Information

What is it all about? The National Road Rally for Beginners

First of all, forget about competition, going for gold or winning. This weekend event is to encourage you to ride your bike around England and to enjoy yourself.

Leave the trophy hunting to those who have ridden the event before and instead just decide that you going for a good ride.

The National is actually 2 events in one. You can chose to ride on Saturday afternoon only or carry on through the night for a Sunday morning finish.

Either way, the preperation should be the same:

  1. Obtain an entry form and regulations.
  2. Read the regs and complete the entry form.
  3. Nearer the start date, check that the bike (and yourself) are roadworthy. Plan to take some extra clothes and waterproofs for our Summer conditions.
  4. Approximately 2 weeks before the event you will receive a Matrix of controls and a detailed list of control point locations/opening and closing times and facilities offered
  5. Start planning your route (whilst at home with no pressure). Forget about computer programmes and GPS at this stage (they can come later if you want).
  6. Decide whether you are going to ride on Saturday only (start time 2pm) or for the whole weekend and the mileage that you want to complete.
  7. Using the control listing and matrix, draft a route and then check the official miles. Note that the official miles are those from control to control and neither the actual miles between the controls or the distance to the first control are counted.
  8. If you are going for the maximum points (and therefore controls) one tip is to highlight in different colours the lesser distances between controls. Think of it this way; if the maximum mileage is 540 and the smallest distance between controls is 20 miles then 26 controls would be possible. However control distance can be from 20 to 40 miles so maximum will always be somewhere between 20 and 24. However if you are searching for the most controls close together, this quick exercise will help you visualise them.
  9. The control list will tell you the location (by map), the organising club, the facilities (rest, refreshment, fuel etc) and most importantly the opening and closer times.
  10. If you are only riding on Saturday (finishing no later than midnight) then you can plan a route from home (or meeting place) and ride a circular route to finish close to home. Just note the closing times of the controls so as not to be caught out. A good idea is to work the control locations onto a map so that you ride some of the great biking roads. For instance; Link Ashbourne to Buxton and then onto Congleton and use the bike friendly A515 and the the A54 or A537 (better known as the Cat and Fiddle), or if further south why not use the B4155 (Fosse Way) to link Carterton to Sratford and then Rugby? The re are loads of old roads out there that have been bypassed by county planners. But with a little map work you can use these traffic free byways to really enjoy the National.
  11. If you are riding for maximum points, you have to visit at least * letter controls before you have completed *** miles (from your start control) and finish at the final control, so planning is very important. Check the distance for all of your chosen controls and ensure that you are on exactly 540 miles. 545 is just as bad as 535, so no cigar (or Special Gold)
  12. Once you have calculated your chosen route, work out your rest stops and refuelling points. Again check that the chosen controls have those facilities nearby. Then transfer your route onto route cards or a rolling road. Those with GPS could also set them up as Way Points. If you have neither, write your route down on several post cards (one to two control points per card) and place in a tank bag or map pocket, changing them at each stop.
  13. Some riders prefer to split the event into 2 and book a Hotel or friends sofa for a few night time hours, and then restart at 5am or so when it is fully light again. If you are going to do the same, book your stay now and plan it into your route.
  14. If riding with friends, then agree the riding order (ie swapping lead rider every second control-fastest rider at back etc). Also ensure that you have each others mobile phone number so that you can send a text or leave a message to be picked up at the next control, if one or more get lost.
  15. Remember that you must stop the bike and dismount at each Control so plan the downtime into your schedule. All of the Controls are staffed by volunteers so please be polite and patient.
  16. Fit your competitor sticker and go and enjoy yourself and tell everybody else about the National Road Rally.

* This information will be available when the regulations are released.