Sout West Peninsula Spring Rally; April 2016
A Sore Foot and Scratched Panniers
The 2016 South West Peninsula Rally (SWPSR) was held on Saturday 2nd April. The forecasters had promised good weather and I was looking forward to it. Unfortunately they were wrong and the weather at the start didn't turn out to be so good. It was quite an eventful rally for me.
As Rob had seen a lot of Cornwall the previous weekend we planned to do a short circuit of 290 miles around Somerset, Devon and Dorset. This meant that the route Rob and I did wasn't too different from the previous year's. An anticlockwise route which had us heading West from the Langport start, skirting the top of Exmoor along the Somerset and North Devon coast roads. After the Ilfracombe control we then headed South eventually turning East just before Plymouth to cross Dartmoor and follow the Dorset coast to the Dorchester control. Finally, it was a dash North back to Langport to the finish.
The weather first thing on Saturday morning looked promising and we were checked in and away in good time. Unfortunately, it went downhill quickly and by the time we made it to Porlock Weir it was raining hard and the wind had picked up quite a bit. The ride from Porlock Weir up Porlock Hill across the top with Exmoor on our left and the Atlantic on our right was very reminisent of last year. Maybe not as a windy but definitely a lot wetter. A lot of standing water on the roads. We were a bit soggy by the time we got to Ilfracombe but they are always very welcoming there and the cafe is a nice and cosy place to warm up with a coffee and a teacake (it's a tradition that we have teacakes).
After Ilfracombe we made our way South and Rob and I became separated on the way to Marystow when Rob missed a couple of turns as he was leading. Not a problem. Whoever got to Marystow first would wait for the other (well I would wait for Rob anyway). On my way there I turned into a narrow muddy Devon lane to be immediately confronted by a motorcycle preceeding a car coming the other way. The two bikes passed each other no problem and I was hoping that the car was going to give way. It didn't give way and I was forced to go onto the muddy verge. The bike slide sideways and down it went on its right side as did I. It was a very slow speed affair but I did manage to get my right foot trapped underneath the bike as it went down. As I was struggling to get the bike upright (the car didn't stop to help by the way) I was thankful to see Rob came around the corner. Together we got the big Varadero upright. The Givi crash bars did a good job and although my right foot was a bit sore I was OK so on we continued.
By the the time we got to Princetown the weather was clearing which was a welcome change. A couple of plates of large ham, egg and chips at the The Old Police Station Cafe later and we were on our way across Dartmoor, a place which holds a lot of childhood memories for me. We got to Dorchester and whilst I was parking up behind Steve Smith's KTM my right foot buckled a bit and I managed to drop the bike on it's left side. Steve and Rob looked a bit startled as I had gone down quite quickly and stayed down. The main reasons for this was that I didn't want to get in the way of the Varadero and I was feeling very sorry for myself as I lay on the floor. What a day, I had managed to ding the bike on both sides! We picked up the Varadero and I must admit I contemplated going home at that point as Wimborne is a short hop from Dorchester.
After a coffee I decided not to be such a wimp and we headed North to pick up the final couple of controls on the way back to the finish at Langport. We finished at around 6pm which was pretty good given the 'incidents' along the way. After a nice meal at Kelways Rob and I headed home. I got home around 8pm.
An eventful rally for us but thanks to the excellent Givi crash bars there's only a few scratches to the Varadero. (If you look closely you can see the scratches on the crash bars.) As I write this, in the garage sits a pot of Hammerite for the crash bars and a set of new Barkbusters waiting to be fitted. The Givi panniers are a bit scuffed but hey, soon it will be looking like Rob's GS. He can no longer complain it's got no character. The right foot was swollen and bruised for a bit but nothing serious. (I love my Altberg Roadrunner boots.)
Although I didn't feel great at the end of the day as we all know the joy of a ride is often in the memories and telling of it. Looking back, I can say it was a very good day. As always I enjoy a ride with Rob and it was good to have him around for my incidents. SAM did a good job as usual. One thing I would say though is that with the large number of controls on Exmoor it's getting difficult to come up with new routes and this year's route felt very familiar to previous years'.