Jim Winterer posted this to the UMTA discussion list yesterday. I thought he summarized the last weekend’s US Nationals at Duluth (Rounds 4, 5, 6) well so it’s now a blog post.

Mr. Bear, how’s your back today?

For those on this list who weren’t able to make the nationals in Duluth this weekend, Mr. Bear had a most amazing adventure on “elephant rock” on the second day. It was a long, long way to fall, but somehow he didn’t get more hurt than quite a few extra-large ibuprophens couldn’t cure, and he came back to finish the third national event on Sunday.  Bear’s tumble was every bit as spectacular as Dougie Lampkin’s famous get-off during the ’05 world round.

Maybe we should rename “elephant rock” to “Bear’s rock,” like we have named the “my leg, it’s flopping” rock in honor of David McLuckie.

On Sunday, Ben, Brad and Bear wound up riding more or less as a group, with Bubba minding Bear and me minding Ben, and we had a major fun day. After the second loop on the third day, Brad was in a dead tie with another rider, not just for that day, but for the national title for the expert-support class. I never saw Brad ride that well; he pulled off some incredible rides for an amazing 10-point loop and won the national title with a few points to spare! Way to go Brad.

Despite riding in pain, and with a lot of heckling (including many “you idiot” and “you loser”) Bear had some great rides on what was a very challenging support line.  Gordy had a great weekend, too, and had a third-place podium finish on Sunday.

Ben found his groove on Sunday and moved up on several riders who had better scores on Friday and Saturday. There was one very large rock at the top of a hill Sunday (Section 8 where Will and Willie were scoring), which was on the expert and pro line. Ben got up it on the first loop, and we learned later he was the only rider (expert or pro) who did that all day.

The Kimmicks were well-represented on the podium for the youth trials!

Dale from Gas-Gas told me at the end of the day that the three-day national at Duluth was one of the best national events he has ever ridden, and Dale has ridden plenty. That is a major compliment. So congrats to Steve and Diane and Sara and all those who put in so much time and effort to make it happen. My brother Mark got a special award for all the time and effort he put into helping with the sections, and on top of that he and Laurie checked sections all three days.

Lots of UMTA members were up there helping or riding. All in all it was a pretty amazing weekend. The Aerostich company in Duluth celebrated its 25th anniversary with a rally that was held right at Spirit Mountain, so there was this very interesting mix of road riders and trials riders. There were hundreds of road riders at the rally (not sure exactly how many, but maybe 1,000 over the weekend), and many were camped up on the top of the ski hill. Some of them pitched tents like six inches from the loop trail. I didn’t hear that anyone got run over, so that was good.

The only gripe I had was that at the end of the national awards ceremony, Bear didn’t yell out: “It was another great day for (men, women, girls and boys) in tights.”

   
Team Canada winter escapades have changed from two wheels to four. In the right photo: Dave McLuckie (left) and his co-driver Andrew Allan. Andrew started riding a trials bike at the end of 06. He rode his first trial at club #1. Saturday won the novice class and Sunday moved up to Intermediate and won his next three trials. He then moved up to Advanced and got a third at the end of the year in Duluth 3. Not bad for a new start. Can you remember the last time that happened in the UMTA? 

Back to the car stuff. Dave had this Civic as a parts car, so he and Andrew thought… ah! an ice racer. They sucked in Sean (Andrew’s dad) to build the engine and deal with lots of electrical issues, and myself for some machining.  With one race left they are third overall and second in class. Not bad for a couple of puzzles. Three races ago in the rubber to ice class (no studs). It was very cold which the Civic runs at its best, they were in the low 90 mph, a wee bit quicker than the Montesas.

March 1, 2008

Hello, UMTA members and friends,

2008 season is just around the corner and would like to welcome “UMTA 2008 Officers”. We can count on having a fun season with the great bunch of people involved with UMTA.

President: Gordy Boggie
Vice President: Ben Winterer
Secretary: Randy Kimmick
Treasurer: Vickie Boggie
Communication Officer: Patrick Hirt
Referee: Jim Winterer
Legislative Officer: Bear
Members at Large:
Reid Anderson
Jim Blount
Scott Booth
Chris Eddy
Jean Gohlike
Mike Hendrickson
Travis Johansen
Steve Kirschner
Victor Wanchena
Mark Winterer

In January the UMTA board met at the “Hirt residence”. UMTA Handbook, Constitution and By-Laws have been updated with the follow changes voted on at the November 17th meeting.

• Youth Class is for 12 years of age and under and will start at 9:30 am.
• Novice Class will become a Beginner class.
• Vintage Class will no longer have a bike year limitation. However, it will require Air Cooled engine, Twin rear shocks and Drum Brakes.
• Sign up starts at 9:00am
• Novice – Champ rider’s meeting begins at 11:00am.

August 22nd – 24th AMA/NATC National Championship Series will be held in Duluth MN. If you would like to help in anyway, please contact Steve Ahlers; http://web.mac.com/nmra1/Trials/Home.html.

There will be a Trials Master Meeting held on Saturday 4/19, 10:00am and Sunday 4/20 if needed. Trials Masters will discuss expectations, setting up of sections and be given set up supplies. If you are unable to attend please contact Gordy Boggie at 612-280-6874.

The 2008 schedule is set. If you have not yet signed up to help work an event, please contact a Trials Master, you could earn 20 points for helping.

District 23 – 2007 awards will be presented at the first event, April 19th and April 20th.

To prepare you before registering to compete, below are some helpful hints to ensure the rider meeting and event can start on time.

• UMTA Membership dues are $60.00 for family and $40.00 for individual membership. Your membership must be paid by second event – May 4, 2008 to be eligible for Year End UMTA awards.
• The UMTA membership form is available here on the club’s web site.
• All riders must present their current AMA & District membership cards when registering to compete. You can join or renew your AMA membership on-line or 1-800-262-5646. To join or renew your ARMCA District 23 membership,  visit their web site to obtain an application. Daily District 23 passes are available for $10.00 at the sign up table.
• All spectators and riders under 18 must have a Parent or Legal Guardian sign a Minor Release form for each event day. If a parent or legal guardian can not be present, you must have a notarized permission form for each event day. Permission forms are available at www.armaca.org.

RIDE ON!

• The Bike Shed (Gas Gas)
  14 Lawrence Lane
  St Charles, MN 55972
  507-272-0067
  thebikeshed@msn.com
  
  Brian Dotterwick
  

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• Midwest Trials (Scorpa and Sherco) Randy Kimmick
  Otsego, MN 55330
  612-710-4511
  randykimmick@charter.net
  
  Randy Kimmick

Download this UMTA membership form (PDF), print it out and bring it to the first event of the season.

2008 UMTA membership dues are $60 for family and $40 for individuals.

Your membership must be paid by the second event of the season (May 4) to be eligible for year-end UMTA awards.