Upper Midwest Trials Association

From Steve Ahlers, Trialsmaster:

For those who were at last year’s Spirit Mountain Trial and were mercilessly pummeled, an enticement to tempt fate once again: We promise a kinder and gentler Trial.

Although, we cannot control the weather, we are determined to set a less punishing trial. The loop will be much shorter and not so rough. We will pit in the lower parking lot and all of the sections will be near the bottom of the hill. There will be a couple of toughies for each class, but the majority will be less threatening. Three loops of eight sections each day. We have some very nice creek sections for the more intelligent classes. We are using the format with groups of mixed classes so all sections will have all lines.

There is a team competition on Saturday. Teams consist of five riders representing at least four classes. Your team score is the difference between your score and the winning score in your class. If you are the class winner your team gets a zero. The worst score on your team gets thrown out and the team with the lowest total wins. We have a swell team trophy and we plan on making this an annual event, so get your teams together.

I’ve got a fun little game planned for post trial Saturday with a gosh awful nice prize. Bonfire Saturday nite, BYOB. Trials master and section marking seminar Sunday at 10:00 a.m. for those interested.

We will award medals both days and overall trophies for all of the classes.

12:00 noon start Saturday. 11:00 a.m. start Sunday. Do not be afraid. —- Steve

See the directions to the lower lot at Spirit Mountain.

For area camping/lodging, see the accommodations page on the World Round USA site. Browse some of the photo galleries (like this one) to a get an idea of the terrain.

The overall champs of the Haggis Basher 2-Day Trial (both days combined):

Champ: Brad Villand

Expert: Dave McLuckie

SuperSport: Scott Zewers

Advanced: Marty Hicks

Intermediate: Tyler Hendrickson

Novice: Dave Peterson

Youth: Cole Hendrickson

Vintage: Rod Villand

See all the Haggis picnic and podium photos, courtesy of Jack Chermak and Dave Peterson.

Results and standings as of the August Haggis two-day are are now up.

I plan to start a fresh Used Bikes page starting September 15.

If your bike is listed and not yet sold, please contact me with the details. Otherwise, I’ll assume it’s been sold and it’ll be removed from the list.

Sounds harsh, I know, but in order to keep the listing useful (and free), it’s got to stay fresh. And early fall is a good time to clean house, with new bikes in the manufacturers’ pipelines.

Jack Chermak’s posted a trials school update to his Sherco Rider weblog. (The Sep. 8th Trials School page includes a short video clip of Brad Villand in the sand pit at the Haggis.)

Steve Anderson alerted me to this. Comments need to be sent by Aug. 29.

Eveleth to Gilbert All-Terrain Vehicle, Off-Highway Motorcycle Trail

Off-highway vehicle grant-in-aid trail project proposal

July 25, 2003

By e-mail

scott.kelling@dnr.state.mn.us

From UMTA member Dave Peterson:

I just wanted to comment on the nice event this weekend.

OBERVATIONS FROM THE HAGGIS BASHER

Not your average rent-a-tux crowd. These guys aren’t ready for prom. This is a motorcycle trials event. If Sturgis is really a small town in Scotland, is it ready for stuff like this? Without the McLuckies’ guidance, we could have never come this far! We’ve got motorcycles, women, and beer. Bring more haggis!



A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THE McLUCKIE CLAN

McTHANK YOU

An FAQ

WHAT IS THIS EVENT?

UMTA’s Tenth Annual Haggis Basher Two-Day Observed Trial

WHEN IS IT?

Saturday August 9 and Sunday August 10

WHAT TIME?

Saturday: riders’ meeting at 11:30 am, event starts at noon;

Sunday: riders’ meeting at 10:30 am, event starts at 11 am.

WHERE IS IT?

At the UMTA club grounds near Faribault, MN. See our directions page.

IS THERE CAMPING AVAILABLE?

There’s free primitive camping in the club pit area. We do have an outhouse but no running water.

WHAT’S WITH THE NAME ‘HAGGIS’?

Haggis is Scotland’s traditional food. The two-day trial was brought to the UMTA by



Scottish expatriate Stuart McLuckie.

And here’s a photo of



club grounds landowner Evelyn Piper carving up a Haggis last year while her two lovely assistants, Tim Hunt and Mike Hendrickson, look on. We’ll have an ample supply of Haggis for dinner on Saturday night for all riders and their families.

HEY, THOSE GUYS ARE CUTE. ANY OTHER ENTERTAINMENT?

You betcha. The Haggis dinner opens with a bagpipes march, led by

world-renown David McLuckie and fellow bagpipers. A big campfire follows dinner. Some people even bring beer to drink. See the Haggis Basher 2002 photo gallery for more.

WHAT ABOUT THE TRIAL ITSELF?

It’s actually two separate events. Attend one or both days. We’ll ride three or four loops, depending on the heat index. As for the riding area, the UMTA club grounds has a little of everything in a compact, 30 acre site. Griff Wigley (Trialsmaster), Marty Hicks, and Mike O’Donnell have laid out an event that will use it all: sandpits, a rock quarry, some steep hills, a swamp, rock gullies, and fresh logs.

FRESH LOGS?

Yep. We had Paul Bunyan and



this crew of lumberjacks haul in and arrange a load of logs last week.

CLASSES?

Championship/Expert/Super Sport/Advanced/Intermediate/Novice/Youth/Vintage

ENTRY FEES?

WOTA/UMTA members: $15.00 ($25 for both days)

Non-Members: $20.00 ($35.00 for both days)

YOU GUYS STILL USE THOSE DAMN FLAGS?

We’re getting better. For this event, we’ve deployed over 100,000 yards of red, blue, and yellow ribbon to mark section boundaries and splits. We promise, you won’t get lost in a section. Tangled, maybe, but not lost.



Here’s a sample ribbon-job on the logs.

OKAY, LOOKS GOOD. ANYTHING ELSE?

That’s it. Contact Us if you have questions.

Three new items added to the Used Bikes page.

Use the Contact Us form if you’ve got items to add or remove.

Here’s what we ended up with after the truck dumped the logs earlier this week.

Today, Jim Blount and I handrolled two down into the sand pit and two others over to the small grove of trees closer to the parking lot.

Tomorrow, Jim will have his truck and some chains and we’ll try to make the pile a little more rideable. Right now, it’s just Bradable.