TMX SAYS: Chilly begger!
By TMX Archives on 21st Oct 15
So the Scott Trial went off at the weekend and although it was perhaps a wee bit drier than most of us feet-up fans wouldve liked it all went pretty much to plan otherwise.
By that I mean neither the fastest rider over the moors or the most diligent through the sections won the overall – instead it was a guy who was really good at both. And that's how it should be...
I can't imagine that many people had Ian Austermuhle down to win it beforehand but by riding smart and holding back in the early going he finally took victory in this time and observation classic.
Okay, there was a little luck involved but as the best man on the day you can't really say that he didn't deserve to win it.
My day out in Scott country was far less successful than Austy's and after following the SatNav the world's windiest way to Arkengarthdale – with two spew stops for Noah thrown in – the Sutton clan minus Mummy Bear and Angel finally arrived.
Having been slightly distracted while packing the car I was pleased to find that both the boys had their welly bobs and coats with 'em and Arthur had more than enough layers to stay comfortable all day too.
The problem was that I only had what I was wearing so if you saw some muppet watching the trial in just a t-shirt and jeans (while carrying a waving baby – it's his thing at the moment) then that was me. What a dumbass!
After checking out the action for an hour or two I couldn't cope with the cold any longer and headed back home with my tail between my legs and waited for news of a result to hit the internet.
I always find reading the Scott results absolutely fascinating and this year's are no different – you can check them out yourself at www.richmondmotorclub.com.
I know it's a bit geeky to be entertained by such things but I find the fact that Scott rookies #52 Thomas Coates and #53 Aldis Blacker started 20 seconds apart and finished more or less together n'all while scoring 244 and 246 marks on observation. Weird huh?
But even stranger is the tale of Harry Houghton (55) and James Johnson (73) who both lost 118 marks on time and 183 on observation to tie on a total of 301 along with Graham Tales who was about a minute quicker and put his foot down just once more.
Houghton edged out Johnson and Tales on a tie-breaker to take 70th in the final standings.
Like I said, it's well worth a look at the final results just to look for irregularities like these and also get your head around just how long some of the competitors spend stood on their footpegs over the course of the day – the slowest guy took almost eight-and-a-quarter hours to finish!
That has to be a tough old day by anyone's standards and I think everyone who makes it to the finish – whether they're over time or not – deserves a huge round of
applause.
Well done to you all!
