Welcome to The Weekly Dirt. This week’s “Dirt” includes “observations” from the Observed Trials opener in Texas…
Cody Webb hurls his bike up a vertical rock “step” in Texas. Photo by Shan Moore
Motorcycle Trials gets a bad rap in the United States. For too many years it was referred to as “ballet on a motorcycle”, which sounds rather boring. Well, these days it’s anything but boring when it comes to watching the best in the sport tackle the unbelievable obstacles they are faced with on a national and international level. In recent years, Trials has become more than an extreme sport. It’s become downright violent: two-stroke engines revving to the limit in order to propel bike and rider up a 10-foot vertical rock wall from a run of less than five feet! It’s unreal what these guys can do on two wheels. Certainly not ballet.
Third place finisher Keith Wineland “splatters” an undercut rock slab. Photo by Shan Moore
At the AMA/NATC National MotoTrial Series opener in Texas this weekend, defending series champ Cody Webb and former three-time champ Pat Smage traded wins in the two-day event. The sections were big and scary and even the top guys took a few crashes. Webb and Smage seem to be fairly evenly matched this year, which should make for a competitive and exciting year.
Pat Smage abuses his rear wheel (and tire). Photo by Shan Moore
Sherco. Beta. Gas Gas. Scorpa. Even the names of the bikes used for Trials sound strange and are relatively foreign to most Americans. And they look wimpy, at 140 lbs and with no seat, no wonder the sport gets no respect. That is until you actually go out and watches on in person. Then you can hear the rims pounding the rocks as the tires compress to absorb an insane rear wheel impact. For more info on the national trials scene check out www.mototrial.us.
