Noobs and Wobblers skills series

So the basic idea with this is that whist we all know we should be practising our circles and figure-eights etc, on your own it can be difficult to maintain focus and is kinda boring.

The other day when I was doing circles I decided to try mapping out the circle i was doing with flags and it changed the context somehow ... and i realised that this migth be something that could help others in the same boat.

You might think that the best way to learn is to just enter a trial but entering an actual trial is a LOT to deal with - it's not just about the riding, there's so much other information coming at you - in terms of where you're meant to be, figuring out how to ride sections you've never seen before, what sections you've done or not etc and people and bikes and noise everywhere.. and that can be a little overwhelming and possibly offputting. I didn't really enjoy my first trial (at a different club) and it kinda soured me on the concept in general a little and that's rubbish because it's actually meant to be about fun... and it IS, if you're not feeling like you're lost/late the whole time.

So the idea with this is that there's no time pressure, no "you must do the sections in this order and only get 4 goes etc.. there will be "challenges" (sections) which will be simple, but that doesn't mean easy. They should help develop the actual skills you'll need for a real trial and should require some practice to complete but should be manageable too once you've put a bit of time in.

The challenges will be put up and stay for a week or two (still figuring that out).. and there'd be a general "challenge" for each one.

Over time these challenges should mean when you come to enter a real trial, you've already got a degree of "muscle memory" in terms of breaking a section down in your head and deciding how to approach it, as well as a bit of routine in how the whole thing works, so then you can focus on your riding, and actually enjoying the day :-)

Other stuff...

Whilst the first challenge is just a circle on level ground, for example maybe the next challenge would be the same circle but on a slope so then there's camber to deal with, or the same circle but then there's an obstacle in the path..over time we'll add complexity and make the sections longer and build on what we've learnt, hopefully with a view towards putting it all together at the end as a sort of informal "trial" of our own.

And then ultimately you/we should be better prepared for a *real* trial, and can actually focus on enjoying the riding rather than being overwhelmed by it all :-)

There will be no scoring and no observers...the challenge is the challenge and you score yourself. If you can't do it then get as close as you can and hopefully you still get something from it, but ideally let someone know and we'll try to figure out why it's not working for you.

The idea is that we're ALL able to complete the challenge - whether that's possible or not I don't know but every effort will be made to achieve that.

In the whatsapp group there are no stupid questions so if you don't know, please ask - whether it's bike/technical, or about kit/clothing, or riding-related or about the comps/structure, club rules, whatever.

Experienced riders take a lot of knowledge for granted.. stuff that somehow you're just expected to *know* magically somehow. If we (the group hive mind) don't know the answer then there's lots of people in the main group who we can ask.

Even with this first simple challenge there's a lot of facets to it.. but this way you'd get time to stop, go adjust things and try again rather than in a real trial where it's all under time pressure and you only get one go before having to move on. We can work up to that but we also need to develop an understanding of how to break a section down into its components first.

Also with the flags staying up for a week or two, whenever you're able to ride is fine. The training day was excellent but relied on everyone being there at the same time. That said the aim would be to do more of the advice/training days because it was quite good practice, particularly with respect to being around a bunch of bikes who are all waiting to do the same sections - so again, elements of a real trial but with less pressure. Personally I found it very useful and it boosted my confidence re entering the next trial.

Thanks for reading - if you have suggestions or feedback then please ask in the group :-)

The First Challenge:

The first challenge is up already - you may have seen it. It's just a circle mapped out with pink flags and one yellow one on the flat ground in the middle.

It's very simple in concept but quite difficult to master. The challenge is thus:

"Enter between the yellow and nearest pink flag, and complete 10 circles one way without touching the flags, and exit again via the same way you came in, then do the same 10 circles in the other direction. Please don't even touch the flags...none of this mashing them up like in the real trials ;) Let's keep this clean."

Re pic above: rout is per the red line, but passing the entrance 10 times before exiting

Even with just that simple little challenge.. there'a a lot to it.

It's about:

- clutch and throttle control (obviously)

but less obviously:

- it's about entry angle and position (so you get the best line),

- it's about using all the space you have so you don't box yourself in later on

- it's about body position and how you lean the bike (lean it towards the middle of the circle as much as you can, ideally with the chassis resting against your boot/calf)

- it's about how many fingers you use on the clutch  since 10 circles is quite a long time, one is preferable but it's a question of stamina - figure out what works for you. You may need to change partway through

- it's about how you pace yourself for a challenge which will tax your muscles

These are all things you'd need to think about on a section at a real trial event, but there you'd only get one go at it and then you have to move on to the next section. Here it's the same sort of thing but in little bitesize chunks and with time to try different approaches and figure out what works for you and build a bit of routine...so that when it comes to a real trial you'll have relevant experience to refer to and draw on.

Pointers / general advice:

This is just stuff which became apparent to me as I was setting it up and testing it. I also couldn't do it initially but after practicing a while I was able to complete it. There may be more to it than this and don't be afraid to grab a more experienced rider and ask them for advice, or even ask someone to film you doing it on your phone so you can see what you're doing right or wrong.

With the circle - entry angle is key since it sets you up for the rest of the run. go in too steep and you'll be trying to correct it the whole rest of the run.

Keep your knees apart and bent and use your weight on the footpegs to control the lean of the bike rather than wrestling with the bars.

Lean the bike in towards the middle - the more you can lean it the less you'll need to turn the bars and the tighter you'll be able to go with less effort. Ideally rest the chassis of the bike against your inner boot/calf as best you can, That ought to mean you can relax your grip a little which will mean your hands don't get tired so quickly.

