Questions about moving up in class.

[music_maj_34]

How long did you spend in each class before moving up?

(Beginner to sport - Sport to expert ...ect)

I'm also curious to know what made you decide that you were ready for the change?

The main reason I ask is that I see a huge difference in my riding ability when I am out riding for fun compared to when I am in a competition. When I am just tooling around town I can pull off some pretty nice moves, however, in a comp setting some times even the smallest things seem difficult.

[trialsin usa]

If you are consistently in the top half or top third of your catagory you should consider it. If you are in top 10%....definatly move up.

In all the riding I have watched over the years, most riders are much more relaxed in "fun ride" setting.... enabling a smoother ride. The minite a stopwatch and checker are introduced...... a whole new element is introduced.

[MegamoMidwest]

true. keep in mind also, the jump from beginner to sport is decent. the jump from sport to expert is huge, and the jump from expert to pro is about as big as the jump from beginner to sport.

[jobottDMB]

If you aren't being challenged by the sections it is time to move up. You don't neccessarily have to clean every section but I think that you should be challenged when your ride in competitions. Don't get into a class that is going to get you hurt though. I mostly moved up in class to ride with friends even though I might not be ready to move up in class, but I wasn't moving up at a time where I would seriously hurt myself in the sections (besides that time I fell on my head...that doesn't count). I spent about half a year in beginner, a year in sport and the rest of the time up until now in expert. I just recently moved up to pro but I'm not making it thought many sections yet. I have been riding for about 4 years now.

[RyanMcVicker]

i started riding trials spring of 2003..... may 2005 i went to my first competition rode expert and got 1st with 9 points... so i think the level really depends on the section builder... im going to ride pro for my next (2nd) competition but maybe not well see what the sections look like...

[aka Mr Floyd]

This is definitely competition dependent. I have ridden in comps where the expert lines were harder than the pro lines at a comp not a month before...

I look at it much like Jon Bott. I go to the comp with no level in mind. I look at the sections and if one level seems to not be challenging I ride the next level up as long as I'm not afraid of getting hurt (also the nice thing about trials is if one section of say the expert loop scares you, or you think has too much exposure, ride expert and just take fives on that section).

I have been riding for ten years and I was stuck in sport class for quite some time. I moved up because I didn't ride comps for a number of years and when I went back all of a sudden sport sections didn't look challenging anymore and the expert sections looked doable... so I moved up.

Not sure if that helps...

Todd

[AgrAde]

first comp i got bottom of sport, second comp i got 4th in expert, third comp i competed sport but i was sucking so i just DNFed and watched experts :P

so i guess it depends on the comp and what mood you're in...