David

The cold and snow will soon be behind us and a new trials season will be underway. This year the season starts with the RITC trials school on April 24th. A week later (on May 1st), MMC is hosting the first competition event of the year.

Before any of the fun starts, everyone should renew their membership. For the first time, the Membership Application is available online. The new application can be used to:

• Renew your membership
• Join NETA
• Change your rider class (or any of the other information we have on file)

With the online application and Paypal for payments it’s easier than ever to renew your NETA membership.

As with last year, a number plate decal is included with your membership. This is an “opt-in” offer on the application. You can take advantage of this benefit anytime during the year by re-submitting the Membership Application as a “change” requesting a new decal at that time.

This year, you can have the NETA sticker for your AMA card mailed to you. This’ll avoid the aggravation of waiting in line to get your 2022 NETA sticker when you signup for the first event of the year.

Click on Membership Application renew (or join) NETA for 2022.

The annual meeting & banquet was held January 22, 2022. The business part of the meeting was congenial and ended early. The raffle following the banquet raised a little over $500. 72 admissions were sold.

Rule Changes

• Senior C riders will now ride 3 loops instead of 4

• Revised “hand off the handlebar” failure rule

• Revised End of year points calculation: 2 Throwaways for greater than 8 events; 1 Throwaway for 8 or less events

• Rider fund eligibility revised. NETA to match calculated rider funds.

For more information, consult the 2022 Rule Book.

Event Schedule

There will be 8 events this season. The traditional beginning of the season trials school will be held at RITC on April 24th. The first event of the season is at Meriden on May 1st. The dates and venues for the entire season are listed on the Events page.

Gary Bourque

Hall of Fame of the North American Trials Council is the highest honor of the Council.  The members are outstanding trials riders and those who have been of great service to the sport.  The motto PRAESTANTES JUDICIO ET SERVICE means outstanding trials and service.  The aim of the Hall of Fame is designed to preserve the past, honor excellence and connect generations.

At the banquet it was announced Gary Bourque has been inducted into the NATC Hall of Fame for 2022.

On Sunday, November 14th, the Springfield Motorcycle Club (SMC) is hosting a Vintage Trials Fun Ride.  Riders with modern bikes are also welcome. The event will be held at the SMC property (219 Warren Road, Brimfield, MA 01010).

NETA Sportsman level sections with “A”, “B” and “C” lines are being prepared for the event. A few sections are from the most recent SMC NETA event. Most are either new or “favorites” from years past. We plan to have 10 sections taped and gated.

This is a recreational trials ride, it is not a competition. Score cards will be available and riders are welcome to self score, but scoring keeping is optional. Finishing coins for the best scores in “A”, “B”, “C” for vintage bikes will be awarded following the ride. A rider’s best 3 of 4 loops will be scored.

The details:

• All bikes must have trials tires.
• Only vintage bike scores are tabulated.
• Signup starts at 9am (riders can start anytime after signup).
• Riders meeting at 10:00am.
• The event ends at 3pm.
• Primitive camping is available Saturday night (11/13).
• AMA membership is not required.
• Admission $20.
• Please bring a pen, this is a fun, self-scoring event.
• Call or text Bob Bertrand (413-544-5861) or David Scarbro (978-771-8672) if you have questions.
• If inclement weather forces cancellation, an email will be sent before the end of Friday, Nov 12th.

Click here to RSVP.

Here are the scoring totals for this year’s events:

• NETA Year End Standings – Re-indexed season scores with all non-qualifying riders removed. This spreadsheet shows the finishing positions for all class championships this season.
• NETA Year To Date Standings – Cumulative scores all riders that competed this season.

If you spot any mistakes please contact the webmaster.

Mike Bryant has obtained a new batch of NETA t-shirts in new colors and an updated design. The shirts are $15 and will be available to purchase at the RITC event on September 26th.

The NETA T-Shirts have sold out. We hope to order a second batch, but will not until we have a volunteer to handle the sales. Mike Roccanti is moving to Colorado. Contact David Scarbro (webmaster@newenglandtrials.com) if you’re interested in volunteering.

Stu Preston
President
New England Trials Association
72 Mountain Road
South Berwick, ME 03908

Dear Stu,

Thanks for your query regarding the anticipated course of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic as you deliberate a return to NETA activities.

As you and the membership are aware, this global viral pandemic is unprecedented. To date, the virus has infected 112 million people worldwide and has claimed 2.5 million lives. Here in the United States, over 500,000 lives have been lost.

Unfortunately, there has been considerable misinformation and general misunderstanding of the facts about COVID which could frustrate decisions such as yours. Having devoted my professional time in recent months to the fight against COVID, I wish to reinforce the absolute fact that this is a highly contagions and deadly virus.

We have three things that help us avoid transmitting, becoming ill and dying from the virus. They include social distancing, proper masks and vaccinations. Any social activity that doesn’t include these elements will contribute to ongoing illness and death.

Your concern regarding when a safe return to NETA events might be expected is to be applauded. You make no assumptions and that is the only safe and responsible approach to take. There are any number of observations and opinions both for and against resuming events. As NETA President, you are undoubtedly hearing many of them.

We will invite risk by gathering for large scale social and leisure events too soon. It would be wise to wait until a majority of the population is immunized. At our projected rate of vaccine production and administration, barring any setbacks, we anticipate having enough vaccine out to reach heard immunity by mid summer ’21.

Hence, I suggest that you might look at the first week of July as a possibility for safely resuming an event schedule.

Stay safe,

Dr. Hub Brennan
NETA# 33
AMA Board of Directors, Medical Commission and Trials Commission Member
AMA Safe to Race Taskforce contributing author
FIM Medical Commission Member and Chief Medical Officer

Because of the pandemic, all 2020 memberships will carry over to this year. If your last renewal was in 2019, you’ll need to renew for 2021. New members will need to join NETA. The 2021 Membership Application can be used for either task.