What Class you
should ride in
As with most clubs Berkhamsted Motorcycle Club events normally
cater for the following classes:-
1. Novice/ Beginner - Rides the Blue route.
Class defined as an adult rider who has not won awards in
open trials. To qualify for South Midland Championship and
Meteor Group points a Novice must however ride the red route.
2. Clubman - Rides the Red route. Class defined
as an adult rider who has at any time gained expert or intermediate
status but does not wish to ride the hard route any longer.
3. 50/50 - Rides half of the Red route and
half of the White route. Class defined as an adult rider wishing
to ride 50% of the hard route and 50% of the red middle route
sections. Where the sections are stated 50/50 it would mean
that you have to ride the expert hard route. Normally these
chosen sections are (by the clerk of the course ) deemed to
be the easier of the laid out harder route sections.
note: click
here to read official south midland centre 50/50 rider status
4. Intermediate – Rides half of the
Red route and half of the White route as per the 50/50 above.
Class defined as an adult rider who has never won an event
outright or has not been given expert status by the south
midland centre committee by winning the intermediate championship.
An intermediate is also a rider who has won 4 best novice
awards in one year.
note: click
here to read official south midland centre Intermediate rider
status
Note:-
“older” experts and past champion expert winners
who no longer wish to compete on the harder route (effectively
on their way down in their trials career) will sign on
as a 50/50 rider or likewise the more ambitious clubmen
who would like to ride a more challenging course should
sign on and ride on the 50/50 route.
Intermediate riders, all on the way up and striving to
become experts will sign on as an intermediate and ride
the 50/50 route under the class of an intermediate. As
stated ”Older” experts on the way down must
not enter as Intermediates, they must enter as 50/50 rider.
Read
more >> |
5. Expert – Rides the white route.
Class defined as an adult rider who has either won an event
outright or has won the south midland centre Intermediate
Championship or been graded that status by the South Midland
Trails committee.
It’s perhaps best for a new comer to the sport to ride
in the Beginners class on the blue route. After a while if
your happy with this and have then gotten use to your machine
progress to the next level at your own pace.
Some clubs differ their events and classes and some have others
have special classes for the over 40’s , pre 65, pre
1965 machines that are rigid, twin shock machines etc. In
the classes stated above you can ride any machine you wish
to ride? Please remember that your pride and joy pre 65 Matchless
that you have dug out the back of your shed and fired up for
the first time in 30 years will find the new modern day hard
route a little demanding on the suspension, if you have some!
Youth Riders
As for the Youths well dads here’s a guide of age limits
and bike capacity’s. If your lads 15 and just starting
out we wont expect them to ride the real tough route, that’s
really for youths that have progressed through the ranks from
the cadet D class. When you get your kids ACU licence you
will receive a hand book with the exact dates of birth times
in so you know what age class you kid comes into.
Basically its like this
Youth A class - Youth age (approx) 15-17yrs riding machines
up to 250cc
Youth B class - Youth age (approx) 12-14yrs riding machines
up to 125cc
Youth C class - Youth age (approx) 9-11yrs riding machines
up to 125cc
Youth D class - Youth age (approx) 6-8yrs riding machines
up to 50cc mono 80cc twin shock normally on what we call a
conducted route
Which course / Route shall I ride on ?
Like most Centre trials our courses will be set out to incorporate
three different routes for different abilities.
1. Expert / Hard route – White route
- ridden by experts and normally Youth A.
2. 50/50 route - half of Red route and half
of white route (signs will indicate which to ride)
Note:-
“older” experts and past champion expert winners
who no longer wish to compete on the harder route (effectively
on their way down in their trials career) will sign on
as a 50/50 rider or likewise the more ambitious clubmen
who would like to ride a more challenging course should
sign on and ride on the 50/50 route.
Intermediate riders, all on the way up and striving to
become experts will sign on as an intermediate and ride
the 50/50 route under the class of an intermediate. As
stated ”Older” experts on the way down must
not enter as Intermediates, they must enter as 50/50 rider.
Read more >> |
3. Clubman route – Red route or middle
route as its often referred to as– ridden by clubman
and normally Youth B
4 . Novice / Beginners route – Blue
route - ridden by Beginners (non award) and normally Youth
C & D. As a Novice to qualify for South Midland Championship
and Meteor Group points a Novice must however ride the red
route.
Any rider can with permission of the Clerk of the Course upgrade
to ride a harder route and can down grade to an easier route
on a non award basis.
South Midland
Centre ACU Classification information
Sportsmen
The easiest route is generally for real beginners, or those
who may find the middle route too challenging. The larger
Pre 65 machine riders may also prefer this route.
Novice
A novice rider is one who has not won three best novice awards
in a calendar year January to December. They ride the middle
, second hardest route at events. Novices who have won three
best novice awards or more may continue to ride as a novice
for that year but will be upgraded on January 1st of the following
year. The winner of the South Midland Centre novice championship
series will be upgraded on Jan; 1st of the following year,
irrespective of how many best novice wins he has achieved.
He may then continue to ride the “middle route”
but must only enter as a clubman. They may of course wish
to ride the harder 50/50 or Intermediate route which is quite
acceptable.
The centre trials recorder, Bob Twigg, has a list of best
novice winners for the past 15 years
Contact him on 01707 880244. if you are not sure of your status.
Clubman
Clubmen riders ride the middle route in the sections and are
generally those that have upgraded from the novice class,
or riders who wish to attempt harder hazards than on the easiest
Sportsman route. Some older expert riders also ride in this
class.
50/50 Route
The 50/50 route is to enable the more ambitious clubman to
try something harder or “older expert” who no
longer wishes to ride all of the white route any longer.
To score points in the South Midland Centre 50/50 championship
riders must not have scored points in the expert championship
series in the previous three years.
The winner of the Centre 50/50 championship will not be upgraded
on Jan; 1st, however, he/she may only score points again in
the 50/50 series after a gap of one year. He/she may of course
ride on a no points basis for the year following his/hers
“win”!
Clubs may wish to alter the format of their trial to make
more or less sections available to the 50/50 class. They may
adopt any number of sections for the route, 60/40 70/30 etc..
as they wish.
Intermediates
The intermediate class is primarily designed for riders wishing
to progress to that of expert status in the future. In South
Midland Centre Intermediate riders ride the same route as
the 50/50 riders. The 50/50 route is basically a route between
expert and clubman. The winner of the South Midland centre
Intermediate championship will be upgraded on Jan;1st of the
following year to that of expert status. Riders who have no
intention of ever riding the expert route but at quote 'at
home' on the 50/50 route should always sign on as a 50/50
rider NOT as an intermediate as this will
effect those who are in riding throughout the year in the
intermediate championship.
Experts
Expert riders wishing to downgrade themselves should apply
to the South Midland trials
sub-committee for consideration / approval and then will ride
as the 50/50 class (NOT INTERMEDIATE ) should
they choose to ride that route.
Riders wishing to upgrade themselves may do so at any time,
but with regard to the above rules. There is no provision
for riders to downgrade to novice.
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