Back on May 1, 2025, the local crew got together for our weekly group ride. Since it was just a few weeks before the Bentonville Bike Fest, we decided to format the ride as a mock trials competition.
We set up four different sections with six sectors, some sectors having multiple gates. We used colored tape for the gates. As we moved from one area to the next, traveling down the trail, we’d pull up the tape from one section and tape new gates in the next one. Finally, after we were done, we sessioned some rocks towards the end of the trail. Not only was this a fun time, it was great practice for the upcoming North American Trials Championship competition! (You can watch those highlights on my YouTube channel.)
Even if you don’t necessarily plan to participate in formal competitions, setting up sections and gates in a competition format is great practice. It forces you to think differently about how you ride.
Of course we filmed the ride, but due to the format, there were multiple aspects I wanted to convey. Since there was no one video format to do this effectively, I made four separate videos (and a goofy short bonus video) as follows:
1. Highlights video to capture the day’s vibe in a fun way and show the gist of the “comp” (13 min)
2. Complete set of attempts for all riders in each section (51 min)
3. My POV for each section – one attempt on each (10 min)
4. Highlights of the session after the “comp” (5 min)
5. Silly bonus: challenges in removing a hanging dead tree in section 1 (2 min)
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