BikeTrial Federation

NEWS UPDATE. By now many of you will have received your news letter along with the Bracken Rocks event results and Blackpool event entry form. Blackpool is shaping up into something special. Hope the weather supports the decision to lay on an ice cream van! Since the news letter has been published two important events have occurred; Biketrial U.K. has taken the decision to form a new federation, to be called the “British Biketrial Federation”. Our concept of allowing competitors to compete without a licence, therefore allowing competitors to ride together regardless of whether they hold a BIU or a UCI licence has been received positively by many International competition organisers. Primarily we will be focusing on our U.K. series for 2007, but in 2008 plans are in place to offer riders looking for a no – nonsense ride at events organised overseas at interesting venues. British Cycling have authorised the British Biketrial Federation to organise and run competitions to select future team members for the 2008 UCI World Championships. A series of events will be organised in 2008, no licence will be required, only those ultimately selected and wishing to compete in the World Championships need acquire a licence. Keep an eye on our web site; we are dedicated to putting the fun back into trials.

Bump.

There's not much grass on the Moon Rocks and I don't think many will bring their mowers with them. Trade stands is an issue we are still considering, please email the web site with your request.

Yes Matt. You have entered the Guest Blue route, you're ok in that class.

You should know by now.......................................... Don't shoot the messenger! You don't have to change your set up, unless of course you feel it will give you an advantage Fred.

After much consideration, and after confirmation that other events will be allowing single-geared bikes in the Expert and Master Classes, the organisers of Sunday's competition at Bracken Rocks will open up to single gear and will combine the Expert Class with the "Guest Red", and the Master Class with the "Guest Yellow". There is no need to contact us, this will be done automatically. The closing date was supposed to have been yesterday but having received a further 10 entries today who had "forgotten" to send their forms, the entry is still open. A phone call would be appreciated if you are planning to ride but have not sent your forms yet. Fred.

Thanks Craig! HERE IT IS For those that have not seen it.

Its a great venue for photographers, will make for some interesting shots with sections laid out in a line.

Chuck wagon on site from 08.00. Please support as its a new one.

The response to our banners on the forum has been very encouraging. As we expected the majority of enquires from prospective riders have been about the Blackpool Tower Trophy event We are concerned that the event may be oversubscribed. The total number of entries for Blackpool will be capped to ensure that everyone can complete the course in the time allocated. Those riding at our Bracken Rocks event will be assured a ride, the remainder of available entries will be allocated on a strictly “first come first served†basis. We have full use of the Moon Rocks, Blackpool council have included the Trial in the list events circulated by its tourist board. Should be a good day out whether riding or watching.

Sorry to go on, but "the other side" have had their say. I promise this will be my last post on this matter, but I forgot to give you a link to this document which clearly explains WHY it all started ... Minutes of ACU meeting 2nd December 2006 Please see item 13, right at the end, under the heading "BikeTrial Regulations". (Note that this document is on the ACU website so we have no control over it.) For those who can't be bothered to look at the link, it says:- NOW WHO'S BEING UNDEMOCRATIC? Oh, and by the way, I don't hate motorcycles, my son has had a few in his time. I just don't believe it's the right way to go about running biketrials - it needs to be independent. .

You have hit the nail on the head. Please see the following letter received on 19th March:- Anthony, Fred rang you the other day offering a compromise. Why have you not replied? Phil, you keep saying that I have done something wrong with the BikeTrial accounts. I will not respond to your libellous attempts to draw me into such discussions on this forum. It is not the place. I am happy for Terry Graves, Stuart Matthews or Dave Bradley, or all three of them, to visit me to review every single receipt and calculation at my home. If any discrepancies were to be found, the amount will of course be refunded. .

