The Scene

THE SCENE

IVAN J. WAGAR

MORE THAN 2000 spectators at a trials! That's quite a turnout for a participation form of sport. The event was the third annual Trials de Espana, held at Jim Robinson's Escape Country in normally sunny California. The day, however, was damp, drizzly and colder than you-know-what. I wasn't even a little bit upset when I arrived at 10 a.m. in a nice, warm car and learned that the trials had started at 8 a.m. and I was too late to compete.

One of the first people I ran into was a very purplish Dick Mann, who was sharing a Montesa Cota with film maker Bruce Brown. “Buggs” told me he hadn’t been so lucky—he’d arrived on time, but after losing almost maximum marks on the first three sections, he was going to spectate. Always good for a one-liner, Buggs then went on, “You guys have been telling me that trials is a gentlemen’s sport. Gentlemen don’t start to ride at 8 a.m.”

Later I ran into one of my road racing cronies, who was there only because his wife was out of town and he didn’t have anything else to do anyway. But the guy was in shock. He had never seen a trials before and started to mumble something about an old Irishman. In between fits of teeth chattering, which made him sound a bit like the rear chain of a Sherpa T in a rocky section, he said, “I just saw that old Irishman come up to a fallen tree trunk 4 ft. in diameter, and he rode over it with his motorcycle!”

The old Irishman was, of course, the legendary Sammy Miller, now retired from serious international trials riding. When Sam first came here about four years ago his margin of skill over our riders was similar to that of Sweden’s Torsten Hallman visiting Hopetown for the first time. In his friendly brogue, Sam informed us, “These fellows are getting quite good, ya know.” And when Sam goes that far you can be sure he is impressed.

The really superb individual performances of Sam and our better riders were too numerous to be covered in the space available in this column. Northern California ace Lane Leavitt looked like he might even beat the old master, but was forced into 2nd place as the day wore on. The new California super star, 14-year-old Marland Whalley, was unbelievably good in some of the most difficult sections. Riding unfamiliar soil, Canada’s new champion, John Ranger, came all the way from Toronto to pit his 2 50 Kawasaki-powered, Sammy Miller-framed machine against the best for a creditable 5th place in the event.

One of the problems associated with observed trials is the difficulty in getting spectators close to the “hazards” and, because the sections are in the most impassable terrain, the problem prevailed at Escape Country. In order that the spectators could see first hand just what sort of daring was going on, the organizers arranged a special supplementary event for the afternoon. Close to the car park, and within easy access for the wives and kids, who help to make trials the really fun sport that it is, it was “standing room only” around the sections.

It was here that Sammy Miller really did his thing. Sam doesn’t care for artificial sections, preferring the natural boundaries created by the landscape. It was possible to hear a pin drop as the riders walked the sections to pick out a “line” through the rocks, up and down greasy banks and over the logs.

My road racing friend let me know that he thought it was a put-on for the riders to spend so much time studying the terrain. There were comments like: “Cal Rayborn has a line, but these guys aren’t going to get through there, anyway,” and “Look he can’t even walk through there, how’s he gonna ride a bike through?” A week after the event he was still shaking his head over the whole affair.

And that’s what makes observed trials so great. At the Trials de España we saw some of the world’s best riders tackling hazards that would make a strong man cringe. At the opposite end of the scale, however, there can be the small, weekend picnic affair for the whole family. Access to the sections, severity and length are all very informal things that can be tailored to the needs of the spectators or the participants.

There are at least six regions of the U.S. where clubs are now holding successful trials events. The natural next step is a series of events, similar to the international motocross races, where we can see more of the European riders perform.