Nicholls turns to trials in Covid downtime

“What did you do during the great COVID lockdown of 2020 dad?”
“Trials kid, I rode trials!”
If it was Dougie Lampkin having this – admittedly, totally fictitious – conversation with his nipper you wouldn’t bat an eyelid but how about if it was Jake Nicholls?
Well, forced to park his Buildbase Honda CRF450R up for most of the summer, the 30-year-old British MX contender got his sticky mitts on Honda’s beautiful 4RT four-stroke trials weapon and hasn’t looked back.
“I’m a trials rider these days,” said Jake, who’s even ’fessed up to watching Toni Bou flicks on the internet. “I’ve got a four-stroke Honda. I’ve been doing loads on it and I love it. The 4RT is a lovely bit of kit. I’m really enjoying riding it.”
Jake’s loving his trials riding so much that he’s entered the notoriously tough Northern Experts on November 7.
“There’s loads of us doing it so it should be a good craic. When the entries went in it initially said I was riding a CRF450 – I got a shocked text off the organiser straight away!”