CPTA 2013 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND DINNER:
The 2013 AGM and Dinner was held December 7th. After a brief club annual general meeting where the directors reported to the members and elections were conducted the club champions were announced. click here for the results
This year the club decided it was time to recognize some more club members for their significant contributions to the club. These dedicated individuals have spent countless hours organizing events, signing up competitors, scoring events, observing, organizing as well as cutting and grooming trails, keeping our areas rideable and safe. Those individuals who were added to our list of LIFE TIME MEMBERS, in no particular order are: Kit Williams, Maureen Williams, Ted Blow and Chris Bakgaard. Thanks from all the members for your contribution to the success of our club.
CPTA Makes a Difference:
Finally, I would like to congratulate the club for this year’s new initiative. The club decided to put something back into our community. In conjunctions with the Super Stars Trial we collected donations for the Canadian Cancer Society. During the course of the two day event our generous members and friends donated $400 and the club matched that contribution with another $400 resulting in a nice donation of $800 to this most worthwhile organization.
The Canadian Cancer Society provides much needed support to cancer victims and their families and is working hard to eradicate this terrible disease. Thanks to everyone for your generous support!
2013 Graham Jackson Memorial Trial:
The Graham Jackson Memorial Trial was held November 17th under cloudy skies at the CPTA club in Ioco. The morning rain tapered and riders enjoyed good conditions considering the time of year. The Junior/Intermediate/Sportsman loop, hosted by Todd and Tanner Nordin, consisted of 10 sections with 3 laps.
Todd and Tanner made sure a few of the sections would challenge the top Sportsman riders. Most sections were quite cleanable but a couple of sections really tested riders throttle control and choice of lines. Thanks to Todd and Tanner for a well marked course and a good selection of sections.
This concludes the 2013 competition calendar and we will have results from this event and overall scores posted soon. The club will be hosting our Annual General Meeting the first Saturday in December and we hope you can all make time to join us for the meeting, awards and dinner. This is also a great time to renew your membership and get your new key and decal. Remember, the gate lock will be changed at the start of 2014 so you will need a new key to access the parking lot.
Our next event is our traditional Boxing Day Trial. This is a fun event and there will be food and lots of time to socialize.
click here for results for the Graham Jackson Memorial Trial
2013 Uhuru Trial: results are posted on the results page.
2013 THE FALL CLASSIC: October 6th, Ioco, BC.
Results are posted. Thanks to Dave Craig for hosting this event. Well laid sections and good course marking combined with unusually warm, sunny weather resulted in a great event. Brett Clark looked at home on the Beta 4T posting a clean ride on the last lap in Sportsman class.
NO-STOP: Will North America go NO-STOP for 2014?
NO-STOP rules are slowly being adopted world wide but it sounds like NATC will continue with STOP rules for 2014.
Here is a great video from the FIM showing proper non stop technique..
2013 Blue Mountain Trial, Maple Ridge, BC, September 15th.
The 2013 Blue Mountain Trial was held under cloudy skies but the rain that was forecast held off for the event and a good thing it did as many of the sections would have proved much more difficult in wet conditions.
The event hosts put in a tonne of work… 3 completely different loops; Juniors had a separate loop put on by Melissa Andrist and George Imada. Eleven sections and 2 laps on a 3 kilometer loop. The Vintage class rode the same loop but rode 3 laps. Ted Blow’s loop for Intermediates was 10 sections and two laps on a 4 kilometer loop (two K straight up and 2 K straight down!). The Senior 45 and Expert classes rode 3 laps of 10 sections x 3 on 4 kilometer loop laid out by Don Doerksen. Unfortunately, no Advanced riders showed up for the event. Results are posted on the Results Page.
2013 Junior and Intermediate Trials School, Ioco, BC, September 8
September 8 the club hosted our second annual Junior/Intermediate Training Day. Thanks go out to all those that helped make this a successful event. The club would also like to thank our event sponsor, Vancouver BMW/Ducati who provided an amazing lunch. Hat’s off to Master Chef Kelly for all his hard work in the kitchen.
2013 Cultus Lake Trial: August 25, 700 Frost Road, Lindel Beach, Cultus Lake, BC.
The Cultus Lake Trial proved to be a very interesting experience for most riders. Virtually all of the sections were located in a river bottom area comprised of angular rocks with soft loam or sand interspersed. Traction on the rocks was good for the most part but the other surfaces were surprising loose and slippery demanding complete focus. Slight miscues often resulted in errant dabs or worse. Most sections appeared easy but underestimate traction in a critical turn and a rider could get into trouble. Lower classes rode three laps of ten sections, advanced rode two laps of 16 sections and the experts ended up riding one lap of 17 sections.
The Expert loop ended with a monster hill climb out of the river bottom where the only rider to succeed was Steve Day aboard his new Gas Gas. With the only expert clean ride of the day he pulled even with Bill Sparks on points and won on the merit of that one clean!
Having an event in this unique location is a great opportunity for all competitors to test their skills on ever changing terrain and broaden their experience. Thanks to Kevin and Don for laying out the courses and to Fred for providing the use of his property to stage the event. All club competitors should consider attending in the future to experience this unique location.
