Learning all the cool tricks and techniques on square urban stuff is one thing. Much more challenging is to go out and try your riding skills in a natural zone. Not least because you won't have infinite run-up distances, the terrain is never straight or flat and sometime it is even unstable (wood bark coming off, gravel giving in, mud etc...)
Slippery stuff...
That's why nailing a pure technique on a square bit of dry concrete is no guarantee of success on uneven
boulders or wood logs, especially with hugely variable levels of grip. At the beginning you may think, Natural?
What's the point of riding in this mess? But then, riding Natural involves much more than the mechanical use
of known techniques. Here comes the mental game, strategic thinking and concentration.
It's like pushing your riding to a new level of accuracy, for distance evaluation, pedal power, weight transfer and braking control.
Competition grounds
Most biketrial competitions take place in natural settings, with only a minority of man-made zones (called indoor even-though they are often held outdoor).
A wood log section, and an indoor section based on concrete pipes.
For example, you could have between 6 and 10 sections, marked with ribbons and arrows of different colours
corresponding to the different rider categories (for mod or stock bikes, different age groups, and levels of skills).
In a competition, each section should be cleared in less than 2:30mn (with extra time counted as penalty points), and you if you bail out,
then you are out of the section, until the second or third run if you have to make several passages (riding all the sections in order).
On each run, your penalty points are logged on a punch card you carry with you. The rules and penalties
are different depending on if the competition follows the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) or Biketrial International Union (BIU) rules.
Check out all the techniques as used in competition, either in natural or indoor sections.
(click on the videos)
Walking through the zone
Getting a feel for the gaps
Strategic thinking
Now, before the run, you are given some time to look around and walk through the sections to discover them and think in advance
your strategy. That's an important part of the mental preparation. If you evaluate the terrain and identify the best possible lines,
you are less likely to hesitate and be short of time during the actual run.
If you are not the first to enter the section, it's also a good thing to watch other riders ride the zone.
They can come up with different approaches that you hadn't thought off.
Make the most of your dab
A typical punch card.
Use your penalty points (up to five)
If the only way to climb an awkward obstacle is to
put a foot down (1 penalty point), that's better than failing completely (5 points for bailing out).
But if you plan to use a penalty point (or even if it wasn't planned), try to make the most of it, and place your foot
as high or as far as you can in the direction you want to go. That'll save you other stupid points. Then, once your foot is well placed,
move up onto it, pushing or placing your bike as far as your leg will stretch. When you are ready, give a good impulse to
come back onto the bike. Avoid stepping with your foot down (this counts as one penalty per step). Also, at all times, you must have one leg on each side
of your bike. Never put your feet on the same side of the top tube, it is counted as a 5 points penalty like if you were bailing out.
A pallets section, for all levels of skills.
Some other settings (from Cesar's trials school)
Looking for any trials specific components?
Check out the Manufacturers' listing on the Bikes page.
You'll find all the major MTB and biketrial names and online shops:
(Ashton, Atomz, BT bikes, Czar, Echo, Gu, Koxx, Monty, Onza, Ozonys, Try-All, Zoo, etc...)
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