So how do you play Mille?
It’s 1965, you’re a young, devil-may-care scooterist with a few days to kill. You’ve just serviced your scooter and have decided to get out and explore the countryside, going to places you’ve never been. Turns out your mates want to join you, and one of them has suggested this crazy little challenge called ‘The Mille’. “Sounds great!” you say, tell me more…
The Mille isn’t an escorted tour, nor is it just a case of following the route instructions on your mobile device (because you don’t have one, it’s 1965!). The Mille is an independent navigation, endurance, and reliability event. It’s not a race, there are no line honours, it’s all about getting around the course and enjoying yourself along the way.
Maps
The route is promulgated on the Mille website and then it is entirely up to you how you map it out and carry your map when you’re riding. Every Mille-er has their own solution, just have a look at the photos for some variations. Important things to think about though are:
Petrol
You have to work out where the petrol is when you do your mapping. Petrol is not always readily available enroute, you may have to carry extra fuel on your scoot in order to make it to the next fuel station.
Tasks
There is always a pre-Mille briefing the night before Day 1 of The Mille. You have to attend it else you can’t participate in The Mille. At the briefing, along with your souvenir t-shirt and legshield banner, you’ll receive a set of tasks to complete. Usually, the tasks require you to take a photo of your scooter in front of something enroute, occasionally you have to go slightly off route to find it. The important things are that:
Daily rider briefings
Circumstances change (we had floods and fires to contend with in 2022!). You must attend the rider briefings each day before the set-off. If you're not there, you can't take part that day.
The Mille is a journey, not a destination
Whilst it's a long two days, and you need to keep up a brisk pace, you also need to take time to refuel yourself as well as your scooter.
The Mille Tracker
A 21st century-based Mille supporter will track all of the riders via the Facebook posts and provide info to the back-up driver. If you’re not posting your task photos the Mille Tracker won’t know where you are. If you break down in an area without mobile phone coverage, the Tracker has more chance of narrowing down your location and finding you if she or he knows where you’ve been.
Format of Facebook posts
When you’re posting your task photos on Facebook you can write whatever you like, especially if it’s funny. But the minimum required is:
Starting order
The Mille starting order is generally assigned randomly however the slower scoots usually go up front. Your team will be assigned a start time and teams leave in one-minute intervals. You cannot leave before your assigned start time, but if you leave late your start will be recorded against your assigned time.
You do not have to remain in that order for the rest of Mille, it’s every rider for his/herself once across the starting line.
Timings
The last task of the day will always be a selfie in front of a clock in the pub. That’s so that we know what time you finished. Take the selfie BEFORE you start drinking your beer.
“Wow!” you say, sounds groovy baby. Let’s Mille!
It’s 1965, you’re a young, devil-may-care scooterist with a few days to kill. You’ve just serviced your scooter and have decided to get out and explore the countryside, going to places you’ve never been. Turns out your mates want to join you, and one of them has suggested this crazy little challenge called ‘The Mille’. “Sounds great!” you say, tell me more…
The Mille isn’t an escorted tour, nor is it just a case of following the route instructions on your mobile device (because you don’t have one, it’s 1965!). The Mille is an independent navigation, endurance, and reliability event. It’s not a race, there are no line honours, it’s all about getting around the course and enjoying yourself along the way.
Maps
The route is promulgated on the Mille website and then it is entirely up to you how you map it out and carry your map when you’re riding. Every Mille-er has their own solution, just have a look at the photos for some variations. Important things to think about though are:
- Are they completely analogue? You cannot use any GPS or other electronic technology to find your way once you hit the road (it’s still 1965).
- Are they waterproof?
- Are they easily accessible while you’re riding?
- Can you see them without your reading glasses?
Petrol
You have to work out where the petrol is when you do your mapping. Petrol is not always readily available enroute, you may have to carry extra fuel on your scoot in order to make it to the next fuel station.
Tasks
There is always a pre-Mille briefing the night before Day 1 of The Mille. You have to attend it else you can’t participate in The Mille. At the briefing, along with your souvenir t-shirt and legshield banner, you’ll receive a set of tasks to complete. Usually, the tasks require you to take a photo of your scooter in front of something enroute, occasionally you have to go slightly off route to find it. The important things are that:
- You complete the tasks.
- You time-travel to the 21st century and post your task photos to the Mille Facebook page as soon as you complete them.
Daily rider briefings
Circumstances change (we had floods and fires to contend with in 2022!). You must attend the rider briefings each day before the set-off. If you're not there, you can't take part that day.
The Mille is a journey, not a destination
Whilst it's a long two days, and you need to keep up a brisk pace, you also need to take time to refuel yourself as well as your scooter.
The Mille Tracker
A 21st century-based Mille supporter will track all of the riders via the Facebook posts and provide info to the back-up driver. If you’re not posting your task photos the Mille Tracker won’t know where you are. If you break down in an area without mobile phone coverage, the Tracker has more chance of narrowing down your location and finding you if she or he knows where you’ve been.
Format of Facebook posts
When you’re posting your task photos on Facebook you can write whatever you like, especially if it’s funny. But the minimum required is:
- Team name
- Task number
- Location
- Time you are at the task (as they don’t always post immediately depending on coverage)
Starting order
The Mille starting order is generally assigned randomly however the slower scoots usually go up front. Your team will be assigned a start time and teams leave in one-minute intervals. You cannot leave before your assigned start time, but if you leave late your start will be recorded against your assigned time.
You do not have to remain in that order for the rest of Mille, it’s every rider for his/herself once across the starting line.
Timings
The last task of the day will always be a selfie in front of a clock in the pub. That’s so that we know what time you finished. Take the selfie BEFORE you start drinking your beer.
“Wow!” you say, sounds groovy baby. Let’s Mille!