Classical Gas

Having enjoyed a gloriously sunny Tamar Trial a few weeks before, my brother Neil and I decided to enter the Tarka on our 650 Triumph Metisses. I was conscious that the weather forecast for the 31^st was not good but took comfort from the fact that the forecast is very often wrong but in this instance that did not prove to be the case.

It was already raining heavily when I woke at 4.30am and continued as I loaded my bike onto the trailer and headed off on already flooded roads to collect my brother and his machine.

By the time we reached Bideford we had seen so much rain and passed through so many floods it was clear that we would not be having an easy day and were beginning to doubt the wisdom of using such heavy machines but we had already passed the point of no return.

The first four sections were in the Tapeley Park Estate woods and were predictably very slippery on the wet leaves and tree roots and gave me the first taste of what would prove to be much pushing throughout the day. I did manage one clean but it was a good deal later in the day before I managed another.

Riding with my brother Neil and our friend Andy Petherick on his 350 BSA we left the woods for a few miles of road work to section 5, Stony Cross.

This was a loose stony climb in a narrow lane with what looked like a stream running down it which lubricated the stones very effectively.

A few miles further on was Section 6 which started as a partly submerged farm lane with the water becoming increasingly deeper until the tractor wheel tracks disappeared leaving you to guess or discover where they were as the water continued to deepen with it eventually coming over the top of my boots with my feet on the footrests. I remember my brother saying he was fearful that it would reach his handlebars at one point.

We then made our way to Stoodleigh Woods where there were four sections in the woods. I have no memory of the first which was Georges Bank, possibly due to trauma or more likely senile decay.

The remaining three were firstly a steep slippery climb, then a leafy climb with a tight deviation at the top and finally a climb on a track through a stream with a tight turn at the top.

I felt I should have managed the last of these at least but failed to do so and had the opportunity to further practice my pushing instead.

After a lunch stop at Rogers Garage in South Molton we rode to Holdridge Woods where there were another four sections, reduced to three due to the weather.

The first started in a stream and exited up a slippery bank and the remaining two were on such slippery mud that I was exhausted by the time I had wrestled the Metisse to the start board and achieved little more than that.

Section 15, High Bray was next. This is a regularly used hill with rocky slabs and steps and is notoriously slippery.

There was a restart for all classes and this was certainly a stopper for the Metisse. I had help from many Marshalls during the day but would particularly thank the Marshal that helped on High Bray for his assistance and patience whilst I straightened the bike enough to be able to continue.

Next were two sections near Stoke Rivers. The first was a bog with a steep climb out which had been affected by the previous nights rain and the second was a steep grassy climb which it was actually quite fun to see how far it was possible to get up on the Metisse but even more difficult to come back down.

Section 18, Snapper was a narrow lane with a tight bend and rock steps on the bend which I approached too cautiously and stopped on one of the rocks.

A few miles further on was the final section, Kings Cott and this was a wet stony lane which I was hugely relieved to clean mostly because it meant I did not have to manhandle the Metisse which by now appeared to have more than doubled in weight.

This only left the special test at Pristacott to complete and this was the normal start on line A, then stop astride B and finish astride line C except that this was in a lane with deep puddles of course, which did increase the sensation of speed. I did the test with my visor open and as a consequence coated the inside of my helmet and visor with muddy water and had to ride to the finish at Tapeley Park with it open.

I was hugely relieved to finally get to the finish after what proved to be an exhausting event and am much impressed with the way my Metisse survived the many attempts to break it during the day.

It is very much to the credit of the North Devon Motor Club that they were able to still run the Tarka Trial despite the appalling weather of the previous night.

The road route was very well chosen and took in some excellent North Devon lanes and scenery and the Route Card worked well with only a few exceptions and that may not have been the fault of the Card. 

Having had good weather for many of the recent ACTC Trials it is inevitable that at some point this would change and this was that event. Let’s hope we do not get another like it too soon or I may need to buy a modern machine.

• The Tarka Trial on the Classic Trials FB Group (this link can be problematic using an app but works fine if you switch to a browser)

Results and links to come. So keep checking back

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