| The
National Rally Feature article by Dick Henneman. Welcome to what’s
probably one of the biggest national biking events that
you’ve never heard of! So what is it? Well,
first of all it’s nothing like the Paris-Dakar,
you don’t need a trail bike, and there’s no
off-road activities – unless you fail to get round
that tricky corner, that is! It’s a road-riding
fun event for anyone who rides on two or three wheels,
from a scooter to a Goldwing, that’s designed to
be a challenge to your riding and navigational skills.
The idea is that you travel through a number of controls
spread across the country, starting the journey on Saturday
afternoon, with everyone finishing at the final checkpoint
at the Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon on the Sunday morning.
The choice of route is up to you, but you need to cover
a minimum mileage and pass a certain number of controls
to qualify for an award in one of five categories. And
you can raise money for charity at the same time. The origin of the Rally
goes all the way back to 1934, when the ACU took over
the organisation of a similar low-key event that was run
the previous year. It’s had its ups and downs since
then, but its success is really due to the hard-working
control marshals who come from all walks of life. Strangely,
these people seem to like doing nothing better than sitting
in a lay-by for hours on end, crossing competitors off
their lists as they pass through on their way to the final
control. But without their enthusiasm and time there would
be no National, so long may they exist. The Rally’s
format has changed little over the years, and the modern
event is much the same as that held in 1934. In 1954 for
instance, a report in the July edition of “Motor
Cycle” tells us that J R Walton, a Derby schoolmaster,
won the event for the third year in succession on his
BSA Bantam by visiting 35 controls within 600 miles. Whilst
travelling across Salisbury Plain he hit a rabbit and
kept it on his number plate for luck! Today,
the Rally is organised by a volunteer committee from the
ACU, BMF and Mencap, and this co-operation with the charity
has enabled competitors to help others whilst enjoying
the challenge of the event. Many riders raise money through
sponsorship to help Mencap’s cause, and their connections
have brought in endorsements by celebrities.
Technically described as a “navigational scatter
event”, entrants are provided with a list of controls
and a matrix of the permissible connections between them.
Riders can start from wherever they like at random and
have to plot their route to the final control, depending
on the award level that they’re going for. This
ranges from a 250-mile route for the bronze award, up
to 540 miles plus a special test held at MIRA’s
test circuit for the platinum. And if you’re really
serious and planning on going for one of the special awards,
you don’t need the latest performance technology.
One recent winner was on a CG125 and another on a C90
Cub! The trick is in the planning. I’ve been meaning
to do the “National” for a number of years
now, but for one reason or another it’s always managed
to slip off the “to do” list, and I only seemed
to remember about it after it had been run or the entries
had closed. This year was to be different however, and
when I unexpectedly received an application form through
the post from a friend of mine, I had no more excuses.
This time I had to do it! The entry forms and
fees were duly posted off to the ACU, and when the final
regulations arrived it was time for the route planning.
Getting this right is the key to success, although we’ve
heard of riders turning up on the event at a control,
and then asking for suggestions on where might be a good
place to go! The two important pieces of information that
you need are the “matrix map” with the ‘official’
miles between each control, and the list of the controls
with location details, opening and closing times, and
the facilities available. Armed with this and a road map,
it’s up to you to work out a route that will get
you the award that you’re going for. Then, giving
yourself a time allowance at each control and a reasonable
average road speed, it’s not beyond the whit of
just about anyone who can press a button on a calculator,
to work out a timetable. If you can’t fit it all
in, then you’ll have to up your average speed, spend
less time at each control, go for a lower award, or maybe
all three. You have twenty hours to travel a maximum of
540 miles for the highest award, but don’t forget
you have to take a one hour break for each two hundred
miles travelled. I was all for “Going
for Gold”, as I’ve done lots of night riding
over big distances, but my wife wanted to come along on
her bike and I wasn’t sure how she would cope –
and neither was she! Although we’ve clocked up large
miles travelling during the day across Europe, at night
she tends to prefer sleeping! The safe option was to do
the bronze award, because starting from our home in the
Thames Valley, it’s possible to do a couple of hundred
miles on Saturday, get home for a meal and a reasonable
night’s sleep, set off early on the Sunday morning
and get to the final control in Gaydon well before 10.00am.
