Weald of Kent “Murray Brush Trophy” Trial – report by Tony Turner

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Report Tony Turner

Glorious sunshine greeted the 42 riders competing in the Murray Brush trial in the beautiful East Kent surroundings of St Micheals near Tenterden.

Murray’s three sons Dave, Andy and Richard set out ten sections perfectly taking into account Saturdays heavy rain and with four routes there was something for everyone in a true tribute to the former late club stalwart and fabulous rider.

Straight away the expert class became a battle between Sittingbourne’s Thomas Sawyer, who was on a busmans holiday enjoying a day playing on bikes rather than working on bikes as he does all week working in the Inta Trials shop and Tenterden’s Keith Francis who was making a welcome return to the sport after a break (and a host of excuses) of almost a year.

Sawyer dropped 2 marks on Dee Southern’s opening cross stream section to hand an early advantage, but a stall and subsequent restart whilst balancing  on the cambers of section 2 under the watchful eye of Maureen put Francis off as he exited with the loss of three scrappy dabs as Sawyer exited with a fine cross camber dab.

After lap 1 Francis led by 1 mark having exited the gulleys of the final 3 sections safely, but an excellent second lap of just 3 gave Sawyer a lead of 2 at the halfway stage. Francis responded with the best lap of the trial losing just 2 single dabs as Sawyer collected 2 maximums over the final 2 laps to give Francis a much deserved lowest score of the day in the expert class. However, Sawyer collects the Murray Brush trophy at the end of season awards by virtue of the fact Francis couldn’t be bothered to send his entry off!! Donut…..

In the intermediate class the Tenterden’s club secretary Dave ’How’s your’ Luck made it a home club double with an excellent ride unusually without any maximums across the 4 laps to take the class win ahead of Ashford’s Mark Baldock and Pete Southcott with Pete Willoughby in 4th. For once, Luck clearly took full advantage of the fact he had walked the sections numerous times Saturday and Sunday whilst helping lay out the event – given the amount of effort he has put into the club over the last few years – I guess it is the least of a return…..and may there be many more pots on the way..

It was similar home club story in the over 40 class with Michael Nutbrown proving that age is no barrier by riding his TY250 to an excellent victory ahead of Gravesends Steve Mannerings. That shows the beauty of our sport that you do not need to spend 1000’s of pounds to enjoy and even win in our fabulous sport.

In the Novice class Double 5’s Adrian Gilbey and Bexleyheaths Doug Norris only dropped a single mark with Adrian maintaining cleans longer than Doug to take the lowest score of the day. Ollie Whorlow showed just how much he is improving by collecting the Youth Novice win on the same route losing just 6 marks as he continues to get taller and stronger and for sure it will not be long before he is beating the old man.. Terry Lloyd had the lowest score of the day on the Novice Over 40 route. The yellow beginner route had a pleasing 8 entries with Josh Smith and Tenterden’s Tori Moore (giving dad the run around) by taking the adult and youth wins respectively.

An absolutely fabulous family effort by the Brush Team and so great to see riders in their 70’s competing alongside our 2 newest and youngest riders Jasmine and Curtis Mealham on their Oset’s!!

Jo Curd kindly supplied an arrange of cakes and drinks to greet all the finishers in a very well run, organised and supported event by all – we can’t wait to see the video!

 

Expert

Keith Francis 18ml, Tom Sawyer 23ml (Murray Brush Trophy Winner), Dave Heather 61ml, Chris Anderson 76ml, Rob Whorlow 76ml, Connor Dowling 98ml

Inter

Dave Luck 14ml, mark Baldock 32ml, Pete Southcott 37ml, Joe Millen 41ml

Inter Over 40

Micheal Nutbrown 6ml, Steve Mannerings 7ml

Nov

Adrian Gilbey 1ml, Doug Norris 1ml, Gareth Clare 7ml

Youth Nov

Ollie Whorlow 6ml

Beginner

Josh Smith 21ml, Mel newing 23ml

Youth beginner

Tori Moore 54ml

EKTC Trial – Sunday 14th September

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EKTC Combine Trial – Sunday 14th September

A lovely sunny day for trialling at the Wormshill venue. Good turnout of 37 riders, the lads at Sittingbourne did a good job cutting out various new areas of the wood. The trial was set quite tight due to the conditions and overall the scoring appeared to be quite low.

It was good to see Connor tackling the white route, its the right time for him to push on, especially as he is too much competition for some in the inter class. We were all hoping that the start of the 2014/15 club championship would see Pot Hunter Pete move up but he says he not quite ready for those heady heights and needs a growth spurt first.

The ground here is very similar to Stowting last week, after a few dry weeks the ground was very lose and became easier as the day went on but with a few sections on the flinty hills there were many chances to lose a few marks.

Overall it seemed everyone had a good day apart from Steve Haselden who decided to use his right foot to stop the back wheel instead of the kill switch. The accident could have been much worse but thankfully he was ok, just a damaged boot and new brake hose needed and he will be back to his best next time.

Results to be posted here soon

Big thanks to our friends at Sittingbourne for an excellent days trialling.

Sittingbourne EKTC results Sept 14

Dave “Rasher” Moore Memorial Trial report and results

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This was the 2nd running of the Rasher Memorial Trial and we faced every possible element on Sunday. After battling with the weather at Clay Hill earlier this year we were hoping for a little more luck last weekend.  With heavy rain forecasted the sections were laid out by Dave, Duncan and Pete Southcott the day before and car park was made ready for the Sunday.

Luckily the weather did not deter the riders coming on the day and was a great surprise to see so many brave the elements. This also included the observers who always seem to take the full brunt of conditions and after struggling to fill every section at our last event this time we had more volunteers than sections which was terrific.

Very soon after we started we temporarily shut section 3 after 2 riders got stung after disturbing a wasp nest which was not apparent the previous day when setting out.  After a quick change of route we managed to open the section once again. This section was changed further on the Novice route after the ditch dug out and filled with water after the upstream dam broke after the heavy rain, the previous day this ditch was bone dry.

With Val Luck making her debut as the secretary and chief scorer, we used the punch card system at this event so that we could calculate the results on the day announce the winners, this really was a baptism of fire with the punch card system. Tenterdens very own Pete Southcott won the Easy Route class, which should have be renamed as the less hard route and Dave Strank won the hard route.  I am so pleased to have a home win and especially for Pete as he put in so much effort in helping set out the trial and collecting the BBQ etc.

Having now sourced a club toilet which will be used at all out events, we erected the tent in the wind and slowly watch it crumble and flatten as Bertha took over. Eventually we needed to dismantle the tent before it disappeared towards Tenterden. Shortly after young Tori Moore needed the loo . She  asked her Dad where the loo was, not knowing that I’ve taken the tent down, he sent her to find it in t he field. Having found the thunder box with no tent, she went about her business in front of the entire world.

Despite all the events of the day and trying to keep everything on the ground the day seemed to be enjoyed by most, although the scores were a little higher than planned.

We had intended to have a BBQ afterwards but the conditions, although much brighter, were not suitable to try and light a match. In fact the BBQ drum had about 6 inches of water inside so it was more like a waster based fondue.  Around 25 riders and observers stayed behind for the presentation and Norma Moore presented the awards and a slice of a beautifully baked chocolate cake for all to enjoy.

Once again the trial was a great tribute to our much missed Rasher, I’m sure he was having a good laugh at our expense getting wet, muddy and chasing toilets around the field. Our thanks go to all the observers, our new trials secretary Val Luck and our very generous land owner Mr Pilcher and his Family.

EKTC Dave Moore results 10.08.14