Sunrise Sevens

Tinsel Town

2011-12-24T20:40:00.003Z

So, Friday night, the one that runs into Xmas eve this year, work's done and we've all driven home for Xmas to that infernal song on the radio.... but the call is out to do a bit more driving. Midnight at the BP just up from SIS (Special Intelligence Service) building on London's South Bank? And when the big Xmas fella' makes that type of suggestion, well, you have to oblige don't you? Anything short would be just seasonally humbugish!

We met Santa as planned, the decorative fairy lights on the roll bars seemed not to attract a reprimand from the short straw shift constabulary tonight.

Sat Nav and Santa led the way, his two helpers as close behind as the black cabs, red buses and dust carts, would allow. I guess they viewed our frivolous convoy as worth pushing about a bit. Santa remained sanguine through all this, his elves less so, we struggled to wish good will to all taxi drivers, big arsed red buses and end-of-week oozing dust carts (insert 'garbage trucks' as required). Haven't these people seen Santa before? Perhaps not in a Seven.

So we drove around a bit, iconic landmarks and funny cars in a big bright city at Xmas. It wasn't raining. The level of good cheer from the hecklers was as high as the traffic was low.

'Give us a ride mate, we'll pay!' 'When you grow up, will you get the rest of the car?'

Ho ho ho and a Merry ...LOOK OUT!' 'What'll she do mate?' (Eh?) 'Go on, give it some!'

'Nice Morgan!' 'I live in Caterham' etc etc.... ad nauseam

The big wheel (London Eye) looked sparkly,but Big Ben had been turned off , didn't know they did that, austere times...but it is Xmas, miserable sods.We whizzed down the embankment , probably about three times, a forbearance of what was to come. Three Satnavs and a SantaNav do not an easy navigation make in the middle of town. Tower Bridge was probably the last of the planned landmarks before Satan got hold of Satnav and Santa, and the carefully plotted itinerary soon became yesterday's good idea. We were in to the early hours of Xmas Eve now and having marvelled at the three LED screens offering a selection of differing, but fruitless solutions to the next 100 yards, we chose the direct route to some warm tea , a bacon sandwich and some sausage rolls from the ration pack. Colour soon returned to Santa's cheeks and the heckles from the roadside regained there received humour. Although the often barked : 'how much for this car??' still leaves me short of a reply that is both harmless and withering at the same time. 'About as much as your missus,why?' or 'How much of 'what' for this car?' or perhaps : 'You could have invited me for a drink first mate?'...dun'no.

We ended up at Billy Bunters on the Mile End road...a beacon of hope , well, a beacon of bacon anyway for the weary festive makers. It has been awarded the much sought after 'APPROVED' Sunrise Sevens sticker, merely for being open at this time. Toilet facilities were lacking/absent though, the post blat urinary moment is a thing of meditation and reverence carried out nearest to the scene of feeding as possible. It's a territory marking thing and is less effective when hurriedly executed in dark corners of alleyways where the prickle of hypodermics and the wink of tin foil only serve to distract.

Approved!

Sustained and drained , we drove home for Xmas. No radio, no song....damn, it seems to be playing anyway, I think it's just in the air at this time of year. Hope Chris Rea gets paid well for it's annual thrashing.

Home by 3.45, the fairy lights are dark and the Iron sledge is rested in its garage until the next festivity.

Driving in my car,

Driving home for Xmas,

Driving home for Xmas ,

With a thousand memories.

(Gotcha! You're singning it, right?)

Somewhere on the Mile End road at some point in the morning.

Happy Xmas from the Sunrise Sevens!

~777~

It's beginning to look a bit like Xmas!

2011-12-17T17:22:00.003Z

Newlands Corner,Surrey, England , Dawn -1C. Very seasonal.

Tyre kicking, waiting for a bit of sunlight and any late comers.

7(777)7

There's something about Andys!

2011-12-02T12:04:00.001Z

Andy (Dalongbloke) returned to the world of early morning adventures last Sunday. His car was fresh from a new axle rebuild having comprehensively 'lunched' his crown wheel and pinion all in the name of charity at an event at Dunsfold back in the summer. Giving rides and frightening the public into coughing up cash for a good cause is one thing, having the car off the road for 10 weeks as a consequence is even more charitable.

Having got up at 5 am to meet the RV time at 7.15 all the way up from the south coast to Farnham, you'd think the enthusiasm of being back in a 7 would have abated a little. Perhaps the excitement of finally being back in the company of fellow Sunrisers led to a moments loss of concentration, but even those nicely treaded road tyres didn't stop an off road excursion at the first opportunity. At a nice little set of bends, 10 mins from Andy's baptism in the Hindhead tunnel , he chose to take the cross country route off the road and through the undergrowth.

Admittedly it was damp and slippery, but when the third set of lights falls out of line in the rear view mirror the assumption is always a breakdown , rather than an off! Whilst waiting for the headlights to appear line-a -stern , Ian remarked that perhaps this Andy had also chosen the 'innapropriate parking' option that his name sake had very effectively taken a few weeks back (hinted at in 'Autumn Mist Blat, Bike and Bits' thread).

And it would have appeared so.

But with less of a consequence in this instance. A big divot of soil and grass, twigs, leaves and a few scratches to a newly sprayed cycle wing being the only apparent outcome. Hence the smile.Having discovered the limit, it takes a while to get your nerve back tho'. We look forward to Andy's second return to full operational capability ;-)

Andy's (Dalongbloke) 1st tunnel run.

Other Andy? All mended and ready for duty too. £7K later, that is :-0 Seems that inappropriate parking can be practised in degrees of extreme. But you'd never know it now with the welcome return of the blue R300 fresh from it's factory 'refresh' shall we say!

