The excellent Arbuthnot Trial organised by the Salisbury Motorcycle & Light Car Club was last Sunday and 2023 was the Centenary edition of the event. As such it was more popular than ever and was fully booked, this was found out when Matt and I tried to book a ride at late notice hoping for a repeat of our top combo prize of last year (after a war of attrition we were the only sidecarists of a very limited field to get to the end, so tenacity and luck rather than skill). My back took several weeks to recover but the memory of that had faded and it seemed like repeating it all over again would be a wonderful idea.
Entering wasn't to be but it's still a great event to spectate. I turned up at the lunch break at the Tollard Royal Golf Club to have a nose at the bikes entered and then followed the route on my BSA Bantam to spectate at sections 6 to 9 (of 12).
Below a series of pictures taken of entrants both static and in action, no captions really necessary. And if you really have time to kill I made a short clip of a few of the riders that's published on youtube.
No track for sidecars! Ooof. So that's what it looks like to fall off!
ReplyDeleteIt's really tough with a sidecar! Quite a few outfit entrants check out the sections beforehand and then decide whether or not to bother with an attempt. We did the same last year, we started all sections but a good few we baled out on after a few yards!
DeleteFrom the other side of the world (nz) I enjoy your blog.Always some interesting bikes to enjoy looking at. neat photos, I found your blog spot via rapid hare .
ReplyDeleteThanks for the support. Always nice to hear from someone who reads and furthermore actually enjoys my random thoughts and mutterings!
Delete