Rally - LeJog 2025

A rally for masochists organised by sadists! A bit extreme perhaps, but the weather this year’s competitors faced certainly added to their difficulties as Storm Bram followed them all the way north.

Surprisingly it was even raining in Scotland as they arrived and continued northwards, so a visit to Kames to cheer the foolhardy souls onwards and upwards seemed supportive of their endeavours. Encouragingly there was a glimmer of watery and wintry sunshine reflecting badly off the streaming tarmac as the first cars arrived but that didn’t last long. Squally showers with icy rain soon had folks outside heading for the Kames Caff but the steamed up windows looked awfy dark.

That wasn’t curtains that blacked out the windows, that was folk pressed so tightly up against the walls and windows as they tried to cram into the building. The steam rising off cups of tea and coffee only added to the steam rising off sodden rally jackets.

And yet spirits were high even among those stalwart navigators who had to contend with a route change and having to plot a new re-route to get themselves out of Ayrshire. No fault of the organisers, the local Roads Dept had decided to shut off the Strathaven Road for some essential re-surfacing and repair. As if the poor bedraggled sods didn’t have enough to contend with just coping with the weather, never mind sodden maps and pens that don’t write on wet paper – thank goodness for pencils. In this supposedly ‘digital age’ it seems that we just can’t do without the ‘old ways’ when the sh*t hits the fan, or in this case when the driving rain seeks out the paperwork.

And if you think the competitors had it bad, think too of the Marshals and Officials who stood out there in some of Scotland’s finest examples of extreme weather conditions to record the passing of the competition, especially the band of diligent desperadoes who stood atop Forrestburn in the Shotts highlands! I’ll bet they had to nail their wellies to the ground to stop being blown off and across the M8. And think too of the travelling mechanics. Reminiscent of the old days of Scottish rallying, lying in boggy ditches trying to repair the ravages of time and terrain!

One simply has to marvel at the fortitude and sheer stubborn-ness of all of those who participated and assisted along the route. I take my bunnet off to the lot of you. As for me, a short visit to Kames was more than enough. Mind you the tray bakes looked awfy tempting!