March gave us good traction to have a great trials month in April. We only had one STRA event but a growing number of STRA riders took part in the AMA/NATC West Coast National events.
It was a rainy weekend at Hickory Hills, in Lenoir City, on April 22nd and 23rd for rounds 5 and 6 of the STRA Championship. Raining in the morning and clearing in the afternoon, we had 51 riders participate Saturday on sections primarily created by Eric Mattson, Ross Walls and, of course, Papa Joe himself. Sunday was pretty much a downpour all day. In spite of the wet, the 33 riders that did ride had a great time! Even in the downpour we had five new riders turn out to give trials a test for the first time. On both days the sections were challenging (especially in the wet), safe and fun. There was one section each day that became the nemeses section because of the slop.
Dawn Shirley worked with a new computer registration format at check-in, in hopes to make sign up quicker and more efficient for both riders and administrators. The test will be if it passes Ashley Jacksons’ (who was unable to attend the Hickory Hills rounds) expectations at the next event.
Thank you for all that participated in the Ryan Young Clinic STRA fund raising raffle. The winner, announced at the Hickory Hills event was Doug Raney. Doug rode his first event at Hickory Hills, winning the Novice class on Saturday and the Intermediate class on Sunday. Robbie Hawkins generously covered the costs for the STRA for the participation fee for the clinic that he held on his property on April 27th and 28th.
As previously mentioned, we had a good showing of riders that participate in STRA events compete at the National level in the month of April. Maddie Hoover was the brightest star, winning four events out of four in the inaugural Women’s Pro Division. Alex Niederer, Andres Niederer, Aaron Thistle, Ray Peters, Laura Peters, Tim Cone, Karl Davis Sr. and Scott Jordan also displayed their skills in their respective divisions. Go to http://www.mototrials.com for more information regarding how each one of these riders scored and to get information about the East Coast Nationals that begin June 17 and 18 in Cleveland, Ohio.
The Spring Splash at the Trials Training Center is just around the corner. May 27th and 28th will be the last STRA Championship event until the summer break. Go to the Schedule section of this page or the STRA Facebook page to view the flyer for the event.
A week after the Spring Splash, June 3rd, Alan Shirley his holding a fund raising “team trial” in Ringgold, GA. Alan is creating this fundraising event to support our STRA riders (Maddie Hoover, Alex and Andres Niederer) who will be participating in the World Round in Arizona in July. This should be a really fun event fostering camaraderie and skill development for all.
The year is going by fast! Enjoy each event as you can and keep riding,
Douglas