Swinny arrows to Robin Hood win
Our ace photographer Eric Kitchen took a day off from the Bassenthwaite trial, it being so cold, (who would want to be handling a cold camera all day), so Rappers snapped a few whilst observing, the few being in the Gallery now.
When riders complete a section then sit on the bike complaining they’ve got arm pump, it’s a fair guess that the trial is an arduous one, and that was the case by some riders in the Bassenthwwaite Club’s Robin Hood Trial on February 9 at Glenridding, a trial that was another round of the Northern Centre Championship.
Tom Swindlehurst has now well established himself as just about the best rider currently in the Northern Centre with another comfortable win, this time over Darren Brice who at one time could have claimed the same status that Swindlehurst enjoys now. And the same claim could also be suggested of Steve Dixon and Richard Gaskell, but now those who were once the Centre Champions have to accept that another has taken their place.
Another rider who has established himself as the regular winner in his class is Green course rider Sam Metcalfe who took another win over the four laps of ten sections at Glenridding, a venue that provides some great sections. But he found that his status could be usurped one day in the future as Connor Anderson lost the same number of marks as Metcalfe, losing out on the tie break with the evergreen Nigel Birkett in third. There’s a 52 year age different between second and third in the Green course results, a situation that is unlikely to be matched anywhere else in the UK.
And when it comes to finding a winner in the Clubman class at most Cumbrian trials, don’t go looking for a youngster as currently it’s the older generation who are the class stars with Nick Shield winning once again from the Over 60 category, then Anthony Hayhurst from the Over 50 group, with the best rider under 40 down in seventh place.
Forty nine riders tackled this trial on a dry but bitterly cold day that certainly tested competitors, but as finding ones limits is surely part of all competitive sports, and there is no doubt this trial was certainly such an event.
Full results are on the Results page with pictures in the gallery.