No Ride Rally 2020, Sour Grapes or Epiphany

GSears

Dambuster... Bouncing panniers...
Premier Member
IBA Member
#1
So, what better to do in the Great 2020 lockdown than a Virtual Rally over the Easter weekend. What an excellent idea. I had fond memories of taking part in a couple of virtual rallies organised by Grim when I first started in the IBA UK. It helped enormously with the planning side of the rally. This would give me the opportunity to practise electronic bonus submission. An area I was not happy with and one of the reasons I do not take part in UK rallies.

OK 8 am Saturday 11th April, GPX file and link to rally book arrive. Read through and assimilated information. All the bonuses were about 100 points. No combos so no difficult planning. Getting the extra bonus by being quick off the mark and sending the emails as soon as possible would be the key.

08:13 first bonus location sent in. Header with Rider Number, Bonus, Odometer, Current Time.
In the body of the email screen shots of the Bonus Claimed and Google Maps route to next bonus.
Nope made a mistake already. Copied the MapSource route in my haste. Return to start and resubmit first bonus at 08:20.

Work through the next 3 bonuses totalling 306 points. Next bonus is worth 90 points sent, or so I think. Continue for fuel and on to subsequent bonuses.
At 14:50 I discover the bonus I thought I’d sent at 10:44 had gone into my deleted items. How, must be operator error. In a ‘Real’ rally this would have cost me one bonus. I now had to assume that my chain of bonuses was broken and all subsequent bonuses lost.

The deleted email resent. Now on 396 points and 7 hours in.

At this point I reviewed my rally. Did I want to sit in front of a computer screen for 4½ hours just to get back where I was. No, so I walked away. I knew I’d be a finisher as there was no minimum mileage requirement and no requirement to take the rest bonus. No requirement to return and finish at a set location. Your rally finishes at the last bonus claimed.

I have been informed I could have made it easier for myself. I could have sat at my computer and for the first 2 or 3 hours completed my emails and then using the tech available (apparently) sent them automatically at the requisite times.

This would have removed the possibility of the type of mistake I made. It would have been the same as using a self driving BMW motorcycle. I suppose in a few years……..

Not for me, I’ll stick to planning and riding. Whether that will be in rallies, who knows……

Not sure of my official final score, or even if I officially finished, as the scoring for this rally has been on a par with recent UK rallies.
The other reason I am reluctant to take part.
 

Sean

Premier Member
#2
have been informed I could have made it easier for myself. I could have sat at my computer and for the first 2 or 3 hours completed my emails and then using the tech available (apparently) sent them automatically at the requisite times.

This would have removed the possibility of the type of mistake I made. It would have been the same as using a self driving BMW motorcycle. I suppose in a few years……..
Would that not be deemed cheating or at the very least certainly not deemed to be in the spirit of the event, surely We were meant to add a live screenshot of google maps route and time to the next bonus ( by the very nature of pre-preparing your emails this is not live)
 

GSears

Dambuster... Bouncing panniers...
Premier Member
IBA Member
#5
Didn't say it was right.......

I wouldn't use a self driving motorcycle either.
 

Sean

Premier Member
#6
No traffic, who would know?
there was traffic all be it allegedly only essential traffic, that therefore doesn’t preclude the possibility of road closures, hold ups

As to who would Know, Are you suggesting it’s ok to cheat and misrepresent information as long as you’re not found out.
 

GSears

Dambuster... Bouncing panniers...
Premier Member
IBA Member
#7
You don't get punished for breaking the rules.

You get punished for getting caught.

It's like speeding in a rally.

Edit, for some people.
 

GSears

Dambuster... Bouncing panniers...
Premier Member
IBA Member
#9
For some people its about their result compared to others, Alpha (male) stuff. I just like to know how well I can do given a set of criteria. The challenge is in solving the problem efficiently.

In this case it was to submit your results with as little time as possible lost between bonuses. No great cerebral challenges planning the route. Just tech skills executing it.

Edit: Which I don't have and failed.
 
Last edited:

Megabuck

IBAUK Verifier
IBA Member
#10
No great cerebral challenges planning the route. Just tech skills executing it.
For me, that was the most disappointing aspect of the rally. On every other IBA rally - from the IBR down to our own 8-hour rallies - planning a good route is an important factor, whether you get the rally book the night before, or a week in advance. That was almost completely missing from this; with all points worth roughly the same, and no combo bonuses available, the most important thing was to get the first email sent straight away, and after that just plot a route that hit as many bonuses as possible. If there was anyone new to rallying, this wasn't a very realistic introduction. That may not have been the aim, but I'd say it was a missed opportunity.

Regards,
Martin