During April we were so busy getting ready for OMCCs showpiece event of the year, the Glenmaggie Easter Trial, that we didn’t get any comms out. We are back on schedule now but as a result this update is pretty full!
Jumping ahead, there is training Sunday 29th May for Beginner Adults thanks to Stan Mularczyk. If you can make it, please let the club know: https://forms.gle/o4QRNqALfbganyLg8
New members are welcome, and day memberships are also available (conditions apply).
Glenmaggie 2022 done & dusted!
It was so nice to see 100+ riders for the first time in years at an OMCC trial. Thanks to all our interstate riders who made the journey. We had groups from QLD, NSW, CBR & TAS, including a few Victorians who drove 5+ hours! To return the favour, there is a large contingent of OMCC riders heading north for the Canberra 2 Day (more details below). For those of you who made it we hope you had a good time. The talk around the campgrounds seemed to suggest most of you did.
It was a herculean effort by the organising team with the amount of rain and growth the property had. Setting sections required chainsaws & whipper snippers before you could put the arrows down in a lot of places. Floods also meant the club needed to make repairs to the crossing between the first & second car park.
A massive thank you goes to the following people who were there across multiple weekends to make the event happen:
Rocky Egan, Phill Lewis, Phill Arnott, Simon Colombo, Simon Watts, David Grice, Noah Grice, Craig Genner, John Wilson, Matt Kerr, Peter Wines, Stan Mularcyzk, Zac Mularcyzk, Geoff Lewis, Gary McDonald.
A very special mention to Reece & Greg Chalmers who did some very heavy lifting and deserve special mention for going above & beyond. The club appreciates all your hard work.
Thanks to our trainers who put in a fantastic effort: Caitlyn Cummins, Jono Chellas, Stan Mularczyk, Justin Stone and Rocky Egan.
The training on the Friday was very well attended and the club was seeking a donation from each attendee to help raise funds for the TDN team to get across to Europe this year. If you were planning on contributing to the training, but didn’t have cash on hand you can still make your contribution here by using the reference “TDN Training GM”: https://www.oakleighmcc.com/club/make-a-payment/
We ended up setting about 26 sections and ran out of white & green arrows (thanks to STR for coming to our rescue), and the event consisted of 3 x 15 laps each day with a couple of sections re-used day 2. Glenmaggie section setting is generally set on the easier side in recognition of the fact that it is still early in the season, and the Easter weekend is a time of fun and relaxation. On reflection, looking at most of the grades we were fairly close to meeting those objectives based on the scores.
Please check out Hiroshi’s Youtube channel for video from the event:
Vic Winter Series: Round 1 – Mardan
April also saw the running of Round 1 of the Victorian AMA Winter Series by Southern Trials Riders at Mardan on April 3rd. The greasy hills of Gippsland did not disappoint and thankfully most of the riders were through before the worst of the weather hit. Scores did head south for those still finishing late in the day and the sections proved challenging for B & A Grade with multiple jumps across the creek throughout the lap.
There was something for everyone including log sections, muddy embankments and creek sections.
Well done to STR for organising another great event, and OMCC look forward to working with STR to help bring you more events this year.
Chris Bayles Training
For those of you who attended the Chris Bayles training across the weekend of April 30th-May 1st we hope you enjoyed it. Chris ran two sessions with Saturday being more Intermediate-Advanced and Sunday being more Beginner-Intermediate. Chris is one of Australia’s best riders and from Tasmania so it was great to bring over someone who has done so much to grow the sport in Tassie and share his experience with us.
I’ve spoken with Chris and it’s something he certainly enjoyed and is keen to repeat so keep an eye out for future training dates.
Launching JETS – Junior Enthusiast Trials Squad
SoCal Visit
In April, I visited Southern California as a guest of the SoCal Trials Association from the work I’ve done on the Trials Australia Podcast. They were running the 50th edition of El Trial de España.
El Trial de España is the oldest and most prestigious Moto Trial in North America. Created by Fred Belair, the event has drawn international recognition and attracted the World’s best trials riders for the past 50 years. Belair’s dream was to provide a ladder for American riders to compete at the World Championship level. That hope was realized when American Bernie Schreiber became World Champion in 1979. To this day, Schreiber remains the only American to have reached the sport’s pinnacle.
