Belated Derbyshire Trial report

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Down the road to come what may
O’er the hills and far away


What better possible preparation could there be for a long-distance trial then a 35-mile mountain bike ride in the Peak District the day before?
That was a question I asked myself as I prepared for the MCC’s Derbyshire Daylight trial at the Duke of York campsite, having just returned from pedalling from Pomery to Cromford and back again on the High Peak Trail in the company of my loyal wife, who had agreed to celebrate our wedding anniversary by accompanying me to take part in the MCC’s most northern event!
A hired van had been packed, and a borrowed caravan placed on the campsite at trial HQ at Duke of York. Having suffered from an unwise intake of two pints of Dizzy Blonde and no water the night before our mountainbike ride, I enjoyed two pints of tap water with my dinner on the eve of the trial.
This had the added bonus of making sure I was awake in plenty of time for the start the following morning!
After a being lulled to sleep by the sound of trials cars leaving the Duke of York to tackle the night sections, I was awake in plenty of time to get ready for the off. The formality of scrutineering over it was time for a healthy English breakfast cooked by the DoY’s landlady (who had had all of four hours of sleep), then I was ready for the start along with six other Daylight motorcycle contestants, and a 602 cc Citroen Dyane car.
For those not in the know, the Derbyshire Daylight Trial is the wimps’ version of the Edinburgh Trial (it’s not in Edinburgh), covering the final 90 or so miles of the infamous all-night trial, and starting off at daybreak. To make it extra easy for us wimps, we are excused the restarts on the sections, and the route returns us to our starting-point at the Duke of York. But, apart from that, it’s the same route, the same sections, and crucially, the same weather.
Ah, yes the weather! The sun had smiled upon us all day the day before, and the weather forecast suggested today might be no different. So, I decided to leave my one-piece waterproof oversuit in the van rather than lug it around with me all day. What could go wrong…far from being ‘grim oop north’ it was lovely. There were baby swallows in a nest at the campsite, and the farmers had been mowing hay yesterday.
We set off in swirling mist, and to be honest I was a bit apprehensive. Excelsior, the first section, had been billed as one of the toughest in the trial.
Well I suppose it might be, if you had been riding all night and had to do the restart, but the reality is that it’s just a moderately steep, fairly rough, rocky hill. And the limestone of the Peak District seems to be a good deal more grippy than the polished granite of Cornwall, so I was slightly surprised to get to the section ends board without drama.
I then promptly got lost on the green lane coming out the other side, realised my mistake and retraced my steps, and met a competitor on a Honda step-though who had made the same mistake as me. Together we found our way back onto the route.
The next stop was the Clough Mine complex of sections, but I lost the route again once or twice on the way there. Back on route, I was following an outfit and another competitor on a British two-stroke…I think it may have been an AJS Stormer or a late Greeves…anyway, they both got punctures on the road within half a mile of each other. How weird is that?
Avoiding any deflation situations of my own, I got to the Clough Mine complex, where again I found the fearsome reputation of the sections wasn’t really reflected in reality.
What was interesting was the huge variety of motorcycles in the event…everything from big KTM twins to a battery-electric Royal Enfield Bullet, which generated massive amounts of torque and would just overwhelm its rear tyre and spin out when any throttle was applied.
I managed all three sections clean, much to my amazement!
Then on to Dudwood: clean again, and on to a pair of timed special tests, one after another Deadwood (just to make sure you are paying attention) and Robin Hood (where hopefully the poor riders like me will gain something from the rich). Both tests were ‘manned’ by attractive young women, who seemed happy to stand outdoors all day being splattered in mud and choked with exhaust fumes as we all did our best impressions of motocross heroes (mine wasn’t a very good impression).
Competitors began to bunch waiting at the next section: Hob Hay, where you leave the tarmac road and ride up over a hill. Rainclouds were beginning to gather ominously on the high peaks in the distance too. Us gentlemen waiting for shot at the section all had to turn our backs at one point as a lady competitor needed a wee, and there was no hedge or any other cover available for her!
Again, this section was quite easy. This is some kind of a personal best for me. I haven’t even footed yet, let alone fallen off.
On to the lunch stop at Hollinsclough’s Chapel Hall, where we are supposed to be logged in and out of a 30-minute break for refreshments. But there’s no one there to do it, just some friendly ladies of the parish serving tea and cakes. I fill up with food, and clear off again. The scenery is amazing. A valley with a series of rocky outcrops in it like massive dog molars. There’s a green lane, where I find a somewhat bewildered trail rider wondering why there are so many bikes about: it’s his first time out on a new Honda 300. I encourage him to enter the event next year. And there’s a ford, which is deeper than expected, and I win a bootfull of water!
The climb out of the valley takes leads to the next section: Booth’s Farm. I realise I missed a refuelling opportunity earlier, so pass the section and pick up the main road to Buxton, where I find petrol and return.
This little detour means I’ve dropped further down the field than I would have liked, and the clouds are looking increasingly ‘stuck’ to the high peaks. Booth Farm is another surprisingly easy section, then it’s back on the road towards the difficult part of the trial.
Some of this route is familiar to me from 40 years ago when I enjoyed the infamous ‘Buxton to Macc’ road on a Moto Morini 31/2 Strada during my college days in Sheffield. And yes, there’s the Cat & Fiddle pub. The last time I was here, was thirty-something years ago doing a lorry photoshoot with Trucking International magazine. That day had been so clear you could see the Jodrell Bank radio-telescope far away to the west on the Cheshire Plain. No such luck today: its’s grey, misty, and any desire I might have had to relive my footpeg-scraping antics on the Morini are tempered by the greasy surface and under-inflated trials tyres.
Soon we turn off the former superbike deathrun: the trial is reaching the difficult stage now. The infamous Corkscrew section.
There must be 50 bikes ahead of me in the holding area, which means trouble ahead. It’s raining hard now, and having seen some YouTubes of Corkscrew, I’m painfully aware that every minute of rain is going to make it harder.
They let us forward in groups of three: the ride down to the section is steep, and I know the ride out the other side is even steeper and on a mixture of mud and rocks.
Eventually, it’s my turn. I go for the wide lines, forcing the tyres into the bank on the outside of the turn. All goes well until the bit where the restart is. I don’t have to do the restart, and the marshals, who are probably exhausted from picking bikes up and pushing them yet at me to keep going. But I hit a rock step wrong and spin to a stop. The marshals get me going again, but it’s my first fail of the trial. I need a bit more help getting to the top further up the hill, but I get there. Given that the section is only for competent riders on suitable bikes I’m not too upset.
It’s now pouring with rain, and I wish I hadn’t left my oversuit in the van. But, strangely, it’s not cold.
I do find myself experiencing a bit of a navigational challenge getting to the penultimate section: the route doubles back on itself, and I follow some other riders then realise they are even more lost than I am. I stop, and see two riders: one on a KTM 890 and the other a Honda 300 coming at me the other way. I tag on the back of them, and it turns out they are using an intercom and have one rider following the road and the other the route, if that makes sense.
Bonus.
They lead me to Litton Slack, the penultimate section, where we are told the final section is cancelled for motorcycles and the trial proper ends at this section, and we can find our way back to the DoY afterwards . There’s a queue here. Of course there is. It’s a swamp set at a rakish angle and the water is pouring down. Various riders attempt the hill, most end up in a flurry of wheelspin. It’s my go, and I get a good way towards the top before spinning to a halt.
We see others try the hill with varying degrees of heroism. As a former DR350 owner I watch one of the brilliant 1990s Suzukis get all the way to the top with a mix of emotions.
Then I follow my two friends back to the DoY to sign off. The rain washes most of the mud off the Beta.
Two days later, I come down with Covid. A week later, the MCC results service informs me that I finished third in the Derbyshire Trial (out of six). It’s the first trial I’ve done where I haven’t fallen off. I even won a bronze medal, if such a thing exists in the Derbyshire Daylight trial.
Boosted by my success, I enter the Tamar Trial (which I was going to skip because of the Covid). Two sections in, I realise Covid has left me a breathless bag of bones and retire.
I’ve gone from my first trophy to my first retirement inside of a month. That’ll teach me to be big-headed!

