I love motorcycling and I love my Triumph Trophy SE 2016 and it's been an ambition to complete 100,000 of my own miles on a bike. I’ve been close with 70,000 on an Electra Glide and 80,000 on a Kawasaki GTR1400 (not all my own on that though) and having put 60,000 on my 2013 Trophy and investing in this one in 2016 then game on. The first few years were going so very well but then Covid 2020 and it all stopped at about 75,000 miles. I did not really get started again as I was 70 in 2021 and stopped my three retirement jobs of IAM RoadSmart National Observer, hurry-up motorcycle courier for blood products from Newcastle Child Cancer patients to Great Ormond Street and my job with British Cycling as part of the National Escort Group because I did not want to be the old fart getting in the way. Open Heart Surgery also took a year of riding away, but it did give me a focus in my recovery. I needed a new focus to ride and decided that twelve-hour IBA Rallies should be tried.
I had joined IBA UK with a Saddle Sore 1000 in 2004 and was at the first IBA UK meeting in the Avalon Hotel Whitley Bay about the same time and started to meet likeminded people who loved to ride. In 2008 the first Brit Butt Rally saw me gain a 14th place but much more importantly realise that rallies were not for me. Being too competitive and wanting to do well did not sit with my view of risk versus reward and I dedicated myself to being a Rally facilitator. Until the Brit Butt Light 2022 version and the seed to join Magic-12 was sewn.
Phil Weston, IBA UK President, had set a challenge in the West Country to visit Henges, Chalk Horses and other ancient history sites. I loved it. Camaraderie and focus to ride were exactly what I was looking for and maturity made me realise I could enter a competitive event with other objectives and mine now were:
Get to the Start
Plan a ride and ride the plan.
Be a Finisher
After this event I rode a few days with Gerd Heinzmann up and around Scotland where he started my education in the use of umlauts, specifically as used in the region of Baden-
Württemberg. Obviously, it was not up to his exacting standards, so practice was required culminating in a visit to the region to take part in Magic 12 and learn how to pronounce umlauts.
Although my objectives in taking on rallies are more suited to my advancing years, I do want to do well so I thought I’d warm up with Chris McGaffin's Celtic Rally. Now Chris and I go back as far as that first IBA UK meeting in Whitley Bay so he gave me the honour of rider number one! I was in front of the Big Dogs of IBA Rallying for about 200 meters! But I did well, achieving all three objectives and a reputable 13/30 place. So now my focus was to be Magic- 12.
Planning a trip is for me almost as much fun as when I'm on a trip. Packing lists, documents, routes, hotels, it all needs to be sorted and I get a real buzz from that. Magic-12 Bonus Point locations were to be sent out 7 days ahead of the start which suited me perfectly. The idea being you can start from anywhere within Baden-Württemberg depending upon your own ride plan. I elected to start from Schonach im Swarzwald, near Triberg. My Ride Plan had 25 Bonus Point (BP) locations which was a lot for me and just under 400 miles in 12 hours mainly on ordinary roads, maybe I’d bitten off more than I could chew but we all know battle plans change in first contact.
Day 1 Wednesday Home to Calais via Channel Tunnel. 384 Miles
All
went
to
plan, and
I met
a couple
of BMW
RT Riders
at the
Chunnel and
started
my
best schoolboy
French
conversations.
I noticed
oil under
my
bike
which turned
out to
be a
leaking rear
shock
absorber.
No matter
what
crack
on, the
spring
would
work without
damping
but I
needed
to
be aware
of oil
on the
back
tyre.
Day 2 Thursday Calais to Schonack. 427 Miles
A great day riding where I realised how expensive péage roads are. About £55 for under 500 miles! They are good and very predictable with rest stops and fuel clearly marked and a speed limit of 130 kph and an excellent way to eat up miles. The highlight of this stretch was completing my 100,000 miles on my own bike, all by myself. I even video recorded the moment, HERE! My billet in Schonach was Ferienwohnungen Rebstock.
A sort of Air BnB and at £40 per night a bargain. No frills, self-check in and a luxury alpine style room. Ralph, the owner, has a brilliant hotel model and luckily for me the restaurant served evening meals.
Day 3 Friday Rest Day
I rented an eBike from Bike Ranch in Schonach and it was a great idea but a real dampener literally and emotionally as it rained all day. I managed to check out the village specifically
looking as to where I could get a 5am on Saturday start receipt that would show the location and time. This Start Receipt is essential as without it then you are DNS (Did Not Start). I found a Bakery that opened at 5am Saturday and did a test purchase, a piece of Black Forrest Gateaux, and my receipt had all the desired information. My Magic 12 Rally was now all systems go.
