Laws Hill Trail Ride this weekend at Levin

[mazz1972]

Here's the details...

http://www.silverbullet.co.nz/event.php?id=8076

And check www.hmcc.co.nz and www.facebook/horo.mcc for any updates.

Hope to see a good turnout on Sunday, the weather is looking great!

:2thumbsup

[pete.ktm]

another good ride, seemed to get better every lap.

hope the A+ sign didn't put too many people off, it wasn't _that_ steep and it was a great section.

some pics @ http://www.kaseus.net/gallery/hmcc-laws-hill-110130

cheers hmcc

[F5 Dave]

Yeah the A+ section was fun & not too scary, . . . although a bit of water would have been pandimonium.

Top marks to those two young lasses who were (wo)manning that uphill after a creek crossing where everyone seemed to be getting stuck. I got stopped behind someone who didn't make it & then found I couldn't get going again & those girls stepped in & really knew what they were doing to help pull a bike up, bet their arms are sore today 'cause they'd been there for a couple of laps I think. Top commitment.

[mazz1972]

Glad you both enjoyed it!


Thanks for your comments guys, it's often hard to extract feedback (good or bad) from our riders.

Pete, awesome pics as always!

[Ride it till the red]

Yeah was a wicked day. Track was very open and fast, which although it was good fun I would have prefered it a little tighter. And yeah agree with the above, the section that we were told was super hard was super easy, and quite dull, I thought the B section was more fun than the A, had a far better flow to it.

Looking forward to the next ride :yes:

[F5 Dave]

It must be hard to grade the A sections. Too much A++ signage & you put people off. But on the other hand the I'm a hero lads will give it a go no matter what & get stuck & crash their brains out which causes drama for the organisers.

If it's dry I'll give the A loops a go & usually they are achievable for someone like me who's probably marginally better than average. If it is a little damp I might struggle. If it's wet I avoid them.

on the other hand I've been to rides where they are extreme loops. Some I've had to walk my bike down sections in dry conditions & some where I've had to ride other people's bikes out, often kids who missed the A sign.

One in particular, fortunately I took my Trials bike to try it out on the first loop rather than the dirtbike. I came to this uphill & they were having a laugh. I got up on the Trials bike but had to stop a couple of times & re-attack. If someone had said here's $10,000 to get up on your dirtbike I wouldn't have even tried.

People were bailing out by short cutting to the rest of the track. I never saw anyone do it (or even attempt it), but apparently a few A enduro riders got up. But you can't set out a trail ride with them in mind.

[mazz1972]

It must be hard to grade the A sections. Too much A++ signage & you put people off. But on the other hand the I'm a hero lads will give it a go no matter what & get stuck & crash their brains out which causes drama for the organisers.

You've hit the nail on the head there, it is hard to grade the A sections because opinions on what is A, A+, A++ differ and it depends on the weather/track conditions too. On Saturday morning it was extremely foggy up the top (about 4 metres visibility) in the morning and PERSISTING down when the track was being marked, but fine and sunny by mid afternoon.

We tend not to make our rides too hard because we like to cater for the B / more novice riders too. And yes we can definately do without accidents!

The big factor is the number of particpants and keeping the ride flowing. 8-10 years ago we thought 150 was a massive turnout and it was no problem dealing with any troubles at the A sections. These days it's a minimum of 400, with 600-800 (sometimes more) at the bigger rides. That's say four times what it used to be, but we don't have four times the number of marshals/helpers. It would be good to add in more A sections but we would need more marshals/helpers and it's very hard to get people interested.

You mentioned earlier about the two lasses at the uphill - they were stationed there all day supervising the gate at the top because of stock. All credit to them for helping everyone out!

Were you riding your trials bike this time?

[F5 Dave]

Yep, they deserve a beer after that days work, if they were old enough to drink it.

No I only bring the dirtbike to Trail rides these days, that was a one off & surprisingly fortuitous. Did see an old Beta there.

Doing any distance on them over rutted ground is tiring with short suspension & the terrain is boring for a Trials bike. Generally I just find places to play out of the way.