THIS MONTH... in 2024
The Exeter Trial first ran in 1911, and is still going strong. The best place to watch in 2024 is Simms Hill, just outside the village of Ilsington in South Devon. Hugo Wilson is your guide
Confession time. When the Exeter Trial arrives at the village of Ilsington on the southern fringes of Dartmoor, South Devon, on the morning of Saturday January 6, I’ll be 250 miles away, tucked up in bed at home. I’m not riding this year, but I’ll have a nagging sense of disappointment that I didn’t enter the event – and I’ll be jealous of those who make the effort to get along and watch.
Just outside Ilsington village is Simms Hill, a steep, slimy, slab of rock that has been challenging Exeter Trial competitors since 1933. In 2020, I failed to get up, much to the amusement of cheering spectators. But in 2023, Imade it to the summit riding my Morini Camel trail bike (CB, March 2023); one of my best biking achievements. After riding through the night from a midnight start in Somerset, just arriving at Ilsington for the rest stop felt like a result – cleaning the section was a bonus. And the trial’s finish was still a couple of hours and a few more sections away.
Riding the trial is a weird mix of extreme ordeal and exhausted euphoria – but the disappointing part is that, as you press on towards the finish, you don’t get to watch the event. More than 100 bikes take part, and a similar number of cars (which start later).
The variety of machinery is extraordinary. There are lots of modern off-roaders, but also rigid-framed British singles, BSA Bantams, Triumph twins, 1970s trail bikes and off-road outfits. And the cars are nuttier still, with a spectacular range of unsuitable four-wheelers being thrashed up the sections, or failing halfway up in a cloud of tyre smoke. YouTube can provide a taste of what to expect.
On January 6, the village of Ilsington will be geared up to welcome the trial, as well as the hundreds of people who’ll turn up to watch success and failure on Simms. Spectating at the actual hill is free, but it’s only fair that you have to pay for the park-and-ride service that is operated by The Friends of Ilsington School in an attempt to reduce car congestion in the village itself.
There’s catering at the village hall (to support hall funds) but priority there should rightly be given to competitors, for whom a reviving cup of tea and home-made cakes are essential. I’d encourage spectators to use the food stall in the woods by Simms Hill, put on by the village cricket club. Just follow the smell of fried bacon that will be distracting competitors struggling to find traction on the slope. The first bikes will go through from about 10am, while the cars will continue to make their attempts until mid-afternoon.
The Exeter Trial, and other big trials in the West Country and Peak District put on by The Motorc