Sorted! The
weekend of the Rally arrived – and amazingly the
weather was good. The morning was spent giving the bikes
a check over, and since I was using the R1150RT that we
had on test, I was not only route leader but loadmaster
as well! Just before the 2pm start time, we set off for
the Reading control, but because this year the organisers
had been unable to find anyone to man it, we went straight
on, waved at no one and continued to our next control
in Basingstoke to get our card stamped. Each rider has
a route card that has to be stamped at each control point
and the miles from the last control entered with a running
total. You also sign yourself in, and that’s about
it. None of the controls are too difficult to find, and
as you get close to them you see yellow poster signs to
guide you in. From Basingstoke we took the back roads
through Overton and Whitchurch to Andover, and then onto
the A303 for the next control at Weyhill Services. The
problem here was that we were travelling west on a dual-carriageway,
and we needed to be at the eastbound services. No problem,
we just go down to the next exit, do a U and then back
up the other side. So, it was past Weyhill Services westbound,
and there’s an exit. We go down the slip road and
loop under the A303, there’s the signpost to Andover
and – we’re on the A342. Bother! We follow
this for a mile or so in the hope of finding a way back
to the A303, but then give up and turn round. Back at
the junction, and now I can see the signpost to the A303.
I make a mental note to write to the council and get them
cut those bushes down, but in the meantime I turn right
and there’s the A303 eastbound waiting for me. A
couple of minutes later we spot the yellow Rally Control
posters and we’re heading down the slip road into
the service area. Another stamp, another U-turn, and we’re
heading off to our next control at Amesbury. The guys
here have really got themselves organised. No tables and
chairs under a tent for them – they’ve got
themselves a big white motorhome with all mod-cons and
big striped awning. That’s what I call doing it
in style! Back
onto the A303, but after a couple of miles we turn off
onto the A344 to go past Stonehenge, and follow the road
up to Devizes and on to Melksham. I have a minor moment
of confusion here, as I’ve come into the town on
the wrong road. I’m just about to pull over and
seek some local information when I spot one of the yellow
control posters. A mile or so later and there’s
the control point outside the café. Good signposting
lads! We’ve now been on the road for a couple of
hours so it’s time for a refreshment break. We’re
on schedule, on track, the weather’s good, everybody’s
having a great time, and there’s no news of anyone
having any problems. But it might be a lot different in
the cold light of dawn! What’s amazing about the
Rally is the incredible variety of bikes that are being
used; from the latest sportsbikes to vintage machines
that you last saw in a museum; from tourers to monkey
bikes, and cruisers to scooters. There are even a few
sidecar combinations and three-wheelers out there joining
in the fun. The sun was still shining
as we made our way north around Chippenham’s ring
road system, and then it was over the M4 and into the
beautiful Cotswolds countryside. We took the A429 through
Malmesbury and then along the excellent B4014 to Tetbury
and Nailsworth. A right turn onto the A46 and then following
the valley of the river Frome, with its abundance of old
mill buildings, we arrive in Stroud and the next control
at a local BMW dealership. Another stamp and 130 miles
booked, but it’s cooling off now and it’s
time to add another layer of clothing. I also need to
change back to a clear visor, as the not quite legal(?)
dark one is making it tricky to spot the road through
the trees as the light begins to fade.