Long and complicated but you ask for the differences between the two insurances, here they are, almost word for word and number for number ... (apologies if I have missed anything, it's late, I'm tired) ACU / UKBikeTrials BIU Licence - Free (but no income to improve the sport) ACU Licence - £10 this year (said to be increasing) Insurance arrangements Pre-event:- £20 permit application fee - in advance payable to ACU Complete the permit application form. Send it to the local ACU Centre for their agreement and signature, they send it back to you. Then you send it to ACU Head Office with the cheque. They then send you the insurance permit along with a tree's worth of forms. Post-event:- Insurance form to be completed in triplicate, send one copy to insurance company with a copy of the results and a cheque as below, send second copy with cheque to ACU with a copy of the results, keep third copy on file for seven years with all signing on sheets, copy of insurance permit and any other documentation. £1.20 per adult (16 and over) insurance - paid after to Locktons Insurance £0.60 per child (under 16) insurance - paid after to Locktons Insurance £0.50 per rider (all ages) - "ACU Contingency Fee" (?) paid after to ACU ACU dictate the rules. As their General Secretary said in his letter to George Eyre (2nd January 2007) ... "Should your Committee wish to run events under the BIU or the UCI, then please affiliate to that organisation and run your events using their permits, insurances etc." (I think that means "sod off") Now lets work that out ... to be paid outside of the sport ... Costs Say 100 members x £10 = £1,000 in members' ACU licence fees 10 events each year x £20 = £200 with say 50 riders at each = 500 rides Say 50% are under 16, so 250 x £1.20 = £300 250 x £.60 = £150 500 x £.50 = £250 TOTAL £1,900 So let's look at the insurance benefits ... Riders' Personal Accident Death (16 +) £10,000 Death (11 - 15) £ 7,500 (what about the under-11's?) Permanent total disablement £20,000 Officials' Personal Accident Death (over 16's) £65,000 Death (14 - 16) £ 7,500 Loss of 2 limbs or 2 eyes (16+) £65,000 Loss of 2 limbs or 2 eyes (u16) £20,000 Permanent total disablement (over16) £65,000 Permanent total disablement (14-16) £20,000 Temporary total disablement (over16) £150 pw max 104 weeks Temporary total disablement (14-16) £75 pw Public Liability £30,000,000 Landowners liability Included The solution after being told to sod off was ... BikeTrial UK - independent governing body of BikeTrial working with AMCA BIU Licence - £10 (All income to go directly back into the BikeTrial sport to enable improvement.) (Licence holders to have automatic membership to any UK club - but only 2 clubs would agree to that) Insurance arrangements Pre-event:- Register the event directly onto Locktons website 6 weeks in advance AMCA send completed forms directly to the organiser - you sign one and send it back. Post-event:- Complete declaration form, photocopy it, send it off to insurers with signing on sheets for them to store and a cheque for £2.20 per adult (16 and over) and £1.60 per child (under 16) and £15 to cover all observers/helpers. Costs Say 100 members 10 events each year with say 50 riders at each = 500 rides Say 50 riders at each = 500 rides Say 50% are under 16, so9 250 x £1.60 = £400 250 x £2.20 = £550 10 x £15.00 = £150 TOTAL £1,100 Insurance benefites Riders' Personal Accident Death (16 +) £10,000 Death (6 - 15) £ 7,500 Loss of one or more limbs £20,000 Loss of one or more eyes £20,000 Permanent disability £ 2,000 4 weeks in hospital £2,000 Officials' Personal Accident Death £65,000 Loss of one or more limbs £65,000 Loss of sight, one or more eyes £65,000 Total disability £65,000 Temporary disability £250 pw max 104 weeks Public Liability £30,000,000 Landowners liability Included Print them out, put them side by side and work it out for yourself. To reply to Phil Tupman ... Incorrect, £30,000,000 So does AMCA - and they pay a higher temporary disability benefit So what? We're interested in people on pushbikes, not in cars etc. Quote: "The payment of legal fees incurred with the written consent of the Company for representation of the Insured in any proceedings in a Court or similar forum arising out of .............." The AMCA appear to pay higher temporary disability benefits than the ACU. Perhaps charity is not required.A difference that you failed to raise between the two companies, is that the ACU pay benefits for youths age 11-15 (according to the 2007 handbook), and the AMCA pay benefits for youngsters age 6-15 which was especially negotiated for BikeTrial. You will have noticed I am sure that the insurance fee per rider per event is higher through AMCA than through ACU. The difference between the two fees is the personal insurance fee PER EVENT instead of as a one off annual licence fee that you have to pay even if you only ride once a year. Isn't this a fairer way - to pay for what you use? No, the AMCA did not guarantee a price for the next 10 years. Have the ACU? No, instead the ACU are talking about different values of insurance cover: gold cover; silver cover; bronze cover. Isn't that going to make life more complicated? That is how British Cycling do it and it is extremely confusing. And the ACU aren't? They have wages and bills to pay just the same as everyone; and I'm sure all of those "official ACU Committee members" don't travel to so many meetings for free (not like the BikeTrial Committee members have always done). When the ACU first wanted BikeTrial to start up with them, they provided lunch for them at meetings. After a year, they cut the lunch out. Then in December they announced that they were going to charge BikeTrial UK £80 to use the room. When Geroge Eyre told them to get lost, they then decided that BikeTrial could have the room for free, and you could all have lunch too. So you don't get anything out of it?The personal criticisms made against individuals at the AMCA made at the January meeting don't get anyone anywhere. BikeTrial Uk are not the only people who are fed up with ACU's dictatorial stance. I quote from And finally, I reciprocate the following quote from the Minutes of the same ACU Meeting:- More information about the AMCA here Good night all - hope to see you at an event soon. Oh, and by the way Phil, Wayne sets up sections for 12 events each year and attends about 10 meetings each year. He more than plays his part for the sport.

