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RallyMoto Magazine - Aug/Sept 2021

The magazine of the world of Adventure Rallying - information and reports on events, roadbook navigation, hints and tips and results. Adventure Rallying is a new challenge for riders, roadbook navigational accuracy is key and so is adherence to speed limits & average speed stages, with top speeds being capped. Find out more on our web site www.rallymoto.co.uk

The magazine of the world of Adventure Rallying - information and reports on events, roadbook navigation, hints and tips and results.
Adventure Rallying is a new challenge for riders, roadbook navigational accuracy is key and so is adherence to speed limits & average speed stages, with top speeds being capped. Find out more on our web site www.rallymoto.co.uk

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July/<strong>Aug</strong>ust <strong>2021</strong><br />

ADVENTURE<br />

RALLY SEASON IN<br />

FULL SWING FOR<br />

<strong>2021</strong><br />

A SUMMER<br />

AT SALISBURY<br />

ADVENTURE<br />

TRAINING DAYS<br />

RALLY<br />

A DAY OF<br />

HELLAS<br />

NAVIGATING<br />

THE BIG FAT<br />

GREEK RALLY<br />

HONDA CRF<br />

300RALLY<br />

THE LITTLE RED RALLY<br />

BIKE THAT CAN!


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

WELCOME...<br />

Well here it is …<br />

our very first issue of<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> magazine.<br />

We aim to bring you a regular<br />

insight into what is going on<br />

in the world of Adventure<br />

Rallying from around the<br />

world.<br />

So, what is “Adventure<br />

Rally”? It quite simply is an<br />

event based on roadbook<br />

navigation, like the Dakar,<br />

but without the speed. Each<br />

participant is scored on their<br />

navigational skills, adherence<br />

to speed limits and in the<br />

more advanced events<br />

adherence to an average time<br />

for a stage.<br />

It is rallying, it is a real<br />

challenge.<br />

Our aim is to expand and<br />

promote the sport on a global<br />

basis, to give adventure bike<br />

riders a new sport.<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> magazine will<br />

bring you news of events,<br />

interviews with participants,<br />

profiles on riders, hints and<br />

tips on navigation and a<br />

calendar of events you can<br />

take part in. This is not a<br />

spectator sport, we want you<br />

to get involved.<br />

This is what your adventure<br />

bike was made for.<br />

See you on the start line.<br />

3 - 2 - 1 - Gooooooooo!<br />

Burt<br />

WRITTEN BY:<br />

ROBERT HUGHES<br />

2<br />

FEATURES<br />

FESTIVAL FEVER - 4<br />

Getting back amongst the great<br />

unwashed.<br />

TRAINING DAY - 6<br />

Let the results decide whether it’s<br />

worth it or not!<br />

SALISBURY PLAIN<br />

ADVENTURE RALLY - 10<br />

Round one results.<br />

REGULARS<br />

RIDER’S RIDES - 12<br />

It’s not the size that counts it’s what<br />

you can do with it! The lowdown from<br />

owners of the CRF300Rally.<br />

QUICK TIPS - 15<br />

Manual Roadbook management to<br />

keep you rolling.<br />

RALLY NEWS & EVENTS - 16<br />

What’s happening in the world wide<br />

rally scene?<br />

RALLIES ABROAD - 17<br />

A day of Hellas: <strong>RallyMoto</strong> member<br />

shares his experience.<br />

3


4<br />

5<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

After some last minute event cancellations<br />

in June, team <strong>RallyMoto</strong> instead decided<br />

to load the big red marquee into the van<br />

and head to the infamous Adventure Bike Rider<br />

Festival for the weekend and get amongst the<br />

action.<br />

It feels like an age since attending an event such<br />

as this, and how nice it was to be mingling and<br />

socialising again just like back in the old days!<br />

There was a happy, relaxed atmosphere and we<br />

finally the chance to have a good catch up with<br />

many old, new, and future members of the Rally-<br />

Moto club.<br />

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to say hi,<br />

and huge appreciation to the organisers for facilitating<br />

a great gathering of like minded folk!