The R300 returns: How odd does it look in the full clothing of 'screen and hood!?

~777~

Driving, with respect.

2011-11-18T16:19:00.001Z

By claiming the first of the daylight, these early mornings somehow let you feel that the day is yours. Bit by bit, and with jealousy, you begin to share the morning with the ever increasing road population as they gate crash into your day.This was different though, and certainly not a day that I could lay claim to.

Remembrance Day Sunday: A day of solemnity and reflection here in the UK, but also of thanks I believe.

So, when the forecast was for sunshine on Sunday, there was divided opinion as to the suggestion of combining a morning of selfish pleasure, in driving noisy brightly coloured cars, with a visit to a remote country war memorial for the 11 am, 2 minute silence. The opinions volleyed back and forth, none more so than amongst the Lotus Seven Club forum (Blatchat). Discussion around interrupting a service by appearing in a cavalcade display of frivolity, admittedly had a certain resonance, certainly if this were to be the outcome, but surely there must be a way of combining a morning of freedom in the country with friends and a period of contemplation for those that fought for what we now have?

The SKCC thought so too, and continued with a plan to meet. A spectacular misty sunrise at one of the highest points amongst the North Downs of Surrey was worth the alarm call in itself.

Sun up! Ship Out!... and the first part, the driving, begins. Late Autumn mist, combined with slowly drying roads lit by the low angled sun, kept the pace down. The mixed capabilities of cars in the group, and last year's tired summer tyres, aligned progress with the considered pace of the day's underlying theme. However, hi-lights would include: skimming through the Sussex countryside on one of the most sublime sweeping and rolling roads ( the unremarkably labelled 'A272'), the cars ahead and behind appearing stationery in their equally matched pace. For minutes at a time the effortless, rapidly changing stage scenery of trees, fields, hills and villages just a moving backdrop to the wavy, single file stream of coloured composites.

All too soon the breakfast alarm would go off and the 272 is abandoned. This time it would be a shared stop with the bikers at the 'Chalet' near Cowfold. They're forgiven the dainty title of this roadside venue, the tea is hot and strong and the food is good, and, as is a requirement these days: a decent price.Quantity is important within that value rating too, but we've yet to define the score card for the Sunrise Sevens award of 'Approved' eateries, but the Chalet would warrant one.

Part 2 , and on from the hearty (!) breakfast and back to the roads of Sussex. The top layer of fleeces were removed as the calorific value of the food bolstered the sun's efforts, now a little warmer, as the 11th hour approaches. Internet satellite mapping helped select the War Memorial at the small hamlet of Stopham as a possible destination for our convoy, key to us: simple access and ease of parking away from the memorial. Mark's research paid off, but it was with sensitivity that we approached the green outside Stopham Church. With plenty of time before 11 o'clock, we were able to limit our arrival impact and gauge as to how our attendance would be perceived. Individually our sensitivity to the situation had been heightened by the preceding debate and opinion, I was ready to 'drive on by' if this appeared in any way uncomfortable...

The debate, however, was to be won by the 'proposers'.The local congregation gathering around the green immediately made us welcome with remarks as to how nice it was to see us and our cars. When asked as to how we had come to choose their particular spot on the map , Mark responded with the now common place 'Googled it', which luckily was taken as a compliment of some sort by the tweedy lady enquirer. A smattering of Military uniforms and medal bearing chests, amongst the Sunday best of the majority, clearly differentiated the weather proofed 7even drivers from the gathered congregation. Any of our remaining concerns as to gate crashing and perceptions of insincerity were further allayed by even more welcoming comments, genuine interest and thanks for our attendance.

The words from the Vicar standing at the memorial in this small community would have been similarly repeated across the country almost in unison, each reminding us of the ultimate sacrifice made by many, that so many more of us must not forget.

The two minute silence at 11am, in it's stark simplicity, was, somehow appropriately, broken by the distant call of crows and the crack of an untimely shotgun volley.

And before the wreath laying, the words:

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them.

In returning to our cars, our morning and our lives, it was all too easy to rejoin the A272 and back to the continued pace of the 21st century. Freedom to jump in our sports cars and to take any direction we like, if we so chose... let's ensure that it doesn't become so easy to forget those that had little choice in the sacrifice that helped give us that freedom.

Thanks to Mark at SKCC for putting the morning together.

~77777777777~

Embarrassing moment.

2011-11-15T14:55:00.001Z

So, if you want to go quicker than a 7...get an Astra van!

....or drive faster! ;-)

~7~

Missed it blat!

2011-10-23T23:52:00.000+01:00

So the weather was good on the weekend, but I was away...doesn't mean that the fun stops right??

The forecast was for a dry night Saturday and Qwaig was up for a run in the morning...so best let him tell his tale:

A 'Turner' Sunrise

After a short volunteer roll call for a 'before sun-up sortie' on Sunday, Ian and I, as the only duty members, arranged a suitable ETA for an early morning blat across the downs... the ones up north of where we are, The Chilterns are they?

Meeting early in Farnborough in the dark, I inadvertantly made the day for two late shift workers at the Total services: photos of the car, whilst I filled up, were duly posed to their satisfaction (simple pleasures!).

Suitably fuelled, I was keen to get on and attack the nearest set of corners, but sense prevailed ...I paraphrase a conversation with this morning's squadron leader along the lines of : 'rather than stuff it 2 mins from take off, lets leave it until we're at least amongst the interesting roadscape'. Won over, a more 'sensible' (straight) initial route prevailed, at least until some of the grease and damp had burnt off the road surface.

