CHG John Draper Trial
Report: Steve Venn. Pictures: Tony Falconer
October 31, 2010
THE CHELTENHAM HOME GUARD MCC recently ran the John Draper trial, a round of the Western Centre championship, on the high slopes of Langley Hill above Winchcombe.
This infamous hill was graced with some fantastic weather so the usual deep muddy 4th gear sections were tackled at a slower pace.
Thankfully the rain in Cheltenham did not reach us, but this did not make for an easy trial which the experts were soon to find out.
The unforgiving loose soil, stones, leaves and roots made the early attempts at the sections too challenging for some and slight minor alterations were made by clerk of the course Mike Clarke to good effect.
Conner Evans had the lowest score on the day, beating Western Centre championship leader Henry Bendall by just one point. Henry still took the premier as best result by an adult. Most notable ride of the day was seasoned clubman Nigel Tomkins with an unbelievable one mark lost.
The much easier clubman sections still required great commitment to ride. The steep banks proved very testing. Welcome midland visitor Alan Wright had a few scary 5's on his James, so well done to him and his bike for relishing the challenge and finishing the trial.