I have to say it was great to finally get out on a rally in this COVID restricted year!
An up and own day for me - about halfway between Thirsk and Helmsley I was turned back by a police officer as the road was blocked on Sutton Bank by a serious RTA; so it was back to Thirsk and a lengthy detour via Byland Abbey and Ampleforth (lovely ride, though) which made a bit of a mess of my timings and dropped a few bonuses. Then my iPhone randomly deleted one of the bonus e-mails back to rally HQ (one of the iPhone's less endearing traits) and cost me some 850 points so, lesson learned there, always check the "sent" box carefully - I just had to take that one on the chin. And I finally scraped into the 8-hour time limit by eight minutes.....
Anyway, none of that detracted from a great day, a ride around Yorkshire is always good for the soul; even the rain that was forecast held off until the last hour or so which was a bonus.
And thank you to the rally team for your hard work organising the day.
Oh, and I quite by chance I discovered that Tom (rider no 108) had left his flag behind at Topcliffe (see image); hope you had a spare with you.....
All the best,
Rob