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

ADVENTURE RALLY<br />

TRAINING DAYS<br />

WHO IS IT FOR?<br />

If you’re new to the sport, showing<br />

up for your first Adventure Rally can<br />

be a daunting prospect.<br />

To ease the fear, <strong>RallyMoto</strong> have<br />

been running several Adventure Rally<br />

Training Days at Salisbury Plain with<br />

incredible results and great feedback<br />

from participants.<br />

So what’s involved and is it really<br />

worth it? Let’s find out!<br />

Anyone who wants to learn the ins and<br />

outs of roadbook navigation from experienced<br />

Adventure Rallyers! Sure, plenty<br />

of people arrive at their first event having<br />

never even glanced at a roadbook before<br />

and get on just fine, however there’s nothing<br />

like learning from other people’s mistakes<br />

and experience, and that’s where<br />

the training can be really beneficial.<br />

WHERE IS IT HELD?<br />

The day is based out of one of our favourite<br />

venues in Tilshead, Wiltshire, called<br />

the Rose and Crown. Ok yes it is a pub,<br />

but with a secure gated space to park the<br />

bikes, an outdoor covered seating area<br />

(think covid regs), outstanding Italian hospitality<br />

and great food and coffee, it has<br />

turned out to be an ideal location to use<br />

as our base for the training days. It’s also<br />

a stones throw from many of the byways<br />

used for the practical part of the training.<br />

WHAT HAPPENS?<br />

It begins with a classroom session<br />

and several cups of coffee...<br />

Practise roadbooks are handed<br />

out to the students to mark up<br />

with the guidance of Burt and<br />

the <strong>RallyMoto</strong> team. Stories are<br />

shared, advice is given and any<br />

questions are answered.<br />

The real learning occurs on the<br />

trails so no time is wasted in getting<br />

out on the bikes and putting<br />

the theory lessons into practise.<br />

Once the roadbooks are loaded<br />

and trackers are fitted onto the<br />

bikes then it’s off to the dirt to<br />

start navigating a short course<br />

designed specifically for the students.<br />

After about an hour of navigating<br />

around the trails of Salisbury<br />

Plain and surrounds, it’s back for<br />

a delicious italian lunch and a<br />

recap. Riders are handed out the<br />

afternoon roadbooks which are<br />

marked up and loaded, and then<br />

back out to the trails for an afternoon<br />

of roadbooking.<br />

Because each bike is fitted with a<br />

GPS tracker, Burt is able to provide<br />

results to the riders at the<br />

end of the day, with Adventure<br />

Rally penalty points given for<br />

speeding and navigational errors.<br />

This gives those who take part a<br />

real taste of Adventure Rallying,<br />

and leaves nothing in the dark in<br />

regards to what to expect when<br />

entering any of the <strong>RallyMoto</strong><br />

events.<br />

6<br />

7


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

SO, WAS IT WORTH IT?<br />

There’s nothing quite like putting<br />

newly learnt skills straight into<br />

practise, so for the benefit of the riders,<br />

every training day which has run<br />

in <strong>2021</strong> so far has been followed up by<br />

an Adventure Rally event the following<br />

day. Most of the trainees chose to stay<br />

and enter the real event, making the<br />

most of a full weekend of Adventure<br />

Rallying. How did they get on?<br />

JUST FINISHED MY FIRST DAY<br />

TRAINING AND THE PANDEM-<br />

IC RALLY - FANTASTIC.<br />

A BIG THANKS TO BURT AND<br />

THE TEAM. JUST ONE THING,<br />

WHEN IS THE NEXT ONE ??!!!<br />

- Albert<br />

Charles took part in the<br />

training and then entered one<br />

of <strong>RallyMoto</strong>’s toughest events,<br />

the Pandemic Adventure Rally,<br />

the following day. Having<br />

gained so much confidence<br />

with the navigation during his<br />

training, he chose to ride in<br />

the extreme class in the event,<br />

and scored the least number of<br />

penalty points for that round!<br />

8<br />

Andy had just a few months<br />

of experience riding off road<br />

under his belt and only a<br />

handful of rides on his 690<br />

Enduro when he came for<br />

training. The next day he<br />

rode in the Salisbury Adventure<br />

Rally and came in first<br />

place!<br />

If it’s worth doing once it’s<br />

worth doing twice! Albert<br />

has become a bit of a legend<br />

amongst the <strong>RallyMoto</strong> crew.<br />

Having trained and the ridden<br />

the Pandemic Rally on<br />

his CR450RX, he returned a<br />

few weeks later for another<br />

round of training to try out his<br />

new rally bike. More on that<br />

later...<br />