Soon, however, we were deep into the blat and the in-flight entertainment was worthy of any long haul flight. With the pitch of the road and the surface greasy, I was left as a 'passenger along for the ride' for a good stretch (if caught unawares, of course) - smooth and steady was the flying mantra of the day... a few Hail Mary's helped.

But this did not account for all the mid blat turbulence. Following Ian down some single (ish), OK , 'narrow' roads in the middle of Berks somewhere, I saw ahead the tell tale flicker of my wingman's brake light, noted, I looked beyond: nothing in view, so I kept the airspeed up - brake lights still on - and here is where I am thinking why is he slowing? - now why is he stopping - shit, why has he stopped?? And out of the green - coming towards us: a full size John Deer - resplendent in green camo and hiding in the gloom (no lights)....feck!! Fronts lock up, off brake, turn, back on brakes....

Ian in the meantime, (having had recent experience of a very similar incident), slams into first and pulls forward a couple of feet.

I think they call that a near miss in flying terms.

Trousers browned and incident recorded, we head off in search of the Wantage road.

Now who needs the glorious 12th and a gun to go bag a brace of grouse?? Just take one 7even and drive it - the number of times we had to stop or slow to walking pace to avoid collateral damage to car/bird/driver was stupid. I cannot believe people pay to go and shoot these crazy fowl, Ian and I could have filled the larder of Popham Cafe with the mornings catch.

Egg bacon and a couple of grouse please. Tasty.

(Please don't tell me they weren't Grouse... as 'chicken' or 'pigeon' doesn't sound as good and, besides, it would make less of a gourmet occasion for our fantasy breakfast.)

In all, a great blat: roads were interesting and a nice challenge for a change.(Oh and I didn't get lost this time ;-) )

Until the next one!

Cheers, Qwaig the Qwick

Words : Qwaig Pics: Ian H Music: What farkin' music??

(77)

Autumn returns.

2011-10-16T23:30:00.005+01:00

So, when the forecast is for fog, they mean it then... 4C and slippery. It made for some seasonal shots though:

(77)

Big skies & Blinding roads: October in Wales!

2011-10-02T23:42:00.000+01:00

Video clip.

36 hours , 545 miles in total, 400 of them in blat heaven , thank you again Wales.

(To be continued.)

~77~

There's something burning in the sky!

2011-09-28T23:35:00.000+01:00

Wow, it's October on Saturday and look at this:

Mmmm, wonder what I could do with a sunny weekend and a few hundred miles to burn off??!

Where's that tent and Sat nav....too good a chance to pass up, surely?

Sunrise Sevens in good company.

2011-09-25T00:50:00.000+01:00

Sunrise patch on Bruno's early TVR as seen today in France on the "6e Rallye Artois Lye" run by our friends of the Ecurie La Grange aux Damiers.

Pic lifted from the SKCC forum (cheers Mark!)

Autumn Mist Blat, Bike and Bits.

2011-09-24T14:58:00.002+01:00

Andy's back...

We had Young 'Stav' out on his Fireblade (the actual bike) with us this morning, humbling us with his demonstrations of warp speed. It made a change for something to be passing on the right, well, ok, overtaking us then...

They used to put Fireblade engines in Caterhams, they go a bit slower than Stav does.

The mist was hazardous, but the real dangers on the road were man made this morning:

He waved to each of us, we waved back.

We are reminded tho', that pushing the envelope can bring fun, but it has it's limits...

Ooops!

777(+ Fireblade)

Of incidents and accidents....

2011-09-11T14:51:00.000+01:00

'We'll do Delhia without the Delhia, then perhaps we'll avoid the carbooters and horseboxists, maybe a quick stop for coffee at Mick's Monster Burger Truck on the top of the hill, and then catch that road that's usually full of cyclists with the narrow bridge where I nearly stacked it, the 272 (reverential pause), Steep Hill and back via The Bends and across to the camp site and the (c)Anal Cafe for breakfast.What d'ya reckon?'

...is some idea of the content of the pre blat plan briefing before heading off from the start point.

The usual response to this scattering of landmarks, incidents, numbers, hints and history is: 'I'll follow you then'. Probably wise, but this does require engagement in a roulette game of chance that, when lost, can leave intelligent fathers, husbands and previously clear thinking DIY experts marooned in the darkest of back roads miles from home!

Quick! Over-take, I don't wan'na get lost!

So often the pack can easily be split at a roundabout, or, can turn unseen up a side road. Within moments the missing man can be a couple of miles out of formation. Spurred on by the ever reducing chance of making it back home to laminate the flooring before lunch, the inevitability of having to ask the pyjama clad gent in wellies, walking a very small dog, 'which way to civilisation?' is a situation really best avoided. Even more so, having to engage the stained jodhpur scratching horse woman (without horse, but with riding crop) to determine, which way, pray tell, is out?

No, no, I'd rather lead the way, make it up , pretend I meant to turn left and then pull a U-turn back the same way, anything to avoid that lost behind the lines feeling ...or, alternatively, follow a carefully plotted SatNav file... up someone's drive! Just don't leave me in my little car in the backroads at 7 in the morning, I mean there's Landrovers and big tractors with Caterham catchers on the front in those places! It's not all fun this you know, we have to suffer for our art! (Art? Really?).

So why then did Qwick Qwaig fell off the back...twice. Especially as he was due home by 10 for some DIY duties. Blatiquette says that a single 7 search party will go on a rescue mission whilst the others wait in position for the hopeful return of the pair.This does rely, to a certain extent, on the lost driver realising his predicament and back tracking to the most likely 'departure from route' point. And whilst the wait ensues, well, hang around a bit, talk about the lost man, take photos or have a wee.

We didn't see Qwaig again, he was understood to have got home 2 days later. He got told off.

