On The Pegs December 2018 - Volume 3 - Issue 12 | Page 49

On The Pegs
Vol. 3 Issue 12 - December 2018
P 49
trials venues
EXT YEAR’S NATC SCHEDULE
The NATC recently released its 2019 US National MotoTrials schedule, and who better to give us
a rundown on the venues than one of the top riders in the country: Sam Fastle. Here’s Sammy’s
take on the 2019 series:
The yearly NATC meeting has taken place and the most anticipated news of that meeting was
released shortly after it closed. The 2019 national event schedule. The 2019 series looks like one
that will be packed with action as all eight rounds will take place in less than 30 days. The NATC
announced that there will be four venues next year each hosting a 2-round weekend. Nebraska
will host the opening rounds, then everyone will head north to Minnesota, then over to the
Rocky Mountains and Colorado, and the final two rounds will take place on the west coast in
bright sunny (at least for one day of the year) Oregon. I hope to give everyone my opinion on
these venues and what to look forward to about this upcoming season.
Nebraska, May 25th-26th
The last time I rode in Nebraska was the national back in 2009. I rode the Highschool class,
which rode the expert-sportsman line or half of the expert sections and half of the support sec-
tions and I finished fourth out of four. I had 101 points with only 3 cleans. This makes me very
excited to return to Nebraska in 2019 now that I have had sometime to develop my trials abilities
a little bit more. I now have another opportunity to prove test my skills against the terrain of Ne-
braska! The one section that stands out the most in my memory is the mud bog section. It was
one section that forced everyone to go through unnecessarily deep mud. I hated it. Other than
that, I remember the terrain being awesome for trials with plenty of decent sized rocks to ride on
which is what I care about the most. There’s also sure to be plenty of logs, creeks, and hills as we
start the national in this wooded area of the United States.
Minnesota, June 1st-2nd
Minnesota is one of my favorite places to ride. The nationals that have been held in Duluth
have been some of the greatest. However, this year we will not be returning to Spirit Mountain in
Duluth but will be riding at a new location in Gilbert, Minnesota. Having the chance to visit a new
riding area is always exciting and is one of my favorite aspects of trials. The vast array of different
obstacles and terrain that we navigate allows one to see some of the most beautiful places in the