What does Trial mean?What a kind of sport is this where normally intelligent people try to use a bike to jump on boulders or to climb vertical walls? Where other people would have difficulty to walk the terrain by feet, they feel well on their bikes – the trailers. Trial comes from the English and means translated court hearing. The trailer is not in court, nobody would have volunteered to participate. But if someone dedicates to this sport, he gets to feel a different meaning of the world: „Hard examination”.
And so the trial sport could be explained: Man tries to pass a difficult task (a cross section, a section) as good as possible (without giving or topple). Trial is cycling through rough and smooth without the feet from the pedals. For this the sticks are tree trunks and stones are boulders. Moreover, it has roots slopes, steep slopes up or down, you have to cross angles, and the different ground from greasy clay to loose sand brings more difficulty to you step. The drivers often can not drive but have to jump with their bike trough the section.
The bike seems to stick at the foot of the trialer but any kind of pedal systems is prohibited – it is pure body - and bike – control. Touching the ground or an obstacle with another part of the bike except the wheel the judges who are right next to the drivers punish with a penalty. But not only the judges are right next to the drivers but also the interested spectators.
Since trial is not driven for speed, there is no safety zone, the athlete does not fly briefly over on his wheel and then is gone for the next half an hour. He has got the time of 2,5 min for the section and then proceeds to the next. In a race there are eight different sections which must be passed three times. In a section there is only one driver on the road, so there is enough time to admire the ability of each individual driver.
Bicycle trial was invented in 1974, which means it was an alternative for young people who not yet could ride or have a motorcycle. Bicycle trial has since been a junior working in motor sports clubs. Since 1993 the Federation of German cyclists had accepted the trial sport. Recently trial enjoys growing popularity; this is reflected in the media presence, too.
