Here at RallyMoto we are all about challenges, and hasn’t 2020 been just that! Regardless of this year being considered one that most would rather forget, there are plenty of memories which give us great pleasure to reflect on.
Here are some of our top highlights from 2020.
The Rise of the 125s
There’s been an impressive display of endurance this year with several riders completing some of our longest events of the year on 125s! The long distance challenge events are not to be scoffed at even on big bikes, so we thought a special shout out should go to Flyn, who after just passing his motorcycle test, rode the entire Tour of Wales on his XLR125, and to Holly and Paul, who participated in almost every event we hosted this year on their Sinnis 125s. Good on them!
Going Stir Crazy
You may have noticed by now that Burt doesn’t stop providing roadbook adventures even when the government tells us to stay at home. The first lockdown prompted the creation of the first ever ‘Stir Crazy’ desktop rally series, which is has proved to be a fantastic way to enable members to practise their roadbooking without leaving the house. We’ve had some great feedback about this, including members saying they got the whole family involved which is really cool to hear.
Attempted Bike Theft
It’s the moment we all dread, noticing your beloved bike is no longer where you left it the night before. In this case, one of our riders came out of the hotel the morning of the round 2 of the Tour of Wales to discover his bike was gone. Thankfully he had installed his tracker the previous night, and Burt was able to locate his bike which amazingly had been stashed around the back of the hotel! As good as that news was, a second wave of disappointment hit when it was realised that the electronics had been tampered with, rendering the bike immobile. In steps Alex Golden, recovery vehicle driver, with his bag of tricks and before long the bike was fixed and ready to ride. The rider then went on to complete the 500km challenge with no further troubles! Talk about turning a day around…
A Slight Misprint
There’s nothing quite like fixing a problem on the fly! It was the 2nd round of the Coast to Coast Roadbook Challenge, and upon noticing that riders were veering off course, it was soon realised that they weren’t following the roadbook they were supposed to be following. The roadbook that had been handed out at the start of the day was actually an earlier version of the route which had since been amended due to its level of difficulty. Again the live tracking was used by the marshals on the course to catch up with the riders to let them know what had occurred. A credit to the willing nature of our members, many of them were happy to carry on along the more challenging course, whilst those less competent were assisted by the marshals to avoid the tricky sections, and the challenge was completed with minimum fuss.
Tour Of Wales Landslide
Despite our best efforts to recce and keep up to date on the current state of the routes, occasionally something catches us out. In this instance, a landslide around Lake Vrynwy, about halfway through the Tour of Wales, caused a last minute road closure. Cue much confusion and a stellar effort by the marshall team to round up the riders and redirect them on an alternative route. The live tracking system proved extremely handy in this instance!
Thinking Outside the Box
Who’d have thought that restrictions could be a blessing? Yes it’s been rubbish that we couldn’t host the 500s this year, but when one door closes another opens so they say, in this case in the form of a whole new style of rally riding which is the Rally in a Box. This new concept, born out of an era of restrictions, delivers the rally to your home and gives you the freedom to ride it when you want. It’s yet another way to keep our members riding without relying on local restrictions allowing an event to take place. This has been an exciting development for RallyMoto and one we aim to evolve into the future.
As you can see, 2020 wasn’t all bad… Bring on 2021 and another year of riding, exploring, experiencing, pushing your limits and creating a bunch of new wonderful memories!
We’d love to hear from our members regarding your top moments riding with RallyMoto in 2020. If you have a story you’d like to share with us please email [email protected] and include any relevant images for a chance to be featured in our new magazine.
