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 />
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<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 />
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<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 />
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<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