It's quite a few days since the rally now and the aches and pains have faded. The rally was a great experience, and much more enjoyable than I thought it would be. The ride was broken into short enough legs that it wasn't tedious and everyone I met was friendly and willing to chat. There was a real sense of camaraderie.
I started from Chipping Sodbury, and Dad met me there to see me off. We had a nice chat with the Bristol and Avon Roadrunners MCC who were manning the control, as well as Adrian a fellow participant.
Photo: Derek Freegard
At the strike of midday I politely grabbed my control card and was off as quick as the little Honda would allow. The run through to Swindon, the first stop, was good fun and probably the part of my route that was best suited to the little Honda. On the tight lanes I even got held up by a Mercedes estate at one point, didn't think I'd end up being quicker than anyone else on the road!
A quick stop at Swindon and I was on my way to Kettering via Carterton, Bicester and Milton Keynes (the control point was at a BMX track and it was tempting to do a lap). By the time I had reached Kettering I was 20 minutes up on my threshold time for Gold, mainly due to a couple of the legs being predominantly dual carriageway.
The downside of the dual carriageway (other than the speed difference to the rest of the traffic) was that it didn't really hold my attention very well, which allowed my mind to wander to discomfort in my back and wrists. Both were quite uncomfortable at this point so I varied my riding position. As well as getting into a proper racing tuck (which added a few mph onto the top speed) I tried out some other new riding positions. I settled on one where I rested my elbows on my knees, taking the strain off both my back and my wrists. It was pretty effective but it took a while to adapt to having my upper body 'joined' to my lower half. My brain took a good few miles to work out how to steer the bike properly!
I had a half hour stop at Kettering before pushing on to St Neots, a cracking ride along the B645 which would have been better with a few more bhp. From there it was a fairly uneventful trip down the A1, popping off when it became the A1M, on the way to Stevenage.
The Stevenage control was at Bike Stop, a bike shop in the old town. The welcome there was one of the warmest, and they were well kitted out with drinks and sandwiches. Unfortunately, by this point, my 20 minute 'advantage' was being eroded. Partly due to the smaller roads when I came off the A1 but also as the bikes performance was dropping off. Possibly due to heat but the points gap had closed up as well. I'd had a quick look at Kettering but decided not to adjust the points. I resolved to ponder this over on the next leg.
If I'd had more time in hand then I'd have taken a proper rest at Bike Stop, they were friendly and interested in the bike (and why I was riding it). I felt a bit rude having to rush off but I think it was understood why.
Photo: Bike Stop
From Stevenage it was the longest leg (40 matrix miles), to the Chiltern Golf Course near Tring. Naturally this was the part of the overall route that had the most hills, and the Honda was struggling up some of them. I decided to show some mechanical sympathy and found a rev/gear combo at which she'd pull up the slopes without being too strained. It did mean sacrificing time though, travelling at 20mph up some hills.
Again, it was a warm welcome from the chaps manning the control but after a quick chat with Jim it was time to push on. By this stage I had only 15 minutes in hand and I was about to embark on what would be the slowest stage of the rally, heading into London.
I had considered avoiding London completely but having constrained myself to the south and the south east to avoid the hills (Chilterns excluded) I needed to go into London to get the mileage up. It also felt 'right' as the route through to Watford and then the Ace Cafe would take me past the street in Harrow where Dad lived when he did the rally 50 years ago, I'd be travelling the same roads as he had. Although Dad's most popular hang out in the 60's was The Busy Bee he'd also spend quite a bit of time at the Ace Cafe. How could I not include it on my route?! I'd planned on taking a 30 minute rest stop there.
I got a bit of a shock when I arrived at the Ace though. It looked like a scene out of The Fast and the Furious, with plenty of loud and low cars with flaming exhausts and excessive bass. It turns out that these days the Ace is a hang out for petrol heads of any type. I checked in and then pushed the bike through to the cafe, planning on checking the points. It was immediately clear that this wasn't the place to do any spannering, there was far too much going on to distract me. And I was glad for that as I had one of the most enjoyable 30 minutes of the rally. I pretty much immediately got accosted by a tall, long haired and very happy Dutch chap called Bart, accompanied by his mate Chris. Apart from when I dived off to get a coffee we spent the time chatting about bikes/mopeds/cars and by the time I left I was on quite a high.
