Just got home from the Clee Hills. Really enjoyed the event which was very Beetle friendly, not too much mud and a few sections requiring plenty of ground clearance. Bit of confusion over the Long Mynd and like the others in our class ended up taking the snow route. Not sure if this was "official" or competitor initiative!
How nice it was to have such a clear day, what fantastic views. Those snow capped hills were absolutely beautiful.
How was your Clee Hills Trial.
No Mud! That's because the nice Mr. Woodall decided to cancel Strefford Wood for classes 1-5 . If you want to see mud have a look at classes 7 and 8 in my Photos. Sadly because this section was cancelled I didn't get to see too many of the classes 1 to 5, but there are some great action photos of Classes 7 and 8. Photos can be seen here:- http://hoits.smugmug.com/Classic%20Trials/696662 enjoy. Dave Cook
ReplyDeleteGood action pictures!!
ReplyDeleteLooks like that was a good call on Class 0-5 for that section.
The photos are very expressive. Glad I wasn't pushing cars out of that hole! I enjoyed fabulous views instead, having had a bit of a trial getting to the section. A good day out.
ReplyDeleteDoes the camera ever lie though? Has Clause 13a been suspended? or can a passenger who's waist is roughly level with the top of the windscreen be said to be 'properly seated'? Is it potentially dangerous (or actually dangerous)? Should we marshalls penalise this over exuberant bouncing? Did they? Just wondered.
Just to set the record straight, the hill shown in Dave's pics is not the one that was cancelled for Classes 0-5. That one was a couple of hundred yards down the escape road for the Class 6-8 section and when we went down the escape road in the Troll we thought that it looked a bit of a problem.
ReplyDeleteI think we should call Strefford Wood 1 'The Swamp' because the junction of the two tracks is just that. Any fails on the upper part of the section, of which there were quite a few, have to reverse into that gloopy mess and then get turned to exit on the escape road. I felt very sorry for the marshals that had to perform that task; it must have got very boring after a while.
A wet suit would have been suitable attire under the high vis jacket.
If you can, try and get a look at the pics of Dave Foreshew in the Dingo having a go at another Class 6-8 special - The Slab.
At one point his car was not far from the vertical, but he did clean the section, but then the waiting drivers had a revolt because it was unsafe and the section was moved a couple of yards to the left and, to his credit, Dave came back and had a go at that as well. This was after a change of trousers for him and his passenger!
"If you can, try and get a look at the pics of Dave Foreshew in the Dingo
ReplyDeletehaving a go at another Class 6-8 special - The Slab."
Any chance of a link to the piccies,
please?
There were quite a few people there taking pics, but I'm not yet aware of any being posted on the web.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the Photos. I'm not sure I'm keen on them being used as evidence of indescretions! I would point out that my camera shoots at about 5 Frames per second in continuous mode, so when the passengers are "bouncing" I often select them at the top of the bounce because it looks more effective.
ReplyDeleteLoved your pictures of the class 8's Dave. You must make sure Dave Foreshew gets a high re copy of his submarine impressions! Also the marshal pushing Stuart and Chris. That was dedication.
ReplyDeleteMichael
I believe that if you look at the video footage, (ie not a still piccie at the "top of the bounce"), of Tillerton Steep on this year's Exeter, you might see the same person in a similar position ! Maybe the passenger seat is mounted high ? SimonR
ReplyDeleteWould that be the passenger sat over the side of the car or the one on the seat back not bouncing?
ReplyDeleteHi Guys’n Gals,
ReplyDeleteThis was the first time my wife and a couple of friends had been out to “watch” an event.
There are a couple of observations I would like to put forward, if I may?
Finding information about where best to “view” was difficult. Whilst we knew the event was on, via the web, we couldn’t glean enough information to enable us to plan our day. Would an ordinance survey map/ Grid reference published on the web, (with obvious link) with the sections be a possibility? Or perhaps some notice/display board at the start? That’s were we ended up heading for to try and find some help. Luckily we bumped into an “old-hand” who set us right.
I have not discounted the fact that the information was there and I was just too dense to find it..
How are the Marshals briefed? I overheard a couple discussing whether a driver had “failed” or not? Do they have a written check sheet to work from?
