Back in late September, 2022, Vlasta Kabeláč Čiháček, a.k.a., “Cihi”, an accomplished elite level trials rider from the Czech Republic, contacted me via direct message (DM) on Instagram. He said he was traveling to the United States during the winter, and asked if I knew of any places to ride trials indoors in this area. I didn’t know of any (I wish I did!), but asked around to see if anyone else might be aware of such a place. Unfortunately, with trials biking being fairly rare in the US, there do not seem to be any indoor trials training sites nearby (though ironically, an opportunity has since appeared). I told Vlasta that while I was unaware of any indoor trials facilities (public or private), he was welcome to come ride with us while he was in the area.
Over the winter, Vlasta solidified his travel plans, and accepted my offer to ride with our local crew. We decided on having two days of riding over the weekend, March 18-19, 2023, so I put out the word to the local crew and other riders who might be in the area to come join us. It’s always a challenge in planning for winter rides in New England, because you never know what the weather is going to do. We’d had a mild winter so far, so I was hopeful that mid-March would be no different. We had a bit of a scare when a Nor’easter winter snowstorm was predicted to occur just days prior to Vlasta’s arrival, but fortunately only a couple of inches of snow fell, and had melted by the weekend. The weather forecast also predicted rain on Saturday, but somehow we ended up with two beautiful days, though both had a bit of wind.
Cihi and I had never met previously, though I had been following him on Instagram. I’d seen a few of his videos, but sometimes it’s hard to tell someone’s skill level in a video to what’s it’s like watching them ride in-person. I didn’t really appreciate how skilled a rider Vlasta is until we started riding. Since Mike Steidley had joined us, he and Vlasta challenged each other with different lines over the two days, which was a treat to witness as they pushed each other. Pretty impressive stuff!
It was a bit of a trick to figure out which locations to ride with Vlasta. We have a good variety locations that we ride, but other than Mike, none of us are elite level riders. Some locations might not provide sufficiently challenging lines for the better riders. And of course there was the unknown weather wildcard. In the end, we selected UCONN Avery Point campus for Saturday since it’s easier to ride in the rain (and dries faster than in the woods) and Narragansett, RI for Sunday’s ride. Both are great locations with endless trials lines for every skill level.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated on both days. In fact, not only was there no rain, but the skies were mostly blue both days, with some clouds. The wind kicked up as the afternoon wore on Saturday, and was howling on Sunday, but we we managed to make the best of it. Not too bad for a winter weekend!
Over the past few years, we’ve had a handful of visitors join us for group rides, and it’s always a good time, whether it’s sunny and warm or pouring rain. I’d encourage trials riders from all skill levels to contact me if you’re ever planning on being out near Southeastern, CT. We’d love to have you join us for a ride! If you don’t have a trials bike with you on travel, there’s a chance that we’ll have a loaner bike.
0 Comments