Reflecting on my BBR 2019, I think I only got two things wrong: my route, and my riding gear. In my defence, that last one wasn't entirely my fault - though I guess you could argue that it was, for believing the lying bar steward who presented the BBC weather forecast on Friday lunchtime.
While the rally 'book' was given out on Friday afternoon, no realistic route planning was possible until after the 8 pm rider briefing, since that was when the combination bonuses were revealed - and they could be worth far more than the individual bonus points. Once I'd got those, I sat down with MapPoint to work out where I could go. As combos were awarded for specific pairs of bonuses, working out a good route wasn't straighforward; alongside the route, I needed a spreadsheet to calculate the points my plan was worth!
Route finalised by around 11 pm (relatively early), I loaded it on the TomTom and did some packing, ready for the 5 am start. My first stop was the Vulcan Arms, outside Sizewell nuclear plant, though I was pretty confused for the first hour, as the TomTom wasn't talking to me and the route wasn't counting down. My fault - I hadn't pressed the 'Ride' button - punishment for getting a new satnav just weeks earlier. But then... I got to the A14/M11 junction outside Cambridge, and the TomTom just couldn't cope. First, it had me turn right on a little road, and immediately started trying to get me back on the A14. Next time, same place - straight on, for Cambridge - and immediately started replanning. Next time, A14 east - and immediately started telling me to make a U-turn! I had taken all three options, but apparently none of them was the right one. I resorted to telling it to take me to Sizewell, rather than using the itinerary I had so carefully put together, and it decided the A14 east was the way to go. A while later, I figured out the best way to use it - search the BBR 2019 POIs I had loaded on.
Vulcan Arms done, up to Gorleston Golf Club, and I was pretty much on schedule despite the navigational challenges. Next stop, Lindisfarne... and things started to unravel. Traffic on the A1 got worse the further north I got; by the time I reached Newcastle, I was an hour late. At that point I decided to drop Lindisfarne and head for the next stop: Spean Bridge, near Fort William. Having gone so far north, it took me up to Edinburgh and on to the A9 rather than across to Carlisle. Still, that was okay - until I got past Edinburgh, and it started raining. This was rain, not the showers in the forecast. Okay - stop, remove jacket, put on Goretex liner, put on jacket and continue. More rain, so maybe an hour later I stop for fuel, then remove trousers, put on Goretex trousers, put on outer trousers and continue. By the time I got to Spean Bridge, I was cold, wet and miserable - though at least I was carrying on, unlike Robert, who told me his slow front puncture meant he'd be stopping in Fort William.
I was still on schedule, but if I only kept to timings from there, I'd get to the hotel just 10 minutes before the cut-off for the sleep bonus - any delay would jeopardise the 9,500 points on offer. So I decided to not go to Traigh golf course, and head south. Around 8:40 pm I got to my hotel - which had stopped serving food at 8:30 pm. Not that I could have eaten, since every piece of clothing I had, apart from non-biking trousers and shoes, was wet. So off to my hotel room, where I did my best to dry stuff off. I got the laptop out and looked at the weather forecast: a solid slab of rain sitting over Scotland and the north west until mid-morning on Sunday. Guess where my next few bonuses were... so instead I replanned, heading south as fast as I could and then doing a trawl across Wales.
While the rally 'book' was given out on Friday afternoon, no realistic route planning was possible until after the 8 pm rider briefing, since that was when the combination bonuses were revealed - and they could be worth far more than the individual bonus points. Once I'd got those, I sat down with MapPoint to work out where I could go. As combos were awarded for specific pairs of bonuses, working out a good route wasn't straighforward; alongside the route, I needed a spreadsheet to calculate the points my plan was worth!
Route finalised by around 11 pm (relatively early), I loaded it on the TomTom and did some packing, ready for the 5 am start. My first stop was the Vulcan Arms, outside Sizewell nuclear plant, though I was pretty confused for the first hour, as the TomTom wasn't talking to me and the route wasn't counting down. My fault - I hadn't pressed the 'Ride' button - punishment for getting a new satnav just weeks earlier. But then... I got to the A14/M11 junction outside Cambridge, and the TomTom just couldn't cope. First, it had me turn right on a little road, and immediately started trying to get me back on the A14. Next time, same place - straight on, for Cambridge - and immediately started replanning. Next time, A14 east - and immediately started telling me to make a U-turn! I had taken all three options, but apparently none of them was the right one. I resorted to telling it to take me to Sizewell, rather than using the itinerary I had so carefully put together, and it decided the A14 east was the way to go. A while later, I figured out the best way to use it - search the BBR 2019 POIs I had loaded on.
Vulcan Arms done, up to Gorleston Golf Club, and I was pretty much on schedule despite the navigational challenges. Next stop, Lindisfarne... and things started to unravel. Traffic on the A1 got worse the further north I got; by the time I reached Newcastle, I was an hour late. At that point I decided to drop Lindisfarne and head for the next stop: Spean Bridge, near Fort William. Having gone so far north, it took me up to Edinburgh and on to the A9 rather than across to Carlisle. Still, that was okay - until I got past Edinburgh, and it started raining. This was rain, not the showers in the forecast. Okay - stop, remove jacket, put on Goretex liner, put on jacket and continue. More rain, so maybe an hour later I stop for fuel, then remove trousers, put on Goretex trousers, put on outer trousers and continue. By the time I got to Spean Bridge, I was cold, wet and miserable - though at least I was carrying on, unlike Robert, who told me his slow front puncture meant he'd be stopping in Fort William.
I was still on schedule, but if I only kept to timings from there, I'd get to the hotel just 10 minutes before the cut-off for the sleep bonus - any delay would jeopardise the 9,500 points on offer. So I decided to not go to Traigh golf course, and head south. Around 8:40 pm I got to my hotel - which had stopped serving food at 8:30 pm. Not that I could have eaten, since every piece of clothing I had, apart from non-biking trousers and shoes, was wet. So off to my hotel room, where I did my best to dry stuff off. I got the laptop out and looked at the weather forecast: a solid slab of rain sitting over Scotland and the north west until mid-morning on Sunday. Guess where my next few bonuses were... so instead I replanned, heading south as fast as I could and then doing a trawl across Wales.
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