The Year of Trials!

About 6-7 years ago, I got into a MTB trials riding craze and a few of us would go out and bounce around on our bikes a few times/week. We would go downtown, or to San Francisco quite a few times and look for things to play and practice on. This phase got me really interested in biking skills and how important they are to overall mountain biking and cycling in general. It was during this period of time that I started thinking about teaching skills and started a mental frame-work for how that could be worthwhile occupation. It wasn't until a few years later that I was layed off from CSUS and was forced to put into action, a plan that would involve teaching people to ride, and yes... a job. Long story-short.... I couldn't make it work and came across an opportunity to start a bike shop and quickly switched focus and opened Mad Cat. "The Skills Factory" had to get moved to the back-back burner while we started Mad Cat. Now, almost 5 years later... my passion for trials riding is coming back. I'm still a beginner on the trials bike, but it's soooo much fun and rewarding, not to mention a great workout. So... Why am I babbling? Because I have deemed 2009 the year of trials. I just purchased a 26" trials-specific frame and I want to ride it as much as possible this coming year. For those who are not familiar with trials, let me educate you a little. It's referred to as "Observed Trials" and it's typically a competition to navigate a bike (modified) through obstacles without putting a foot down (dabbing). There are trials-specific bikes/frames out there for competition, or you can modify an existing MTB. I don't plan to compete at all, I just want to play.

Here's a great video of a Ryan Leech, a popular trials rider, playing around in an urban environment. I'll never be this good, but it sure is fun trying...

If you have questions about trials, or are interested in getting into it, come talk to us... "2009 is the year of Trials!"

Papa Cat