New Icebreaker Challenge Deadline: May 14
We understand the frustration of receiving your Icebreaker Challenge roadbooks in December, only to then be told to stay at home for the foreseeable future!
All participants in the Ice Breaker Challenge are to use their own discretion and keep an eye on latest announcements. At the end of the day it is not our duty to tell you when or where you can or can’t ride, but based on England changing its guidance to allow “open air recreation” on March 8, you can make your own decision on whether you wist to ride under the “exceptions” that apply.
Well hopefully this post can offer a little relief, a post from Andrew Prendergast of White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors has interpreted the guidelines on the 8th March as follows:
Read the full post, make your own decisions and be fully informed:
https://www.whitedalton.co.uk/motorbike-blog/2021/01/can-i-go-out-on-my-motorcycle-during-lockdown-updated-government-guidance-for-england/
If you had previously requested the Wales roadbook and wish to swap it out for an English based one, please email Burt directly.
Extract of blog below:
National Lockdown
As of the 08/03/21, England is still in a “National Lockdown.” The different tiers have not come back into force in England. Don’t get muddled up. It’s easy to do. There has been a raft of law changes that happened throughout 2020/21 so it would be easy to get confused and caught out.
Riding Your Motorbike
As of today (08/03/21) you still can’t leave your house and ride your motorbike unless an “exception” applies.
The biggest change in the law for most bikers is the “exception” that you are now legally permitted: –
“to visit a public outdoor place for the purposes of open air recreation”: –
“(i)alone,
(ii)with—
(aa)one or more members of their household or their linked household, or
(bb)where open air recreation is being taken as part of providing informal childcare for a child aged 13 or under, one or more members of their linked childcare household, or
(iii)with one other person who is not a member of their household, their linked household, or their linked childcare household,and sub-paragraph (3) applies in determining whether a person is complying with the limits in this paragraph;]”
“Open air recreation” is not defined. So, in my view, motorbiking is “open air recreation.”
A public outdoor place is defined as: –
“(4) A place is a public outdoor place for the purposes of this paragraph if it is a public outdoor place other than a fairground or funfair and—
(a)no payment is required by any member of the public to access that place, or
(b)the place falls within one of the following categories—
F14(i). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
(ii)botanical gardens,
(iii)gardens or grounds of a castle, stately home, historic house or other heritage site,
[F15(iv)outdoor attractions at sculpture parks,
(v)allotments.]”
The full list of exceptions can be found at:-
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1374/schedule/3A/paragraph/2
These are the rules for England, however, so those based in Wales please use your own discretion and keep an eye on latest announcements before rushing back out there too soon. At the end of the day it is not our duty to tell you when or where you can or can’t ride, but based on England guidelines now allowing “open air recreation”, you can make your own decision as to whether you ride.
We will be allowing some extra time for all riders to complete the Ice Breaker Challenge so we are extending the deadline of the event until May 14.
Before we locked down over the winter we really enjoyed seeing photos and videos of our members on their Icebreaker adventures. Thanks to @grahamdodridge for the images in this post. We appreciate the effort it takes to get good shots when out on the trails especially in these conditions! If you’d like to share your journey with us use #rallymotoicebreakerchallenge and tag us @rallymotouk.
