Hello Hope someone on here can help. Yet another mid life crisis for me so have set goal of doing the Tuareg in 2014 :eek1 but new to riding off road so maybe "a bridge too far" but not out to win it just finish. Done k2 Beacons and Cambrian in UK enjoyed it, now want to step up to roadbook navigation. Someone suggested that the dalmatia rally would be a good starter so was planning on doing that but looking at their website it says 2013 event cancelled. So what to do now? Would the Hellas be suitable for novice? Albania? or another ? Also logistics of UK to Greece any ideas Cheers Bob
Where do you live? Do you have a bike yet? How deep are your pockets? How good is your credit score? How tall are you and how much do you weigh? Anyone can do a navigational event to finish..suggest: 1) improve your physical condition and stamina through weight training, riding, and various forms of cardio training 2) ride ride ride ride ride. rest. ride ride ride. put together a training route, go put laps in on a motorcross course, woods ride, trail ride, consider playing with a trials bike etc. Become one with the bike and get used to what happens when the terrain changes under your tires. 3) sign up for a rally training class...learn from the pro's...learn to find the route and not so much about going fast. 4) Choose a first event that requires less bike...ie...no need for massive amounts of fuel...just a bike and a nav setup...I think the Tuareg, Albania, many of the smaller European events work well for this. Also read through the regs for each and see if you can restart the next day if you retire one day due to a crash or a mechanical issue....this allows you to play and gain experience even if you are no longer competing...very handy if you just committed the time and money to go play somewhere and you bust a wheel on the first day.
Look here for a list of events that might be suitable; http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=835739
Bob, I was brand new to offroad events until recently and when I did my first rally I have to admit to being absolutely panicked about the navigation and roadbook. Seriously, I was shi**ing myself. All I can say is, dive in. Its one of those things that when you look at it from the "outside" having never done it, it looks really complicated and makes you think "God I'm never going to get this". ICO, MD, trimming, CAP... ..but you will get it, I promise. The biggest mistake a lot of people make (and I freely admit to making the same one) is being scared about it and just following along behind other people letting them do all the nav. Avoid this at all costs and just dive in. There is nothing wrong with grouping up with team mates and sharing the nav, this way you can stop periodically and swap round with who is going to lead, giving each of you the chance to really nail it. When starting out, especially if you are going to go it alone, start small, say on a liaison section of say 10km. It will massively boost your confidence and make your brain realise "hey this roadbook stuff really does work"! (not to mention get you used to using the equipment). You will make mistakes. Everyone does. Actually, one of the most hilarious moments on Heroes Legend this year for me was with Perry Newton - we ended up getting lost in a crop field at one point, having got the roadbook totally wrong. We must of been in that field for 20 minutes trying to find a way out, totally covered in crops and vegetation stalks. I laughed so hard I almost couldn't ride and almost fell off from laughing myself weak. We got out of the field but we looked like extras from Dad's Army covered in stalks and all sorts of other crap. Brilliant fun. You get good days where you're right on it, other days, you can end up having some horrendous mind games where you are totally worried about whether you are going in the right direction. But this is what makes roadbook rallies so much fun, because it can level the playing field so quickly where a fantastic rider can make a right boll*cks of his navigation, meaning a lesser rider can "nav his way" to winning a stage having had the edge in that skill that day. Just go for it!
Thanks for the replies some good points there. Seth I live in London UK I have a crf450x with a 13 litre tank (think that is enough for immediate future) have roadbook the thing I need now is the ico trip (where to buy in UK EU ?) Pockets are deep but there's nothing in them Intrigued by weight question ? to do with set up? or how much I will lose during event 5'10 12 stone for the record You are right about excercise my first attempt at an enduro I never knew you could ache in so many different places the day after. Have started a regime And again need more time on bike, been riding on road and tracks for over 20 years but as I said relatively new to off road and its a different skill set to learn. Practice practice practice. And yes I will be diving in cheers Bob
I'll be able to tell you more in a couple of months, signed up for the Tuareg and have absolutely no clue about rally navigation. Learn or die I guess? Check out RNS if you need a trip master and/or cap repeater, very fair price and they are technically superior units: http://www.rallyenavigationsolutions.com/products.html
Hey Bob, I run RNS, as Lukas mentioned (Danke für die Werbung ). If you have any questions feel free to ask them here to share with others. I'm sure we can sort you out!
Hey Bob, I've done the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge for the last few years on a CRF. I've got lots of rally spares for that bike and pretty sure I have a spare ICO somewhere you could have cheap. If you decide to do an FIM rally I'm sure we could work out something regarding the use of my navigation stuff - ertf, tdcom etc. I'm now in Wiltshire and fairly regularly in london. Give me a shout if you need anything. I'm semi-planning to race something next year also - maybe Hungarian Baja or something within a van drive. Cheers. Matt
Hey Dave, I just looked through the starter list and saw that you guys are coming over with a big crew, very cool! Got a few rally old-timers in it as well. Definitely looking forward to sharing a beer or two if I don't get lost somewhere in the desert... Cheers, Lukas
Bob, you can buy ICO's, Roadbook basically everything you could possibly need for rallies/ Enduro's from Torque Racing Services. Even a day's Road book and GPS training for as little as £80! Pop in and see Martin for a chat. He's full of free quality advice..with all the rally credentials! If you need a bespoke wiring loom for instance, Martin's your man. They are based 10 miles north of Stevenage, Herts. www.torqueracing.net Also visit Rally Raid Products website. Both of these companies team up to create really cool Rally kits and more. http://www.rally-raidproducts.co.uk/
Plans have altered a tad now not going to Greece in April as a cracking deal came up with Mick Extance so now going to Morocco to do some desert training in February. Thanks for all replies and suggestions have done deal with Matt so an ico coming my way shortly Maybe do the serres in August funds permitting and if all goes well on track for Tuareg in 2014 Bob
For anyone else interested (I see Firebore's plans have changed now) - Torque Racing Services are also the UK agent for the Hellas Rally in Greece (April 2013) and the Transanatolia in Turkey (September 2013), and will be offering a full assistance and transport package for those events, as well as the Tuareg Rally which this year will be held in Tunisia (March 2013). Plenty of options there for you, once you are comfortable with the nav. equipment! Jx
Hi JMo, Albert I did get in touch with torque racing and martin and Donna were very helpful. So helpful I did their navigation course spread out over two days, first day learning about gps and how to use it along with a roadbook. Second day was putting it into practice on some trails up in hertfordshire. Nice to make mistakes here and gain valuable experience so as not to mess it up during a rally. Great for a newbie like me! Plans changed again and found space in a van so going to do Hellas rally in April. Now looking forward to going to Morocco. Bob
Excellent news Bob! The courses that Donna & Martin run are very well received, and I'm so glad to hear it's inspired you to come to Greece after all! A few days with Mick practicing in the sand in Morocco, and I reckon you're confidence will be just fine! I'll also be at the Hellas with Torque Racing, as we will be debuting the new 450cc LC4-engined Dakar bike there... what do you mean you've not see then the thread yet?! http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20578283 Looking forward to seeing you there! Jx
