South West Peninsula Spring Rally Rally; April 2013
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Slurry Slide
View the 2013 SWSPR in a Google map.
I did the 2013 South West Spring Peninsula Rally (SWSPR) with my good mate Rob (aka Grim Rider). We did the Land's End challenge this year principally because Rob apparently was born in Cornwall and he had been moaning about the fact that we hadn't got to Cornwall on previous SWSPRs. I say apparently because his accent is definitely Mancunian. The rally was held on 6th April 2013. Rob came up with the route that satisfied the Land's End and gold award criteria. Getting to Land's End and back meant that we had to do a bit of motorway - dual carriageway riding. We covered around 460 miles on the rally that day between 8 am and 8 pm.
We did the usual and met up the night before the rally at the Bridgwater Travelodge just off the M5. It's not that luxurious but it's cheap and does the job. There's also a pub within walking distance than does reasonable beer and meals. Rob turned up with a stinking cold. Good job Rob just gets on with it and doesn't moan ... One of the worst cases of man flu I've come across.
We lucked out with the weather. It was on the cool side but the sky was blue, the sun was shining and it stayed dry all day. We had good warm gear so it was perfect riding weather. We left the Travelodge in good spirits. Rob was keen to get clear of the other entrants so we didn't hang about at the start. Our route took us south of Exmoor and then on to our first manned control at Ilfracombe. After Ilfracombe we headed south to Dartmoor to our second manned control at Princetown. We picked up 5 controls along the way.
After Princetown we headed west leaving Cornwall for Devon to our third and final manned control at Perranporth picking up another 2 controls and an RBR along the way. We rested up at Perranporth where Rob has a sizeable fan club then it was on to Land's End picking up another 3 controls along the way. Rob's old GS suffered a bit of fuel starvation along the way but it picked up again. At Land's End we had our Transit/Verification forms stamped by the good people at the Land's End Hotel's reception to verify we had been there. As you can see from the photos, the weather was gorgeous. Visibility was very good and you could see for miles. We parked up and took in the rays and took a few photos of Grim's Brit Butt winning GS and my old Vara. Grim's not feeling so good by now but being the trooper he is, he suffers in silence and keeps going!
After Land's End we headed off to Falmouth via Helston to get some photos of one of Grim's Landmarks, the Pendennis Motorcycle Stone. A lovely spot with a ride through a park with views of Falmouth bay. We pick up another control, Edgcumbe, on the way there.
We run back up the southern side of Cornwall through St Austell picking up more way points, to another one of Grim's landmarks at Saltash, the late great John Deacon. I believe he was a son of Plymouth like myself but of course Grim is claiming him for Cornwall. After that we cross the river Tamar to Plymouth and Devon.
We've got a fairly straightforward run in to the finish at Langport. Up the A38 and M5 taking in one more way point at Chudleigh. This is just as well as poor old Grim is looking fairly rough by now. We stop at Exeter services so that Grim can change his sun visor for one he can see through with dusk approaching. The photo shows the old Vara there looking her finest with Grim's GS just behind it. Unfortunately she didn't stay like that for long.
We arrived at the finish at Langport around 8 pm. It had been a really good day's riding in perfect weather. SAM looks after everyone very well at the finish. They serve a mean curry and we stayed for around 2 hours having our meal, drinking mugs of tea and chatting. We left Langport around 10 pm and I made my way home south through Somerset and Dorset.
I was feeling pretty good after the rally and resting up as I made my way home. It was between Sherborne and Sturminster Newton on the A3030 just after Bishop's Caundle when things went horribly wrong. I know the road well and it was as I was slowing down on the straight for a corner some way ahead that I lost control of the bike. The bike suddenly started weaving and then flipped onto its right side with both it and me sliding down the wrong side of the road for several metres. I was thinking that the rear tyre had suddenly deflated but it soon became apparent what had caused my off. I was covered from head to toe in slurry and looking back I could see that about 100 metres of the A3030 was covered in slurry. It was as slippery as ice with a very nasty smell.
It turned out that a farm contractor was out spraying the fields with slurry at 11 pm on a Saturday night when it was pitch dark. The contractor's boys emerged from a field after I got to my feet and I was able to snap photos of them driving a tractor pulling a slurry tank along the A3030. I also snapped some photos showing the state of that section of the A3030. They helped me get the old Vara back up and a beaten up old Vara and me made the last 20 miles back home. Not easy with a bent brake leaver, a bent brake pedal and various right hand bits flapping around.
When I got home I immediately called the Sherborne police to report the incident and to advise them of the hazardous state of the A3030. Disappointingly they did not attend. The joke goes that when I got home I told Chris, my wife, that I had an accident and she had replied that she knew because she could smell it from where she stood. She made me take off my gear and leave it in the garage that night. Boy did I honk! The next day I took photos of the Vara and my gear. Both were badly beaten up but the Vara had got me home and my gear had saved me from serious injury. I also visited Poole A&E as my left hand was very swollen and painful. Turned out to be badly bruised.
I'm a member of the CSMA which gives me 100K pounds legal protection. So with the CSMA backing me and my evidence I decided to make a claim against the farm contractor. I'm happy to report that some 10 months later with a week to go before a hearing at Yeovil court that the farm contractor settled out of court to my great delight and satisfaction. Hopefully the same thing won't happen to someone else. With the state of our roads it does make you wonder about riding at night. Potholes and slurry to name but a couple of hazards.