Here I met up with Mick Ayriss, one of a team of sixteen
travelling marshals. Their job is to visit four control
points each during the Rally, and make sure that everything’s
as it should be; that the controls are where the riders
were told they were (that’s a good start!), that
they’re signposted correctly, and the proper procedures
are being followed. When that’s done, they all meet
up at Gaydon, get a good night’s sleep in a nearby
hotel (lucky devils), and then man the final control on
the Sunday morning. Mick’s done the Rally a few
times in the past, including once on a Velocette, when
his biggest problem was trying to get it going again after
stopping at each control! Time
to go, but we’re on the home run now, heading back
past Cirencester to the control at Lower Stratton, just
outside Swindon. I thought I knew where this was –
but I didn’t! However, one stop at the wrong place,
two laps of the roundabout, pick up the Castrol pennants
and the yellow control posters, and there it was –
no problem. Now it’s just a blat along the M4, through
Newbury, and it’s the final control of the day in
the retail park at the south of the town. There’s
a Pizza Hut twenty yards away, so we grab a late meal,
book our mandatory one hour break and head off home around
the back of Greenham Common. We’ve done 180 miles,
passed through eight controls, and we’re back home
at 10pm for a good night’s sleep. But I just had
to watch that afternoon’s MotoGP from Assen on the
video, so it was a bit later than planned before I hit
the sack. 5am Sunday morning,
the sun is up, the birds are about, and so are we. An
hour later and we’re back in the saddle, taking
the back roads to Abingdon and the next control. Things
are getting busier at the control points now, as just
over one thousand riders begin to converge on Gaydon.
However, everyone looks more or less awake, and apart
from someone who lost time fixing a puncture, no one we
meet seems to have had any problems. We get credited with
the mileage from our last control in Newbury, and then
we’re off onto the home run with our last stop just
south of Banbury at Deddington. It looks as though they’ve
been enjoying themselves here, as they’ve got a
brazier going and there’s the remains of a barbeque
well in evidence. Through Banbury, take the Warwick road,
and seven miles later we turn into the Heritage Motor
Museum at Gaydon. It’s 8am and the place is full
of motorbikes, with more coming in by the minute. Well,
that wasn’t too difficult was it? Just one final
stamp at the finish control, pick up our award, and join
the queue for a very reasonably priced full cooked breakfast
and a cup of coffee. Most of the riders still appeared
to be conscious, although there are a few unmoving bodies
snoring gently in the early-morning sun on the grass outside
the museum, and some more catching up with their missed
hours sleep on the floor of the “rest room”.
Mencap had their stall set up at the end, and had arranged
for Sky Sports presenter Jane Omorogbe to make the awards.
Jane rides a VFR800 and although she didn’t enter
the Rally herself this year, I’m sure that if she
does in the future, there’ll be no shortage of guys
who’d be willing to accompany her, just in case
she has any difficulties! And that was it. The
National Rally was all over for another year, and although
some said they felt a sense of anti-climax, for most of
us we were just happy to have made it to the end. We’d
set ourselves a target and we’d achieved it. Next
year the target will be different and probably the weather
will not be so kind, so there’ll be a new range
of challenges to meet. There’s also talk of some
revisions to the regulations just to keep everyone on
their toes.
So why don’t you give it a try? There’s more
to biking than riding the same old roads each weekend
with your mates, so why not use the Rally to go to other
parts of the country. And how good are your navigation
skills; do you have the endurance to ride right through
the night? Even if you only consider yourself to be an
average rider, it’s not as difficult as you think,
and it sure could be worthwhile finding out, especially
if you can raise some money for Mencap in the process. For 2003 the National
Rally will be held over the weekend of July 5/6th and
we plan to enter a MotorBikesToday team, so watch this
space to find out more about how we prepare for the event
and how we get on. Next year the rally will be bigger
than ever, stretching from the Lake District across to
North Yorkshire, to the Norfolk coast and all the way
down to the South Coast, with the rally split into four
sections: North, East, South and Centre. There’ll
also be a new award to encourage more classic and vintage
riders to take part. Keep up to date with what’s
going on with the National Rally by visiting their website
at www.national-rally.co.uk where you will also be able
to get the entry forms. And if you want to find out more
about the work that Mencap does, then you can also visit
their site at www.mencap.org.uk. |
The National Rally: One of biking’s biggest events
Get yours here!