2013 SUPER STARS TRIAL, July 20 and 21st at IOCO.
TWO THUMBS UP! This year’s Super Stars exceeded expectations. Riders from BC, Alberta, Washington and Vancouver Island made Ioco, BC their destination July 20 and 21st for the Canada Pacific Super Stars Trial. This year’s event was both a PNTA and WTC Championship event. Ioco, BC offers a wonderfully diverse selection of terrain. Everything from monster logs to big rocks, creek beds to loamy climbs and descents, Ioco has it all and for the most part under a canopy of huge second growth forest.
Dry conditions allowed organizers to pull out the stops with many demanding sections testing riders in all classes. Junior and Intermediate riders rode both mornings with the Advanced and Experts observing the sections. In the afternoon, the favour was returned and riders could focus on the sections riding at their own pace.
Many CPTA members contribute to the success of this event but the one person responsible for putting it all together is Christy Williams Richards. Well done Christy!
2013 Squamish Trial, June 16th.
The Squamish Trial took place in Crumpit Woods, south east of Squamish. Spencer and company put a lot of work into building new trail and sections and riders were not disappointed. The forecast was for sunny skies and high temperatures but driving the last few kilometers to the event it looked like the weatherman might be wrong again (like that never happens) but as we rolled into the staging area the brief shower ended and it remained sunny throughout the day.
Due to the dry conditions, grip was excellent resulting in low scores for most riders. In the Senior Advanced class, scores were so close the first four positions were determined by cleans with Larry Drawhorn emerging as the winner, edging out Ted McDowall, who took his first of two points on section 3 of lap 2.
Alex Walton turned in a solid ride to win the Expert class, taking only two points per lap over 3 laps of 10 sections. It’s encouraging to see some of our younger riders starting to challenge the masters.
Forty two riders made the short, scenic trip to Squamish to attend the event and it was great to see several riders from Washington participating. I expect we will see this event grow in popularity year over year as the terrain is fantastic, the scenery amazing and Spencer and Chessy always put in the extra effort to make sure it is well marked and lots of fun!
2013 May Trial:
Riders attending the May Trial enjoyed great weather as the predicted rains held off and the sun appeared on and off throughout the day. It was good that the weather cooperated as the course for the Junior and Intermediate classes proved demanding and scores would likely have been much higher if it rained.
Expert class was dominated by Stan Bakgaard, fresh back from the Scottish and apparently in good form. Three riders were in the mix for second place with Bill Sparks riding a strong second lap to secure second. Steve Day and Todd Nordin rounded out the top four with only one point separating.
Don Doerksen took top honours in Senior 45, with more close scores in the largest class of the day. Greg Patrick claimed Vintage on his tidy Honda TL125 with a very respectable score, considering the course.
Thanks to Skip and Bernard for setting the courses, well done.
2013 Team Squid Trial:
For a change of pace, both courses were comprised of 17 sections with two laps for all classes. The morning started out dry and quite warm but as the day progressed the clouds grew darker and rain and hail started just as most riders were completing their first lap. Most riders seemed to take it all in stride but a few struggled on the second lap.
Thanks to Chris Walton and Steve Day for organizing another great club championship point event.
2013 Spring Classic Trial:
Riders were greeted by damp and cool conditions at Ioco for the Spring Classic Trial. Guy Smeeth prepared a challenging course of ten sections which proved more difficult due to the weather. Bobby T was the ultimate winner in Classic A with a strong ride on his TY175.
Thanks to Guy for hosting a great event with a well marked course. Results are posted on the 2013 results page.
2013 Demo Day and Club Social:
Our first Demo Day and Social was an overwhelming success. I arrived at the club grounds to find the parking lot full. There were line-ups at the dealer tents of folks waiting for a turn on the many bikes offered for testing. The club served up breakfast and lunch and the weatherman couldn’t have been more cooperative. Many thanks to Chris Walton, Tom Wood and all of the dealers who contributed to a fun day at Ioco.
If you want to learn more about the CPTA or trials feel free to send an email or drop by the club. Visitors are always welcome.
2013 March Trial:
St. Patrick’s Day weather was exceptional for mid-March at Ioco and provided great conditions for our March Trial. We had a good turnout with Paul Brodie and Ted McDowall setting the courses. The Intermediate/Sportsman course delivered a good variety of sections ranging from open rock climbs and decents to slippery roots and logs in the heavy growth forest. Tight turns, longish sections with many opportunities to lose points resulted in no total clean rides although young Kyle Mortenson, onboard his Beta, came close losing only two points on his way to the win in Intermediate. It was a close finish in the Sportsman class with the top three separated by single points. Bob Clark narrowly beat out Paul Brodie for the win, Brett Clark taking third.
Senior 45 Class was another tight battle for first with Don Doerksen holding on to beat Ron Ringuette by a single point over the 36 section course. Todd Nordin took the win in Expert in another close one besting Bill Sparks by only 3 points.
2013 February Trial:
The 2013 CPTA Championship series got underway at Ioco on February 17th with cool but mainly dry conditions. Turnout, especially in the Junior and Intermediate classes, was encouraging. The Junior/Intermediate loop was a moderate length, well marked course with 9 sections. Several Intermediate sections were quite long, providing lots of opportunities to take points although none of the sections were extreme or dangerous. Most juniors thought the course was great and the sections just right, challenging but safe and fun.
In the Advanced class there were only two riders but evidently they were well matched. It was initially reported Kyle Mortensen won by one point but after a recount it was discovered the two riders tied on points and Spencer Fitschen won by two cleans.
Ride safe, respect the environment and HAVE FUN!
Ron Walsh – Director at Large