Since its inception in 1970, El Trial de España’s growth and reputation has helped generate funds necessary to send Americans to compete internationally. Support for the USA Trial des Nations Team has been the main focus of support since 1994.
El Trial is a weekend of great competition in all classes, highlight being the afternoon’s world-class Pro Exhibition for the top level riders. Spectators flock to see these elite riders tackle spectacular sections that test not only their riding ability, but their courage as well.
As well as doing media coverage for the Pro Shootout, I was also able to ride the event on the Saturday Morning and Sunday.
There were a number of 5’s due to the different rules; not only do I have to adhere to my gates (same as in Australia), but I also had to actively avoid the other gates which makes reading sections and setting sections a little bit harder.
If that wasn’t enough, I also got a chance to attend the Californian Trials Invitational on the Wednesday prior to EtDE, where I ended up minding for Pro rider Sam Fastle.
The California Trials Invitational is a more compact event than the US Nationals, resembling an indoor trial more than an outdoor competition. The six sections are just a few feet from each other on purpose-built obstacles, rather than on a long loop and sections over natural terrain. The riders ride together, instead of independently, and there are only two loops. This means the winner is decided on 12 scored rides, not the typical 36 sections.
As I am new to minding, there was always going to be one that got away but thankfully no damage was done to Sam!
The hospitality and warmth the American trials family extended to me was amazing, and no sooner had I got there but they were asking me to stay for the next round of the NATC Nationals in May! Maybe next year…
Anyone interested in heading to the USA to ride trials please reach out and I am more than happy to provide guidance from what I have learnt.
A special thanks to all of you who contributed funds to help make this happen, and a special mention to Southern Trials Riders who helped a lot.
More help! New Social media contributor
Janina Gorski has kindly volunteered to help the club with social media. We’ve given her the keys to the Facebook account and so we hope to have a more active social media presence than we have had over the past few months.
Adult Beginner Coaching 29th May
One of the many benefits of being an OMCC member is access to coaching & training run by the club and its members. Although we would encourage everyone to ask more experienced riders for help, we do understand that that is not a replacement for formal training days.
There is training next weekend for Beginner Adults thanks to Stan Mularczyk. If you can make it, please let the club know: https://forms.gle/o4QRNqALfbganyLg8
This training will be aimed at Novice to C grade riders. We will split participants up into small groups based on their experience level. There will be a basic introduction session, followed by 2 hours of training with several sections to practice.
It will be a similar format to the one we ran on the 27th Feb earlier in the year:
Venue: OMCC, 1 Simpson Road, Clayton South, 3169
Date: 29 May 2022
Time: 10.00am
New members are welcome, and day memberships are also available (conditions apply).
The last one was a combined Adults & Kids, however we have split them out and now the kids training will be JETS branding, and we will run the adults separately.
For a look back at the last training day, there is a write up in the March communications to members.
Vic Winter Series: Round 2 – Scarsdale 5th June
Entries will open soon for this trial at a BRAND NEW property. We attempted to run one last year but COVID beat us.
Not far from Ballarat, Scarsdale will provide a very unique type of property thanks to this being a former hydraulic sluicing area with erosion gullies proving to be the main feature.
Some videos on our Facebook page from last year to wet your appetite:
- https://www.facebook.com/oakleighmcc/videos/1011519026304018
- https://www.facebook.com/oakleighmcc/videos/517167449623826
- https://www.facebook.com/oakleighmcc/videos/176803854471674
- https://www.facebook.com/oakleighmcc/videos/360370512162789
- https://www.facebook.com/oakleighmcc/videos/496356555001953
Keep an eye out for entries opening on Trials.com.au in the next week or so.
OMCC Contingent heading to Canberra 2 Day @ Top Naas – 28th-29th May
There is a large contingent of OMCC members heading up to Canberra to have a go at the Top Naas 2 Day trial. Those who have been the last few years have said good things about it. You can still enter online, but it’s advised you read the supp regs and event info as it’s not graded like a standard trial and some of the difficulty appears to be up to your own choosing.
AMA Affiliate Mobile App
You can now download our new Member Jungle mobile app. Login using your membership login details and you will be able to see your own account details, access your digital member card and much more.
It’s your responsibility to ensure you have a current AMA membership so it may be a good time to login and double check it hasn’t expired.
- Download the ‘Member Jungle’ app
- Search for ‘AMA’
- Login using your current membership login details
