The 58K, Sequatchie, TN – October 5 & 6, 2013

It has been an amazing twenty-one years since that first 58K and boy have things changed since then. At that time the Trials Training Center was nothing but a field in the middle of a valley and many of us were wondering if this “trials heaven” was really all that. But Tony Bussing was right as usual and the TTC is now truly a world class facility for all motorcycles, just ask Adam Raga. We have several club events there every year and I always know that Summer is over when the 58K rolls around and once again Charlie Roberts and the entire staff of the TTC put on a great event. If you wonder why it is called 58K well that was the price of this trials wonderland when Tony purchased the property all those years ago. We have many new members in the STRA this year thanks to the efforts of people like Mark Moon getting the word out and so for many this was the first time to ride this event and it is an exciting time for the STRA.

We had five Champ riders and the level of competition was very high. Alex Niederer from Florida was top champ each day on his beautiful new Beta. Second both days was Chuck Walker aboard the Sherco and at 40 years young Chuck still gives these young lads plenty of competition as he just seems to get better every season. Third Saturday was Andi Niederer and on Sunday it was Aaron Thistle on his Sherco taking the spot. Great riding from all the Champs as usual. In Expert it was Tim Cash from Tennessee winning both days aboard his Gas Gas. Eric Mattson got second on Saturday and on Sunday it was Austin Brown with Eric a close third. Advanced class was one of the largest and Tim Cone lead the way on Saturday on his Beta over Scott Jordan on his black Montesa. Scott came back on Sunday with a great ride to first place over Gary Holbert with Tim dropping to third.

In the Advanced Sportsman class we had five riders and it was a close battle for the top spot and from personal experience I can say that the first five put you out of the running and so it was a low scoring event where any mistake was costly. On Saturday Paul Thistle from Georgia took first over Frank Shoenbeck but on Sunday the positions reversed and Frank rode his exotic Scorpa to victory by just a single point. Sportsman class was the largest of the weekend with 16 riders on Saturday and TTC local Sam McNair lead the way while his son Micheal took second. On Sunday it was another local rider Greg Clark who pulled off an awesome ride to beat Sam by one point. Like I said, any mistake was costly. Intermediate was won both days by Kevin Browning from Alabama aboard his Montesa over Doug Kauffman in second. On Sunday we had several Novice riders and Joey Jackson rode his Gas Gas to first place over Kyle Spudic. We also had a few Vintage riders with Larry Smith on the TL and Doc Bahret on the TY showing the youngsters that the vintage iron still rocks. Thanks to the great work of Ashley Jackson, Dawn Shirley, Linda and Catherine and everyone who helped with signup and also again to Charley for the great section layout. If you have never been to the TTC I hope you can join us there next time and as always, see you on the loop.