Land's End to Ness Point, Midsummers Evening 2022
Discussion
Johner said:
I'm doing 20th/21st, the difficult night, because of the potential delays at Stonehenge, but, what the heck . . . . . .
I was initially planning on doing the run on 21st-22nd, but they announced the rail strike yesterday for the 21,23,25 June, so it might turn into a nightmare getting down to LE as I live in London… I’m now tempted to do it on the 20th-21st as well. As to routes and roadworks, I did A30/A303/M25N/A12 in 2020 and the same route but with M25S last year. I will stick to the “fun” A303 route again if possible. I’ll see what Waze says on the night of the run, and just do that (as long as it’s not M5/M4).
Either way, hopefully petrol won’t be £2 a litre by then…
cycysputnik said:
Annoyed and gutted I won't be able to do it on the correct day, wilkyboy I look forward to reading your review and will hopefully see you there in 2023 when hopefully fuel prices have come down.
Your optimism is worse than CastorTroy777's.I've just paid £1.999/ltr for super unleaded . . . . .daylight bloody robbery in my humble opinion
Against my GPX of last year's run, the Colchester J27-31 diversion adds 14 mins, the Ipswich to Drybridge diversion adds 6 mins.
I don't believe that that'll be faster than Johner's route of M11/A11/A14/A134.
My fuel provider is quoting 193 for diesel for next week, up from 183 this week and 172 last. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to pay £2.00/ltr on the night which takes this from a £200 jolly (last year) to a £300 jolly.
I'm seriously considering pulling out - with roadworks on the route I want to do, and concerns about the route I'd otherwise do, along with the expense (that my partner will be livid about should she find out), I just don't think this is the year for me at the moment.
I don't believe that that'll be faster than Johner's route of M11/A11/A14/A134.
My fuel provider is quoting 193 for diesel for next week, up from 183 this week and 172 last. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to pay £2.00/ltr on the night which takes this from a £200 jolly (last year) to a £300 jolly.
I'm seriously considering pulling out - with roadworks on the route I want to do, and concerns about the route I'd otherwise do, along with the expense (that my partner will be livid about should she find out), I just don't think this is the year for me at the moment.
wilkyboy said:
Against my GPX of last year's run, the Colchester J27-31 diversion adds 14 mins, the Ipswich to Drybridge diversion adds 6 mins.
I don't believe that that'll be faster than Johner's route of M11/A11/A14/A134.
My fuel provider is quoting 193 for diesel for next week, up from 183 this week and 172 last. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to pay £2.00/ltr on the night which takes this from a £200 jolly (last year) to a £300 jolly.
I'm seriously considering pulling out - with roadworks on the route I want to do, and concerns about the route I'd otherwise do, along with the expense (that my partner will be livid about should she find out), I just don't think this is the year for me at the moment.
Whilst I, as a butch, tough bloke, would never condone taking your partners thoughts into account, common sense should prevail and living a damage free life is, common sense.I don't believe that that'll be faster than Johner's route of M11/A11/A14/A134.
My fuel provider is quoting 193 for diesel for next week, up from 183 this week and 172 last. I wouldn't be surprised if I had to pay £2.00/ltr on the night which takes this from a £200 jolly (last year) to a £300 jolly.
I'm seriously considering pulling out - with roadworks on the route I want to do, and concerns about the route I'd otherwise do, along with the expense (that my partner will be livid about should she find out), I just don't think this is the year for me at the moment.
I have only my thoughts to consider these days, so, I'll do it, it's probably the last year for me.
Hope to see you there . . . .
cycysputnik said:
Even if the prices stay high, I'll have longer to put money aside. Biggest issue this year is how quickly they are rising.
I planned to do the run last year but, my wife having cancer, then 2 operations at the same time and having to look after her, really put my priorities into sharp focus.No way was I leaving her.
Now, I'm on my own. I've calculated that the fuel for the round trip of almost 900 miles will cost me just North of £250, then, there's food and accomodation, but, to hell with it, it's only money and I can't take it with me.
Whilst I say that I think that this may be my last race the sun, never say never.
Johner said:
I planned to do the run last year but, my wife having cancer, then 2 operations at the same time and having to look after her, really put my priorities into sharp focus.
No way was I leaving her.
Now, I'm on my own. I've calculated that the fuel for the round trip of almost 900 miles will cost me just North of £250, then, there's food and accomodation, but, to hell with it, it's only money and I can't take it with me.
Whilst I say that I think that this may be my last race the sun, never say never.
