Daft idea? Midsummer sea to slate-grey sea.
Discussion
Ever since Top Gear did it down south I been wondering about this idea for a run, just thought I'd pitch it up to see what people thought.
Start at sunset at St. Bees, after nice meal at a pub and some non-alcoholic drinks. 7 hours of driving over the passes, across the dales and moors, maybe up to Alston. Try and include some iconic spots such as Honister and Kirkstone Passes, Hawes road, Buttertubs, Blakey Ridge? Arrive at Whitby for sunrise and a fry-up at a fishermans cafe. Arbutts opens at 6am?
Start people off at 2 minute intervals. Could make it a bit of a treasure hunt, say you're given a list of landmarks to take a photo of on the way to make sure everyone does the miles :-)
Would this be a fun adventure or would the fact that the route would be a bit contrived to make it last until dawn ruin it?
Start at sunset at St. Bees, after nice meal at a pub and some non-alcoholic drinks. 7 hours of driving over the passes, across the dales and moors, maybe up to Alston. Try and include some iconic spots such as Honister and Kirkstone Passes, Hawes road, Buttertubs, Blakey Ridge? Arrive at Whitby for sunrise and a fry-up at a fishermans cafe. Arbutts opens at 6am?
Start people off at 2 minute intervals. Could make it a bit of a treasure hunt, say you're given a list of landmarks to take a photo of on the way to make sure everyone does the miles :-)
Would this be a fun adventure or would the fact that the route would be a bit contrived to make it last until dawn ruin it?
You're right Balders, we'd be waiting around too long for the cafe so we'd have to cook our own bacon sarnies. Ben would love that!
If we went on the last Sat in June the sun would set at around 9:40, dark around 10:30, light again from 3:45am and sunrise proper at 4:30am.
We could watch the sun go down (assuming it's not raining...) and flag cars off from 10pm, aim for a 6 hour drive ending at Whitby Abbey?
If we went on the last Sat in June the sun would set at around 9:40, dark around 10:30, light again from 3:45am and sunrise proper at 4:30am.
We could watch the sun go down (assuming it's not raining...) and flag cars off from 10pm, aim for a 6 hour drive ending at Whitby Abbey?
Taking pictures of landmarks might be a bit tricky too, being dark 
A good idea in principle though. The only thing that set alarm bells ringing was the setting off at 2 minute intervals. That immediately changes it from a few mates having a drive out, to an organized event and, it would, whether we say otherwise or not, lead people into trying to catch the car in front. Not good when going over Buttertubs in the dark!
A good idea in principle though. The only thing that set alarm bells ringing was the setting off at 2 minute intervals. That immediately changes it from a few mates having a drive out, to an organized event and, it would, whether we say otherwise or not, lead people into trying to catch the car in front. Not good when going over Buttertubs in the dark!
burriana said:
Taking pictures of landmarks might be a bit tricky too, being dark
A good idea in principle though. The only thing that set alarm bells ringing was the setting off at 2 minute intervals. That immediately changes it from a few mates having a drive out, to an organized event and, it would, whether we say otherwise or not, lead people into trying to catch the car in front. Not good when going over Buttertubs in the dark!
Al is right.A good idea in principle though. The only thing that set alarm bells ringing was the setting off at 2 minute intervals. That immediately changes it from a few mates having a drive out, to an organized event and, it would, whether we say otherwise or not, lead people into trying to catch the car in front. Not good when going over Buttertubs in the dark!
You really need to set them off at 5 minute intervals to make it interesting
moribund said:
benjj said:
Al is right.
You really need to set them off at 5 minute intervals to make it interesting
Knew you'd have something to say lolYou really need to set them off at 5 minute intervals to make it interesting
I think it sounds pretty good. Sadly though I haven't really got a perfect car for it. I think something like an early duck tail 911 RS would be about right, it would keep you awake at least...
burriana said:
The only thing that set alarm bells ringing was the setting off at 2 minute intervals. That immediately changes it from a few mates having a drive out, to an organized event and, it would, whether we say otherwise or not, lead people into trying to catch the car in front. Not good when going over Buttertubs in the dark!
Al, wise words, thanks. The eternal dilemma of a run out - how to make it fun without turning into something more serious. I think we've all been on fairly innocent runs where someone has still managed to pick up a scrape for one reason or another.I think deep down I want to do an all night treasure hunt/12 car but without having to fit a cage or do hard navigation
Not a good idea!So as a newbie to this sort of thing, is it possible for a run like this to work? Having a run out in a group works for a couple of hours but I can't see it being fun for 6 hours with more than 2 or 3 cars. Also given the premise there is already more structure to the drive than just a "run out". I feel like this is taking me into dangerous terittory where I could be held accountable if someone had a little incident, but with no liability insurance or MSA rules etc to fall back on. The whole "Joint Enterprise" thing is a bit scary.
If there's no timing involved then it's not a competition but officially you would need less than 13 cars and a waiver of permit to run it legally. If you're planning it as a "run" rather than a thrash then you won't draw attention to it. You could do it as a series of map references or way-points with no official route and/or have to answer clues on the way to keep the speeds down. You could run it as an economy run??? There could be twists such as getting a point for every MPG under / over manufacturers mpg specs as I assume that some og the cars may not be as economical as they could be.
I'm up for it.
I'm up for it.
Gassing Station | Yorkshire | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff