased a little as we approached the handbrake test and control card point at Walfords Gibbet, which caused no issues but a few miles further along and much higher up we ran into a bank of thick fog which slowed progress for a few miles to eventually clear and on to Felons Oak (1) with hardly any queue!

The section had been smoothed, which took the shock out of last year’s section and reduced the challenge. Left through Luxborough (why?) and passed a car on fire with attendant fire engine before Wheddon Cross. Onward on the coast road to Lynton and into Barbrook for a splash and dash in the garage, control card stamp and cup of tea before moving on to Beggars Roost (2).

By now the rain was intermittent and John Early’s car had a spark plug change as it was still struggling and barely got to the restart. Once exited, we followed the route of lovely driving roads (even better in daylight) through Simonsbath and towards Barnstable and peeled off the A39 to Riverton (3) for a rough initial part of the section and a restart which was completed.

Unfortunately John and Natasha Early decided their car was too erratic to continue and retired to make their way back to Rotherham . We made the executive decision to remove the hood as daylight broke which inevitably caused a few short sharp showers which we ignored. Just in time for the first Observed Test (OT1) at Yollocombe where I nearly missed the turning off the main road.

More great driving roads interspersed with L, R and SO markers to aid the vehicles on to Sutcombe (4). I was half expecting the river to be badly flooded, but it was only a foot deep. We cleared the section and restart before parking up for a wonderful bacon butty and cup of tea. The next stop was at Wicketts Garage in Bradworthy for another splash and dash and a packet of mini eggs for John on the pumps (his favourites).

Off to the A39 again and Wooley Holding Control before moving on to Darracott. A very long wait which was beginning to take its toll on Paul, so I explained that this was probably the least I had queued on an MCC trial for many years (and there weren’t many later either!) With no restarts on the hill, the delays were unexpected. It was at this point that Paul pulled his favourite folder from the floor and found the heat from the exhaust had burnt through one side – sorry Paul! It seems his woolly, thick socks that were worn to keep his feet warm were doing the opposite ie insulating his feet from the exhaust and keeping them cool. As I write this I have just ordered more heat insulation in an attempt to get the heat away from the passenger foot well.

Once the section was completed, all bikes and car classes 6, 7 & 8 were diverted to Cutcliffe Lane (6A) with a restart only for class 8 cars. A bit rough but easier without a restart. Once out of the top we made our way through Bude where we saw the nationally famous kilt wearing litter picker doing his thing with a supermarket trolley nearly full of litter (what’s this country becoming with so much litter?).

Route check and stamp at Widemouth Bay and along the coast through Millook and Dizzard to Crackington (7) and a sneaky little restart. The unusual local climatic conditions had appeared again at Easter with a clay slide onto the track that entertained the crowds and another bag of Mini Eggs was sent flying through the air for Nigel Cowling at the restart.

Breakfast stop at the Wilsey Down Hotel was welcome and two large Cornish Breakfasts were consumed and another stamp obtained to prove we were there. A bit of a queue at Ruses Mill (OT2) due to all classes using a single-track lane and zig zag hill for two completely separate tests (why can’t they be the same to save on marshals?). From here in gorgeous weather, we toured Bodmin Moor through Minions and on to Warleggan (8) for a restart for 6, 7 & 8. We seemed to hit it correctly and fly up through the section.

Great country roads on through Bodmin and towards Wadebridge for Eddy’s Branch Line (9 & 10). Last year there had been an over two-hour queue, but this year there was none and it had been made into two sections with our restart cancelled on section 10.

Both were cleared with ease, so we continued following the excellent route book instructions with a glorious spirited drive through the lanes to Perranporth Holding Control for another stamp in the control card. We were allowed to leave when we wanted and continued towards Blue Hills for the final, possibly hardest, two hills.

There were about 40 cars in front and both hills were in action and taking scalps along the way. Classes O and R were again mixed in with the main trial which slows down the later cars but no matter we had to do what we could to clear the two restarts. The route book showed all the positions of the restarts on the two hills which I can’t say I agree with. Part of the fun of trialling is expecting the unexpected on a section!

Paul and I had agreed to count down from three and for him to bounce on zero as I let the clutch out on the first restart. It seemed that the timing was good but Paul later said that my steering was pointing to the left and the car bogged down in the mud in the bottom left and we barely moved. I turned the steering right and left, and gunned it which didn’t work so dropped the revs to nearly stalling and gave as much bounce down on my spinning rear wheel as I could. A miracle happened and the car suddenly found traction and powered out of the section and then stopped on the line at the end with marshals attending both sides. Relief swept over us with just Blue Hills 2 (13) left to do.

With virtually no waiting we were attacking the section and turned left into the restart to see two deep holes that previous restarts had dug. I tried to get to the right of them, but the car slid sideways into them – bugger. Into 1st gear and out with the clutch where the car just drove up without any hiccups.

Shocked that it was so easy, I forgot to stop astride the finish line and quickly reversed back over it. There were no marshals on the line which would have reminded me to stop if they were there. Not the best way to muck up a trial but such is life!

We waited to watch a few more finish the section with Rob & Elizabeth Haworth flying the hill in their Liege before we carried on to the finish at the Inn for all Seasons where we signed off and handed our control card and numbers in.

The planets all lined up for a thoroughly enjoyable trial which followed the previous two excellent trials. Well done MCC for the improvements which provide more great memories for us all to cherish of the trials. There were a lot of marshals out in variable weather for long stints at their stations – what heroes, thank you for all your time and effort, you are much appreciated. Thanks also go to all the land-owners and everyone involved in organising and running the trial including the tea and cake ladies and gents.

Land’s End Trial marshalling with John and Vivien Turner, and Thorn the collie

Having elected not to compete the Land’s End this year, I contacted Tim Flooks and offered to marshal for Classes O,and R at Treworld, Tim came back to me PDQ and said yes please but could I possibly see if anyone else might be available to help: sweet talking to Vivien did the trick and we were a team. A couple of days later the marshals’ pack arrives (goodies as well as marshals’ kit) for three marshals, so I think there must be someone else that’s volunteered.

On arrival at our hill at a very civilised 9.30 am it soon becomes apparent that although there is a need for three marshals, there wasn’t actually a third person!  What are we to do?

Fortunately we own a Collie dog and everyone knows Collies can organise anything so Thorn was immediately signed on, with one small caveat, he would only do it if he had a comfy chair and a blanket, these were soon provided and he became the start marshal’s assistant to Vivien, which meant I had to walk up a very steep hill to run the restart point.

Not long before the first competitor arrives on a motorbike. He’s way ahead of his scheduled time, and saying I don’t want to do the restart, I’ll just ride through, so before things had got going properly we had our first failure, I think the cold night air or sausage and egg overload had got to him.

Shortly after the early class R cars started to arrive, looking rather pristine, a large clutch of Morgans and a beautiful Fiat 125 Spider along with several MGs, it’s all going rather well until Vivien announces over the radio that the course-closing car has arrived!
At this point we’ve only seen one or two class O competitors and it seemed a bit harsh to close the hill so early, fortunately Vivien talked the occupants of the course-closing vehicle into giving it a while, so they came up past me and disappeared and waited around the corner somewhere so as to allow the rest of the competitors through.

From down around the corner I could hear a familiar high revving sound and Mark Gregg’s little Austin 7 appeared (looking well loaded) did a perfect restart and disappeared over the hill, soon to be followed by Werner Boeykens and his son in a Citroen 2CV van!

They stopped as required, pulled away a few yards and then the engine cut out, requiring the reverse of shame all the way to the bottom of the hill in order to take a run up, sorted.

We were now running short of competitors so when the closing car made its second appearance we felt obliged to close the section, allowing us to have a very enjoyable picnic at the foot of the hill which raised a few eyebrows with passing dog walkers. 

I think Werner was possibly one of the longest distance competitors, coming all the way from Belgium. On Monday he posted on the MCC Facebook page that he had arrived home at 11.00pm on Sunday night having covered 2100 Kilometres in the 2CV, which hadn’t missed a beat and at one point had reached 55mph (from experience it must have been a bit loud in the cabin), The things people do in order to compete.
J.T.

Turner goes to Taunton: the County Classics Motor Museum

John Turner channels his inner Enid Blyton as four go mad in Somerset

Andy Prosser had been to the County Classics Motor Museum a couple of months ago and his enthusiastic reports had triggered a few of us expressed into also going, so Andy , Joe Caudle , Mike Wevill and myself did a little bimble up the M5 to Taunton.

The museum is in the town centre with all the usual shops either side of it: the frontage is not particularly big but once you go through the doors it a bit of a Tardis. A very nice lady on reception wasted no time in relieving us of our entry fee and then gave us a brief explanation of the layout, not that it was necessary after all we had Andy, our personal tour guide.

As we had arrived mid-morning he wasted no time in taking us straight to the  café (priorities)  whilst waiting to be served our very nice coffee we observed a man clearing the tables, in no time he came and introduced himself, it was Patrick the owner and founder of the museum, there was obviously no hierarchy here just muck in and do whatever needed doing.

Patrick gave us a run down about the museum and his life-long passion for motors which had started when he was in primary school, by the age of eleven he had his own car and was capable of rebuilding an engine.

Once we had topped up on our caffeine we started to explore, in total there are I think four floors of exhibits, not just cars but a very diverse range of motorbikes: scramblers, racers, grass track outfit and of course some of Italy’s finest scooters (bonus point). 

One car that caught us out was a factory-produced, Alfa Romeo-powered, Nissan Cherry:  Andy and I were certainly scratching our heads over that one.

Obviously we were drawn back to the café for lunch and again for afternoon coffee and home-made trifle: sometimes you just have to do it. This was a brilliant day out without having to travel too far, the exhibits were first class, the museum didn’t have the sterile atmosphere of some of its bigger competitors, and I can’t remember ever seeing so many wall plaques related to just about all things motoring. Well worth a visit.

https://www.countyclassicsmotormuseum.co.uk/book-tickets/#

Editor’s adventures

Richard Simpson does a round trip to the Land’s End Trial

Rode off to the start on my Beta X-Trainer into the face of a ‘severe weather warning’ for rain. It turned out to be correct.

I took last year’s ‘assembly’ backroads route from Launceston across to the Bridgwater start, passing the aftermath of an horrific car accident. It looked like a small hatchback had gone into full earth/sky mode, and it was on its roof with the doors cut off, and an ambulance parked by the side of the road. Grim!

On to the trial. All the bikes, except two, start in front of me. Got rained on all night, crossing the high ground of Exmoor at a cautious pace. Never ride faster than you can navigate, and you can only navigate slowly when your route-book holder has misted up.

Some sections went better than others. Had vowed to ride more aggressively, and as a result overshot the restart at the very short first section. Did better through the night, but overshot the ‘stop’ line at the first special test.

The the sky got less dark, and I could hear birds singing over the sound of the Beta’s exhaust. The rain stopped. Things were looking up!

Then I got to the ‘bikes and top class cars only’ Cutcliffe Lane, marshalled by Lisa and family, which I failed, along with most of the rest of the motorcycle entry. I’d left the ‘failure’ instructions on my edited roadbook: a premonition?

Just as well, as I was able to lead the two guys who failed before me back to the route and into Bude.

Home territory now. I ended up in the bank a bike’s length from the section ends at my local hill at Crackington, which was sad. A groan of disappointment from the spectators. I had enjoyed the chicane/restart, but where did that clay at the top of the hill come from?

On to Warleggan. I have only ridden this hill twice, and I’ve fallen on it three times! I vowed to be more aggressive this year, and it worked, right up to the restart. The obvious route was to the right, but this was occupied by the (elderly) flag marshal, who was sitting on a camping chair right on the desired line! So I went left, spun up on the restart and fell over. The bloke who picked me up helpfully told me “The better line is to the right,” got the flag marshal to move, and then I rode out the way he had suggested.

Don’t forget to thank the marshals!

Then the sun came out. Eddie’s Branch Line had (thankfully) been revised from last year to give a straighter start, and split into two sections. But it was like riding through 100 tonnes of melting coffee ice cream. I footed at the first, and the bike sank to the point where my feet were on the ground for the second. So, that’s a double fail!

The bikes do one more section before Blue Hills, while the cars got straight there after the last route control. So, the cars had made the predictable mess of Blue Hills 1 by the time I arrived, and I footed.

On to Blue Hills 2. It was hot now, and I queued for ages on the slope, stewing in my waterproofs and thermals, while the Ford Escort Owners Club took turns to get towed up the hill. I was holding the bike on the back brake (engine compression wouldn’t hold it), and my right foot and leg were slowly going numb while I enjoyed the aroma of Ford Pinto exhaust fumes and tyre smoke. At last, the final Dagenham Rust-Bucket was dragged out of the way, and I had my shot at the hill.

All went well until the restart, when I couldn’t find the back brake with my numb foot, and the front brake couldn’t hold it. So I slid out of the box.

Fought to the top and parked…and a little girl plucked at my hand and said: “I thought you did really well!”

Bless her.

Rode to the finish at Redruth, where an MCC man said that they had been seriously concerned in the weeks before the event that it was so dry that it would be too easy, so had made the sections as hard as possible. Then the weather broke, but the course had been approved so they couldn’t change it. Eddies Branch Line 1 & 2 had been closed to most of the car entries as deemed undriveable.

After that, all there was to do was ride home…I arrived almost exactly 24 hours after setting out, having spent about 20 of those hours perched on the X-Trainer’s saddle. Strangely, although I was one of the last bikes to leave the start and I don’t recall overtaking anyone on the road, it seemed that at least 20 bikes arrived at the finish behind me.

A fantastic event…great support from fellow entrants and spectators, and a big thank you to the marshals and officials. I’ve even forgiven the bloke on the restart at Warleggan. And I met Chris ‘skids and wheelies’ Northover from the Bike World YouTube channel. He was doing the event with his wife, brother, and stepfather. What a lovely man, and his family are lovely as well.


Footnote

Congratulations if you’ve got this far, and sorry it’s taken so long to get this larger than usual newsletter out. Next month: We’ve got another trial report from Simon O, this time from the passenger seat, with Nigel Cowling driving the Flora Trial in the Leige, plus some kit and equipment reviews from me, plus anything else that anyone decides to contribute. More tales from the Land’s End welcome, plus reports from other events always wanted, along with technical content, especially car-related: richardsimpson94@yahoo.co.uk