I’m very sorry to hear that Johner… my condolences. I now remember your post last year about deciding not to go in the end - I’ve been a long time lurker on PH - only made an account recently to post on this thread. No way was I leaving her.
Now, I'm on my own. I've calculated that the fuel for the round trip of almost 900 miles will cost me just North of £250, then, there's food and accomodation, but, to hell with it, it's only money and I can't take it with me.
Whilst I say that I think that this may be my last race the sun, never say never.
“Optimism” and pessimism aside, fuel costs really are insane - £1.99 is just criminal. From memory, Tesco forecourts have a pay at pump limit of £99 (don’t know about others), so if your tank will take more than 50 litres, you will literally have to fill up twice…
Anyway, I’ll see you down at LE - I’ll be on the lookout for you.
Wilkyboy - you need to simply project this “jolly” as an investment into your emotional well-being! It’s like a day at the spa! Then it’s a bargain!
Hi all. I'm doing it this year as a tribute to my late father-in-law in his Jaguar XKR. I'm up at 3am, getting a flight to Heathrow, picking up the car in Bicester, Oxfordshire, driving to Lands End on the 21st. If it's too much for me then to drive through the night then I'll just shoot some 'B-Roll' on the 21st and do it on the 22nd (using the 21st Times).
Best of luck to all who will be doing it as well.
Cheers
Ed
Best of luck to all who will be doing it as well.
Cheers
Ed
Moderator edit: no social media links please
Well, PH’rs we are back home, following our trip to Lowestoft, via Lands End.
No1 son and I took a leisurely drive to Plymouth on Sunday, as a launch point for our brief Cornish excursion.
This allowed us spend the following morning in Plymouth having a look around, before winding our way to Lands End, where we arrived at about 19.30hrs, all planned up and ready to rock.
There were a couple of young lads in a very nice looking red Toyota Supra. Now, Japanese cars are not my thing and Toyota especially, have never been a manufacturer I would consider, BUT, but, a 3 litre, straight 6, that sounds nice and goes even better, dressed up in a very attractive body . . . . .well, I may be have been converted. It helped that both were really nice guys.
Then, there was of course CastorTroy777.
He turned up in his MX5.
We are told that it took Mazda, to show the British rag top makers, how to build a a proper 2 seat soft topped sports car. I would take issue with this generalisation, being a TR man, through and through, but, CastorTroys777’s little Mazda, ate the miles up and following him down the A30 (or was it the A303, I can’t remember) we could see the lovely way the car handled and it's ability to get down the road.
We got going, on time and IMHO, we had a really good run getting out of Cornwall, no 'Sunday driver' delays, lots of dual carriageway and no roadworks delays.
We all 3 of us, opted for the A303, M3 and M25 North.
Again, no problems at Stonehenge, yes, there was a stretch of 40 mph speed limited road leading up to and past Stonehenge, but, I didn’t feel it was an issue.
However, by the time we made it onto the M3, our time in the SL was looking decidedly shaky.
M25;
Roadworks and speed restrictions clockwise from the M3/M25 junction
Closed anticlockwise on the South side near Leatherhead.
Closed clockwise on the North side between J27 and J28
A12, closed at Boreham and for 9 miles at Colchester, with no realistic work round
A11, closed Northbound at J7 and again at J8, both these affecting reasonable work rounds
A1, closed (Stevenage area if I remember correctly)
In the SL, we were feeling deflated and if I'm honest, really quite demotivated. We had pushed hard to keep our time reasonable, but, even so, seemed to have lost a lot of time for no apparent reason, only to find that the Gods of the road were determined to prevent us making up ground on the roads which we felt, should be bankers for a fast run.
In the end, we made it up on the fly and used the; M25 J25; A10 North to the A505, across to the A11, (where roadworks slowed us down even more) then the A14 to Bury St Edmunds and finally the A143 and A146 which got us to Ness Point.
The A143 was a brilliant choice, even if I say so myself, being almost bereft of any traffic
No1 son had a brilliant drive, pulling back almost ALL the time we had lost and from our feared arrival time of 04.55hr, he got us to Ness Point just 2 minutes late, at 04.32hr.
Both the Toyota and the MX5 were there before us, having taken exactly the same route, so well done to them, they obviously did a grand job.
We are taking the ‘2 minutes late’ as a win, having exceed our expectations on a great night, fraught with problems. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
I haven't totted up the cost of fuel yet and TBH, I don't really care.
I think we may do it next year, in an effort to redeem ourselves.
No1 son and I took a leisurely drive to Plymouth on Sunday, as a launch point for our brief Cornish excursion.
