Beacons rally Llandovery 10-11th Aug 2013 report

[Ian Trevor Brooking]

Thanks to dave ingle for inviting me to take part in this years beacons rally there were also about another 6 bristol trf members that entered the event over 2 days of a mixture of great trails with a competative edge an event which as a group we can all enjoy .

i took my 30 year old IT 490 which sill coped well against the more modern bike ( unlucky dave , john, jeff, ian ) and a mention in the report .

Report By Enduro news

Beacons 2013
10/11th August
Llandovery

The Welsh Trail Riders Association hosted their Beacons 2 Day Rally this weekend in the Crychan Forest near Lladovery.. The clouds were low in the morning but the warm August sun soon burnt them off. The late start at 11.00am was a little too leisurely for the early risers but the rally scene is not over populated by adrenalin junkies twitching for their next fix.

The riders were flagged away in pairs and they headed off to the water splashes at Cefn Ludlow. The sunken road is popular with 4x4 excavators and it's best to stick to the middle line. The riders who hugged the security blanket of the bank soon found themselves spluttering in deep water. Fortunately there was the consolation of winberry picking while the motors dried out. Off to the right the course dropped down a rocky descent onto the first test around Glyn Saer.

Craig Bounds has only recently removed the neck brace he has had to wear since the Dakar. He was hoping for an ease himself back into competition but a puncture on the first test gave him some radical physio. Tony Whitehead was also recovering from a wrist injury he sustained at the Powys. His CRM spat him and he stuck out the same hand. Ouch!

Emerging from Glyn Saer, the riders crossed the Tirabad road entered the Crychan at the picnic with the exception of #100 who followed the green marking and previewed the Day 2 course. For the rest there was the familiarity of Cadogan's Loop before the Rally Climb. Here there was a surprise as the Forestry Commission had dumped two piles of soil across the track for re-grading which 120 bikes obligingly smoothed out.

The course then followed a clay bank with sudden drop off at the end before descending Bonkys Loop and climbing to the far end of the Swimbath Road. Here recent felling has radically altered the landscape but the Swimbath remains it's whooping best before the Beeches took the riders to the top of Trout Hill and the second test.

The second test was around the Castle, down Trout Hill. over the bridge at Bob's Stick. up to the Snowrun Quarry and down to the Timber Yard before climbing Early Bird. The beginning of Early Bird is a difficult section of loose stones. WTRA warns riders of an approaching difficult section by parking a red Suzuki Jimmy on the forestry road nearby and there is also an audible signal that sounds like a chortling old man in the tree. If you see Bob Perring, be prepared to get sweating. After Early Bird the riders ran down the Lasso to the finish.

The final liaison stage crossed Scrach before veering towards the Sand Quarry Beeches. Another loop took the riders around Cwm Cadoran before descending to 5 Roads. The final challenge was up the polished rocks of Pig Hill to the Cortina before the riders re-crossed the Tirabad road to the finish. There were two and half laps.

The sound of a rally builds as the riders approach. At the front there is the bronchial base of big rally bikes, then the mid range thumpers and finally the whiz and whine of the trail class; The most distinctive note in this year's orchestration came at the end with the party popping of Ian Brooking's 1984 IT490.

Calvert Jones (KLXF450) in the Sports class was the overall winner on Day 1, Steve Hague was the best Rally rider and - despite his crash - Tony Whitehead (CRM250) won the trail class.

On the second day the course was reversed but not so the fortunes of Calvert Jones and Steve Hague who both repeated their Day 1 successes and won their classes. Unfortunately the injury to Tony Whitehead's wrist was more serious than he initially thought and he could not start the second day leaving Lindsay McWilliams from Abingdon on the DRZ450 to step up to take the Trail class.

With 80% of the entry in the Over 40 or Over 50 class, the future of Rallying in the UK is looking as grey as the riders but like everything else in life - enjoy it while you can.

[John Hewer]

It twas a laugh when you first fired it up Saturday. The last time I seen so many heads appear was up the zoo in the Meerkat enclosure.

[Ian Trevor Brooking]

lol im taking the 490 to the cambrian as well .

it was a good weekend .