Oh, the fucking rally points. Yeah, I hated those. After a while, I memorized the patterns and got 1st in most of them. The rocket combat races are easy, though, they'll waste time trying to shoot me while I'm just hauling ass along the track. The combat races are easier than the non-combat, in my opinion.
As for Skyrim, when I first reached the top of the game's largest mountain, the view completely surpassed exiting Vault 101 for me, it's that epic. The graphics are incredible, the character models are some of the best I've ever seen, and the first time a dragon lands in front of you? Shit, you'll be blown away ( sometimes literally, if you're too distracted by the graphics to get out of the fire). The combat is harder than Fallout, but the crafting (alchemy/enchanting/blacksmithing/cooking) will produce enough supplies to keep you alive. In fact, you can go through to game without buying any items at all if you keep up with your crafting.
Think Fallout, with bows and magic instead of guns, and infinitely more badass armor and melee weapons. The enemies are more varied and more intimidating (A simple mammoth or troll could scare off a deathclaw and never have to fight it), and they all drop something related to crafting. There are at least eight cities, that I can think of, with tons of smaller settlements all over. There are buildings and ruins everywhere, but the world is so huge it never feels cramped. As impressed by the game as I am, and as engaged in it as I am, when I play it, I can't help but think about how incredible Fallout 4 is going to be on this engine. If nothing else, rent the game so you can at least get an idea of what Skyrim is like, and what the next Fallout is going to be like.