Up Front

UP FRONT

TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS

KAY. So you’re a competitor. And that event you were just in had some problems, real problems, and you feel like you were cheated. So what do you do? You go home, have a couple of beers and try to forget about it. After all, nothing you could possibly say or do would change things. Right?

Unfortunately, most guys who compete look at it that way. And it really is unfortunate. Just to show you how unfortunate, lets consider the case of the CYCLE WORLD International Trials, and look at it from two standpoints— the organizer’s and the competitor’s.

First, take the organizer’s side (and for the sake of simplicity, let’s call the organizer Mr. X). Mr. X has got a trials to put on, rain or shine, and he realizes that there may even be a language problem, due to the International entry in the event. And he’s got to lay out 20 sections or so. Tough sections. And he wants them to be tough because his greatest fear is that the Europeans will go home calling his trials a cakewalk.

So Mr. X lays out the sections. He’s only one man, and with intermittent help, the task is both difficult and time-consuming. Other individuals are seeing to entries, lodging, etc.

Mr. X’s task seems hard so far, but, in reality, he and his group haven’t really gotten into the prime problem area yet—rules. Rules vary somewhat from country to country, even though the English are the guiding light, so to speak. And then Mr. X considers the discrepancies in U.S. rules, and discovers that the standardization problem is even worse over here.

In spite of this, rules are put down, and a copy is sent to the print shop so the riders can have a look prior to the event.

Now comes an even harder part. Who should be the checkers? Trials people who know trials (in spite of a rather confusing, decentralized rule structure), or outsiders, who have enough training to get by?

Well, Mr. X realizes that both systems have flaws. Trials people, on occasion, in some countries (this one not included), have been lenient in judgment for favorite trialsters. Ah, it wouldn’t happen here, but still, there’s the question of writing numerous letters to acquire the manpower.

Then Mr. X glances at the other choice. Outsiders. The outsiders have an organized group that has already pledged manpower and support. They don’t know anything about trials, but they are willing to learn. So Mr. X chooses them, and sets up a few classes to prepare “the group” for the task of checking.

Then the rains come. Back out to the course to alter sections. More rain. More alterations. Time is running out. The trials must go on! And they do.

Realize here, that Mr. X is one man with more problems than an army of men can handle. Now consider the plight of the competitor. For the sake of simplicity, once more, let’s call our hypothetical rider Mr. A.

Mr. A isn’t really a heavyweight in the world of trials. He’s just one of several good riders...riders that are, in reality, putting the sport on the map in this country.

Mr. A listens to a brief riders meeting, but he reHf doesn’t catch it all. After all, it’s raining and he knows what the hell he’s doing...at least he always has before.

Mr. A’s anxious to get going, in spite of the fact that his old bog wheel isn’t behaving quite right ‘cause this stuff, er mud, is really strange and is slippery like ice. Finally his time comes and he’s off.

He pulls up to the first sections to take a walk through, and notices that the “aces” aren’t really in any hurry at all. He asks why, and discovers that the hour grace period is going to make life easy, and the time limit will probably be thrown out anyway, due to the weather. “Yeah, right,” says Mr. A, “and those sections, they’ll probably get easier and I can learn a lot from watching other riders.”

Then his turn comes, and brings with it succeeding turns at sections on down the line. Mr. A is doing okay, but “can’t believe” some of the calls he has seen on observation. He talks to other riders about it, gets the same feedback, and begins to get turned off.

Then it happens. Mr. A has a problem with both the checkers and the course. He cleans the first part of the section, then struggles up the second part that nobody^^ even making. Mr. A gleefully shouts, “Faaarr out, a thre^^ (he had to paddle to make it). The checker yells, “Five! You broke the ‘imaginary line’ between two marking stakes.” “Checkers,” mumbles Mr. A to himself. “I knew it.” Mr. A then rides off, not knowing that the section would later be thrown out on that loop.

Then it happens again. Twenty or 30 riders are bottled up at the start of a section. An official is telling them that the section may be altered.

Mr. A decides to walk the section, gets to the top, and there is some 16 or 17-year-old dude, with no visible official identification, telling riders not to ride the section until those still on their first loop have passed. “Far out,” says Mr. A. “Far out.” say some other riders.

So Mr. A waits. The section is thrown out. Mr. A finishes the event, too late on time. He then falls into the syndrome that I described at the beginning of this editorial.

Mr. A then grabs a couple of beers and takes his disappointment home. He thinks of protest, but knowing that he isn’t a heavyweight, and believing that it wouldn’t do any good, he skips it.

What Mr. A should have done to protest any discrep^^ cies, especially after being encouraged by representatives of Mr. X (the organizer), was file a written protest. This is especially true concerning the 16 or 17-year-old dude who told him he had to stop riding.

Events have been cancelled, CANCELLED for less. But Mr. A, as I said, did not file that protest. And later, he said that he probably couldn’t positively identify the 16 or 17-year-old dude even if that dude could be located.

And Mr. A wasn’t alone. All but three of the competitors did exactly the same thing.

Listen up Mr. A, Mr. B, Mr. C, etc. All the grumbling in the world adds up to a big fat Zero in the eyes of officials. Signed written statements, on the other hand, do carry a lot of weight—especially when they arrive in mass on one subject.

In other words, if you want the system, any system, changed; stick up for what you believe, tell the truth, and put it in writing. If you, as a competitor, are not willing to do this, you have no right to expect any better treatment than you have received.