All in all, a great day out and everyone we chatted to was friendly, so here’s to the next one….
Cheers, The Bodger
Jon - Most Classic Trials do not cater for spectators and consequently do not publish the location of sections. When they do, eg the MCC events, spectaor locations are published on the internet. Regarding marshalling. Each section has a "Chief Official" who is experienced in the sport and who is responsible for instructing inexperienced marshalls. I drove on the Clee this year but have been both a marshal and Chief Official on the event. The Chief Marshal provided excellent procedural documentation before the event. It is normal for marshals to discuss if a competitor "ceased forward motion" or "ran back" on a restart. They will normally give a competitor the benefit of any doubt. Michael
ReplyDeleteHi Jon,
ReplyDeleteIn the past I have contacted the organisers of trials in advance and asked them the best places for people to come and watch, they have always been very helpful.
I think that it does benefit the sport to keep information about sections not readily accessible on the internet, but available to those who have a genuine interest in classic trialing.
James
The official "Clee Hills" stance is that classic trials are NOT a spectator sport. There are too many "health and safety" considerations to take into acount if sections are to be opened up to all and sundry. Spectators are tollerated in small numbers and those numbers are kept in check by making it non too easy to find out where and when. If you can crack this problem then your are probably sufficiently au fait with the "do's" and "don'ts" to not cause the organisers a problem. On the other hand, the best way to see a trial is to volunteer to marshal. Organisers always need more bodies on the ground and newcomers are always welcome and will be helped to learn "what" and "how".
ReplyDeleteMichael - I seem to be having a problem posting, must be because I am using a Mac and not a PC. I have couple of pictures of Dave Foreshew on the Slab following Chris Phillips comments which I would be grateful if you would post for me. Dad and I were there taking pictures for the MAC News to accompany his report in the next issue. Hopefully they illustrate Chris's point and the angle that the dingo reached quite well.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
David (Price)
Quite apart from the health and safety angle, organisers are often reluctant to publish the locations of sections in case non-triallists find out about them and come along to 'have a go' at a later date. The Clee, The Kyrle, The Lands End and the Edinburgh have all lost sections in recent years to over-use by 4wd guys doing exactly that. In some cases this wrecks the track and in others it just annoys the hell out of the locals when the same idiot is roaring up and down the same track weekend after weekend. Especially when the section can only be legally used with the relevant permissions on an organised event. So best advice is always to speak directly to the organisers...and not to publish locations of sections. Good job Dave Foreshew's passenger was properly seated on the slab, by the look of it!
ReplyDeleteResults are now available on the ACTC News page. http://www.actc.org.uk/association/results/2009%20Clee%20Provisional%20Results.pdf
ReplyDeleteLooks like a wheelie any sporting trialer would be very proud of!! Talking of sporting triallers - it looks like Simon Durling in the back ground with a green top on with a Camcorder filming it...he is an MAC member and lives at the top of Shelsley Walsh. Now that would be a good promotional video......
ReplyDeletePosted on behalf of Gary MacCormack, the intrepid driver of the 1930s V8 Coupe in his first ever trial: I would really like to find some photos of my car going any of the hills we cleared. Any ideas how I could find the people who were there? I have tried Dave Cook but he only has stationary shots. I think most people thought we were nuts to try and do it in such a large car! If you haven't found them already Gary has posted some in car footage from the weekend on youtube and that V8 makes a lovely sound. Must have enjoyed himself as he's also doing the Land's End! Welcome to the fold Gary.
ReplyDeleteNo one has passed comment on my provision of scrutineering and signing on on Saturday night. Did anyone think it was a rubbish idea, or was it useful. Would you use this facility if we did it again next year?
ReplyDeleteGood idea for some but we travel to events overnight and
ReplyDeletearrive in the wee small hours, grab a few hours rest and scrute comfortably in
the morning. Mornings are good for me.
Regards
John Rhodes
it does raise the question of up to12 hours of tinkering time after scrutineering ,although no one would do that would they ?
ReplyDeleteFor us, the queue for scrutineering on Sunday morning was just 2 cars, which was great. I don't know if that was due to Saturday evening scrutineering taking the strain off the scrutineers on Sunday morning or just because we arrived at a quiet time.
ReplyDelete