FEBRUARY 27 / 28
If you build it , they will come . The North East Oklahoma Trials Team experienced this phenomenon February 27th and 28th during the soft launch of the brand new trials grounds aptly named Tulsa Mountain Trials . The new NEOTT club grounds is located just 10 minutes north of downtown Tulsa ; long time NEOTT officer , Kevin Kight , scored 40 acres of prime trials land . Kight ' s vision is about much more than trials ; he wants a destination for families to experience and enjoy the great outdoors .
TMT has something for everyone , 11-time US National Champ Pat Smage , has spent a couple of days riding at the new grounds and proved this piece of property is perfect for all riding abilities .
Several NEOTT members , led by Kight , have pitched in countless hours of work to get the land ready to ride . In addition , a tremendous amount of work has gone into clearing open spaces for parking and camping . The good news is campers will have an abundance of precut firewood ready for campfires .
February ’ s soft launch highlighted a vintage event on Saturday . A dozen riders rolled out the old iron to see how the twin shock bikes handled the new terrain . Kirk Mayfield is the inspiration behind the NEOTT vintage movement . The 2x Scottish Six Day finisher is well known around the mid-west for schooling the ‘ stop and hoppers ’ by screwing them into the ground with old school camber turns and floaters . Jason Shackelford took top honors with six points aboard a 1976 TY Yamaha built by Mayfield and Jon Stoodley . Mayfield was 2nd with 12 points . Saturdays vintage event featured three loops with eight sections per loop . NEOTT allows and encourages modern bikes riders to ride noncomp in the vintage event for extra practice .
The modern event kicked off at 10am Sunday morning under blue skies . Ironically just seven days earlier the grounds were covered in eight inches of snow . Fortunately , mother nature did her part melting and drying out the sections laid out by first time trials marshalls Kyle Dickens and Sean Cease .
Novice riders were not intimidated by the rocks and raw surroundings . Most novice lines consisted of simply the easiest route from the entrance to the exit . Skylee Shellengberger piloted her 80cc Beta to a 2nd place finish with 45 points .
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RIGHT : TODD PHILIPS , ADVANCED AMATEUR