It seems that the bike, an old invention, served as an inspiration for the creation of another two-wheel machine but with a different energy source, the motorbike. However, over the decades, it seems that the competitions organised for motorbikes have made a lot of money and, at the same time, have inspired others on the bicycle, such as Bicicross, emulating Motocross, and also our star, the BikeTrial or Trial.

This discipline has an unrepeatable, indisputable and attractive characteristic: the cyclists who practice it don’t race against the stopwatch, as in any other type of race, but basically against gravitational force. Because the merit here is not to arrive early, but better: it is about beating steep natural (a rocky hillside, for example) or artificial obstacles and descending them by jumping and making skilful bicycle movements, sailing through at unlikely angles. It is a show, not as promoted as it should be, it is fascinating: the experts ascend real walls, which seem impossible even without a bike…

We must insist that excellence is not measured in seconds, but in lack of points: each marked area along the route of a trial must be overcome keeping the balance just with the bike, not letting the feet touch the ground; because touching the ground with the boot or any other part of the body (even with another part of the bike that is not the wheel, according to the UCI regulations) gives points to the participants, and the winner is the one with fewer points. There is, however, a time limit for each part of the trial, and whoever exceeds it also receives points and is further away from victory, of course.

There are two types of categories, depending on the bicycle used: 20 inches (bikes that are purely specific to the Trial, with these wheel measurements: small and long) and 26 inches (really an adapted mountain bike, less manageable and easier to break in some parts, with changes). As for the Bike Trial’s most typical machine, it has developed and become lighter, with a wide back wheel, hydraulic brakes…which help the rider’s job, who have to wear a  helmet compulsorily as well as all kinds of protective clothes in official competitions.

Many uninitiated people will be surprised to learn that it’s a sport born in Catalonia, or at least its specific bicycle, as we will see later. In fact, that tradition is reflected in the fact that a good number of the sports great specialists are or have been Spanish. We have to mention here names like César Cañas, Ot Pi, Jesús Hurtado, Elías Bonet, Alfonso Méndez, Daniel Comas… and many others, also females like Mireia and Gemma Abant. (...)