The
National Rally
Feature article by Dick Henneman.
Welcome to what’s
probably one of the biggest national biking events that
you’ve never heard of!
So what is it?
Well,
first of all it’s nothing like the Paris-Dakar,
you don’t need a trail bike, and there’s no
off-road activities – unless you fail to get round
that tricky corner, that is! It’s a road-riding
fun event for anyone who rides on two or three wheels,
from a scooter to a Goldwing, that’s designed to
be a challenge to your riding and navigational skills.
The idea is that you travel through a number of controls
spread across the country, starting the journey on Saturday
afternoon, with everyone finishing at the final checkpoint
at the Heritage Motor Museum in Gaydon on the Sunday morning.
The choice of route is up to you, but you need to cover
a minimum mileage and pass a certain number of controls
to qualify for an award in one of five categories. And
you can raise money for charity at the same time.
The origin of the Rally
goes all the way back to 1934, when the ACU took over
the organisation of a similar low-key event that was run
the previous year. It’s had its ups and downs since
then, but its success is really due to the hard-working
control marshals who come from all walks of life. Strangely,
these people seem to like doing nothing better than sitting
in a lay-by for hours on end, crossing competitors off
their lists as they pass through on their way to the final
control. But without their enthusiasm and time there would
be no National, so long may they exist. The Rally’s
format has changed little over the years, and the modern
event is much the same as that held in 1934. In 1954 for
instance, a report in the July edition of “Motor
Cycle” tells us that J R Walton, a Derby schoolmaster,
won the event for the third year in succession on his
BSA Bantam by visiting 35 controls within 600 miles. Whilst
travelling across Salisbury Plain he hit a rabbit and
kept it on his number plate for luck!
Today,
the Rally is organised by a volunteer committee from the
ACU, BMF and Mencap, and this co-operation with the charity
has enabled competitors to help others whilst enjoying
the challenge of the event. Many riders raise money through
sponsorship to help Mencap’s cause, and their connections
have brought in endorsements by celebrities.
Technically described as a “navigational scatter
event”, entrants are provided with a list of controls
and a matrix of the permissible connections between them.
Riders can start from wherever they like at random and
have to plot their route to the final control, depending
on the award level that they’re going for. This
ranges from a 250-mile route for the bronze award, up
to 540 miles plus a special test held at MIRA’s
test circuit for the platinum. And if you’re really
serious and planning on going for one of the special awards,
you don’t need the latest performance technology.
One recent winner was on a CG125 and another on a C90
Cub! The trick is in the planning. I’ve been meaning
to do the “National” for a number of years
now, but for one reason or another it’s always managed
to slip off the “to do” list, and I only seemed
to remember about it after it had been run or the entries
had closed. This year was to be different however, and
when I unexpectedly received an application form through
the post from a friend of mine, I had no more excuses.
This time I had to do it!
The entry forms and
fees were duly posted off to the ACU, and when the final
regulations arrived it was time for the route planning.
Getting this right is the key to success, although we’ve
heard of riders turning up on the event at a control,
and then asking for suggestions on where might be a good
place to go! The two important pieces of information that
you need are the “matrix map” with the ‘official’
miles between each control, and the list of the controls
with location details, opening and closing times, and
the facilities available. Armed with this and a road map,
it’s up to you to work out a route that will get
you the award that you’re going for. Then, giving
yourself a time allowance at each control and a reasonable
average road speed, it’s not beyond the whit of
just about anyone who can press a button on a calculator,
to work out a timetable. If you can’t fit it all
in, then you’ll have to up your average speed, spend
less time at each control, go for a lower award, or maybe
all three. You have twenty hours to travel a maximum of
540 miles for the highest award, but don’t forget
you have to take a one hour break for each two hundred
miles travelled.
