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Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 8:37 pm
by Fury1630
Day One
After a rough night not sleeping terribly well, it was a slightly bleary eyed person that had a coffee & marmite toast, before heading out to Newlands corner where Agatha Christie disappeared. I arrived to find Duncan & Robert in their yellow sevens & parked up next to them.
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A lady jogger went past & asked if we were the yellow car club & were any more coming, at which point we realised the Dave’s car is yellow too. He arrived & after a quick chat we set off round Guildford & tackled the Pirbright Bends, there’s a 30 limit on them now after a great many Novas & Corsas met their ends their – sadly some of their drivers too as evidenced by the bunches of flowers & football shirts nailed to trees. Speeding was not to be an issue today as we were stuck behind a van - & not for the last time either.

We passed one corner of Farnborough Aerodrome & drove up to Tweseldown Hill (pronounced tweezel down) a lovely windy smooth piece of road that we had plenty of time to appreciate as we were behind a horse box. Shortly after that we passed the cameras & multiple fences of the Atomic Weapons Establishment.

We stopped for petrol on the outskirts of Reading, then the villages got double-barrelled & the land got lumpier as we headed into the Chilterns.
I was starting to get concerned about the time. Breakfast was booked at the meet point for 09:30, but as 09:30 came & went we were still on the road. I thought we must be getting close as we curled round RAF Brize Norton & just before 10:00 we entered Bourton-on-the-Water & had to wait for what seemed like an age at roadworks.

I got ahead of the others & screeched to a halt on double yellow lines outside the hotel to let them know we were about to arrive. There wasn’t a member of staff to be found, but on my second time round the breakfast room, I found Linda waiting patiently, so now I could go back & park the car amongst all the oriental tourists taking pictures of everything.

Dave, Robert & Duncan had arrived by now & found three parking spaces & after a little driving about I found one too. So we ate our full English & caught up on things & set off again. By pure chance I bumped into an ex colleague, who had seen the car & wondered if it was mine, then Linda shooed off a small swarm of Italian youths who had taken up residence on her car & now as a group of five, we headed out of town.

Next we hit some dual carriageway to move us quickly towards Gloucester & then we passed over the Severn at “Over”. After a couple of miles we find some hills & some roads winding round them, I included a loo stop here, but then drove straight past & had to turn round.

After that we crossed the River Wye & entered Wales at Chepstow, where we made a fuel stop. All through this period there had been occasional showers, but fortunately never enough to make us actually wet.

So into Wales then & a mixture of valley roads & trips over moorland until we got to Ferndale where we take some of the wriggliest roads I’ve seen on a UK map, but – again we were doomed to be following traffic, the other side of the valley was much better, the road was smother & wider & the was a large layby with an ice cream van.
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We had been looking for some refreshment for some time, but the Welsh don’t seem to do roadside cafés with car parks. After that road which was just fantastic, I should’ve taken the route direct to the hotel in Llanelli, but when writing the routes, I decided to add some more “interesting” roads – which turned out to be festooned with speed humps, or 20 limits, or speed cameras, or all three. Even when we did find a wide A road with a 60 limit, the locals were out in force driving resolutely at 40.

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And this is where we parked - in the morning I found that someone had splashed kitchen slops all over the front of my car - nice.

Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 8:52 pm
by Fury1630
Day Two

A couple of points about our Welsh hotel before I begin.
1/ What idiot stylist thought a loo seat this shape was a good idea?
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Secondly, I Guess they had someone called Alan who kept driving out through the entrance?
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Back at the point, today began slowly as breakfast didn’t start until 8:00, so it was 09:30 before we hit the road. We got going & before long we were experiencing roads best described as Mohican – with long grass growing in the middle, they were technical & involving, but meant that it took far longer to get out of Llanelli then I expected. As we got towards Pendine Sands it was noticeable that the 20 limits with viscous speed humps stopped as did the Welsh translations of every bit of writing. We went through the town but could see no obvious sign of the museum & as time was pressing, we pushed on.

We did stop at a beach a little further on to answer the call on nature & to allow Linda’s car to double up as a playground for a couple of small children & their Dad.
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After that we successfully made it through the village of Cwmffrwd without breaking down, because I was dreading having to tell the RAC where we were.

More odd town names along the next section, we passed through “Red Roses”, “Tavernspite” & “Cold Blow”.

Next up was the UK’s smallest city – St Davids, it looked a lot like a Cornish village, but with tourists numbered in hundreds rather that the tens of thousands you might expect in Cornwall.

After that we followed the coast – sort of, before turning inland into the heart of Wales – to paraphrase U2 “where the streets have no vowels”. Some of the roads were chosen for the scenery, some for the technical twistiness, some just to get from one good road to the next. But the towns were few & far between & we discovered that the B4243 was kit car heaven. Smooth, just wide enough, constantly changing direction & with little other traffic. At one stage a local in a Peugeot joined us to play for a few miles.

And then the Elan valley, usually we’re going south, this year we headed north to change the perspective. It’s one of those places where for mile upon mile, apart from the road itself, there is no sign of human habitation at all. We were followed by a couple of touring bikers, we let them past, then just kept up with them, allowing them to look out for sheep & oncoming traffic…….
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We stopped for a coffee in a hotel in the village of Trecarron, parked up in the town square & just relaxed. All very pleasant.

After that time was pressing, so we set the SatNavs directly for Llangollen & took the A5 which had its’ benefits, it’s wide enough to allow a small car to overtake without crossing the white line, so we were kept entertained.

Supper & a couple of pints in our hotel were most welcome & tomorrow, breakfast starts at 07:30, so were on the road sooner.

Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 9:02 pm
by Fury1630
Day 3
We shared out hotel with members of the MG owner’s club & I’m afraid this morning we rather disgraced ourselves.

Firstly Dave’s starter motor wouldn’t turn fast enough to fire the engine – something it’s done before apparently, so we bump started his car, then I sat in mine, pushed the starter & the battery was flat, so for the first time I deployed the jump pack & it worked perfectly.

Having got the reluctant cars running, we headed out of town round Horseshoe Pass & headed for England, crossing the border at Threapwood.
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After about 80 miles there was a stop at “The Tin Hut Coffee Tavern” which is in – a tin hut. Quite a nice tin hut & it has a big car park, Matt was waiting for us having driven up that morning. After a little while Linda arrived, having sent a text saying she would try not to sail straight past – she sailed straight past. But just beyond the hut, the road was closed, so she came back.
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Suitably refreshed, we headed out – avoiding the closed road & also avoiding all the major towns, motorways & traffic in the Manchester area. At one point we passed the Swizzle Lolly Factory – no sign of a factory shop though which is surely an omission on their part.

Up on the moors we went over a dam & turned left. TYRE insisted that you can only turn right, but I’d followed the left-hand road on streetview & it looked OK & so it turned out.

After another couple of miles we be passed through the outskirts of Upperthong (there’s also a Netherthong), then through a town called “Friendly”. Then as I waited for traffic lights in Hebden Bridge, I pulled on the handbrake, there was a “clack” & the lever moved right to the end of its’ travel. I assumed the cable had jumped a pulley wheel & drove off – until the next light when the brake pedal went down to the firewall!
I nursed the car round some small, steep streets until we found what appeared to be a level(ish) car park the & four of us that were together at that point parked up - & were told in no uncertain terms that it was NOT a public car park, but a school car park. One of our number explained that we had a safety issue & would not be leaving the cars there.

I retrieved the jack from its’ hidey hole in the pod, jacked up the back & proved that the driver’s side rear wheel had no braking, so I jacked just that side up & we took off the wheel, took off the brake drum & the self-adjuster was in several pieces. The clip that retains the pin that holds it together had failed. So all the springs had to come off, the upper shoe came off, we re-fitted the pin & retained it with a washer from my spares bag & an R-clip from Matt’s, re-built the brake, adjusted it, put the wheel back on & drove off!

I was a bit careful for a while, but the brakes were fine. Lucky it didn’t come apart while I was descending one of the many steep hairpinned hills though.

After that excitement, we suddenly found ourselves behind another of our party, then shortly after that we passed the sixth waiting by the roadside.

We were now racing for the hotel, but the sky was darkening & once more we got a little wet, but not too bad & arrived safely at our hotel for the next four nights, which has a row of rooms in the car park, each with its’ own front door – very nice.
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Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 9:11 pm
by DJ.
Here are some of my photos from the first day, the roads leaving London were better than you say, I certainly enjoyed them. These were taken at the toilet break:
My car with Robert's Quantum looking clean:
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Linda's car immaculately prepared as always :)

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And Dave and Tony's cars against the rock forrmation at the ice cream stop:

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Here are Dave and Robert with Tony and Linda:



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Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 9:21 pm
by Fury1630
Day 4 - Lakes Loop Story
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I didn’t sleep well & was up early prepping the car, but after a very good breakfast, we set off along the wide, smooth country lanes close to the hotel.

After a while we passed through Richmond (not-upon-Thames) which was very nice & along “Riverside Road”, castle on one side, river on the other – very picturesque, then we crossed said river & took a single track, but straight ish & open road across the dales.
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After 50 miles we made one of our traditional stops at the ice-cream parlour at Brough Castle. This year’s treat was a double cone with “Sarah’s Fudge” & twix ice-creams.
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At Pooley Bridge we began a run south west along the banks of Ullswater, we got split into two groups of three but were re-united briefly at a scenic stop at the Aira Force Waterfall tearoom.

The next road was ominously called “The Struggle” which took us to Ambleside, at the time I thought it was steep, but I hadn’t done Wrynose Pass at that point.
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We stopped in Keswick for fuel, then had a good, traffic-free run along Whinlatter pass but by this stage it was getting late, so we set the SatNavs for Wrynose Pass & then home.

Wrynose pass turned out to be an adventure – the tarmac was only about 7ft wide, there were hairpins, gradients up to & down to 30% & 4x4s coming the other way. It was certainly a challenging drive. The pictures don't do its' steepness justice.
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After that, the trip back along The A66 was uneventful – in a good way, but on getting back to the hotel at 6:30, there was no sign of the others – it turned out they’d done more of the “official” route than we had & even led Linda over Wrynose Pass!

Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 9:23 pm
by b33fy
Great write ups Tony. :)

Fury1630 wrote:Day Two

A couple of points about our Welsh hotel before I begin.
1/ What idiot stylist thought a loo seat this shape was a good idea?


Probably from the same family of idiots that buy them.. ;)

Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sat May 25, 2019 10:24 pm
by greenwoo
yep, enjoying the write up T....

Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 7:03 am
by BIOMAN
Loved this write up

Thanks :-)

Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 7:32 am
by Matth93
Here's a bit of video from Wrynose Pass it is a bit long at the moment but I will do a proper video when I get a bit more time
https://youtu.be/Wa8c9-f28EM

Re: Rogue Runners 2019 - Story Thread

Posted: Sun May 26, 2019 7:55 am
by locost220
Well done Tony great to hear you were having a good time, got to admire your detail mate.