This allowed us spend the following morning in Plymouth having a look around, before winding our way to Lands End, where we arrived at about 19.30hrs, all planned up and ready to rock.
There were a couple of young lads in a very nice looking red Toyota Supra. Now, Japanese cars are not my thing and Toyota especially, have never been a manufacturer I would consider, BUT, but, a 3 litre, straight 6, that sounds nice and goes even better, dressed up in a very attractive body . . . . .well, I may be have been converted. It helped that both were really nice guys.
Then, there was of course CastorTroy777.
He turned up in his MX5.
We are told that it took Mazda, to show the British rag top makers, how to build a a proper 2 seat soft topped sports car. I would take issue with this generalisation, being a TR man, through and through, but, CastorTroys777’s little Mazda, ate the miles up and following him down the A30 (or was it the A303, I can’t remember) we could see the lovely way the car handled and it's ability to get down the road.
We got going, on time and IMHO, we had a really good run getting out of Cornwall, no 'Sunday driver' delays, lots of dual carriageway and no roadworks delays.
We all 3 of us, opted for the A303, M3 and M25 North.
Again, no problems at Stonehenge, yes, there was a stretch of 40 mph speed limited road leading up to and past Stonehenge, but, I didn’t feel it was an issue.
However, by the time we made it onto the M3, our time in the SL was looking decidedly shaky.
M25;
Roadworks and speed restrictions clockwise from the M3/M25 junction
Closed anticlockwise on the South side near Leatherhead.
Closed clockwise on the North side between J27 and J28
A12, closed at Boreham and for 9 miles at Colchester, with no realistic work round
A11, closed Northbound at J7 and again at J8, both these affecting reasonable work rounds
A1, closed (Stevenage area if I remember correctly)
In the SL, we were feeling deflated and if I'm honest, really quite demotivated. We had pushed hard to keep our time reasonable, but, even so, seemed to have lost a lot of time for no apparent reason, only to find that the Gods of the road were determined to prevent us making up ground on the roads which we felt, should be bankers for a fast run.
In the end, we made it up on the fly and used the; M25 J25; A10 North to the A505, across to the A11, (where roadworks slowed us down even more) then the A14 to Bury St Edmunds and finally the A143 and A146 which got us to Ness Point.
The A143 was a brilliant choice, even if I say so myself, being almost bereft of any traffic
No1 son had a brilliant drive, pulling back almost ALL the time we had lost and from our feared arrival time of 04.55hr, he got us to Ness Point just 2 minutes late, at 04.32hr.
Both the Toyota and the MX5 were there before us, having taken exactly the same route, so well done to them, they obviously did a grand job.
We are taking the ‘2 minutes late’ as a win, having exceed our expectations on a great night, fraught with problems. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
I haven't totted up the cost of fuel yet and TBH, I don't really care.
I think we may do it next year, in an effort to redeem ourselves.
Edited by Johner on Tuesday 21st June 11:13
back_road-hero said:
Hi all. I'm doing it this year as a tribute to my late father-in-law in his Jaguar XKR. I'm up at 3am, getting a flight to Heathrow, picking up the car in Bicester, Oxfordshire, driving to Lands End on the 21st. If it's too much for me then to drive through the night then I'll just shoot some 'B-Roll' on the 21st and do it on the 22nd (using the 21st Times).
Best of luck to all who will be doing it as well.
Cheers
Ed
Shows how observant I am, Back Road-Hero, I've only just noticed where your picture was taken!Best of luck to all who will be doing it as well.
Cheers
Ed
Moderator edit: no social media links please
I'm going there next month.
I know that they are at Kineton, which is the same local area as my paternal family comes from
Given the spelling of their surname and the location, I'm sure my family must be connected to theirs, somewhere in the not too distant past
We'll see
Johner said:
Well, PH’rs we are back home, following our trip to Lowestoft, via Lands End.
No1 son and I took a leisurely drive to Plymouth on Sunday, as a launch point for our brief Cornish excursion.
This allowed us spend the following morning in Plymouth having a look around, before winding our way to Lands End, where we arrived at about 19.30hrs, all planned up and ready to rock.
There were a couple of young lads in a very nice looking red Toyota Supra. Now, Japanese cars are not my thing and Toyota especially, have never been a manufacturer I would consider, BUT, but, a 3 litre, straight 6, that sounds nice and goes even better, dressed up in a very attractive body . . . . .well, I may be have been converted. It helped that both were really nice guys.
Then, there was of course CastorTroy777.
He turned up in his MX5.
