This August the UK’s biggest ever rally event will take place in Carlisle – the original home of ISDE competition in 1913. The history-making rally features three consecutive days of competition followed by a commemorative road ride on the day of the very first ISDE event.
It’s only open to 180 riders so don’t miss the chance to be part of it.
The Touratech Centennial Rally for 2013
A three day forest-based rally starting in Carlisle city centre will be held in August 2013. The entry will be open to riders of adventure, trail, sports and classic enduro bikes. The course will reflect the severity of the original 1913 event through a series of special tests.
This will be the most important event in the off road rally calendar in 2013.
Carlisle City Council having realised the historic importance of the event have made available a city centre start area which faces an eleventh century castle. In parallel to this event a commemorative ride will take place on the 18th, the same day as the very first event.
The Touratech Centennial Ride
The ride which to be made by one hundred entries will mainly be for those on historic bikes and riders with an interesting ISDE history. They will follow the same route as the original, which now has sealed surfaces appealing to those who do not wish to contest the main rally. Lunch will be at Keswick where the 1913 first day’s riders dined. On the Saturday evening there will be a social gathering with a buffet meal in a city centre hotel where friendships can be renewed and new ones forged.
More than a rally this will be a Festival of the International Six Days Enduro.
The start and finish area with be open to the public and offers promotional opportunities for manufacturers and suppliers of rally and enduro-related products. Carlisle is a particularly interesting venue due to its two thousand year history and close proximity to Hadrian’s Wall. It is well served by accommodation, shopping and entertainment which will appeal to competitors, supporters and spectators.
History: The International Six Days Enduro In August 1913 a remarkable motorcycle event was inaugurated in Carlisle, Cumberland, England. It was originally known as the International Six Days Reliability Trial. Very soon after this the word ‘reliability’ was dropped from the title. Later, in 1980, the name was changed again to the familiar International Six Days Enduro.
The riders in the first event, all one hundred and sixty one of them, faced a formidable test. They covered a thousand-mile course of tracks and unmade roads on machines that were very primitive by today’s standards. The manufacturers of the time were very keen to be involved as ‘reliability’ sold bikes - for this reason fifty- nine makes were represented. There were some complaints about the severity of the roads, in particular the steepness of some of the hills.
Despite this more than one hundred riders made it to the finish. Apart from the war years the event has been run ever since in countries all around the world. The original concept is still adhered to and many of the original rules are still applied.
It would be true to say that the International Six Days Enduro has contributed greatly to the development of motorcycles in general and has definitely been influential in the design of the modern off-road motorcycle.
The competition has always been contested by national teams with separate classes for club teams. Within this contest an individual is rewarded by a gold, silver and bronze medal award structure which has led to the event being referred to as the ‘Olympics of Motorcycling’.
The hundredth year anniversary deserves to be recognised in England where it originated.