Breakfast was delayed and attached to the end of the blat for a change, mainly to catch more driving time with less traffic. However, it would be with caution that we plan the same again. With concentration levels low and the loss of Qwaig somewhere in Sussex adding to a hypoglycaemic dip, it was then that I decided not to check that the road ahead was clear before rolling on to the roundabout!

I thought you'd gone mate!!

How embarrasing!? Jeeez. Sorry Ian. It's taken two weeks to overcome the shame to post this. A new fog light and some artistic tapping from the inside and Ian has restored a level of acceptability to a previously ripple free back panel.It soooo nearly could have been a whole lot worse... I remember almost giving it the full beans to go for a gap, but coasted forward instead.I'll eat breakfast earlier and pay more attention in future.Normal ops have been re-instated.

My nose cone? Nothing there. Tough old tank.

At least Ian got home. Poor Qwaig. They eat Scotsmen in Sussex.

777(7)

Photo from New Zealand

2011-09-09T10:47:00.001+01:00

Our most southern Sunrise Sevener, Viv, sent in this photo: Top of Takaka Hill, South Island , great vista of the Kahurangi Range in the early Spring sunshine..... Oh, and his beautiful Series 1 Lotus 7 'tool room' replica with a Coventry Climax 1500cc engine... inspired from his chat with Edward Lewis in 2007 perhaps? (See previous post.)

Viv and Hal out for a run on NZ's fathers day.

~7~

Brighton Bank Holiday Sunshine.

2011-09-08T00:17:00.000+01:00

When the sun shines on a Bank Holiday Monday it's even worth the risk in following the crowd south to the traditional destination for the last long weekend of the year : Brighton.

By 8am the sea front hadn't yet tempted many by it's pebbled charm. A few Mods on shiny scooters stood sentry for the tradition of what remains of the 60's in their minds. Overwarm in their fur rimmed parkas (they'd dressed for the traditional bank holiday Monday weather) they were to break their commitment to tradition by taking tea and bacon sandwiches in the same cafe as the modern descendant of their 'Rocker' arch enemy. I suppose like any herding animal lacking enough of it's own number, they can at least mix these days, in shared flashback, without the flick-knife!

Then

Madeira Drive is also an historic location in Lotus 7 history. The first ever 'production' 7 supplied to a Mr Edward Lewis (proprietor of Westover Shoes , manufacturers of racing footwear!) made it's first ever appearance at the Brighton Speed trials on September the 7th 1957. 54 years ago and won it's class, virtually straight out of the box. The day after, Lewis took the car to Prescott hillclimb and won the 1100cc sports car class, it's second outing... and so the story began.

Lewis, 1st Series 1 Seven , around 'then' as well.

Southern Hemisphere Sunrise Sevener Viv with Edward Lewis in 2007

at the Lotus 7 50th anniversary meet discussing back 'then'.

...in the background Graham Nearn!

Qwaig, on Madeira Drive, in his distant cousin of the Series 1 Lotus 7 , 57 years later than 'then'.

With homage dutifully paid, and with beach front numbers increasing, the return blat leg of 75 miles was calling. But not before the habitual stop at Devils Dyke was ticked off...well it was great weather and the view across the Weald back to the North Downs served to tempt us like dogs being shown a bone, (or Andy M a nice roadside hedge!). The A272 traverses most of the countryside viewed from the top of this hill and our history will record mornings like this as being, mostly, bloody brilliant.

7777

More sodding about.

2011-09-07T21:49:00.000+01:00

How do you test a sign for cripes sake??!

Spelling? Stability? Personality fit?

777

Just a bit of fun...

2011-09-01T20:28:00.002+01:00

It's not all about driving around the country ... there's sodding about to do too!

Tunnel fun... in jeopardy?

2011-08-30T14:30:00.000+01:00

So, this new tunnel has opened near us ...what fun! Twin bore, dual carriageway and £75K per metre, all just so that us car enthusiasts can enjoy the sound of engines echoing off the perfectly formed walls !!

It seems that the tunnel's catchment effect has been a little underestimated tho'...

Hindhead tunnel 'turned into Monaco race track'

Residents who waited years for a new tunnel to end congestion that choked a busy main road are facing the new menace of wealthy young drivers who have turned the route into a 200mph race track.
The speed-loving motorists apparently believe the new construction – the longest under-land road tunnel in the UK - resembles the famous Monaco road tunnel used in the Formula 1 Grand Prix.

They are staging dangerous time trials along the 1.2-mile stretch in their powerful sports cars including Lamborghinis, Ferraris and Aston Martins.

Locals in Hindhead, Surrey, welcomed the opening of the A3 tunnel at the end of July, as it diverted queues of traffic away from their homes.

But their satisfaction has turned to dismay and anger as a new and unwelcome set of drivers trying to emulate Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button Sebastian Vettel have turned up on their doorsteps..The racers are lining up to roar through the tunnel late at night.

William Broadhurst who has lived in Hazel Grove, just metres away from the south exit of the new tunnel, for nearly 20 years, said: "It's such a flagship project, and such a good thing that we can construct something of such magnitude, but these reckless drivers are causing us sleepless nights and my very real fear is that there will be a fatality.

"They're turning up in their souped-up cars, their Ferarris, Aston Martins, Lamborghinis, so they're obviously not just young drivers.

"They are brainless, mindless thugs who are clearly organising this kind of activity. It's nearly always late at night, and a neighbour of ours said he could hear them from a mile away."

Mr Broadhurst can clearly see the drivers from his bedroom window and has reported several licence plates to the police.

As well as racing through the tunnel, he said the drivers are using the south slip road from it as a race track and are performing burn-outs and hand-brake turns around a roundabout near the Royal Junior School.

