to have a better chance at avoiding maximum points penalties at every section .
Unfortunately , the weather decided to hold together and the venue was able to dry out . Sporting blue skies and temperatures in the upper 80 ' s , low 90 ' s , proper nutrition and hydration was key if anyone was unaccustomed to the environment .
This venue was also extremely well-suited for spectators . For both days , the loop ran in such a way that spectators could follow their favorite rider ( s ) from section 6 through section 11 . These sections combined lots of splatters and rock-to-rock splits that tested riders clutch and throttle control .
For Saturday , Round 3 , sections proved a bit easy for the Pro class , with Smage taking only 3 points for the day . However , this also put extra pressure on the riders , as a single point could gain or lose positions .
" Today was not a horrible day ," said TRS ' s Sam Fastle . " Unfortunately I had four fives , three of them on my second loop and with it being so easy just it killed me . It put me out of the running pretty early , but I came back on my third loop and I felt really good because it felt like ' Pro Sam ' made an appearance which I was happy about . We ' ll just keep pushing for tomorrow and hopefully we can improve the consistency and really nail our points tomorrow and have a good day ."
Unfortunately , Smage ' s minder Ron Lee , took a nasty spill on the last loop of Round 2 in Pennsylvania . According to his post on Facebook , he stopped by the emergency room on his way home to get an injured hand evaluated . " I ' ve been in ICU since Monday . Two surgery ' s later , I ' m diagnosed with an internal skineating bacteria , been on multiple antibiotics . Was told today if I ' d continued in to Tulsa , I ' d probably lost my arm , fight is on now ." On the Pegs and everyone in the trials community wishes Ron nothing but the best and a speedy recovery .
Because of this situation , Pat ' s father , Noel Smage , stepped in to be his minder for the weekend .
" It ' s definitely a little nerve-wracking to first switch from someone I ' ve had for so long ( Ryan Young ) to someone I ' ve never used before ( Ron Lee )," said Smage . " Healing vibes go out to Ron Lee ; I feel really bad for what happened ; hopefully he ' s able to heal up and come back from that .
Luckily this weekend my dad was coming down anyway ; he did a good job and it wasn ' t too hard of a day for him . There weren ' t a lot of spots to stop to spot but definitely helped with the time and different placement and keeping hydrated and everything is important too . He ' s
ON THE PEGS // PAGE 122