Another STRA event has come and gone, and it was another successful event! The Spring Splash (emphasis on ‘Splash’) was held at the Trials Training Centre with over 60 riders Saturday and over 50 on Sunday, with 29 people taking advantage of the online pre-registration.

Charlie Roberts out did himself again setting up the sections.  As Trials riders we all dream about competing in events like the Scottish Six Days, and Charlie hoped that several of us would be able to cross that off of our bucket list after riding the Spring Splash, which had water in pretty much every section.  From a safety perspective we probably should have posted a “No Lifeguard on Duty” sign at several of the sections, but a few members decided to go for a swim regardless.

This coming weekend, June 3rd, is the “team trial”  fundraiser event at the Chirt Pit 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 will be a really fun event fostering camaraderie and skill development for all.  Riders will be grouped in a team of three, with one rider from a lower, mid, and upper skill level on one team.

The flyer is posted on the schedule, and pre-registration is also open for this event.   If you can’t make it, but would like to support these members and your STRA club, there is a provision for that on the pre-registration page as well.

I hope to see you all there!

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 22^nd and 23^rd 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 27^th and 28^th 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 3^rd, 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