The 66-year-old, who underwent a triple heart bypass six years ago, added that neighbours who had approached them were subjected to verbal abuse.

"I do understand that the police have limited resources and can't be everywhere all the time, but we were so looking forward to the tunnel opening - it doesn't bode well for the future of the area."

Surrey Police confirmed that complaints had been received regarding dangerous driving.

Neighbourhood specialist officer Jason Clifford said: "It would appear that the enthusiasts are keen to experience the longest under-land road tunnel in the United Kingdom and for some this has led to some extreme driving practices.

"Surrey Police will not tolerate anti-social driving and has as a direct result of reports and complaints from local residents set up specific taskings to tackle the behaviour."

He said CCTV footage from the 130 cameras along the tunnel was being monitored by police.

The Hindhead Tunnel opened southbound and northbound on July 29th, two days ahead of schedule, as part of the new Hindhead bypass for the A3 road in Surrey.

It forms part of a four-mile dual-carriageway being built to replace the last remaining stretch of single carriageway on the 68-mile London to Portsmouth road.

The bypass is intended to improve road safety, reduce congestion and improve air quality.

Lamborghinis,ferraris,souped up cars?? No,mention of old men in kit cars ...can't be us then! ;-)

777

Caterham F1

2011-07-08T00:51:00.008+01:00

Suddenly our little cars have a visible F1 connection!

There's a certain 'completion-of-the-circle' in this week's placement of the Caterham brand on the Team Lotus F1 car that brings the name right into the pinnacle of motorsport. The brand carries the ubiquitous association with the Seven that was banned from racing other marques, nearly 50 years ago, for being too fast! Having been in continuous production since then, as a Lotus and now Caterham, there's a strange irony in seeing the two brands together, let alone in a formula 1 Grand Prix. Does that mean we can all now re-badge our cars with the iconic Lotus roundel without the feeling of pretence?

Caterham themselves have aligned their latest offering smartly with the F1 team look, so why not!?
It's a shame that the F1 car isn't the competition beater that the 7 is! Let's hope F1 Team Lotus/Caterham can win some points this weekend at Silverstone. That would be nice.

(Update:Sunday.No points then...both Team Lotus cars DNF'd with gearbox issues.)

Early, like a Sunday morning...

2011-07-03T22:20:00.010+01:00

10am, 120 miles and one big breakfast later. A summer Sunday morning in Britain, grabbed by all four tyres...

Best place in the world England on a clear summer morning...and 5.30am is a good time to be strapping in to the 7, it means I can be out there and be part of it. Blue sky adds a certain promise to the day for everyone, and, to a certain few, it guarantees a good morning before most of the country has even stirred. So, it's kind of 'ours' in a way...daft huh? But it is what get's us 'up and out' like no work day will!

It was cool out there, a 'three layer' morning, but even the early sun had heat in it. There's a sense of an event about the whole thing...what, just driving about in a car? Well, yes. But not just any car is it? It's only half a car for starters, which adds a certain involvement. It's the flip side of the week, the opposite of the commute, the do and complete. It's the 'here's the plan - this is what we're doing, this is where we're going and this is when it's finished'. So, a beginning a middle and an end , not often that process gets to run through in many things we do these days....And with chapters of events, fun, fear, anger and food all thrown in for the ingredients of a good book or film or, in this case, a drive in a little car. So, yeah, an event.

Sun up: Time to get up and top up!

Empty roads to empty your mind...

Hand signals to the empty minded....

Poor Bambi's mind...all over the road.

The breakfast reward, venison sausages?

Blue sky, loud exhaust and 12,000 revs... Qwaig was giving rides today in his BEC.

Show off!

7777

Drifting Record

2011-06-19T22:08:00.002+01:00

It's not a Sunrise thing this post, but it's not often you get to witness a world record in the making, well not an automotive one anyway, so I thought it worth a note.The last world record I saw was 'Anthony from the seniors' in our swimming club going for the treading water world record. This was when I was about ten. We left at the end of the day and returned the next morning to see Anthony, still 'treading', but quite a bit more wrinkled. He'd been there all night, I saw him eat lunch whilst treading, I wondered if he'd been for a poo. He got the record, but I'm not sure for which.

Today I saw Mauro Calo 'driving instructor and racing driver' complete 1.9 miles in a circular power slide in a big saloon AMG Mercedes at 'benz World, just up the road at Brooklands. It was father's day, so we went to look at cars....and there was Mauro making a lot of smoke! He did it though, and the official record invigilators gave the Guiness entry he sought for himself and Mercedes. No doubt the column inches we'll all see next month in the mags will meet with head office approval. Looked like fun, especially with someone else's car and tyre set...which were the limiting factor, the offside rear let go after nearly two miles of roasting.

World record holder : melting a Pirelli

--0--

Oh jeez...not again!

2011-05-28T22:23:00.003+01:00

SUI, a very real disorder..Google it.

Early warnings in the morning. (Crows play chicken.)

2011-05-15T20:24:00.003+01:00

Hayling Island for breakfast.

Ok, the theme for this one is 'Be prepared'.

There's the usual check list, of course,what with the early start:

1) Faculties.
2) Wallet.
3) Selection of goggles/shades.
4) Phone.
5) Some idea of the route.
6) Another idea for a route.
7) Reasonably empty bladder.

Most of the above can be pre-prepared the night before, the bladder perhaps dealt with just before departure.(Some still consider this as a punctuation mid blat, or perhaps the equivalent of a urinary ad break, who knows.)

'Faculties' though, definitely can only be assessed and calibrated on the day. The variables of the success of a night's sleep are not pre defined and the battlefield of indigestion, crying babies, urban Saturday night background revelry and police helicopter attendance to anything that allows them to get their hours up, can lay to waste the hope of finding a clear and stable platform from which to deliver an accurate set of driving skills come the hour.

