Last weekend outside Roscommon we had Roscommon Moto Stages Rally. I don’t have any idea who won because half of Sunday I was sitting in the bushes with my camcorder on, fighting off the cold. If we want to be part of extreme sport, we don’t have to go to the higher slopes of the Alps or buy a parachute, you can just go along to the rally. Sunday, a few minutes after 1 pm, my friends and I, armed with a map of the rally route, drove out the Athlone Road looking for the route. We were fully armed, cameras, flashes, hot coffee and egg sandwiches and for fun, a quick assembly tent. After a few minutes we were there. It’s a few minutes after 2 pm, the rally is starting in half an hour. The car is left a safe distance away and with all our equipment in a bag, we go looking for the best place to set up camp. We walk along almost the whole length of the road, you know the roads in Ireland are very tiny and it’s really hard to find a little lay-by. We are in luck. We find a wall that’s not too high and can be easily jumped and we decide to make our camp there. Of course, I was pretty sure that this place had no bulls in the field. A few minutes the rally started. The tent was up, coffee in hand, we waited. For a while, I felt like I was on a nice camping holiday, beautiful landscape, green grass, lots of sun and the curious sheep looking on. Suddenly, it all started. First, we heard the roar of the engines. I was so surprised that I don’t remember if I turned on my camera. Probably, something passed us. The rally is underway. As the next car approaches, we decide that we should be better prepared. I jump the wall and turn on the camera and crouch down and wait. Suddenly, ooh, the car was half a metre from me. I had stones in my eyes. Luckily my camera escaped and I was probably able to record something. My friends with cameras, they ran this way and that and after a car passed, they were happy if they captured even some part of the car. A few minutes after 4 pm, the rally is still going on. Our hands and feet are frozen and it has even started snowing. The sun has gone, probably because it was scared off by the fast cars. We want to change from our spot, but we can’t because it’s dangerous. We have to wait for the finish. When we returned home that evening, the tea never tasted better. It’s weird, but I didn’t catch my death of cold. I have recorded almost two hours of the rally, but probably only two minutes is really good. But I don’t care about this. Maybe for someone, my story is a little fantastic, but believe me, for me it was amazing. So, I have to say that we have a new extreme sport – rally recording in Roscommon!
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