I was all for “Going
for Gold”, as I’ve done lots of night riding
over big distances, but my wife wanted to come along on
her bike and I wasn’t sure how she would cope –
and neither was she! Although we’ve clocked up large
miles travelling during the day across Europe, at night
she tends to prefer sleeping! The safe option was to do
the bronze award, because starting from our home in the
Thames Valley, it’s possible to do a couple of hundred
miles on Saturday, get home for a meal and a reasonable
night’s sleep, set off early on the Sunday morning
and get to the final control in Gaydon well before 10.00am.
Sorted!
The
weekend of the Rally arrived – and amazingly the
weather was good. The morning was spent giving the bikes
a check over, and since I was using the R1150RT that we
had on test, I was not only route leader but loadmaster
as well! Just before the 2pm start time, we set off for
the Reading control, but because this year the organisers
had been unable to find anyone to man it, we went straight
on, waved at no one and continued to our next control
in Basingstoke to get our card stamped. Each rider has
a route card that has to be stamped at each control point
and the miles from the last control entered with a running
total. You also sign yourself in, and that’s about
it. None of the controls are too difficult to find, and
as you get close to them you see yellow poster signs to
guide you in. From Basingstoke we took the back roads
through Overton and Whitchurch to Andover, and then onto
the A303 for the next control at Weyhill Services. The
problem here was that we were travelling west on a dual-carriageway,
and we needed to be at the eastbound services. No problem,
we just go down to the next exit, do a U and then back
up the other side. So, it was past Weyhill Services westbound,
and there’s an exit. We go down the slip road and
loop under the A303, there’s the signpost to Andover
and – we’re on the A342. Bother! We follow
this for a mile or so in the hope of finding a way back
to the A303, but then give up and turn round. Back at
the junction, and now I can see the signpost to the A303.
I make a mental note to write to the council and get them
cut those bushes down, but in the meantime I turn right
and there’s the A303 eastbound waiting for me. A
couple of minutes later we spot the yellow Rally Control
posters and we’re heading down the slip road into
the service area. Another stamp, another U-turn, and we’re
heading off to our next control at Amesbury. The guys
here have really got themselves organised. No tables and
chairs under a tent for them – they’ve got
themselves a big white motorhome with all mod-cons and
big striped awning. That’s what I call doing it
in style!
Back
onto the A303, but after a couple of miles we turn off
onto the A344 to go past Stonehenge, and follow the road
up to Devizes and on to Melksham. I have a minor moment
of confusion here, as I’ve come into the town on
the wrong road. I’m just about to pull over and
seek some local information when I spot one of the yellow
control posters. A mile or so later and there’s
the control point outside the café. Good signposting
lads! We’ve now been on the road for a couple of
hours so it’s time for a refreshment break. We’re
on schedule, on track, the weather’s good, everybody’s
having a great time, and there’s no news of anyone
having any problems. But it might be a lot different in
the cold light of dawn! What’s amazing about the
Rally is the incredible variety of bikes that are being
used; from the latest sportsbikes to vintage machines
that you last saw in a museum; from tourers to monkey
bikes, and cruisers to scooters. There are even a few
sidecar combinations and three-wheelers out there joining
in the fun.
The sun was still shining
as we made our way north around Chippenham’s ring
road system, and then it was over the M4 and into the
beautiful Cotswolds countryside. We took the A429 through
Malmesbury and then along the excellent B4014 to Tetbury
and Nailsworth. A right turn onto the A46 and then following
the valley of the river Frome, with its abundance of old
mill buildings, we arrive in Stroud and the next control
at a local BMW dealership. Another stamp and 130 miles
booked, but it’s cooling off now and it’s
time to add another layer of clothing. I also need to
change back to a clear visor, as the not quite legal(?)
dark one is making it tricky to spot the road through
the trees as the light begins to fade.
Here I met up with Mick Ayriss, one of a team of sixteen
travelling marshals. Their job is to visit four control
points each during the Rally, and make sure that everything’s
as it should be; that the controls are where the riders
were told they were (that’s a good start!), that
they’re signposted correctly, and the proper procedures
are being followed. When that’s done, they all meet
up at Gaydon, get a good night’s sleep in a nearby
hotel (lucky devils), and then man the final control on
the Sunday morning. Mick’s done the Rally a few
times in the past, including once on a Velocette, when
his biggest problem was trying to get it going again after
stopping at each control!