9


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

SALISBURY<br />

ADVENTURE<br />

RALLY<br />

Riders struck gold on Sunday July 11th for<br />

the first round of the Salisbury Adventure<br />

Rally. This event took the riders to some<br />

of the less known trails around Salisbury Plain<br />

and surrounding areas, with some wet conditions<br />

during the previous week offering up<br />

some tricky riding and plenty of puddles to get<br />

splashy in.<br />

There were some great results from our less experienced<br />

members and recent Adventure Rally<br />

trainees and a top turnout with just under 30 riders<br />

and many <strong>RallyMoto</strong> ambassadors showing<br />

up to enjoy another excellent day on the bikes.<br />

Round 2 will run on <strong>Aug</strong>ust 29th... Don’t miss out!<br />

TOP SCORER:<br />

Andrew Lewington<br />

Eddie Osbourne<br />

RESULTS<br />

ROUND 1<br />

ROADBOOK ADVENTURES ON<br />

SALISBURY PLAIN TO TEST YOUR<br />

SKILLS AND CHALLENGE YOUR BRAIN<br />

RIDER BIKE SCORE<br />

Andrew Lewington KTM 690R 15<br />

Steff McGarrigle Honda 300 CRF Rally 16<br />

Si McGarrigle Honda 300 CRF Rally 16<br />

Piers Corvill Fantic 250 21<br />

Ben Abbatt Yamaha XTZ690 44<br />

Fraser Woolley KTM 350 EXC 45<br />

Pete Livsey AJP PR7 63<br />

Luke Begley Yamaha XT660Z 101<br />

Dave Campbell KTM 350EXC 108<br />

Austin Wren Husqvarna FE450 160<br />

Andy Dixon KTM 950 Super Enduro 194<br />

Eddie Osbourne Honda CRF450X 200<br />

Callum Perkins KTM 890 80 (DNF)<br />

George Henderson KTM 690 178 (DNF)<br />

Austin Wren<br />

Tim Hellier KTM 1190R 83 (DNF)<br />

Renaldas Colevicious Triumph 800 0 (DNF)<br />

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^<br />

Dave Campbell<br />

getting all splashy<br />

10<br />

11


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

Riders’ Rides<br />

Stef & Si<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

12<br />

RIDERS’ RIDES<br />

Albert rode the Wales 500 a few years ago<br />

on a GSA, which he said was a great bike but too<br />

heavy. Wanting to go lighter for the off road Adventure<br />

Rallies he bought a CRF450RX, on which he rode<br />

for a day of Adventure Rally Training and the Pandemic<br />

Adventure Rally.<br />

“It was a nightmare. I fought the bike for two days,<br />

I was totally worn out… so I decided I needed something<br />

else. I managed to find a new CRF 300 Rally. It’s<br />

totally different. It’s a lot more relaxing to ride. For<br />

doing off road gravel tracks it’s brilliant.”<br />

Together with a brand new electronic F2R roadbook<br />

holder and ICO, Albert is set to go for a year of<br />

Adventure Rallying and has put his name down for<br />

nearly every <strong>RallyMoto</strong> event this year!<br />

Featuring...<br />

THE<br />

HONDA CRF<br />

300RALLY<br />

The hugely popular light weight and affordable rally/adventure<br />

bike offerred by Honda got an little upgrade recently... Why is<br />

new CRF300Rally the choice of ride for several rallymoto riders?<br />

Stef started riding 8 years ago and for<br />

her it’s been a progressive journey<br />

of bike ownership.. She started on<br />

a Harley 883, then moved to a more<br />

comfortable Harley switchback before her<br />

partner Simon decided it’d be fun to try<br />

some off road about 2 years ago.<br />

Stef: “ The only thing I knew about riding<br />

off road was Ewan McGregor and the Long<br />

Way Down… standard… so I thought “oh<br />

I’ll get a GS then that’s a great bike to take<br />

off road.” It is a great bike to take off road if<br />

you have the skills… I don’t have the skills<br />

so for me it’s a terrible bike for off road”.<br />

She then decided to downsize to a KTM790<br />

Adventure, but ran into the same problems.<br />

They finally arrived at what they believed<br />

to be the most suitable bike to<br />

match their abilities and ambitions...<br />

the Honda CRF 300 Rally.<br />

“It’s nice and light-ish, but we can<br />

still do the distance, and most importantly<br />

when I fall off I can pick it<br />

up on my own… So that’s really the<br />

journey of how we got from a Harley<br />

to a Honda 300.”<br />

Si: “ I reckon you could sum it up<br />

by saying, our lack of skill gradually reduced<br />

our bikes in size until we reached a<br />

bike which compensates for our inadequacies”.<br />

Stef: “It’s a fantastic bike, it’s also confidence<br />

inspiring.. I feel like I can do far<br />

more difficult terrain that bike than I ever<br />

have done before.”<br />

Simon also has some long distance adventures<br />

planned on his new wheels including<br />

a trip to Portugal later in the year as<br />

well as another mega trip which was put<br />

back from last year due to covid.<br />