We are told that it took Mazda, to show the British rag top makers, how to build a a proper 2 seat soft topped sports car. I would take issue with this generalisation, being a TR man, through and through, but, CastorTroys777’s little Mazda, ate the miles up and following him down the A30 (or was it the A303, I can’t remember) we could see the lovely way the car handled and it's ability to get down the road.
We got going, on time and IMHO, we had a really good run getting out of Cornwall, no 'Sunday driver' delays, lots of dual carriageway and no roadworks delays.
We all 3 of us, opted for the A303, M3 and M25 North.
Again, no problems at Stonehenge, yes, there was a stretch of 40 mph speed limited road leading up to and past Stonehenge, but, I didn’t feel it was an issue.
However, by the time we made it onto the M3, our time in the SL was looking decidedly shaky.
M25;
Roadworks and speed restrictions clockwise from the M3/M25 junction
Closed anticlockwise on the South side near Leatherhead.
Closed clockwise on the North side between J27 and J28
A12, closed at Boreham and for 9 miles at Colchester, with no realistic work round
A11, closed Northbound at J7 and again at J8, both these affecting reasonable work rounds
A1, closed (Stevenage area if I remember correctly)
In the SL, we were feeling deflated and if I'm honest, really quite demotivated. We had pushed hard to keep our time reasonable, but, even so, seemed to have lost a lot of time for no apparent reason, only to find that the Gods of the road were determined to prevent us making up ground on the roads which we felt, should be bankers for a fast run.
In the end, we made it up on the fly and used the; M25 J25; A10 North to the A505, across to the A11, (where roadworks slowed us down even more) then the A14 to Bury St Edmunds and finally the A143 and A146 which got us to Ness Point.
The A143 was a brilliant choice, even if I say so myself, being almost bereft of any traffic
No1 son had a brilliant drive, pulling back almost ALL the time we had lost and from our feared arrival time of 04.55hr, he got us to Ness Point just 2 minutes late, at 04.32hr.
Both the Toyota and the MX5 were there before us, having taken exactly the same route, so well done to them, they obviously did a grand job.
We are taking the ‘2 minutes late’ as a win, having exceed our expectations on a great night, fraught with problems. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
I haven't totted up the cost of fuel yet and TBH, I don't really care.
I think we may do it next year, in an effort to redeem ourselves.
We we’re the ‘nice’ guys in the red Supra. As you mentioned at one point it was very close as to if we would make it by 4:30. Thankfully we made good time in the first half of the race. I would highly recommend using Waze as it’s very accurate with the speed cameras. I think the worst bit for us was the horrendous chippings on the A143, that slowed us right down for about 3 miles. No1 son and I took a leisurely drive to Plymouth on Sunday, as a launch point for our brief Cornish excursion.
This allowed us spend the following morning in Plymouth having a look around, before winding our way to Lands End, where we arrived at about 19.30hrs, all planned up and ready to rock.
There were a couple of young lads in a very nice looking red Toyota Supra. Now, Japanese cars are not my thing and Toyota especially, have never been a manufacturer I would consider, BUT, but, a 3 litre, straight 6, that sounds nice and goes even better, dressed up in a very attractive body . . . . .well, I may be have been converted. It helped that both were really nice guys.
Then, there was of course CastorTroy777.
He turned up in his MX5.
We are told that it took Mazda, to show the British rag top makers, how to build a a proper 2 seat soft topped sports car. I would take issue with this generalisation, being a TR man, through and through, but, CastorTroys777’s little Mazda, ate the miles up and following him down the A30 (or was it the A303, I can’t remember) we could see the lovely way the car handled and it's ability to get down the road.
We got going, on time and IMHO, we had a really good run getting out of Cornwall, no 'Sunday driver' delays, lots of dual carriageway and no roadworks delays.
We all 3 of us, opted for the A303, M3 and M25 North.
Again, no problems at Stonehenge, yes, there was a stretch of 40 mph speed limited road leading up to and past Stonehenge, but, I didn’t feel it was an issue.
However, by the time we made it onto the M3, our time in the SL was looking decidedly shaky.
M25;
Roadworks and speed restrictions clockwise from the M3/M25 junction
Closed anticlockwise on the South side near Leatherhead.
Closed clockwise on the North side between J27 and J28
A12, closed at Boreham and for 9 miles at Colchester, with no realistic work round
A11, closed Northbound at J7 and again at J8, both these affecting reasonable work rounds
A1, closed (Stevenage area if I remember correctly)
In the SL, we were feeling deflated and if I'm honest, really quite demotivated. We had pushed hard to keep our time reasonable, but, even so, seemed to have lost a lot of time for no apparent reason, only to find that the Gods of the road were determined to prevent us making up ground on the roads which we felt, should be bankers for a fast run.