Speaking skills are often a challenge at 5.30 am, let alone driving skills.Which is one reason why we've been meeting at 6.00 am (or later)! Ablutions and clothing choices are difficult enough, the hoped for aid of a forced caffeine intake so early, adds only to a scalp twitching bolus of thought processes log-jammed behind the eyes. Little actually happens, other than a flurry of indecisive attempts to gather things, dress, look for stuff, find stuff and look for stuff already found.

So often this is illustrated when finally reaching for the ignition start only to find an empty tumbler! Huh??

(Adds to above list:)

8) Car keys.

It's only meant to be for fun, but the stamina, skill and sheer level of thought required to accomplish a timely arrival at the RV and deliver the first 15 mins of a blat, needs a staggering bandwidth of processing capacity. A 'near level' infra red scan analysis of the freshly gathered Sunrise 7 formation at 6 am would show the hot spots not to be exhaust headers or heater outlets (for those that have), but the grey matter hidden beneath beanie hats and crash helmets!

Some would point to this being an age related issue, like an early morning onset Alzheimers or something? The younger members might place it as a beer related matter from the night before, 'cos they can still do that... to a man, we put it down to just not enough hours in the night. Nothing to do with having to get up too early, no, that couldn't be it.

The thing is, within moments of the start of the blat proper, we're straight in the pocket of this driving thing: cold tyres, an R300 Duratech to catch and a K-Series to 'cock a snoot at' (WTF?) fired with caffeine fuelled intent. It's a scary mix in the wrong hands. A bit of mental 'prep' helps to judge the movements of others around you, predict their lines through the roundabout and take in the road ahead.

The absence of cars in the night always leaves plenty of stuff in the road come dawn, things that were feeding are now food, carrion crows (and lately, jays) pecking at gristle without a knife or fork hop from their feast away from the hoovering 7 nose cones in a last moment game of chicken... (irony and broken parts of a joke could be assembled from this somehow.)

The low sun, whenever we venture eastwards, which is often, throws out shapes, shadows and deep contrasts. The feeble wink of brake lights up stand little chance of alerting the barrelling pursuant in the event of an unpredicted hazard ahead.

Bike engine Q plate (for Qwick Qwaig!)

Awareness of likelihoods and possible outcomes, warning signs and prepared alternatives, countermeasures and contingencies... luckily this is all instinctual, whatever processing power that heats up the beanie hat goes on unnoticed from behind the wheel in the slipstream mayhem of 'getting on it'.

How apt then, that the silhouette of a key south coast early warning defence facility should appear at the cool down stage at the end of stage 1 of the blat. (Not that apt really, just a way of tieing in a picture with some words.. I liked the unsympathetic military spikey skyline that it presents across the entire city below. No planning permission refusals here along the top of the downs then! Message to Whitehall : 'Couldn't you blend this array into the background as a copse of trees or a facsimile of a working iron age farm perhaps? Or... or disguised to look like some seagulls, quite a few, feeding or flocking maybe? Message back to Portsmouth Planning office , 'Get flocked'. HM Forces)

A big breakfast, at what was Delia's Cafe on Hayling Island, did it's restorative thing with a chance to re-tune the processor for another session of filtering out road spam to achieve that hi bit rate efficiency for the return leg.

Another wee before departure, all part of the planning and the process you see...and then another, for some ;-)

Which is just as well, for mid stage 2 of the return would have seen a 7 seat in need of valeting to remove the salt stains! After leap frogging our way through a pack of racing cyclists (?) (I think a 'mental' of racing cyclists would suit), two then chose to manoeuvre at the last moment offering this wheel locking moment for one of the blattists:

Now, one 7 is noisy, well generally you can here it coming...and two are really going to be pretty distinguishable from the background noises of a Sussex countryside going about it's Sunday morning, so why, oh why, pull out into a 'pair abreast' formation just when two 7's, reasonably 'on the noise', are about to overtake???!! The smell of rubber passes, the drip of relief is tangible but contained , the sense of anger persists for a long time.

Ok then, senses and observation skills are re-heightened accordingly.... and promptly we complete a 'spirited' set of angles exiting a roundabout to a white'n'striped audience that we hadn't invited !!

Help, we need some of Her Maj's early warning defence gear to help us out of this one, our self preservation instinct and previously relied upon 6th sense has deserted us! The run for Farnham, our usual dispersal point, would take on a 'get home under the radar' objective from this point on. Chameleon eyed, we'd watch the front and back, left and right. No assumptions as to any situations from here on in... well, not for some of us anyway... negotiating an 'outside lane hogging Alfa' would prove to be an adversary not so easily trumped in the high stakes of this day's blat:

The blue flashing grill lights bannished the lone 7 to the layby. I say 'lone 7', 'cos the debrief notes record that the 2 leading wingmen at the time were not to be seen for dust as the sacrificial tail end Charlie was left to his fate. 'All for none and none for one' in this case. 'Thanks for leaving me to the Rozzers you bastards', was the plaintive text.

So, the theme: 'Be prepared', and I'd add 'always' to that, has run throughout the morning and, if nothing else, has given a thread to this post! We'll take heed for a bit and then hope the luck of the 'Risers returns , poor 'Charlie', though...

Breakfast by the sea.

Post script: The 'officer' who pulled Charlie didn't in fact stop...apparently, this is highly irregular according to procedural practice. We suspect that his plodness had lunch to eat or more secretive matters to attend! Luck returns. Although the behaviour of the other two blatmen in their hurried escape, which too is highly irregular, has still yet to be presented to the stewards for enquiry!!