Si: “In April I’m taking six months to ride<br />

to Mongolia through the Wakhan corridor<br />

in Afghan, then Tajikistan, Russia and into<br />

Mongolia, then back out across the Caspian<br />

and Europe. The Honda is my weapon<br />

of choice!”<br />

“I feel like I can do far<br />

more difficult terrain on<br />

that bike than I ever have<br />

done before”<br />

Si and Steff are <strong>RallyMoto</strong> ambasssadors<br />

have ridden numerous roadbook events<br />

over the years.<br />

Their bikes are standard, apart from bash<br />

plates, hand guards and grippier pegs.<br />

13


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

TIPS & TRICKS<br />

1. LOAD IT STRAIGHT<br />

Often the manual holders are often narrower than<br />

the full size rally spec holders, leaving less room for<br />

the roadbooks to deviate side to side when scrolling<br />

through. Take an extra moment to ensure the<br />

end of the roadbook is secured properly to the spool<br />

and is as straight as you can make it, so as you wind<br />

through the roadbook it doesn’t start to try to go off to<br />

one side.<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

MANUAL HANDLING<br />

Most people will start roadbooking with a manual<br />

roadbook setup. They’re low cost compared<br />

to their electronic counterparts and<br />

are a great way to figure out what Adventure Rallying<br />

is all about. Often riders will choose to invest in<br />

electronic versions once they’ve realised that they’re<br />

hooked, yet some remain content sticking with the<br />

budget versions which ultimately offer the same<br />

thing... the ability to navigate using a roadbook.<br />

They do come with their annoyances however, and<br />

can be more prone to roadbook jamming and giving<br />

riders thumb fatigue, but with a little patience and a<br />

couple of tricks up the sleeve one can successfully<br />

navigate any long distance roadbook event without<br />

any problems... Here are some tips for using manual<br />

roadbooks which should help limit the frustration<br />

and keep you rolling on!<br />

14<br />

3. REDUCE THE SIZE<br />

On the longer Adventure Rallies, as the<br />

roadbook distributes itself across both<br />

spools, often it can become quite ‘full’ in<br />

the holder. The spools become harder<br />

to turn which can lead to rider frustration<br />

and aching thumbs.<br />

Feel free to chop the roadbook in half and<br />

wind on the unridden section all over<br />

again. NEVER discard the used section<br />

however, but put it in your backpack so<br />

you can return it to the organisers at the<br />

end of the event.<br />

2. RIPS HAPPEN!<br />

Yes indeed when navigating with a<br />

paper scroll in the wilderness certain<br />

measures do have to be taken<br />

to keep it in one piece. Keeping<br />

it dry is an obvious factor, and<br />

careful scrolling technique helps.<br />

However if you do detect a tear,<br />

it’s always handy to keep a strip of<br />

duct tape or similar simply stuck<br />

to the underside of your holder for<br />

easy access. Fix the rip and carry<br />

on!<br />

15


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

UK<br />

APP TESTING FOR A TARMAC<br />

ONLY EVENT<br />

Recces and test runs are underway for<br />

the latest <strong>RallyMoto</strong> app based event,<br />

the Wales Cannonball Challenge, which<br />

sticks to the tarmac rather than hitting<br />

the dirt. A brand new type of event<br />

which will give a whole new meaning to<br />

the popular ‘Rally in a Box’ format...<br />

INTERNATIONAL<br />

16<br />

photo by<br />

If there’s one thing<br />

we’ve learnt in the<br />

past year or so it’s<br />

to expect the unexpected...<br />

This was no<br />

exception to the riders<br />

and organisers of the<br />

<strong>2021</strong> Silkway Rally.<br />

NEWS<br />

WALES 500 #2 IS ON!<br />

A <strong>2021</strong> edition of the Wales 500<br />

will be running on <strong>Sept</strong>ember<br />

25/26 out of Baskerville Hall,<br />

Hay on Wye. This is one of the<br />

most popular events in the 500s<br />

series and makes use of some of<br />

Wales’s best forestry tracks. Big<br />

bikes only!<br />

UPCOMING EVENTS:<br />

28/8 - Adventure Rally Training Day<br />

29/8 - Salisbury Adventure Rally #2<br />

25-26/9 - Wales 500 <strong>2021</strong> Edition<br />

9-10/10 - Kielder 500 Adventure Rally<br />

30-31/10 - Dark Skies Adventure Rally<br />

&<br />

EVENTS<br />

The event was set to cover over 5,200 kms through Russia and Mongolia<br />

and included nearly 3,000 kms of special stages. At the end of<br />

day two however, the announcement came that Mongolia had closed<br />

it’s borders due to Covid, so in order to continue the event, the organisers<br />