There was a bit of a crowd lining the road on the way out, watching the cars hoon past and the occasional sports bike hoist a wheelie. Sure enough I got the universal sign, both hands palms up being jerked skywards, a tongue in cheek command to lift the front. As I rode past I made a good show of bouncing the front suspension up and down, gave a pantomime shrug and rode off to the sound of a quick cheer and loud laughter.
Coming out of London it was obvious that it was unlikely that I would get the Gold. Progress on the country lanes was slow, the C110 has 6V electrics and the headlight was about as effective as an elderly glow worm.
What finally put an end to getting a Gold was passing through Henley, on the way from Bagshot to Abingdon. Unknown to me it was the weekend of the Henley regatta and the town was at a standstill as masses of people moved from pub to pub. I filtered as far as I could but with the crowds spilling onto the street I ended up sat in the queue, alongside a Police motorcyclist. I had a quick chat with him before engaging in some banter with a couple of very smartly dressed, and very inebriated lads. They shouted over to me saying they were impressed that I had an iPad attached to my bars! I took a little time to convince them that actually it was a sheet of paper and a book light. "Old school!" was the exclamation when they finally accepted I was telling the truth.
Most of the controls on the rally are manned. Groups of people, sometimes from bike clubs, set up stall in a layby or wherever they can and man the control through the rally. There are a few that are manned by just one, incredibly dedicated, person. Without these volunteers the rally would not be possible and the participants are very grateful to them for the time they dedicate to it. Unsurprisingly it can be hard to find enough volunteers to cover all the controls and so some end up being unmanned. These controls are usually at a 24hr petrol station, and you show evidence of having been there (a receipt) at your next manned control. Unfortunately the 24hr petrol station in Abingdon decided not to serve anyone in the early hours of Sunday morning! So, having taken a photo to show I'd been there, I moved on to Hungerford.
I was scheduled to take a 30 minute rest at Hungerford, but now that Gold had gone I actually had a few hours to kill. So I stretched out on my back beside the bike and had a rest. I think I managed 20 minutes kip before waking up, feeling completely refreshed. It was 04:00 and I only had 50 miles to cover before the final control at Warminster turned into a 'final' control, so I could have stayed there longer. I decided to get on with it though and hit the road for the last push. Despite having been riding almost non-stop for 16hrs at this point I felt remarkably good, if slightly chilly.
As I moved on from Hungerford the sky was starting to lighten. By the time I'd reached Silbury Hill on the A4 the sun was close to peeking over the hills casting a dim light over the landscape, just enough to show the fields had a layer of mist. It was a really nice sight, and I was tempted to stop, sit and watch the sunrise. Instead I decided to press on to the next control, just beyond Devizes. I had a quick stop there and headed straight for the final control at Warminster.
The final control didn't become active as such until 6am and as I had an hour in hand I sat in a layby waiting to end the rally. Come five to six I fired the bike up again and rode the last half mile to the services at Warminster. I had a mixture of emotions as I parked up, relief at having completed the rally, slight disappointment at not achieving the distance for Gold and happiness that all the effort had been worthwhile.
Photo: Tim Fairbrother
I had a chat with Tim Fairbrother, who as well as manning the control acted as Clerk of the Course for the rally, handed over my control card and went for breakfast. A well earned fry up and coffee, with my finishing award for company, whilst waiting for Dad to arrive with the trailer to get me home.
By the time Dad arrived my brain had shut down and my muscles were starting to ache, I was shattered but happy. We loaded up the trailer and headed home.
I'm taking a few weeks off from tinkering in the garage, it has completely dominated my spare time over the last year in order to get the little C110 ready for the rally. It was worth the effort but I'm now having a break. Once I've caught up with some of the jobs round the house and had a rest I'll give the bike a good service and it'll be up for sale.
Being such a rare bike its value is hard to pitch so I'm going to consider what I think it is worth over the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you would like to own a fun little bike that has a bit of history then please get in touch with me.
All the money from the sale will go to my sponsorship total, which is currently around £2.8k.
Thanks to all those who have sponsored me so far, and if you haven't managed it yet there is still time!