777(7)

Would if we could get to Goodwood.

2011-05-01T23:54:00.005+01:00

Sunrise at the RV

Well it was a bit slippery this time , 7am , a dry night we thought , but not once we got down Alton way.
Supercar Sunday or something was going on ...the journey not the destination and all that , so irrespective, it was a three 7's early push down to Goodwood via some of the choice, well known roads. They take on a bit of a different dimension after a shower an hour or so earlier, the road now a little less well known and slightly less 'choice'.

Going ...

Still going...

Not quite gone...

Phew!

And even time to despatch a more modern cousin ...

...simple pleasures.

Goodwood had the expected selection of Supercars (and not so). Very expensive brightly coloured sweets served on the contrasting grey of asphalt. Those with the spending power of a penny chew left only to imagine how it all could have been...'yeah, but are they happy?' is the repeated mantra.

The man with that £300grand fast Lexus offered me a sit in his white kid leather cockpit... my gearbox oil stained trousers and a shrug of X-flow engined explanation didn't get me that seat in the kind man's supercar (what would I say to such a grown up anyway!?), but we did talk of X-flows in his Mk1 Escort way back before all this modern equipment, some common ground amongst the £pounds. The fussing TV crew lost interest in the oily man and the discussion of ford engines... Lexus guy appeared happy for a moment. Soon I left him to the penny chews.

Some nice sweets:

Graphics, US style:

We touched some good stuff, and wondered at others. But then the bacon sandwich queue was too long, so a meaningful search was on for some breakfast and appropriate clothing was chosen for the return run:

Just don't touch my face!

--------------777-------------

Eating late.

2011-04-25T22:25:00.009+01:00

'Too much tarmac after midnight makes for a restless night's sleep.'

Something my mum might have said if she'd have been knowledgeable of such pursuits.I suspect that Dad wasn't lured to such adventures on the (more) open roads back in the late 60's... in his Ford Anglia.

Question is, did they need 'blats' back then? (For it is indeed a 'need'.) They may not have had to make special arrangements to avoid traffic and to rendezvous at ridiculous times of the day just to find some time and space to ...errr... 'get a bit of pace on' with a few friends of similar outlook.The all seeing spectre of spy cameras were still only prophesied in controlling population activities, 1984 and Big Brother dictates were a long way off back then and ANPR systems were the stuff of fantasy. So, maybe they didn't have to blat. Every trip out could have been a wheel twirling self expression event if they chose...now wouldn't that have been nice? Something tells me, that even then, the horse box and caravan would still rule mighty over the need for speed.

A bit of research tells me that caravans were restricted to 30 mph in 1958 ... Has no one told them this has actually changed?

Of course, we imagine that we're the first generation to suffer virtually unusable roads with the burgeoning population of car users ... and we don't want to be told otherwise ! For then, gone is the crusade to find that small window of opportunity for us to conquer the tide that is technological availability, and social necessity, for everyone to have a vehicle and to damn well use it just at the very same moment that we (Sunrisers and similar) have chosen to do so!!

'Rise up and demand time on the road' we say....so we do... rise up, very early as it happens, and demand that our tired aching remnants can make it to the garage and that something of the form enjoyed in the usual waking hours will soon energise the soul enough to make the physics of driving possible and, eventually, enjoyable, at these otherwise unreasonable times.

The truth being is that it's really just an adopted cause, isn't it? A reason to get out in the car when sense would suggest otherwise. It's a raison d'etre that we'll foster and grow, if not for a real purpose, then perhaps for a bit of fun. Long live the thinly veiled challenge that offers crisp clear mornings at sunrise and moonlit sprints after midnight I say!

And so the call goes up on a mid Easter weekend to meet at 10pm for coffee and a few litres of super unleaded, so as to perform a re-run of the Brighton Night Blat ( in May 2009 here). New man Andy hasn't done it before, so there's the reason to carve a different look into a Saturday night. So we did. 4 souls on board and Surrey and Sussex await. 10 pm is too early tho'. As mentioned in the previous post, who is it that uses the roads at this time of night? Where are they going? Fascinating.

Destination: The Market Diner in Brighton. Gone midnight, and the usual cross section of night time population sample appear on the streets and grub stops-

The Hen party that finished a bit early 'cos mum's friend got tearful
The lads on the way to a club that they'll never get into, 'cos they're totally muntered, but they want a kebab before they try.
Two security guards, in black, with belts of radios, torches and egos.Their ID Name badges strapped to biceps and an over loud command for their 'usual, please luv'... outside: the smallest Nissan electric car: 'STRONGHOLD SECURITY' stencilled on it's door. (Oh, the dramatic irony!)
Hospital staff, not, I suspect, on stand-by in the cafe just in case, but just about to start the late shift.
Some pale people having their lunch.
A tramp with a polystyrene cup...no tea in it, not for a long time anyway.
Five staff cooking and serving, none of it in the right order and all blaming each other.
Oh, and some 7 drivers, beamed into this 'reality', blinking in the grease filmed neon.

Late night, Brighton back streets, three 7's try to blend in with the graffiti and the gormless. Too often the 'shiny shiny' has the magpie drunk making a lurch in their direction. A taxi driver, again, demands 'how much for this cars??'

We drank tea and ate our choice (or perhaps it was someone else's , the blame game at the grill plate would last into breakfast time for sure.)

And so to the return home.... ahhh, the contrast, from the circus in Brighton to all the superlatives of that barely lit ribbon of road all the way to Guildford.

