The Greeves Riders Association | February 2006 Trials Section Newsletter

February 2006 Trials Section Newsletter
Words by Peter Smith

A Happy New Year to all Trials Section members.

The new year has come and gone already and things Greeves are stirring in the undergrowth.

Trials Section AGM

This was held on the cold, sleeting and snowing afternoon of Saturday January 7th at Middleton village hall, near Tamworth, Staffs with 10 members present and two apologies received, which about a quarter of Trials Section members.

This meeting was likely to be one of the most critical we have ever had regarding the future of the Trials Section for the reasons outlined in the last Trials Newsletter.

An overview of the last 12 months activities was made: 6 trials all Championship Rounds were held at 5 different venues around the country, all dual routed to suit different riding ability. Very poor support was noted from the National (hard) route riders, better support from the Clubman (easier) route riders. Overall 4 riders contested the harder route and 22 the easier route. However a total of only 10 riders completed the minimum of 3 rounds to gain Championship points. Entry levels were also down at all our trials in 2005 which led to most trials making a financial loss. There was general agreement that our trials rely heavily on attracting local non-Greeves riders to help balance the costs of running our trials but even this was not enough in the last year.

Feedback from the trials organisers showed that those who rode our trials had enjoyed their riders. Roy Jones' letter to Leading Link in the summer of 2005 regarding the lack of support for the Trials Section in a club of which 300 plus members have indicated an interest in trials attracted a number of responses. A wide range of reasons for not actually riding their Greeves trials bikes were given, all of which regular trials riders will no doubt have heard before.

The overview shows that the Trials Section was facing declining support in 2005 and increasing financial problems.

What happens next? A number of options were considered including giving it a rest and not having any trials for a year, winding up the Trials Section or trying to struggle on for another year. Those present thought that if we did not have any trials for a year it would not work as it would be difficult or impossible to get it going again. There was agreement from those at the meeting that whilst things are not looking good for the future of the Trials Section we are willing to give it one more year and if things do not improve we will be forced onto winding it up. This would be a very sad state of affairs considering that the name of Greeves is synonymous with competition machines.

The good news then is that we are still here and we will be looking for more support in 2006. We realise that things cannot go on exactly as they have done in previous years so there are a number of changes to our trials for 2006.

Changes Agreed For 2006

Trials to be laid out with the Clubman rider and beginner in mind - trials will not cater for expert riders though they will be welcome to ride if they wish. The thinking behind this is to try and get more GRA members out on their Greeves trials bikes and attract other riders of similar ability. The editor of Leading Link, Colin Sparrow, was present at the meeting and offered to give the Trials Section publicity in the hope of attracting more members to ride their bikes.

Individual trials organisers to have complete control over entry fees, number of sections, number of laps and number of routes.

Routes - one route only Clubman. Organisers might put on harder deviation within some sections for those riders that wish to attempt them.

Championship - one class only, the Clubman Class, which will include an award for the best performance on a rubber fork machine. No expert class for 2006, it is proposed to run a one-off / one day experts championship (see trials dates for details). All trials are to be Championship rounds, and a rider must enter a minimum of 3 trials, each to count towards the Championship. A riders best, or only, 3 scores to count towards the Championship.

All other rules regarding eligibility are the same as in previous years.

Officers

Roy Jones wished to stand down from the post of AMCA Liaison. Thanks to Roy for carrying this out in 2005.

After some discussion it was thought that AMCA Liaison could be maintained through the GRA's existing contact and General Secretary Mike Eady.

All other officers were prepared to continue for another year.

Membership Fee

It was agreed that the Trials Section membership fee should remain at Ł6.00 for 2006.

Any Other Business

Presentation of 2005 Championship Awards - unfortunately the recipients were not present at the meeting so presentations will be made at a later date.

Thanks to Peter Rotherham for arranging use of Middleton village hall for this meeting and laying on free tea, coffee and biscuits all at very modest cost to the GRA.

The Trials Section's future can now best be summed up unfortunately as Use It Or Lose It