Wrapping up the Ice Breaker Challenge 2023

by | Mar 6, 2023 | CHALLENGES, Latest News, News and Events, UK Rally

Keeping the British Rallying Dream Alive through the winter

PEAKS | SALISBURY | NORTH YORK MOORS | THETFORD |COTSWOLDS | WALES

The 22/23 round of the Ice Breaker Challenge was nothing short of a true display of stamina and determination, sprinkled with a touch of lunacy, but overall encompassing some good old fashioned British grit, and no doubt there was plenty of grit kicked up during the challenge!

This time round it truly was an exercise in ice breaking!

Photo by Ryan Baker
Pics by Ryan Baker and Pete Chambers
We’ve experienced some proper cold this winter, and when the rest of the country was tucked up warm in front of the fire with their wooly socks on, RallyMoto members were out making fresh tracks through deep snow, bracing the exposure of the windswept north York moors, and plunging into chalky mud pits at Salisbury Plain.

Steve Braybrook not letting a bit of fresh snow spoil his plans to tackle the North York Moors route.

581 routes ridden in total!!!

Regardless of the often bitter conditions, the rate at which riders were completing the routes was astonishing.
A grand total of 581 routes were completed! The most popular routes being the Cotswolds and Salisbury, likely because of their central geographical location.
Based on the feedback it seems that Thetford was high on the favourites list. Enjoy a bit of sand riding do we?

Massive thanks to the Rallymoto lot for this icebreaker challenge. Thought they were great tracks and really helpful for learning Rally navigation in a non stressful environment and got me to go visit areas of the UK I’ve never been to before. Lots of fun and very good value for money I thought. Off to Greece next for some overseas rallying.

– Scott Patrick
Just wanted to thank the team for putting together the IBC, my first time doing roadbook for real.
I signed up hoping to complete 3 routes but thanks toDaniel Newby-Ricci we should both be Yeti’s soon if the technology has played ball.
Wales was tops for me closely followed by Thetford and Cotswold, I’m sure Peaks had good views but when we were there we struggled to keep each other in sight due to fog and low cloud.
But as someone else has said we were on our bikes and not on the sofa.
– Steve Saunders

SPECIAL MENTIONS

Shout out to John Foster, who completed all six routes in one hit, riding 5 routes in 4 days!  Same kudos goes to Andy Malloch (Edinburgh) – who rode 7 routes in 7 days straight through.
We’d also like to say welcome back in the saddle Dave Campbell, who thought that an accident mid last year would mean the end of his dirt biking days… well it seems that he wasn’t going to miss out on all the fun, and sure enough he got back on the bike and straight into the Ice Breakers.  Great to have you back Dave.
Also respect to Stephen H for riding Wales on black ice, and nice once Quinton for rescuing Matthew S from Wales.
Wales done today meaning all ice breakers complete, 5 of which in the last 4 days. 750 miles in the van and about 600 on the bike. 
Really enjoyed all the routes so a massive thank you to the RallyMoto team for putting this together. Ranking of routes in my opinion
Thetford
Salisbury
North York Moors
Wales
Hertfordshire
Cotswolds
Peaks
–  John Foster

watch out for the yetis!

 

The total number of Ice Man Yetis from this round was an incredible 34!  (Last year there were 3!).

Congratulations everyone.
78 riders achieved a mission accomplished, meaning at least 3 routes were completed, which in itself is impressive.  Thankyou everyone for making the time and effort to complete however many routes you did manage to do.  Getting out on the bike over winter is something not everyone is willing to do, so it just goes to show what a solid bunch of people we have in the club!
The feedback has been abundant, with plenty of positive experiences and many suggestions for future improvements.  We appreciate them all, and will work towards making this an even better event next time around based on what’s been said and because it’s abundantly clear that there is a demand for this kind of adventure.

34!!!

Had a great day on the North York moors, it was absolutely fantastic, and thanks for all the hard work that’s gone into arranging all the IBC challenges.
We even so two barn owls whilst riding around.
–  Andy Fairhurst

Did the Wales tarmac route yesterday.

What an epic day – my ride to the start from the Midlands was great, the route itself was great, and my road home was quiet and twisty.

Thanks all. A great way for me to complete (following rain in the Cotswolds the day before).

 

–  Colin Lewis

@Jaderides getting her boots wet
@welsh_gser on a particularly chilly day!

Beautiful day yesterday to do (or redo due to a tracking problem 1st time round) the NYM Icebreaker, though it was a bit breezy in places! A fantastic route, with a few puddles, more than a few gates and the wonderful Grim Sheeper. If the Tracking Gods are with me that’s 6 routes done, thank you to all on the RallyMoto team for a brilliant event!

 

–  Andy Esmond

Thanks for riding!

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching everyones videos on YouTube and social media, a few of which we will share below, so make sure you check them out and give them a thumbs up.
 Thanks for sharing your images and experiences, and for being a great team, helping each other out and giving advice and support when it’s called for.
Special thanks to our Ambassador team for helping us check the routes and roadbooks, and to the Tony’s for writing many of them.
Shall we do it all again next winter?

The Chef on his Bike

Ishymoto

TheBigBraap!!

KTM STEVE