On The Pegs Vol . 3 Issue 3 - June 2018 P 81
On The Pegs Vol . 3 Issue 3 - June 2018 P 81
driving on the wrong side of the road , completely lost most of the time , it was fairly uneventful except for the time in the middle of the night when Kirk fell asleep while driving - I was asleep in the back , with the motorcycle , when things started flying around - we both woke up in the center median going the right way , so we just went on - how do we survive our youth ?
The Big Event
In 1972 the trial started in Edinburgh and then was centered for the rest of the week in Fort Williams . So we got to Edinburgh , went through tech inspection and found the hotel Mick Andrews had arranged for us and got ready for the big adventure !!
Monday morning , and off I go , riding through the huge city of Edinburgh , in traffic , on the wrong side of the road , over a toll bridge and out into the country side -finally getting to ride some sections .
The weather was dry and lucky for me the trial that week was mostly good weather . The first days route was 160 miles and 24 sections , mostly road riding and fairly easy sections . But that didn ’ t last very long - the rest of the week was much harder and the whole trial comprised of 749 miles and 161 sections .
By Thursday morning when I got ready to go out my clothes and boots were soaking wet and I was tired and sore and I thought “ What have I gotten myself into ?” But , knowing that I was also the first American to compete in the SSDT , I was determined NOT to be the first American to DNF !! Thursday evening the City of Fort Williams puts on a street party for the riders and fans - really great fun and a break from the almost constant riding and working on the bike .
Finally , the last day and the long ride back to Edinburgh , with sections all along the way - and to the finish : probably the most anti-climactic part of the whole trial . Just ride in to the finish , they check your bike to see if all the marked parts are still there , and it ’ s over .
Kirk and I drove back down the whole length of England , returned the bike to Sammy ’ s shop , Tony took us to the airport and we flew home . A few weeks later my finishers award came in the mail .
1973 - Do it again - bring some friends
After a year of rest and lots of fun memories I decided to do it again in 1973 .
This time Kirk was old enough to get an International license , another friend , Rodger Bickham from Kansas wanted to ride , so off we went - we were actually officially listed in the program as the North Eastern Oklahoma Trials Team , so we finally got to live up to our name as a “ Trials Team ”. Also , in 1973 there were seven Americans entered - but that ’ s another story ... n