Virginia City, Nevada is famous for three cultural elements; the Comstock Lode, Mark Twain, and The Virginia City Grand Prix. Now we can add a fourth, Vintage Motorcycle Trials.
We had a hunch that VC would be a great place for a trial, with its rich American history, access to Public Land, and vibrant, family-friendly atmosphere, we chose Halloween Weekend to host our friends. Our goals for our first trial were simple; first, host a 2-day trial with fun and flowy sections. Second, use the trail to highlight historic landmarks and show off what the VC hills have to offer. Third, showcase VC as the family-friendly and moto-friendly town it is, and finally, introduce a low-impact, historic form of motorcycling to our small high-desert town. Looking back on the weekend, we accomplished our goals…but you always want more.
The Buzz Phrase “Environmental Stewardship” gets thrown around far too often. Even typing it makes me cringe. And yet, this is exactly the filter we used, when thinking about our use of Virginia City and the surrounding public and private land for the trial. We live here, play here, ride here, and work here. The last thing we want is for our trails, our history, our town, and our secret-spots to get blown out, exposed, and destroyed by a bunch of careless out-of-towners. Lucky for us, trials riders are well-mannered respectful folks.
Old (Trials) Motorcycles are so darn cool, and they are good for trails. They lightly compact the base and set a nice trail, rather than tearing it up. By Sunday afternoon we had developed a perfect singletrack around the hills of Virginia City. Since trials isn’t racing, passing on the trail is minimal, and most everyone follows the “good line”. Trials bikes don’t have hard, knobby tires, endless power and suspension, or extra weight to tear up the track, so everything gets perfectly packed. Trials riders are a more nature-oriented group as they tend to spend a lot of their time finding new ways to ride the same natural sections. They study traction, they know conditions, and trials is slower-paced, so you feel more IN it, more in-tune with nature.
We’re riders, and wrenchers, carb cleaners, oil changers, timing setters, and competitors who want to win. We like old junk with stories, and hold a deep reverence for our heritage, so this transition to vintage trials, it just feels natural. Navigating the landscape at a slower pace and becoming intimately familiar with the terrain, it forces a different perspective, one rooted in admiration, awe, and respect. In the hills around VC you won’t notice burnt cars, smashed TVs, and trash… locals recreate on and respect their public land, and we don’t tolerate that shit. This is our backyard and we set the standard for how our mountains are treated and used. We have only scratched the surface of the possibilities with old bikes in Virginia City, and THAT is exciting as my head races with thoughts of what we can do to make a better trial, a better event, and get more locals out riding old bikes in the hills next year.
To Our Table Ladies, Observers, Volunteers, and everyone who came out to ride, THANK YOU! Thank you for showing your support, for riding, for helping, and being a part of the very first Virginia City Outlaw Motorcycle Trial.