Time
to go, but we’re on the home run now, heading back
past Cirencester to the control at Lower Stratton, just
outside Swindon. I thought I knew where this was –
but I didn’t! However, one stop at the wrong place,
two laps of the roundabout, pick up the Castrol pennants
and the yellow control posters, and there it was –
no problem. Now it’s just a blat along the M4, through
Newbury, and it’s the final control of the day in
the retail park at the south of the town. There’s
a Pizza Hut twenty yards away, so we grab a late meal,
book our mandatory one hour break and head off home around
the back of Greenham Common. We’ve done 180 miles,
passed through eight controls, and we’re back home
at 10pm for a good night’s sleep. But I just had
to watch that afternoon’s MotoGP from Assen on the
video, so it was a bit later than planned before I hit
the sack.
5am Sunday morning,
the sun is up, the birds are about, and so are we. An
hour later and we’re back in the saddle, taking
the back roads to Abingdon and the next control. Things
are getting busier at the control points now, as just
over one thousand riders begin to converge on Gaydon.
However, everyone looks more or less awake, and apart
from someone who lost time fixing a puncture, no one we
meet seems to have had any problems. We get credited with
the mileage from our last control in Newbury, and then
we’re off onto the home run with our last stop just
south of Banbury at Deddington. It looks as though they’ve
been enjoying themselves here, as they’ve got a
brazier going and there’s the remains of a barbeque
well in evidence. Through Banbury, take the Warwick road,
and seven miles later we turn into the Heritage Motor
Museum at Gaydon. It’s 8am and the place is full
of motorbikes, with more coming in by the minute.
Well,
that wasn’t too difficult was it? Just one final
stamp at the finish control, pick up our award, and join
the queue for a very reasonably priced full cooked breakfast
and a cup of coffee. Most of the riders still appeared
to be conscious, although there are a few unmoving bodies
snoring gently in the early-morning sun on the grass outside
the museum, and some more catching up with their missed
hours sleep on the floor of the “rest room”.
Mencap had their stall set up at the end, and had arranged
for Sky Sports presenter Jane Omorogbe to make the awards.
Jane rides a VFR800 and although she didn’t enter
the Rally herself this year, I’m sure that if she
does in the future, there’ll be no shortage of guys
who’d be willing to accompany her, just in case
she has any difficulties!
And that was it. The
National Rally was all over for another year, and although
some said they felt a sense of anti-climax, for most of
us we were just happy to have made it to the end. We’d
set ourselves a target and we’d achieved it. Next
year the target will be different and probably the weather
will not be so kind, so there’ll be a new range
of challenges to meet. There’s also talk of some
revisions to the regulations just to keep everyone on
their toes.
So why don’t you give it a try? There’s more
to biking than riding the same old roads each weekend
with your mates, so why not use the Rally to go to other
parts of the country. And how good are your navigation
skills; do you have the endurance to ride right through
the night? Even if you only consider yourself to be an
average rider, it’s not as difficult as you think,
and it sure could be worthwhile finding out, especially
if you can raise some money for Mencap in the process.
For 2003 the National
Rally will be held over the weekend of July 5/6th and
we plan to enter a MotorBikesToday team, so watch this
space to find out more about how we prepare for the event
and how we get on. Next year the rally will be bigger
than ever, stretching from the Lake District across to
North Yorkshire, to the Norfolk coast and all the way
down to the South Coast, with the rally split into four
sections: North, East, South and Centre. There’ll
also be a new award to encourage more classic and vintage
riders to take part. Keep up to date with what’s
going on with the National Rally by visiting their website
at www.national-rally.co.uk where you will also be able
to get the entry forms. And if you want to find out more
about the work that Mencap does, then you can also visit
their site at www.mencap.org.uk.
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