The shoe rule was abandoned in the U.K. in 2002.

Write to Fred Savage, he is the BIU Delegate.

Street class discussion.......... See 6 working gear thread, Trials chat.

The BIU have listened to the opinions of their Delegates and taken other matters into consideration. It is interesting to note that some manufacturers and influential forces within cycling media wish the rule to be retained. All views have to be considered. That said, the problem we have to face up to is that there are those whose hobby for some time has been pseudo Trials activity, not competition. A situation exists where by we have a core of dedicated competitors who have always accepted the rules as they stand and another group of interested riders who have honed their skills on the streets, possibly unaware of the rules and regs that exist at comps, the Bikes the latter group ride will not have been built with a focus on comps. It makes good sense for the UCI to allow single speed. What do have in a UCI final? 10 or fewer riders competing over 8 sections with a time limit of about an hour, very exciting, very fast, but no time for repairs, so the risk of mechanical failure should be kept to a minimum. In BIU comps there is time to effect a repairs, the potential winner is unlikely to miss the podium due to 10 minutes spent changing a mech hanger. So, what do forum users want at British championships? As it stands the gear rule will remain for the BIU British Championships, but the comps are there, the sections are laid out, why not accommodate single speed Bike riders. If together we can come up with a workable solution it will happen. Some suggestions; 1) A street class for single speeders, over a cocktail Red and Blue Route sections? 2) Single speeders may enter the Red route, appear in the results, but do not gain Championship points but contest a street class? Fred.

Just looking to asses the situation; There seems to be a number of riders that would like to attend the Nationals but their 26” wheel bikes don’t meet the criteria laid down in the rules. Those involved with running the British Championships are looking at ways to involve those with single speed Bikes. Many of those that ride Master and Expert will compete at the Worlds, single speed gives a competitor an advantage as there is less risk of skipping through damage and failure through damage. Those that wish to compete on an International basis need events that mirror what they will experience at the Worlds. So what should we do to accommodate single speeders? Ride on a no point’s basis? Introduce a cover all class? (What route would that be over)? Your ideas please, come up with the one that keeps all the people happy all the time and it could happen. Fred Savage.

World BikeTrial Championship 2007 Round 1 - 21st & 22nd July - Blansko, Czech Republic Round 2 - 28th & 29th July - Spain - CANCELLED Round 3 - 25th & 26th August - Seki-Itadori, Japan Application forms to be part of the British Team will be mailed to all BIU licence holders during March. European BikeTrial Championship 2007 2nd & 3rd June - Terchova, Slovakia Application forms to be part of the British Team will be mailed to all BIU licence holders well before the event. British BikeTrial Championship 2007 Round 1 - 15th April - Bracken Rocks, Matlock, Derbyshire Round 2 - 20th May - Blackpool North Shore, Lancashire Round 3 - 17th June - High Wood Farm, Brimham, Yorkshire Round 4 - 8th July - Nevis Range, Fort William, Scotland Round 5 - 23rd September - Hook Woods, Surrey (to be confirmed) Entry applications will be mailed to all BIU licence holders six weeks before each event. To enter and ride in any of the above events, all you need for 2007 is a BIU licence. This can be downloaded as a pdf file and printed from www.biketrialuk.co.uk. If you have any difficulty downloading, please use the contact email link and a form can be mailed to you. Additional "Guest" classes have been added to the standard BIU classes for anyone (1) wanting to ride another route colour to the one their age or bike puts them in (2) with single gear (3) from another country and/or (4) don't hold a BIU licence. See www.biketrialuk.co.uk for more information and to download entry forms. Hope to see you all this year!