Having secured my start location, I continued to enjoy my eBike rental by visiting the two ‘Largest Cuckoo Clock’ locations, Triberg Waterfalls, Ski jump and tourist shops, but got soaked.
As the day drew to a close, I got the devastating news that the rally had been cancelled due to a highest level weather warning. I knew Saturday was going to be wet and as we got closer to the rally start time it was looking very bad. I had decided that if the weather was as bad as expected I’d continue but head for the rally hotel if the weather got at all unpleasant. That decision had been made for me. In Germany organisers of events are governed by Duty of Care laws so Gerd, who had given birth to his Rally creation now had to see it die, but even worse had to kill it himself. Imagine two years of work stripped from you.
Day 4 Saturday Magic-12 72 miles
I’d come this far so I went for it. A lazy get up, a spot of meditation and Tai Qi in the park, a breakfast and I was looking at a Start Receipt. It was dry, so off to Triberg, fill up and go bagging BP’s! I knew it was pointless as the Rally had been cancelled but what else should I do? I started out with BP 123, part of the Beer Combination, then onto the World's biggest toilet BP140. Two easy ones down, no rain, dry roads and my new telescopic arm with magnet for my Rally Flag was working well and saving precious seconds allowing me to bag BP’s without dismounting; a big factor when you are var nigh 73!
The BP I really wanted was 209, Schwarzwaldmädel Gutach
which had the added instruction of the rider in the photo too. Where to now? A good friend
who’d been planning on taking part, told me of significant road closure between my scheduled
BP’s.
He was right!
I then did the compulsory rest bonus, almost exactly to the second of a between 9 and 10 start, rest for 30 minutes, but I sent them into electronic scoring with wrong BP numbers, a big mistake and one to watch out for, just one digit transposed in the eMail subject line. I sent “102 252 100150 0900” but should have been “102 254 100150 0900”. No matter the Rally was cancelled anyway so after getting what I thought was a perfect pair of compulsory rest stop receipts I set course for the rally finish gas station riding smooth tarmac, dry tarmac and the best weather I’d had so far! Just touring in picking up BP’s I did three more before collecting my End Receipt at the designated Shell garage then onto the Rally hotel.
About 30 of the sixty riders came anyway to do what we in IBA describe as “Ride alone, to be together”. I could not help but think our IBA strap line of “World's Toughest Riders” needed to amend to add, (but only in the dry)! However, I discovered 20 km to our West five people lost their lives in the flooding from the horrendous rain so nothing to joke about and IBA is run by volunteers and the German Duty of Care laws could have a massive impact on them.
A brilliant party with a couple of Dortmund fans amongst us to spice up the Champions League final. Carl also showed what IBA is about. In 2014 I was helping during an IBA Germany Rally at a BP at the top of the Passo Gavia when Carl turned up, freezing cold so I gave him an IBA UK beanie hat. Well during the evening Carl presented me with that hat, newly laundered from 14 years previously when I gave it to him! I insisted he keep it and remember me in the form of Entente Cordiale. Little things mean a lot. A convivial evening was had by all, except maybe the Dortmund fans.
Day 5 Sunday Herrenburg to Calais 450 miles, no tolls.
Next morning casual breakfast and a ride North to Calais with Bob Stammers and Bob agreed to navigate us without toll roads. It was a very pleasant ride but my front wheel bearings were starting to complain. Nice night and meal in Pirates Bar a favourite with IBA riders when using the tunnel.
Day 6 Monday Calais to South Shields 383 miles
The first train over (more correctly under) and headed North, Dartford Crossing was busy, but we kept moving and almost all the way home before my front wheel bearings gave up only 22 miles from home. Now I know what a collapsed wheel bearing feels like. HERE. Mates rescue service,
much faster response time than AA and home to fix my now 100,000-mile bike.
Front wheel bearings, seals, new spacer and axle. Front sorted. Spare rear suspension sent to Firefox Racing for rebuild, should be back this week. Pair new tyres tomorrow. 20,000-mile service in two weeks.
In summary a very successful long weekend, 1,716 miles, all three Magic-12 objectives achieved and by my reckoning not only was I the only starter, the only correctly claimed compulsory rest bonus rider and submitted six BP locations with a bone fide finish receipt, making me therefore not only the only rider but also first place, self-declared.
So, what next?
HERE is my interactive Spotwalla Tracker, you can zoom in, see details of locations and where images were taken. HERE
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