Clutch control and a little gas and (for me) front brake was the key.

Your body position for left and right will likely be different, due to the position of the throttle. For left I needed to have my weight further back, not sure why, for right I found being more forward over the bars worked better.

Also if you find you can't even get close to completing it but others can, perhaps it's an opportunity to look at how your bike is set up, maybe there's stuff that needs adjusting there

- look at the angle of your levers/bars, are they comfy for you or is it forcing your wrists into a position where you get tired sooner? If you don't know how to adjust them ASK someone and I'm sure they'll be delighted to help.

- look at tyre pressure - if it's too high your front braking may not be effective because your wheel will skip. Look at how much more experienced riders tyres squish and try to get closer to that. The squish is KEY to grip since as the tyre deforms around an obstacle the blocks CLAMP onto the obstacle. Even on flat ground more squish means more blocks on the ground and hence more grip.

- look at gearing - if the bike keeps getting away from you or is going too fast reducing the size of the front sprocket might be helpful to slow things down and give you more control and time to think. Splat shop have been useful for me in the past (for old gasgas sprockets), i don't know re others, but again, other riders will know.

If you've done it right, your inner thighs should hurt the next day!

Ask in the group or again, grab an experienced rider if you get stuck with any of this.

The Second Challenge:

The second challenge is now flagged out and builds on the first. Again it's very simple in concept but quite difficult to master. The challenge is thus:

"Enter between the yellow and nearest pink flag for whichever way around you're doing, and complete 5 circles one way without touching the flags, and exit again via the opposite way to which you came in, then do the same 5 circles in the other direction. Please don't even touch the flags...none of this mashing them up like in the real trials ;) Let's keep this clean."

Please note: there is a trial on the 30th July so latest then this challenge will probably be removed.

Re pic above: the route is the red line, but passing the entrance 5 times before exiting

(via the other side)

I did shoot several video clips showing what the bike was doing whilst completing this (once I could finally do it) but it turns out the SD card in my gopro had died so the camera wasn't actually recording anything...grr! So sadly these pics will have to do.

This builds on the previous challenge in that it's a circle of roughly the same size and roughly the same tightness of turns, but it adds the element of being on a slope.

The nice thing is it's effectively "down in a gulley" rather than "up on a hill" so there's plenty of places to dab a foot when needed, and not really anywhere to fall should one dismount unexpectedly.

Initially I would imagine one would want to probably go wide of the flags at the top. Certainly for me coming up the hill and straight into that very tight turn was challenging, but I found that with leaning the bike right over so the chassis was leaning against my boot (as per challenge #1), as the front wheel crested the top of the hill, as long as the bike was leaned over enough, it would go round. If it wasn't leaned over the front wheel still gets kinda forced crossways but the bike wants to keep going forward, so the leaning seemed crucial here.

Make no mistake, the turns at the top of this are *tight* and deliberately so...if you were able to do the first challenge though you should be able to snap back to that "leaned over" pose and then these turns will be doable.

Pointers/General advice:

- Knees bent - can't stress this enough. If you want to see how it's done watch Kevin riding. In my head I think of it as "the Kevin stance", but whatever works for you :-)

- (obviously) Clutch and throttle control seemed to be key. First gear ftw and not a lot of throttle needed, gentle feathering of the clutch and throttle to deliver a bit of power as needed. I found I was almost stalling out as I crested the hill. Especially in first gear, these bikes have have a LOT of torque so let the bike do the work for you. You don't need to be giving it all the beans and the drama that comes with that. If it stalls it stalls, fire it up and go round again.

- Initially..go wide of the top flags if needed and work your way in tighter as you improve your lean

- Leaning the bike right over so the chassis leans against your boot seemed to be key to the tight turn whilst cresting the hill/exiting the gulley

- Have your body weight forward as you come up out of the gulley

- I found there was a point pretty much at bottom-dead-centre of the gulley where I was able to naturally stop and remain balanced (i.e. still on the pegs) and have a moment to contemplate and get the right body position before ascending. It was a useful breather.

- If you're going to dab a foot, try to dab with your inside foot, since you can always use that (keeping it planted) to pull the front of the bike around somewhat. In a trial this would be 100% allowed and is in fact quite a common/key tactic. You can't really do that if you dab your outside foot.

I found going round to the right was easier than to the left.

If you find you can't even get close to completing it but others can, perhaps it's an opportunity to look at how your bike is set up, maybe there's stuff that needs adjusting there

- look at the angle of your levers/bars, are they comfy for you or is it forcing your wrists into a position where you get tired sooner? If you don't know how to adjust them ASK someone and I'm sure they'll be delighted to help.

- look at tyre pressure - if it's too high you may not have the grip coming out of the gulley, so then you need more speed (drama!), and your tyre may skip as you crest the hill. Look at how much more experienced riders tyres squish and try to get closer to that. The squish is KEY to grip since as the tyre deforms around an obstacle the blocks CLAMP onto the obstacle. Even on flat ground more squish means more blocks on the ground and hence more grip. More grip means we can go slower but stay in control.

- look at gearing - if the bike keeps getting away from you or is stalling out or going too fast, reducing the size of the front sprocket might be helpful to slow things down and give you more control and time to think. Splat shop have been useful for me in the past (for old gasgas sprockets), i don't know re others, but again, other riders will know.

Ask in the group or again, grab an experienced rider if you get stuck with any of this.

Not sure how the trials scoring system, works? We've got you covered!