ABILENE -- Coming into her first national competition in motorcycle trials riding, Tammy Cook didn't think she had a chance.

Not only did she have a chance, but the Abilene resident captured first place in her division in the national motorcycle trials riding competition July 3 to 5 in Sequatchie, Tenn.

"There's some really top-notch riders that go to the nationals in Tennessee," Cook said. "But everybody's so nice, and they're willing to help you any way they can."

Trials riding is a motorcycle competition based on balance and control. Riders maneuver their way through creek beds, boulders and fallen logs and ride over rocks, go up and down steep hills and make tight turns.

And while the competition is timed, technique and precision are placed at a higher premium than speed. Each mistake a rider makes, such as touching a foot to the ground, leaning against a tree for balance, going out of bounds or having their motorcycle die, gives the rider points. The rider with the fewest points wins.

In Sequatchie, Cook, 45, who works for Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Salina, won two of the three days of competition and placed third on the second day, good enough for first overall.

"It was awesome. I learned a lot," she said. "It was very tough and each day got a little tougher." Riders are classified from rookie to expert, and Cook currently is ranked first in the state in her class -- intermediate.

That looks like fun

Cook, who's been riding about a year, got started after her husband, Kenny, began trial riding.

"I saw my husband doing it, and I was like, 'I want to try it,' and now I'm hooked," she said.

Kenny, who is an engineer for Union Pacific Railroad, began trial riding 2Ôªø1âÑ2 years ago after being introduced to it by Minneapolis resident Gary Wing. Wing, who is the 70-years-and-older national trial riding champion, has served as a riding mentor and trainer for the Cooks.

Wing started on racing motorcycles in the 1960s and '70s, but people kept falling off and getting hurt, he said. He belongs to a riding club in Wichita, where competitions are held a couple of times a month.

"I've been riding for a long time," said Wing, 72. "It's a learning experience. You don't just start on the big stuff; you start on the little stuff and you learn the technique. And then once you learn the technique, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and better and better."

Had a dirt bike as a child

Tammy Cook said that she had a dirt bike as a child, so she had always been interested in motorcycles.

"Once it's in your blood, it's there," she said. "But this is just so different because it's not who can go the fastest, (it's) how well you've learned your technique and how good your balance is and how well you can read your sections to know where to go," she said. "So, it's more of a challenge than just speeding around the track."

The Cooks and Wing returned last week from a local competition in Douglas at a rock quarry. Tammy won first in the novice class; Kenny won first in the amateur class; and Wing won first in the senior amateur class.

The Cooks have built a practice course, complete with logs, rocks and hills, on their property to stay in riding shape, which Wing said is important for riding stamina and concentration.

"It lets you keep your muscles working, because if you don't keep pulling that clutch and pulling that brake, you can't do it when you need to," he said. "You just get too tired. Anything you can do like this is just great, it really helps."

Have their own course

The area where the practice course is located, Cook said, used to be a riding arena for their horses, but when they began trial riding, they needed a place to practice.

It probably took him (Kenny), off and on, a week (to build the track)," she said. "And, he's constantly moving sections so we get different experiences all the time."

Tammy Cook and Kenny have two grown sons, 27 and 23, who live in Texas. And although she enjoys sharing the sport with her husband, she thinks their sons would appreciate making it a full family affair.

"They think it's pretty cool," she said. "We wish they were closer so they could get involved with us. I think they'd really enjoy doing it, especially the older one, being that he's into motorcycles."

Tammy rides an 2004 Gas Gas motorcycle that she bought used in November for $4,000. A new one like hers would cost $6,000 she said.

No plans to slow down

With as much success and fun as they've had, the Cooks and Wing anticipate riding for a long time. Wing plans to ride "as long as they'll let me," adding that there is no age limit for trials riding.

"If you can handle it and don't get yourself hurt too bad, why, you can stay with it as long as you can."

Tammy Cook has no intention of slowing down any time soon. Instead, she's looking to improve her technique and skills to continue climbing in class level.

"If you've got the guts, you can go a long way," she said. "If I can make senior amateur, which is two lines above what I ride now, for my age, I think I'd be doing pretty decent.

"When you get into the expert lines and the master lines, they're really, really tough, and you go up some obstacles that you need to have a lot of guts for, and I'm just not sure I got them guts."