US Indoor Championship!

Saturday January 11th, 11:45pm.

It's hard to describe the event that just took place at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. To all those concerned it was the most exciting Trials event ever witnessed, and to the riders, especially Geoff Aaron and Ryon Bell, it was definitely one of the high points of their careers. By the end, the 3000 strong crowd were on their feet, and the win was decided in the THIRD tie-breaker section. The Speedvision crew were as excited as anyone, and Larry Meiers promised that footage will be shown on Tuesday 21st.

In the end, there was only room for one winner, and the rider who was continually coming from behind and pulling out all the stops was Geoff Aaron. The crowd thought Ryon Bell was sure to win several times, after being steady through most sections and simply brilliant in others. At the end of the observed sections, Geoff and Ryon were dead even. The races would therefore decide the winner. Ryon won the first, and Geoff won the second. It was perfect!

The organizers weren't quite ready with contingency plans in the event of a tie, but had discussed a sequence of sections for sudden death. The first of these was a series of large pipe shaped tubes, followed by a sequence of 'air-bridge' hops, then a huge splatter, then another series of back wheel-to-back wheel-to back wheel steps, then a huge cylindrical stepped exit. Ryon went first. This was a section he'd cleaned comfortably before, and he did again. Geoff had struggled a bit on his prior runs with a lack of grip, but managed to pull out a clean! On to the second tie-breaker section!

The next section was hugely difficult, and had only been cleaned by Chris Florin in a brilliant ride earlier in the evening. It consisted of a steep sloped series of equidistant logs, leading to a platform 9' in the air. The riders had to drop off this, then go into a splatter, another huge drop off, then the final obstacle of the section, which was a series of 5 square edged steps leading to another platform, then another huge drop. Ryon again went first, and pulled out a phenomenal clean. The crowd went wild! Surely Geoff couldn't match that. Of course, Geoff DID match Ryon, for another thrilling clean!

The third and final tie-breaker was to be judged on two fronts. Firstly, observation. If both riders were equal, then it would be decided on the time taken to complete the section. Ryon again went first. This section consisted of slippery rock climbs, drops, then a series of three jumps that had to be executed perfectly to avoid slipping off. It certainly seemed too difficult to clean in a hurry! Ryon raced into it, and got everything perfect. He was out in just 16.3 seconds. It was hairy, but he made it clean! Surely Geoff couldn't do better than that! Geoff flew into the section, and went for it in the biggest way. Every move he made, every set up, was done in a single swift move. Again it was hairy, but Geoff forced his way through in an unbelievable 11.4 seconds, and clean! Geoff was therefore the new National Indoor Trials Champion!

It really couldn't have been a more exciting event. The other riders and the organizers all deserve great credit. Chris Florin endeared himself to the crowd with some great rides. Travis Fox was a good showman, and showed lots of determination. Andy Johnson went for every section in a big way, even after crashing a couple of times. Wilson Craig hit everything with maximum aggression, and was very exciting to watch. David Chaves was a fantastic showman, pulling huge wheelies, burning one handed doughnuts, and always looking good through the sections. David actually led some of the event, and finished in a very creditable third place.

In the end though, it was a showdown between the two biggest names in North American Trials. Ryon looked great on his new Gas Gas, and said that for the most part his riding was at least as good as he'd ever ridden. Geoff seemed to be beaten out of contention on several occasions, but like the warrior he is, he fought back for a picture perfect win.

It was a great day for US Trials, and a great start to the 2003 season.

Look out for a full report in the February edition of Trials Competition, and a DVD of the event from TrialsTV!

Team Ryon Bell Report!

"This was the most intense, high pressure, exciting event I've ever ridden in my life!" said Team Gas Gas's Ryon Bell following a cliff hanger defeat by 4.9 seconds to fellow Gas Gas rider Geoff Aaron after an incredible three-section tie-breaker at the first-ever U.S. National Indoor Trials Championship held Saturday, January 11, 2003 at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, California. Over 3,000 spectators witnessed this epic showdown that lasted over three hours, often on their feet and following the riders to each section to cheer on the riders. The highly anticipated event was organized by Ted Gansberger and the American Trials Association.

