Skye Trials Championship 2011.
Sunday the 8th of May at Kilmuir.

Kilmuir on the Isle of Skye was the venue for this month’s championship trial. 3 laps of 10 sections were laid out by clerk of the course [Allan Cowe senior]. Dry windy weather was the order of the day. If the weather was wet the scores would have bean a lot higher, and as the weather was great and the scores were slightly lower than usual.

At about 11 o clock the riders and spectators headed of to the first section.  The A route was a little harder than the B route.  Dveed Eckl [125 Beta – A/sb] and Allan Cowe jnr {250 Sherco] found the step at the beginning of the section quite tight and both riders footed over this huge bolder. No riders in the B class had problems here until the last rider [grand father to be] Kenny Finlayson [250 Gas Gas – ov/ 40]. Kenny shut off the throttle to early on the second climb and did not make it to the end markers on this occasion.

Sections no. 2 and 3 gave the riders no problems.

Section no. 4 was a different story on the first lap. A small shower made the nice green grass very slippy [like ice]. The rider’s rode through the start markers, over a boulder field, down into a dry hole then a tight turn on a slope and blasted up a steep banking. Only a few of the B class did not make it to the end cards. The steep climb was very much different in the A class though; someone put this huge rock in the middle of the banking and the 2, A class riders had to ride straight over. Allen Cowe, went first [the master]. The boulders were no problem. Down into the hole and round the tight turn, [No problem] big revs, let go the clutch and he went right over the huge bolder like it wasn’t there. Allan landed 10 feet away from the ends cards so he just rolled threw for a clean. Dveed [the young padawan], cleaned over the boulders, he was ok into and threw the hole. The blast over the bolder was identical to the masters. [You can’t learn by just watching].

Section no 6 was the next killer. The riders road through the starts, then over a small jumble of rocks, zig zag up a steep banking, over an old wall, then to finish with the boys having to ride up a small grassy banking. Well that was the easy route. Matt Wakeford [250 Scorpa] and Mike Tweats were best on the first lap. Both had clean attempts. What can I say about the A rout. These 2 boys had a 45 foot cliff to ride up before they got to the ends cards. The master had a steadying prod at the top of the cliff whilst young Dveed footed threw for a well earned 3. On lap 3 Dveed cleaned this section and there was a cheer of appreciation from the small group of spectators who were watching the riders from the top of the cliff.

Section no 9. One of the best sections that the rider's ride all year. This section was only ridden by the A class until the last lap when the Clark of the course done a way with the B route and every one had a shot at the Scottish six days type section. Allen Cowe jnr. was best here with two 1s and a clean. Dveed three footed this one on lap 1 and 2. He almost cleaned it on the last lap, but he footed on the last rock step then rode out for a 1.

At the end of lap 1 Mike Lee and Matt Wakeford were close with only 5 points separating them. Granddad Finlayson was next on 8 points. The rocket Ross Nicolson [250 Gas Gas] was on 9 points. Mike Tweats [250 Scorpa ov/40] was on 15 points. Allan Cowe was next on 23 points. Martyn Macdonald [125 Sherco B /sb], who was gradually improving as the lap was coming to an end, was next on a score of 42 points.

After a short tea break the next to laps were run in quick succession. Lap 2 saw every ones score come down by quite a bit, until section no. 9 on the last lap. This is when every one was made to ride the hard section. All riders made a fair attempt at this section. Martyn MacDonald fived this one but his ride was very determined until he stalled his bike. I did not see the rocket ride this section. One minute he was at the bottom and the next he was right by my side at the end cards. [4th gear and give it the blades is what he told me]

At the end of what was probably the best trial of the year so far. The weather held out and we had a nice dry, windy day. Sections were just right. Allan Cowe Jnr’s score of only 9 points was quite incredible because if it had rained his score would have been twice that. Dveed Eckl’s score of 7 on the last lap was a huge improvement from his first two laps [remember Dveed was riding in the A class with Allen Cowe Jnr].

Well done to all the riders and helpers for making this trial very enjoyable. Big thanks to Mrs Cowe for feeding all the boys after the trial. [Brilliant]. And I will see you all at the Elgol Gala trial.