Thanks to all the marshals and officials at both events.

And, if you are interested, here’s how to clean every section on the Edinburgh, courtesy of winner Jack Kemp riding a Husqvarna 701

[garyboy]

Brilliantly written. Richard..

Just think what you would have achieved if you hadn't indulged in all those pre-event activities

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Standing like a greyhound in the slips
straining upon the start...

Edinburgh trial start.jpg (101.76 KiB) Viewed 1395 times

Well, not quite. The characteristic 'smokey start' of a cold Beta X-Trainer adding to the mist swirling around the Duke of York car park.

In spite of this, th X-trainer used less than an egg-cup of two-stroke in about 100 miles of mixed going.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

The cycle trails in the Peak District are brilliant. Everything from carefully-groomed redundant railways to wild and rocky hills.

Clearly a lot of money has been spent on creating this wonderful network of paths. If I lived in the Peak District, I'd buy an electric MTB tomorrow.

That's the good side...the bad side is that at the same time as these trails were all being created at the cost of hundreds and thousands of £, the National Park was devoting considerable efforts to destroying a great network of vehicular rights of way.

Makes you feel a bit sick, really

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Excelsior





Note the torque of the Electric Enfield just turning the back tyre to smoke.

[garyboy]

The cycle trails in the Peak District are brilliant. Everything from carefully-groomed redundant railways to wild and rocky hills.

Clearly a lot of money has been spent on creating this wonderful network of paths. If I lived in the Peak District, I'd buy an electric MTB tomorrow.

That's the good side...the bad side is that at the same time as these trails were all being created at the cost of hundreds and thousands of £, the National Park was devoting considerable efforts to destroying a great network of vehicular rights of way.

Makes you feel a bit sick, really

As you know, RS2, it's historically the same in wales, in recent decades. Millions pumped into cycling and walking routes, but a War on powered vehicles using country rights of way, or "Rights of Roads" in new speak., who'd a thought that that War, centred from the National Parks, would be extending to our tarmac Roads. The new 'extremist' law proposals are just the latest of a sustained government attack on our Rights and Freedoms.

O well, best not dwell on such things .. and just 'get out there ' and enjoy our hobbies and sports while we can.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

And another...

I win the prize for the slowest successful climb on this one. If you look carefully you can see a snail passing me!

[garyboy]

well done, mate ... you dun really good.


.. looks fun, too.

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

It's the 100th Lands End Trial next Easter, Gary.

You could be a part of motorcycle sporting history!

[garyboy]

there's No doubt I Would be, Richard ... but for the wrong reasons lol

.. that was a perfect hill climb you did, on that last video ..... make sure you keep it safe