The national competitions of the AMA/National Observed Trials Committee are on pause for the summer, but each weekend will see local club rides and regional competitions that wouldn’t stop for anything. The national challenge carries on in the AMA Youth Nationals July 1-3 in Sequatchie, Tenn. And the Western Youth Nationals July 28-30 in Bear Valley, Calif.

For many riders a dirt bike is built to carry you over jumps and across trails at lightening speed. For Observed Trial riders the challenge is just staying on while slowly driving over obstacles under the watchful eye of a judge. It’s serious business to thousands of riders in the U.S. and thousands more around the world.

When the adult nationals continue on Aug. 26 in Hope Valley, Rhode Island, Geoff Aaron will be working to hold his lead in the pro class. The Bailey, Colo. man is going for his tenth U.S. title. He’s been the winner of more than 70 national events, and remembers how an urge to ride started it all. “Where I grew up in Connecticut, the terrain there was just super rugged. When I started taking an interest in bikes, my father said a trials bike would be a good one to learn on, because it teaches you balance and control.”

It’s all about getting through the bumps and ruts without ever putting down a foot. The people who set up the tracks are riders themselves and know how to make it really hard. Each time a foot touches, the rider gets one point. But points are bad, and more than three touches means you’ve flunked the run.

“The rules are pretty much the same everywhere,” said Aaron, who also travels to Europe to compete. “The terrain varies in each state and each country that we go to, so you have to be good at a wide variety of terrain.”

A rider needs to master a wide variety of venues to make a living out of the sport, Aaron said. “Exhibitions are really the key. We compete in all the national championships, but the exhibitions are something that have really spun off into something that is desirable to promoters and that we can make a living performing.”

Aaron earned his bachelor’s degree in business, and has put it to use managing a four-man race team and two exhibition trucks. “Mine is like a semi truck. It tows a 35-foot trailer that basically unfolds into a ramp show,” he explained. “Then we have a second mobile demo rig that team rider Keith Wineland uses, and I book all his shows.” Wineland is currently the fifth best pro Observed Trials rider. (The second place rider is Bruce LeRiche of Sequatchie, Tenn. and Cody Webb of Watsonville, Calif. is in third place.)

To see Aaron’s riders maneuver the ramps and man-made obstacles of the fold-out trailers this month, head to the Detroit Supermoto on July 8, or the July 22-23 Moto GP at Laguna Seca in Calif.

  Those exhibitions have gone a long way to introduce the sport to whole new audiences, but for riders nothing compares to being on the course with friends.

The events are very family-oriented, said Bent Fenders club president Jeff Pollack. “It’s not uncommon for a grown trials rider to have two kids riding too,” he said. It also goes the other way. “As a general rule of thumb, a lot of the guys who get involved used to be involved in motocross racing in the 70s and 80s. Now they’re 40, 50-years-old. They still want to do something but they don’t want to risk their necks.

Its’ not that you can’t injure yourself, but the fact that it’s slow speeds and you only have one rider in a section at a time means you don’t have to worry about running into other riders.”

He rides intermediate class at Michigan events, where five clubs coordinate to keep events scheduled. Each class has its own challenges and each rider has his or her own style, Pollack said. You can “doggy-paddle” the course very slowly or you can blaze through it and hope. On a tough obstacle a rider can “dab” their foot down strategically to get over quickly and sacrifice the point. Usually, though, it’s a matter of balance and throttle control. “Generally third or fourth gear might hit a peak of say 25, 30 miles per hour, but it’s almost instantaneous,” explains Pollack. The top end riders, when they have bigger obstacles, they’ll pause just before they hit it, rev it up, dump the clutch and fly up. Be it a rock, a log, a car, whatever they put in the track.”

Beginners don’t need a car on their trail to start, just an enduro-type dirt bike. More challenging courses demand specialized bikes, and the first thing you might see on those machines is that the seat is missing. This is a sport to stand up for.