I had a chance earlier in July to participate in a trials training class with nine other students. Rich Fullen (far left) from Walla Walla drove out to share his time and knowledge.
Class went from 10am to about 4pm with a short lunch break. It was a good test to see if my bicep tendon, and my elbow in general, healed to the point where I could complete a trials event. Well, I think it is.
I’ll get a chance to ride the next event, the Stumpy Trial, this Sunday. I expect to complete this trial, meaning I’ll ride all ten sections three times. I’ll be riding the novice lines as part of the AM riders group.
I’ll also be cross-checking one or more sections for the PM riders, meaning I’ll be the observer scoring for the advanced riders who spent time in the morning scoring us.
Cross-checking was dropped last year when Covid restrictions were put in place. This will be my first chance to officially observe during a trial. As it is my first experience, I’ll likely be paired with another observer who has more experience.
What does observing involve? Here’s a video explaining what formal NATC observer training might look like.
We’re a lot less formal at our events but the score keeping is the same. I start the video at 7:20 into the video – that’s where the score keeping lesson begins.
I’ll update the blog again after the event.