South Island Champs Rounds 5 and 6 2014
Pioneer hosted the last round of the champs at the end of a very wet winter feeling nervous about the prospects of the weather forecast proving correct.
Day one was at the awesome Omihi property thanks to farmer Greg La Compte. This farm was a bit of a mud pit when we set out the trial and long range forecast was for poos and wees coming down all weekend. With that great Pioneer attitude we decided to ignore the forecast and peg the trial how we wanted it. As usual we had a large team of helpers led by the famous dictator Derek Scott and just used the small gully beside the wool shed.
I remember the days when we struggled to get people to trials by the start time, now we have the problem of silly old buggers being at the venue when the organiser arrives with the signs at 8am. I think they need to get a new girl friend or something to keep them in bed a bit longer.
Saturday surprised us all by being a beautifull sunny day with the land reasonably dry. The sections were based around tried and proven areas that held up well.
Our local heroine Stef had just stepped off the plane from Spain after riding the worlds and Trials Des Nations along with Blake and Gavin Fox. Poor Blake looked really Jet lagged but Stef and Gavin put in reasonable rides on the saturday. Leading expert Jason Baker failed to make the start line because of a grade one case of man flue this handed the competition to Nick Oliver in Expert grade.
Intermediate Grade was to prove a real battle between Glen the old master and David the apprentice. On the saturday the apprentice proved too good taking the win from Glenn and Stef. Scotty was looking in top form and ready to pounce on a podium position.
Amazing things happend in Clubby grade with Gareth upsetting the master John to take out a win. Presidents class became another clown act with Stephen again missing a marker but putting in a protest that there were more than the allocated number of green markers in the trial. We all thought it was time Stephen took to racing in events like the Americas cup where winning is more important than having a good time and enjoying the company of mates. So Brendon was again denied the win and the third event in a row ended on a sour note.
Day two was at Living Springs the awesome venue near Governors Bay after a night of heavy rain. Luckily when pegging the propery we had left the pine needles protecting the soil so when we started riding conditions were perfect. Our riders that had just returned from Europe on friday all hit the jet lag wall on Sunday and looked exhausted. this was proven to be true in the results.
Nick and Peter Oliver took out class wins which was made easier as they were the only people left competing in their class. In Intermediate the apprentice was taught a lesson by the master with Scotty bursting onto the podium. The slippery creeks and hillsides proved to be to the liking of Stephen Oliver who had a much slower first lap as he walked the sections well. Ross Bristol had his best ride in slippery stuff ever beating Brendon for second and Gareth again beat John Mortimer in Clubman. There is some Talent coming through in this grade not just Gareth but also Dylan could be future stars and Josh Nicholls is going to be a very competive rider.
Living Springs gave us a nice venue for the prize giving. I was most impressed By Stephen Oliver who apologised for behaving like a cock throughout the series and promised to behave better next year. Hopefully we will see the fun Stephen back next year.
Another great weekend of fun on our bikes. Life is good
Alan Honeybone