Riders selected to ride this event included the top six overall North American riders in the 2002 NATC National Observed Trials Championship, with one "wildcard" rider to be selected by the organizers. The field of riders then included six-time U.S. National Champion Geoff Aaron, National number three Ryon Bell, David Chavez, Wilson Craig, Travis Fox, and Andy Johnson as the wildcard rider.

A qualifying loop served to winnow the field down to six riders, then the riders competed in two sets of timed trials section races. This pitted the top two riders, Aaron and Bell, against each other. "Our first race was a photo finish", related Ryon, "and the race officials gave it to Aaron. But I won the second race. We were riding amazingly fast–you're so focused you have tunnel vision." The battle for third place was decided as Wilson Craig and David Chavez won their races and transferred to the main, which dropped Travis Fox and Chris Florin from the lineup.

The seven section Main Event featured a challenging combination of obstacles including a towering waterfall, twelve-foot tall metal boxes, and huge plastic tubes. "It started off really well for me," described Ryon, "Geoff collected two fives, while I dropped two points in the second section and got a silly three in the third section." This put Ryon in first place with a five point advantage over Geoff going into section five which was comprised of stacks of plastic pipes. "But in that section I just lost balance and fell off the pipes. It was nothing technical, but that meant I fived the section and winning the event would come down to the races," he explained.

"I won the first race, but Geoff ended up winning the second one," said Ryon, "so we went to the first of the tie breaker sections, which was section five–the one with the plastic tubes." As Ryon had qualified behind Geoff, he rode the section first, cleaning it. Geoff cleaned it as well, so the riders then progressed to the next tie breaker section. "This was the tower section, the most difficult section in the event," according to Ryon, "I'd had problems with it earlier in the event as it had a very tricky entry which was hard to clean, and a few riders crashed on this section." The section also put the riders up off the ground. "We had to climb these big boxes which were almost at the top were almost twelve feet hight. The descent featured a big drop, and you had to do a big splatter to get up to the top."

On their feet and cheering wildly the crowd went nuts as the Ryon and Geoff faced off. Putting in a brilliant ride, Ryon cleaned the beginning of the section, then with a huge blast of throttle blasted his bike up to the top of the boxes, dropped back down off of them, then cleaned the rest of the section. This put the pressure back on Geoff, who responded by going clean on the section as well. This meant that they would have to go to an unbelievable third tie-breaker section to come to a decision as to the winner of the Championship.

In this section, whoever got through the section fastest, with the least amount of riding penalties would win. Ryon lined up first and rocketed into the section, finishing clean in an amazing 16.3 seconds to the cheers of the amazed spectators. "Their were going absolutely nuts," said Ryon, "absolutely crazy! It was amazing!" Geoff then made his run at the section, cleaning it as well, but finishing in only 11.4 seconds and took the Championship and the roof came off the stadium as the crowd cheered the two riders.

"After competing for over three hours, it was a bit of a heartbreaker to lose by such a narrow margin," said Ryon, "but it made it an incredible event for both the spectators and the riders. Geoff rode excellent and deserves congratulations for the win and the title. This has been my first event riding my new Gas Gas, and I'm really excited to have ridden so well at such a high level of competition. I'd like to thank my sponsors for their support: Gas Gas USA, Michelin, Alpinstars, Renthal, Hebo, Skagit Powersports, Apex Sports, and Trail and Trials Motorcycles."

Qualifier Scores

1. Geoff Aaron 8

2. Ryon Bell 9

3. David Chavez 14

4. Wilson Craig 18

5. Travis Fox 20

6. Chris Florin 29

. Andy Johnson NA

Main Event

1. Geoff Aaron - Ryon Bell 12

3. David Chavez 23

4. Wilson Craig 25

First Place Tie Breaker Section 3 Time:

1. Geoff Aaron 11.4 sec.

2. Ryon Bell 16.3 sec.

Report courtesy of Ryon Bell/Mike Thuleen. Photos courtesy of Kerry Williams

(12/01/03)