In the end, we made it up on the fly and used the; M25 J25; A10 North to the A505, across to the A11, (where roadworks slowed us down even more) then the A14 to Bury St Edmunds and finally the A143 and A146 which got us to Ness Point.
The A143 was a brilliant choice, even if I say so myself, being almost bereft of any traffic
No1 son had a brilliant drive, pulling back almost ALL the time we had lost and from our feared arrival time of 04.55hr, he got us to Ness Point just 2 minutes late, at 04.32hr.
Both the Toyota and the MX5 were there before us, having taken exactly the same route, so well done to them, they obviously did a grand job.
We are taking the ‘2 minutes late’ as a win, having exceed our expectations on a great night, fraught with problems. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
I haven't totted up the cost of fuel yet and TBH, I don't really care.
I think we may do it next year, in an effort to redeem ourselves.
Edited by Johner on Tuesday 21st June 11:13
We both really enjoyed the drive and it was great to me able to have a mini convoy for most for the journey. I was shocked at how many people were at Ness Point for the sunrise. I think I may be returning next year and hopefully their will be less roadworks.
Good Luck to whoever is doing it tonight. 👍
We opted to tackle the challenge in my VW T6 California, reasoning that we could take our road bikes in the back and squeeze in a cycle Sunday morning. Also everyone knows that the fastest vehicle point to point is a builders van, plus with over 500 miles of range it meant we didn’t need to waste time filling up.
Leaving Lands End at 9:35 we waived goodbye to the Supra, Merc and MX5, with Waze estimating an arrival time of 5:14. At this point it was a combination of excitement to be on our way, but also frustration knowing that all the roadworks would likely scupper any chance of beating the 4:29 sunrise.
We picked up the other 3 cars at the start of the dual carriageway on the A30, only to see the MX5 jink out from behind a truck and take off like he stole it. We tagged onto the back on the Merc and Supra chewing through the miles and slowly Waze ETA began to fall. Thankfully traffic was light and weather was good, and during those small hours with just us and the Mercedes’ and Supra making progress it almost felt like we were in our own version of a Top Gear trip.
We lost the Merc and Supra just before the A303 joins the M3 as they stopped for fuel/driver changes. We stopped at Fleet Services for a driver change before tackling the M25. This second half of the trip was a lot more lonely as we didn’t see our convoy buddies again until Ness Point.
The Waze ETA continued to fall but we were now on roads that were not dual carriageway and we could see the sky begin to lighten. All still looked lost with the ETA above 4:40, but the A143 gave us a glimmer of hope (along with loose chippings and early morning mist) and the ETA began to drop into the 30’s.
We were second to arrive at Ness Point behind the MX5, with a photo time stamp of 4:22. We were routing for our convoy buddies and shortly afterwards the Supra and Merc appeared round the corner. After a quick celebration beer and a quick interview for the local BBC station it was off home for a well earned rest (until next year….)
Leaving Lands End at 9:35 we waived goodbye to the Supra, Merc and MX5, with Waze estimating an arrival time of 5:14. At this point it was a combination of excitement to be on our way, but also frustration knowing that all the roadworks would likely scupper any chance of beating the 4:29 sunrise.
We picked up the other 3 cars at the start of the dual carriageway on the A30, only to see the MX5 jink out from behind a truck and take off like he stole it. We tagged onto the back on the Merc and Supra chewing through the miles and slowly Waze ETA began to fall. Thankfully traffic was light and weather was good, and during those small hours with just us and the Mercedes’ and Supra making progress it almost felt like we were in our own version of a Top Gear trip.
We lost the Merc and Supra just before the A303 joins the M3 as they stopped for fuel/driver changes. We stopped at Fleet Services for a driver change before tackling the M25. This second half of the trip was a lot more lonely as we didn’t see our convoy buddies again until Ness Point.
The Waze ETA continued to fall but we were now on roads that were not dual carriageway and we could see the sky begin to lighten. All still looked lost with the ETA above 4:40, but the A143 gave us a glimmer of hope (along with loose chippings and early morning mist) and the ETA began to drop into the 30’s.
We were second to arrive at Ness Point behind the MX5, with a photo time stamp of 4:22. We were routing for our convoy buddies and shortly afterwards the Supra and Merc appeared round the corner. After a quick celebration beer and a quick interview for the local BBC station it was off home for a well earned rest (until next year….)
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