Brilliant job by all concerned. The rally captured what was best about the previous ones I've been to, and expanded on that in the right direction - a real 'grassroots' feel to the whole thing, including all the commercial exhibitors. Loads of rides. A strong unusual bike contingent. Improved camping layout. Free entry for the locals. Notable absence of a clown. What's not to like?
I say all that having spent much of the rally off riding my bike in other places:
I rode the 100k Audax, which was based on the route of Gerry's Autumn Brevet - the first audax I ever did. It's a good route, with a nice mix of scenery and nice fast flat roads (which are always something of a novelty for me). As per tradition, I went for a last-minute use of the facilities and returned to discover that everyone had set off without me. I briefly caught sight of the main group as we were stopped by consecutive traffic lights on the way through the centre of York, but after that it was a real Billy-no-mates ride - I encountered plenty of other cyclists, but only one who seemed to be doing the same event, and he'd taken a wrong turn and back-tracked. It got very wet just as I reached the rolling hills, and I lost some speed there. I also lost a lot of time in Malton's perpetual traffic jam as there wasn't room for me to filter, and should probably have walked the bike. I also wasted time at the two quantum info controls - which appeared on the routesheet but not the brevet card. Being somewhat paranoid, I opted to stop and photograph the likely signs and work it out later. Service at Ampleforth was glacial as ever, and by the time I left there and I realised I had just under 2 hours to ride about 40km, into a mild headwind. Which I almost got away with by blatting down the B1363, if I hadn't hit every red light on the way back through York. I arrived at the Knavesmere just on the time limit, and by the time I'd weaselled my way through the crowd to the HQ I was 7 minutes out of time.
So yeah. Maybe I'm just not fast enough. But I can't help thinking that since it was a Populaire run primarily to support the rally, a more generous time allowance might have been a good idea. And preferably a bit more proof-reading of the routesheet, to whittle out the incorrect time limit and spurious info controls. A AUK 50km event might be a good idea too - takes up less of the day, but might appeal to those collecting badges.
Anyway, after I'd recovered (read: dried off) from that, I had a couple of hours to wander about and catch up with people, a subset of whom I actually knew by name, and wander around the various exhibits. ICE were out in force, and seemed to be the highlight of the rally for kids of all ages, who were hooning round the test area on their assortment of trikes. I took the opportunity to try out their electric-assist system, which performs similarly to the Falco system on barakta's but is much more neatly integrated, especially with regard to the battery mounting (nice and low behind the seat, where handling isn't compromised). They also let me take a VTX for a thrash along the tarmac service road, on the basis that I'd never ridden one before. It's light, fast and steers like it's on rails (the trick being, of course, cornering without risking derailment). Some poor bloke on a Brompton chased me down to warn of potential hair vs rear wheel issues which I'd forgotten to mitigate (it's not normally a problem on my Streetmachine, or a Sprint/Adventure). I can also confirm that, given the right jersey, it works well when pedalled with one foot.
Barakta had a go too, though suffered from unrestrained shoelace issues...
After that was the traditional pub ride to Clarion's Local. Who hadn't noticed the rally had returned. Much to the landlord's delight I didn't order food, and only stayed for a drink before returning to the CrinklyDen for a much-needed bath.
After a slow start on Sunday, I headed off to the BHPC event at the velodrome (first step: find the velodrome) with Arellcat and Dave NOTP. Assorted Very Serious Recumbentists (and a reference guy on a TT bike who failed to keep up) rode around quicky in circles for a bit, then they let any old idiot have a go. Obviously I was in suboptimal condition after Saturday's over-exertion, and the HPVelotechnik Panzerfiets was certainly a Mildly Inappropriate Bike, but thanks to bike fit, gearing and somewhat superior aerodynamics it all went a lot better than my previous attempt at track cycling in May. There is something soul-destroyingly hilarious about slogging your guts out to not quite keep up with someone, looking in your mirror and discovering a guy on a hired Brompton drafting you, thobut.
(Thanks to Arellcat for the pic)After that, back to the rally to spend some more time with forumites; moan about the allergy situation with clarion; let EldestCub have a proper go at riding my Streetmachine (which he can now reach a) the pedals and b) the ground on) while
I bemused onlookers by following on his Islabike; and have a nice chat with the guys from ICE, Spa Cycles and JD Tandems.
Back to the Den with the Crinklies, who in spite of bike-swapping with I'd somehow decided had arrived by bus, and a somewhat poorly barakta, who'd skipped the second day in favour of not overdoing it.
A good weekend, and hearty congratulations to all the organisers and volunteers. Long may it continue.
