The masochists among us were probably quite disappointed at the cancellation of the 2007 National Rally.  But it gave me an excellent reason to participate for the first time in the Scottish National Rally which is organised by the Scottish Ariel Owners Club and takes place on the second weekend in September.

The Scottish Rally is similar to the National in that the object is to ride a certain number of miles, visit control points and finish by a set time at a final control point.  The Scottish differs in that not all the controls are manned, some are “receipt” points where riders must obtain a dated, timed receipt to prove they were there. Although the National  awards depend on miles ridden/checkpoints visited with a nod to day/night/whole rally riding,  the Scottish presents challenges within the distance award for which you are aiming. For example you could ride your miles around the Highlands visiting designated controls, or around the Islands, Skye, Arran and Mull or take a Touring Challenge over four days and riding a minimum of 1000miles before finishing at the final control.

And the there is the Mystery Challenge, which in 2007 was the “Forward Slash”  This seemed to be a very good way to see Scotland without having to plan an intricate and cunning route between controls for a maxi-award.  Simply, the object was to ride from the most south-westerly mainland town, Drummore in Galloway, starting at 9am on Saturday after collecting a receipt at the post office, and riding in a forward slash direction to Castleton in Caithness. This is not quite but almost John-o-Groats and few miles to the east of Thurso. In Castleton the shop did not give dated receipts  but the bank cash point did. The final control at Crainlarich had to be reached by noon on Sunday, so after a brief  bed and even shorter breakfast at Helmsdale on the east coast we made it with 15 minutes spare.

The whole outing was enormous fun.  The weather was fine, the roads frequently empty and mostly very well surfaced and the scenery quite beautiful.  It was the first time I had ridden so far north and I am looking forward already to the 2008 event.  At the final control the organisers were very welcoming and hospitable – (this event is on a very much smaller scale to the National) and after a lunch break we were off back to the soft south.  Downside: you have to set aside 4 to 5 days and probably 4 nights to properly appreciate everything and not to begin the rally spaced out, but the upside – everything else, even Scottish pies.