Trials and Tribulations!

May has been a busy month on the biking front for me, starting with a visit to the scottish pre-65 and six day trial at Kinlochleven and Fort William. Thankfully the weather proved much kinder than the monsoon of the previous year and on the first day of the main trial we were reminded that modern machinery is not infallible and that the event, which began in 1911, is still titled ‘The Scottish Six Days Reliability Trial‘.

So, perched on the large round boulders of the last group of observed sections of the Monday Route at Lagnaha, in the sunshine to watch the efforts of the 270 entrants, my two sons and myself were witness to an unfolding drama which would affect the final result five days later.

Dougie Lampkin, previous multiple winner of the trial and former world champion appeared, did the usual ‘recce’ to determine his riding line through the section and after an exasperating effort failed to restart his works Beta 290. Head in hands he consulted with his cousin and riding companion James Lampkin, also Beta mounted, and proceeded to swap various electrical components from one bike to the other to identify the problem. Eventually after contact, by mobile phone he pushed the silent machine downhill to the main road to reappear forty minutes later minus seat and rear mudguard to blast through the remaining sections as though a main road. The resulting time loss incurred a 27 mark penalty and instead of emerging the clear winner at the end of the week by 7 points, he finished the trial in 8th place due to a faulty HT Coil.

The modern trial covers between 70 and 110 miles per day. Approximately half of this distance is entirely off road and taking in around 30 observed marked sections per day. The modern day trial bike is an ultra-specialised, lightweight, torquey, low-geared machine with incredibly supple suspension, vast ground clearance with grippy soft tyres running at 5-7psi and a fuel capacity of 2-3 litres. A two wheeled mountain goat!

Compare these conditions and equipment to those of an entrant in the 6 day trial in 1929 by the name of T.G. Meeten, a strong exponent of two stroke engines when these were regarded as suitable for utility use only.

In this amazing account he rode his 172cc Villiers two-stroke Francis Barnett, three-speed hand gear change machine producing around 7bhp to the finish, but with a sidecar attached incorporating his wife as passenger. Sceptics doubted his ability to climb many of the mountain passes without seizing the air-cooled engine or to finish the full six-day event at all.

At this time trials machinery consisted of lightly modified production road bikes with lowered gearing and knobbly tyres, so were a real test of manufacturers standard machine design strength and reliability.

The trial started in Edinburgh on the Monday (as did the current trial until the late 1970′s) and on the first day tackled steep rock-strewn drove roads, passes and river fords via Kilsyth to Loch Lomond. Then over the steep ‘Rest’ and ‘Be Thankful Pass’ to arrive in Oban on the West Coast in foul weather.

The Tuesday route continued Northwards to Bridge of Orchy through Glencoe to Kinlochleven, then via the Mamore Road (still used by modern trial, still completely unsurfaced and now part of the West Highland Way) to Fort William…for lunch…! Then North to Fort Augustus at the Southern end of Loch Ness for the evening stop.

The Wednesday route led via Strathpeffer (on the Black Isle to the North of Inverness) to Lochcarron (not far from the isle of Skye) to tackle the six mile climb of the pass of the cattle over to the West Coast at Applecross!

This is the highest mountain pass in the British Isles starting and finishing at sea level and rising to around 2000feet. There was no continuation of this road beyond Applecross until around 1970 so the steep route had to be repeated in reverse back down the 6 hairpin bends.

When I first tackled this road in the late 1960′s with a 500cc Velocette and Steib Sidecar plus girlfriend the surface was still loose gravel and untarred, and drifting the outfit around the steep upper hairpin bends was the only means of maintaining momentum. this was with 34bhp at the end of the throttle wire.

Mr Meeten and spouses Wednesday adventures continued further Northwards to Diabeg on the shores of Loch Torridon, a remote spot even now, and in conditions of high winds and rain, returning to Strathpeffer for the evening stop.

Thursdays run headed South through Inverness then by a very long route further South to Aberfeldy in Perthshire for lunch followed by an afternoon climb from Kenmore on Loch Tay, South to Amulree on the Sma’ Glen Road towards Crieff. (this is still a demanding road to drive in modern times) to check in at Edinburgh in the evening. All in all around 200 miles.

Fridays run took place in hurricane force westerly winds from Edinburgh to Ayr via Carnwath, climbing Lanark Hill in a ‘sea of mud’ and almost losing Mrs M. She bounced backwards out of the chair as the outfit found sudden grip and was rescued by T.G grabbing her leg to pull her back to safety.

Saturdays route came Southwards by Moffat to climb Bodesbeck Hill which was very difficult and slippery. I still find this steep rocky route demanding on a trail bike. A twin-track sidecar outfit must be much more demanding in skill to pick a good line for grip without overturning and much more physically testing.

The lunch stop was at Selkirk then back to Edinburgh for the final climb at Blackford Hill which was still a feature of the final day many decades later.

This overall achievemt in terms of mileage, ardous weather conditions, stamina and fortitude is almost unbelievable while Mrs Meeten’s contribution was to complain of the state of her hairdo while motoring into gale force wind and rain. Machine troubles were limited to punctures and broken drive chain.

The modern day event is considered a tough and demanding challenge and to gain a finishers award is a great achievement but which era would you prefer?

My final biking experience of the month of May after riding in a club trial on my rebuilt Fantic Twinshock was to take in a tour of Exmoor and Dartmoor before catching the ferry to Santander and six days exploring the Picos De Europa area of Northern Spain and into the Duouro Valley of Portugal.

These Northern Iberian roads across mountain ranges, some above the snow line up to 7000 feet, are biking heaven with virtually no traffic and with wide variations in road surface from sublime and grippy to tooth rattling. In some ways reminiscent of Galloway B routes.

My seven companions often dispersed and on one occasion across Northern Portugal I spent most of the morning solo across two mountain ranges, travelling uphill for around twelve kilometers on cambered smooth tight turns in 2nd and 3rd gears at high revs. Alternating right and left continuously in a smooth rhythm-such sublime ‘Motorcycle Nirvana’, I was laughing out loud!

My BMW GS mounted companions eventually appeared at the cafe lunch stop some time later but  I failed to catch my Buell Ulysses mounted buddy who had set off a minute ahead.

The F800 rear tyre has never been more evenly worn despite the motorway miles to Plymouth and back.

The scale and remoteness of these mountain roads, coupled with an almost complete lack of other traffic made this trip more memorable than the Italian, Swiss, French Alpine passes I have sampled in the past and are highly recommended! There’s room for all!

Happy Bendswinging!

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