The May Meander
Thursday 16 May
The sun was shining at 0800 as I left home for the start of the May Meander into Wales. A good start! I recalled the days of setting off for Wales in the Caterham, only five minutes down the road and already soaking wet. I had left time in hand to account for the road works at Air Balloon roundabout but surprisingly they presented little problem. However, I was now 30 minutes ahead of schedule so what to do? Enjoy a “full English” at the Toby Carvery at Highnam, the start point for the event!
This event was going to be different to other similar events we had enjoyed in the past. Burt from Rallymoto in Cheltenham and an Area 22 member, runs a motorcycle club that is focused on taking rallying, adventure rallying and roadbook navigation forward, running large events all over Europe. At the April meeting we agreed that Area 22 would partake in a trial for cars and that trial became the May Meander.
Burt and his team briefed the members on the roadbook we were to use. Based on the “tulip” principle, the road book runs on any Android tablet. In our case, Burt provided the equipment. It soon became clear that the navigator, not the driver, was going to be the “el supremo” on this event! Leaving at two minute intervals and armed with our roadbooks, we sallied forth heading west for Hay-on-Wye. Of course, some navigators adapted quicker than others, Jim, my navigator, was supplying me with so much information and performing many verbal calculations from kph to mph, I don’t think I saw the countryside for the first hour. The streets of Hereford proved a challenge and my sixteen-year friendship with Jim was tested. I was looking forward to parking up in Hay but when we arrived we found the huge carpark was already full, the local fair taking up most of it. Adrian and Geraldine found a spot, the rest of us decided it was too difficult and after a roadside conference set off for Talybont-on-Usk and the White Hart where we enjoyed an excellent late lunch. By this time the mysteries of the roadbook were proving less daunting and in car relationships between drivers and navigators improving! Leaving Talybont it was up over the B4560, a brilliant road for “drivers” before a spirited drive down the Usk Valley to St Arvans and the end of the Meander.
Over a pint at the Piercefield it proved problems with the SIM cards in some tablets prevented us benefitting from the full potential of the Rallymoto roadbook. However, comments on the trial were very positive and we shall run another event later in the year. It was a long day but the weather was kind to us and as usual the Area 22 friendship shone through. Come along to the next event and enjoy the challenge!