The Big Bike Challenge
The Challenge 2010
The Challenge
The UK Big Bike Challenge is a national rally championship designed to encourage big bike entries in the UK trail bike rallies. The championship is marked on performance in the rallies and has two classes, above 600cc singles and above 600cc multi-cylinders (the actual capacity limit, in both classes, is over 575cc, which gets all those CCMs and XTs in).
For the uninitiated, trail bike rallies are competitive motorcycle events run on much the same lines as car rallies such as the old RAC rally. They are predominately off road, using forestry commission or Army land, but occasionally take in some public roads so all bikes have to be road registered and legal. The events cover anything from 60 to 120 miles in a day, usually, but not always, made up of several 30-70 mile laps of a laid out course.
On the course lap there will be 2 or 3 timed sections (special stages, the real competitive bit) varying from a couple of miles to ten miles long. These are not usually over the worst terrain but sometimes have boggy bits, puddles or rutted sections thrown in to spice things up.
The rest of the lap is run on just a 
speed average, so you'll be expected to keep to an average of say, 18 mph.
The events vary, but usually most of the going is flat fire roads with excursions into woods, climbs, muddy sections, bogs, rocky bits, to make the competitors concentrate, and to make what seems like a very low speed average just a little testing.
The speed average is based on start time and arrival time at various checkpoints, usually the start of a special stage. The start time for each lap and check arrival times are given out to competitors in the morning. This means, if 
you are a competitor, when you roll up to the start at the appointed time you know that you have, say, 23 minutes to arrive at the start of the first special. You also know that if you make it with a few minutes to spare, you can have a short rest and when you start the stage at that appointed time, you will have, again say, 48 minutes to arrive at the next stage and so on.
Theoretically you can be penalised for late arrival at these checkpoints, but that rarely happens, unlike more competitive events such as timecard endures. However usually is penalty enough to get out of sync, as it is difficult to catch up, and your lateness can mount up through the day.
This can mean a ‘did not finish' if you fail to reach the last timed stage before they close the course at the end of the day.
The people who man these checkpoints are volunteer marshals, and there are ‘travelling marshals' on bikes, who ride the course. These marshals are there to keep the course clear and attend to injuries. They will at times help you if you have got your bike stuck, but that is not their primary role. However usually if you are on an un-timed stage (‘liaison') other competitors will stop to give you a hand. Try to be as self sufficient as possible, though.
If you are on a timed section, however, invariably the marshals will give you a hand, usually because you're blocking the course!