instead decided to re-route the rally back through Russia. Competitors<br />

therefore repeated a stage they had already ridden, giving<br />

emphasis to their speed rather than navigation.<br />

Regardless of the set back, after a year of cancellations it was evident<br />

that both competitors and organisers were<br />

just happy to be back out racing again. The<br />

Russians seemed to do an outstanding job at<br />

hosting what looked like a fantastic event.<br />

Results wise it was Austrian KTM rider Matthias<br />

Walkner who took first place in the<br />

motorcycle category.<br />

1 – KTM 450 Rally – Matthias WALKNER<br />

2 – Husqvarna Rally 450 – Skyler HOWES<br />

3 – HERO RALLY 450 BETA – Franco CAIMI<br />

Rallies Abroad<br />

A DAY OF<br />

HELLAS<br />

I’ve found the route again! I get onto the track<br />

but I’ve no idea where I am, just how far I’ve<br />

ridden. Following another bike I work out the<br />

turns and adjust my ICO to match, then it’s the<br />

last few KM to the finish.<br />

I cross the line at the end of the Special, then<br />

it’s back to the bivouac. I hand the bike over to<br />

Joe and Del from Desert Rose Racing, the rally<br />

support company that I’m using, they go over<br />

the bike each day to service it and fix what I’ve<br />

broken!<br />

Finally, I check my time for the day, I’ve got<br />

a 30 minute penalty for missing a GPS checkpoint<br />

whilst on my little detour (we’re all<br />

equipped with trackers), nobody warned me<br />

about that! Then it’s on to collect the roadbook<br />

for day 2…<br />

Written by Andy Esmond<br />

It’s 10.29 on Monday<br />

24th May <strong>2021</strong> and I’m<br />

in Nafpaktos, Greece,<br />

waiting at the start line<br />

of the Day 1 of the Hellas<br />

Rally, my first major international<br />

rally. My roadbook<br />

is marked up and I’ve<br />

double-checked my ICOs<br />

are both reset, the Marshal<br />

counts me down to my start<br />

time of 10.30 and I’m off!<br />

I’ve waited a long time to<br />

start this event, I entered<br />

in December 2019 for May<br />

2020, that became October<br />

2020 then May <strong>2021</strong>.<br />

Lockdowns and changes in<br />

COVID travel requirements<br />

meant I couldn’t be sure<br />

I would be able to travel<br />

until 19th May, even though<br />

my bike, a KTM 450 EXC-F,<br />

was already on the way to<br />

Greece.<br />

There is a short Liaison<br />

stage to get up into the<br />

mountains before the Special<br />

starts; Day 1 is a 70km<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

prologue stage, described<br />

as very fast in places and<br />

designed to assess speeds.<br />

There’s a chaotic short wait<br />

at the start of the Special,<br />

riders arrive at random but<br />

need to be marshalled to<br />

start in order, my number,<br />

334, is called then it’s check<br />

the roadbook, reset the<br />

ICOs and 3..2..1.. Go!<br />

The trails are very rocky<br />

and dusty and it’s pushing<br />

30C as we climb into the<br />

hills, trying to watch the<br />

roadbook, ICO, and unfamiliar<br />

landscape all at<br />

the same time. I come up<br />

on slower bikes but get<br />

passed by faster bikes in<br />

a haze of dust, then the<br />

pack thins out and I’m on<br />

my own, taking turn after<br />

turn on narrow mountain<br />

tracks. Slowly the track<br />

deteriorates and I realise<br />

I’ve missed a turn. Looking<br />

for somewhere to turn up<br />

ahead I see bikes speeding<br />

by on a wide gravel road,<br />

I come up on slower bikes but get passed by faster bikes in<br />

a haze of dust, then the pack thins out and I’m on my own,<br />

taking turn after turn on narrow mountain tracks.<br />

Photos by<br />

Actiongraphers<br />

17


<strong>RallyMoto</strong> <strong>Magazine</strong><br />

@rallymotouk<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong>: Adventure<br />

Rally & Roadbook<br />

Challenges<br />

<strong>RallyMoto</strong>: Rally &<br />

Adventure Riding<br />

by Roadbook Group<br />

THANKYOU<br />

To all <strong>RallyMoto</strong> members for providing their continued support and for<br />

taking part in promoting Adventure Rallying in the UK.<br />

Thanks to Albert, Si and Steff, and Andy Esmond for their contributions.<br />

And to our partners and sponsors...<br />

If you have any stories or news you’d like<br />

to contribute to the magazine please email<br />

Burt on robert@rallymoto.co.uk<br />

18<br />

rallymoto.co.uk

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