Trials encounters

Trials, the act of balancing on a bike as the rider makes his or her way over obstacles, was born in Europe in the early 1970s, out of the interest in its motorised predecessor. Ever since, its popularity has grown remarkably across the continent and its influence is now also seen throughout America and the East, whilst small pockets of supporters and enthusiasts are found around the globe as well.

 

Even though the sport of competitive trials may be relatively unknown throughout South Africa, members of the public may be more familiar with the sport than they initially realise, having observed one of the many freestyle trials demonstrations that are often staged nationwide, or through motorbike trials.

 

About the sport

The sport requires riders to make their way over a variety of obstacles in different sections or zones of a predetermined course within a certain time period, without letting any part of their body or bike, other than the tyres, make contact with the obstacle. Should contact be made whilst riders hop, bounce and jump their way over the obstacles, the rider is issued with a penalty score and the competitor with the least penalty points at the end of the course is declared the winner.

 

Courses are often situated in small, compact environments that produce a highly spectator-friendly final product and, when added to the floodlit element of the finals of this year’s World Champs, should see hundreds of supporters turning out for this spectacular event.

 

Competitors are divided into categories according to their bicycle’s wheel size, with 18-23 inch wheels known as the 20 inch (20") class and 24-26 inch grouped together in the 26 inch (26") class. The third and final class is an Open class, whereby all wheel sizes compete against one another. However, the 2013 UCI MTB and Trials World Championships will only see the 20" and 26" classes in action.

 

Adding to the intrigue of the sport is the element of unknown. As the rules do not permit participants to practise on the various obstacles before the competition commences, only a walk through to familiarise the riders with the course is allowed, hence a large portion of the course is left a mystery until the competitions gets underway. Some of the obstacles across the various zones are extremely technical and can be approached in a variety of directions. As the competition progresses, the officials will change the direction from which each obstacle has to be approached and completed, hence giving the course a sense of dynamism as they continue to increase its difficulty.