| The National Rally | |
Possibly The Most Important Rider Information You Will Ever Read |
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Cooper
Bike Training specialises in training for all
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Instructor Norman 'Slappy' Robinson rode in the 2001 National Rally |
| My friend Steve and I did the
National Rally with my 15 year old son Adam riding pillion with me. A few hours of planning the route, studying maps and the directions paid off. Some of the 21 check points that we visited were quite difficult to find, and although most of the directions we were given were quite clear, some left a lot to be desired. A compulsory 1 hour break has to be taken after 200 miles; our first was taken at Guildford, where we found they were selling hotdogs, burgers and drinks. Steve led us into Guildford, and went straight to the checkpoint, but at Slough he missed the Honda HQ building, he rode straight past it. It is nearly as big as the AA building in Basingstoke. The instructions to the Corby checkpoint just said "Howitts garden Centre, 291 Nottingham Road, Corby". There is no Nottingham Road in Corby; it should have said "Rockingham Road", we only found out at the previous checkpoint. We decided to find a garage and buy a map, but at the garage a customer in a V*l*o said that he was going past Howitts, but was surprised that we wanted a garden centre at 2 a.m., we explained and he led us there; he saved ages of searching around. The reception we received at all the checkpoints was friendly; some were better than others. At Basingstoke, which is our home town and where we knew the people manning the checkpoint, they gave us some encouragement but mostly they took the mickey. We voted Aylesbury the best because they were giving out sweets, cleaning visors, and had a good range of food all night. Leicester was run by the Fosse Riders club in their clubhouse, there was coffee, rolls and chocolate on sale. Here we had our second compulsory 1 hour break and chatted to some of the other people doing the rally. The last checkpoint was at the Motor Heritage Centre at Gaydon, near Warwick. Here we received our trophies and a welcome full English breakfast. We also had a rest before riding home. Both Steve and I were going for the Gold Award, which involves riding a minimum of 500 miles. We actually did 510 official miles, although n total we did 680 by the time we arrived home. The National Rally is hard and demanding, but if you are looking for a challenge it is great fun. Try it next year!
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| Copyright Norman Robinson & Cooper Bike Training 2001. |
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