 | Home > Off Topic > Can-Am Commander Prep for Tuareg Rallye. |
 
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| ken Member Since: 18 Aug 2009 Location: Banging Birds with my bitches !! Posts: 4328  
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 interested to see the pics |
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28th Jan 2012 10:52pm |
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| Sonic3d Member Since: 28 Jan 2008 Location: Ross on Wye Posts: 1505 
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Will take a couple of pics tomorrow Ken
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28th Jan 2012 11:08pm |
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| BigMike Member Since: 13 Jul 2010 Location: Lancashire Posts: 2253
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Here, you might find the below useful from a IOM rider who's done a couple of Tuaregs:
Roadbook and Navigation I’d like to write about some of the advice I was given (or discovered myself) on Rallye Navigation. This advice is specifically for the Tuareg, but should be the same for most Rallye raids in general. I’m no expert but if this information helps gets people started, or gives others an insight into what you need to do on Rallyes, then I’ll be happy. If others have advice please correct or add to this. There are nine or ten daily roadbooks on the Tuareg. Each roadbook varies in length, the longest being about 35 pages, they are A4 length and cut to fit the width of a standard roadbook holder. Well that’s the theory, they are often too wide, so that means every competitor must cut the edge off around 150 sheets of paper. This is a fantastic waste of time so make sure you take some good scissors. The roadbooks for the entire Rallye are given to you at signing on and scrutineering, at this point you will no doubt be wanting to meet some of the other racers, and look at the cars and bikes in the Parc Ferme. I’d suggest that there will be plenty of time for looking at Rallye hardware later, and remember you are a competitor not a spectator! I would therefore recommend getting started in joining the roadbooks together into scrolls ASAP. I went to a nearby hotel and spent a good hour or two joining them together while you wait for the ferry. You do not want to be doing this everynight of the Rallye, that will be well earned beer, and chatting time. Each page has to be joined in specific order, with Prit stick or Sellotape. (A sellotape with a dispenser is very useful here) Take care to make the pages as square as possible, and the joins as clean as possible. This helps avoid the roadbook jamming later when scrolling on the electronic roadbook holder. As you are getting on the ferry, hopefully you will now have all the roadbooks for the Rallye made up into a numbered scroll for each day. These now need to be looked after and protected from damage. I would take day 1, and maybe day 2 onto the ferry with you, and and a selection of highlighter pens to start marking the roadbooks. You will need atleast 3 colours of fluorescent markers to help highlight sections of particular importance. Everyone has a different way of doing it, from the minimalist approach (nothing at all) to the highly colourful and apparently complex versions. I would only mark day 1 or 2 at the most as your system will most likely evolve as the Rallye progresses. My system was to mark all the signs signifying danger in pink (the most obvious colour to see). These include groundwaves, washouts, quads, boulders etc. I would also mark the kilometre box in pink too meaning that I could glance down at the number in the KM box and immediately know from the colour that there was danger ahead. These are the most important markings to do, and if that’s all you do, it would not be too bad a system. I also went on to also highlight, left turns in one colour, and rights in another, so I could see any deviation from straight ahead more easily. Remember that straight ahead on the roadbook still includes bends, obstacles, animals and people so you still have to be careful. On the Rallye each night before I went to bed, I would get tomorrows roadbook, go through it, and mark it up. This helps give an idea of what the next day will have in store. I would enter the waypoints into my GPS as a route and also make a paper note of the order of the GPS waypoints for the next day. I would recommend making a separate daily list of the GPS points like this, so you can check that the next waypoint has been correctly selected on the GPS. This without scrolling forward on the roadbook and then having to scroll all the way back again. I have a timecard holder on the handlebars that holds this list each day but I’ve seen silver duct tape with marker on the tank work well. Once you’ve marked up the roadbook, it then needs to fed into the roadbook holder, a neat trick is to leave some paper “tails” (about 6 inches long) on the drive rollers so that you can tape the latest roll in more easily. Its also worth having some sort of tape handy on the trail in case your paper roll splits in half – some ever useful duck tape will do the trick here. ICO The ICO (or IMO) is basically a trip odometer- but nice and large and easy to read unlike the one supplied on most bikes. You need to know how it works especially how to reset it, or move it forward and back. Make sure you calibrate it properly before you go. You follow the roadbook by matching the KM’s shown on the ICO to the symbols shown on the roadbook, so it’s important it’s accurate. GPS Most GPS have AA batteries as back up but can run off the bike battery. If you can connect it to the battery, and take the AA batteries out, and keep them in your pocket. This reduces the weight and stops the expensive Touratech bracket disintegrating, cable-tie it onto the bracket as well and don’t forget to remove it each night in case local kids steal it and try and sell you it back the next day! They will also do this with tools, or any kit you leave around. Cetainly keeps you tidy! Scorecard & Daily Results Every morning you take part in a scrum to show the organiser your safety equipment. They then sign your hand to say you’ve done this and you can pick up your “Bordcarte” or time sheet. The card is similar to an enduro one but warrants more careful reading. Although there are many GPS points only some of these are important for scoring purposes. The main checkpoints are titled DK1, 2, 3, etc and DKZ for the final one. The card will tell you which time is the latest that you can check in, penalty free, and this is useful because it allows you to avoid riding in the dust continuously, get fuel, rest and calm down either before or at the DK. Understanding this is important because it helps pace the day and means you can be the fastest even at the back of the field. Also on the card are the “secret checks”, these are always at GPS points but are obviously not marked as such on the roadbook. You have to find them and get the card signed by an organiser and timed as VDK1,2 or 3. Missing one of these can cost up to six hours in penalties, and is another reason to fully understand how the GPS works. Some GPS points are literally nothing in the middle of nowhere, don’t fret – if it’s a secret check the organisers will be obvious. Get slightly lost however and miss just one VDK and your chances of a really good result are gone! If you’re after a good result the big dunes day is where the Tuareg rallye is really won or lost. There are approximately 5 checks on each of four potential laps. This should ideally take 220 kms toatal - this can be a hard days ride – especially since it’s difficult to travel in a straight line in the dunes. A lot of people ride substantially less than the full circuit and people are prevented from passing the important checks if they fail to reach them by a certain time. Each check that you fail to reach will give you a two hour penalty. So if you fail to reach the first one you can get a forty hour penalty in one day of riding! Only about a dozen riders usually finish all the checks. |
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30th Jan 2012 1:34am |
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| Sonic3d Member Since: 28 Jan 2008 Location: Ross on Wye Posts: 1505
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Thanks for that info Mike
a lot of usefull stuff there. |
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30th Jan 2012 3:18pm |
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| AJS4X4 Member Since: 28 May 2008 Location: Surrey Posts: 793
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Plus 1
Very usefull info, thanks for going to the trouble. Andy.
www.ajstyres.co.uk 01737 241370 Junction 8 M25 Surrey. |
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30th Jan 2012 4:06pm |
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| AJS4X4 Member Since: 28 May 2008 Location: Surrey Posts: 793
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I am now taking mine off as no one on the Rally will need any either with that lot. 
Thought all a Hedgehog would need ia a MiniMag. Andy.
www.ajstyres.co.uk 01737 241370 Junction 8 M25 Surrey. Last edited by AJS4X4 on 30th Jan 2012 5:33pm. Edited 1 time in total |
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30th Jan 2012 4:10pm |
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| Sonic3d Member Since: 28 Jan 2008 Location: Ross on Wye Posts: 1505
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Here you are Ken
 Click image to enlarge |
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30th Jan 2012 4:56pm |
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