Milnthorpe toughie falls to Tom

Tom Swindlehurst was in a total class of his own in Sunday’s Milnthorpe Trial by the Westmorland Club on their own land at Lindale, losing just 12 marks over the hard course of three laps and 13 sections.

Tom Swindlehurst was in a class of his own

Set out by Anthony Brockbank with the intention of testing the hard course riders to the full, that was an intention that worked, with the first three riders on sensible scores of 12, 29 and 32, second and third being taken by the father and son due of Darren and Cameron Brice, (lead picture) with then a big jump to the 81 lost by Stephen Dixon. Every section was tough with only the well used long straight rocky stream being seen as easy, which was also used by both the clubman and green course riders.

The ultra slipery terrain also proved a tough event for the Clubman and Green entry with the winning scores higher than is seen as the norm in centre rounds. John Holland from Leicestershire, a regular visitor into Cumbria was having his first ride since suffering a broken collar bone and settled for a clubman class ride this time, winning with the loss of 77 marks from Ben Hanson on 85 and John Gornall on 87.

Adam Hague, once a regular in trials but back now after spending many years living abroad, dug out his dad’s Beta and proved that he had lost little of his ability with a fine win over Anthony Ayrton whose daughter Lucy battled her way through the trial to show many of the lads the way.

Whilst the ten sections on the club’s own land were all slippery in the conditions it was the three hazards in the woods above that proved to be more difficult, especially the ninth which looked to be eminently cleanable except that it was wetter and muddier than most sections found in Cumbrian trials. The cambered hillside of section ten was another that belied its appearance as the grassy turn at the end was the part that defeated most riders.

. Tyler Knowles persevered to claim a finish with a big score of 153