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2008 Interphone National Road Rally July 5 & 6 at Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes
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A complete overview of the event is available in Paul Wright's excellent article on pages 28/9 of the March Newsletter. It explains what is involved and radiates his enthusiasm. Entry forms, FAQs and other info can be found at http://www.nationalroadrally.co.uk/2008/index.htm. An explanation of the various categories is tucked away in the 'Regulations' section and is partially copied below. The National Sunrise Rally (6 hours)Riders will select their category, starting control and route of minimum 120 miles/maximum 180miles. The finish will be at the final control at Bletchley Park, Bletchley, Milton Keynes. Riders will need to consider when the controls close when planning their route. The start time will be 4am on Sunday 6 July and riders must reach the final control by 10am on Sunday. The Silver category requires riders to visit the maximum number of possible controls and ride 180 miles. Additional official rest breaks are not required, as the visits to controls are taken to be rest breaks and there is no requirement to declare these on the control card. The riding time will be 6 hours.The National Daytime Rally (10 hours)Riders will select their category, starting control, and route of minimum 200 miles/maximum 275 miles. The start time will be 2pm and riders will choose their own finish control, which they must reach by midnight on Saturday. The Silver category requires riders to visit the maximum number of possible controls and ride 275 miles. Riders must post their completed control cards to the Interphone National Road Rally entries secretary no later than 8 days after the Rally (14 July), Rest breaks totalling 45 minutes must be taken. The riding time will be 9 hours 15 minutes. (Riding time of 9 hours 15 minutes + rest breaks of 45 minutes = 10 hours.)The National Rally (20 hours)Riders will select their category, starting control, and route of minimum 200 miles/maximum 540 miles. The finish will be at the final control at Bletchley Park, Bletchley, Milton Keynes. Riders will need to consider when the controls close when planning their route. The Special Gold category requires riders to visit the maximum number of possible controls and ride 540 miles. The start time will be 2pm on Saturday and riders must reach the final control by 10am on Sunday. Rest breaks totalling 2 hours must be taken. The riding time will be 20 hours. (Riding time of 18 hours + rest breaks of 2 hours = 20 hours.)The National Rally (platinum category)Riders will select their starting control, route of 540 miles, and visit the maximum number of possible controls. They will be required to take part in the special tests at MIRA. There will be a number of controls within a 25-mile radius of MIRA from where it will be possible to start the Interphone National Road Rally and complete the required mileage. Riders intending to start further away are advised to attend the tests at MIRA early (see regulation 3.9 Special tests). The finish will be at the final control at Bletchley Park, Bletchley, Milton Keynes. The start time will be 2pm on Saturday and riders must reach the final control by 10am on Sunday. Rest breaks totalling 2 hours must be taken. The riding time will be 20 hours. (Riding time of 18 hours + rest breaks of 2 hours = 20 hours.)Rest breaksA rest break is a period of time completely separate from any Rally activity. The minimum time period of any single rest break is 15 minutes. The maximum period of riding time between rest breaks is 6 hours. If riding time reaches 6 hours it must be followed by a rest break of at least 30 minutes. Shorter rest breaks of 15 minutes can be taken at any time when the riding time is less than 6 hours. All riders must take the total time of rest breaks throughout the Rally as stated for their category. It is the rider’s responsibility to judge and respect the requirement for rest breaks and they must be declared on their control card. Rest breaks will not be authorized or monitored by control teams. Please take care, don’t ride when tired, and take a rest break. |