Please see the post on the official BikeTrial UK website www.biketrialuk.co.uk dated 31st October 2006 ... 31/10/06 The Annual Meeting of the UK's BikeTrial Clubs is to be held on Sunday 14th January, venue to be announced later. Each 2006 fully-contributing UK BikeTrial Club is invited to send its two delegates to represent their Club's interests. Non-contributing clubs, individual BIU Licence holders, or other interested parties may request permission to attend by arrangement through their Club Secretary or through the BikeTrial UK Chairman or Secretary. The Agenda for this meeting will be announced later, but will include election of officers for 2007. Any proposals or items for discussion must be notified to the BikeTrial UK Chairman or Secretary at least 14 days before the meeting to be included on the final Agenda. To preserve time, no item will be discussed unless on the Agenda. According to the BikeTrial UK Constitution, voting rights are restricted to: "the Officers, and each contributing UK BikeTrial Club is allowed one nominated delegate vote, and one other voting representative; maximum of two votes per club". Following the Annual Meeting, a further meeting will take place to confirm Elite and Master classes for 2007, and confirmation of pre-arranged details of the British BikeTrial Championship events for 2007. Provisional dates and venues for 2007 Championship events will be available by 30th November 2006. New clubs will be welcomed to take part in the Committee for 2007; any club wanting more information, please contact either the Chairman or Secretary. BikeTrial - Our Sport Chairman - George Eyre, Gollin Gate, Quarnford, Buxton, Derbyshire, SK17 0SL Tel: 01298 73845 Secretary - Barbara Wright, 27 Midland Terrace, Hellifield, Skipton, BD23 4HJ Tel: 01729 851350 In addition, an invitation letter was mailed on Monday 13th November to all known BikeTrial clubs in the UK; ie to all of the following recipients:- Chairman - George Eyre Secretary - Barbara Wright BIU Delegate - Fred Savage EBTC Delegate - Dave Bradley EBTC Representative - Stuart Matthews TykeTrial Delegate - John Peacock TykeTrial Delegate - Ian Oliver Hampshire BTC Delegate - Terry Graves Hampshire BTC Delegate - Rob Doney West of England Delegate - Anthony Rew West of England Delegate - Phil / Matt Tupman NBTC Delegate - Mick Scriven NBTC Scotland Delegate - Kevin Dignan Upper Wensleydale BTC - Martin ? Huddersfield Falcons BTC Delegate - Bill Swallow YMSA - David Butler Porthcawl - Martin Hawyes A final agenda was mailed on Monday 8th January to all those who responded to the original invitation letter. If anyone has any comments to make, or wishes for any matter to be discussed at that meeting, please contact your club secretary, the BikeTrial UK Chairman or Secretary as detailed on the BikeTrial UK website. It is the purpose of that site to provide information about the BikeTrial sport, the UK clubs, and competition information and results. We have no intention of duplicating it all to this forum!

The closing date for receipt of applications is 31st December. At that date, the information on the application forms will be checked for accuracy then forwarded to British Cycling for their decisions. As soon as BikeTrial UK is notified of British Cycling's choice for their British Team, all applicants will be notified by mail and a notice placed on www.biketrialuk.co.uk.

As soon as full information and the entry form is received it will be distributed to all BikeTrial UK BIU Licence holders. The information distributed will usually include arrangements for travel and accommodation, with approximate costs. Licence application forms have already been mailed to all 2006 licence holders, they can also be printed from the 'form download' page of www.biketrialuk.co.uk.

Letters were posted last night to all of last year's BIU licence holders (2nd class). This includes:- A - BIU licence renewal application form B - Fort William application form. The closing date for return of 'B' is 31st December - so as soon as it arrives, get it sent off to the address on there. BikeTrial UK will confirm the details on the Fort William application forms, then forward them to British Cycling for them to make the decisions. In the interests of data protection, form 'B' does not ask for your address. Once British Cycling have chosen the team they want for the Fort William event, then they will pass invitation letters to BikeTrial UK to be sent to the successful applicants. For anyone who did not hold a BIU Licence last year, the forms will be placed on the BikeTrial UK website in the next few days. Good luck everyone! PS. Don't forget to send off your BIU licence application as soon as possible - information and entry forms for 2007 events will only be sent to 2007 licence holders! PPS. See the BikeTrial UK website www.biketrialuk.co.uk for proposed dates and venues for the 2007 British BikeTrial Championship.

The BIU tend to confirm their dates in about February each year, as yet no provisional dates have been given. However, if you look at previous years' dates, then you can assume that they will be the last weekend in July, then the first two/three weekends in August. The final round has so far always been August Bank Holiday weekend. As soon as the dates have been confirmed they will be added to the BikeTrial UK website.

www.biketrialuk.co.uk