Other cars? Two maybe, and a welcome distraction in passing them with barely a check of pace. But there is a strange re-appearance: that of cyclists, out at this time? This is the full lycra type, grinding their way along unlit tree lined roads with all the intent and determination of trying to get a marshmallow in a money box. Surely that's not going to work? The chances of running into a pot hole , a badger or a spell in hospital are pretty high? I know they have lovely bright LED lights and that, but no other road user believes that there's going to be a cyclist out there, and in your way, at 1am ... and neither does the cylclmenatlist appear to consider that anyone else will be using the road, perhaps they should still keep to the left, even though it's late. One 7 can come up on your lycra ass pretty fast, three of them even faster. And the late shift at the hospital have just had a kebab and don't want to be stitching up what looks like dinner so that your helmet sits straight again. Two of them were out,separately, so not just an apparition or a single example of madness, and previous late outings on the road have shown it's not a one off. Is it a new thang? Bloody hope not!

You've spotted the duplicity here haven't you? We're out taking advantage of the empty roads, so why not them? Good point, well presented. Just wasn't expecting to add them in as a late night category road user. Any way, how much do they pay for their road tax.... ;-)

Another from Ma Carrots:

'You should never jump straight in the deep end of a blat after a whole kebab, you'll get indigestion'

777(7)

Rallye Des Jonquilles Video clips

2011-04-19T00:58:00.001+01:00

Just to re-live the great weekend en Francais...here are a couple of clips that Ian has edited together:

Short:

Stage 1

Entente Cordiale! The Rallye des Jonquilles 2011.

2011-04-12T23:18:00.394+01:00

A little idea back in December that became a great big rolling road of reality come the event!

As mentioned here previously, one of our members spotted a posting on a forum out there, inviting participants to a rally event out of Bethune, an hour or so in from Calais just over there in French France. Now, the Sunriser's have had some good runs in France for track days, multiple Le Mans trips and various touring holidays and, well , the roads are better, petrol's cheaper and the French public seem to enjoy the cars as much as we'd wish people over here would. The French hand signals, flashing headlights , turning heads and 'tres bons' are always in encouragement to 'vite, vite, allez allez!!'...rude not to oblige.

Ever seen a 'tulip' diagram in a road book? Neither had some of us before:

Holes in training!?

But this is what you get in the nicely bound road book instead of a map. Clear, concise pictograms with distances in kilometres between each, with 6 instructions to a page ...easy, if your trip counter was in kilometres..and your speedo was working ! ('Packed up on the way onto the ferry, officer, nothing to do with running the video camera, no.') Simple 'shout out' instructions from the co-driver (co-pilote) are expected from these diagrams ...but it stops you working out short cuts for an early coffee or lunch stop, miss one of these suckers and you're right up the merde de rue.

So the gathering took place , Sunday morning in the town square of Bethune ....first one :

...and eventually more and more:

The ancient belfry would chime the countdown to departure at 13 and 3 minutes to and past the hour, tunefully, but timelessly, each of the four faces of the clock reading an approximation of the other, the chimes matching none. Faceless chimes then?

This is the fifth Daffodil Rally (for that is what 'Jonquilles' are, n'est pas, Rodney?) run by the Ecurie La Grange Aux Damiers, a local and enthusisatic car club. It was the joint organiser, a certain Bruno Le Cocq that extended the initial invite to us, and promptly won the award for the best name in my in-box! It's the reverse of 'your first pet's name and your mum's maiden name' game isn't it? At a guess, James was his hamster and Smith his mum's name.

The doors of Bethune's great gothic revival town hall were opened to serve croissants, coffee and orange juice to the participants in welcome of the day to come.The level of organisation was pretty astounding already, is there anywhere in the UK that would contemplate handing the keys of the square (freshly jet washed overnight) and the town hall to an enthusiasts car club for a Sunday? I won't mention how little the fee was to participate in this event, suffice to say : an amount that wouldn't have paid for the lunch alone in Blighty, not sure how it's done...might be something to do with their liability laws and socialism framework?

The staggered start, with PA announced departures and details of the cars, was MC'd by Jean-Pierre Degand of the 'Ecurie'.The surreptitiously spread collection of British 7even'esque cars still made up a larger % of the numbers than was probably reasonable in our class, but we made for some good noises as we cobbled our way off the square, clutching at the first bunch of tulip directions. Close behind: another 7 of Mark's SKCC , an original mini and an Alfa...we'd lost them by mile 3 ...or was that kilometre?

It was junctions thick and fast from the outset, it needn't have been, but the sense of being pursued, and wanting to catch, had the instructions pages turning rapidly.

So,with clear blue sky overhead, tarmac rally roads ahead ,welcoming spectators (willing direction givers) in each village and a Château destination for lunch, what more could we possibly want for? Other than petrol... at some point. Ian kept an eye on the wavering gauge. Of the other Sunrisers and SKCC chums? Occasional news of a broken clutch cable and an unhappy text of navigation issues, but the spirit of the rally would persist and the pages kept turning.

Co-pilote: 'Right at the big tree, follow that Testarossa!' 'See if you can get passed, he's being too careful'

Pilote: 'He's being too bloody wide'

We did pass the Testarrossa, mid village, when he hesitated just for a fraction...oooh nice feeling!

Sharing the roads with such a great selection of classic cars was a real treat. The theme of the rally is to run on roads originally used for three regular tarmac rally competition events held up until the mid 80's : Le Béthunois Rally, Les Routes du Nord and the Cedico Rally. The cars participating in our event were chosen to reflect that era, but not restricted to the actual types of cars that competed at the time. Which is how we managed to mix Caterham 7's , a Ferrari Testerossa and a Lancia Montecarlo all on the same farm track enjoying the incongruity of the moment! The 'newcomer' class (of which we were one type) was at the discretion of the organisers and allowed for a few 'crowd pleasers' of modernity. We listened to a DB9 bouncing off the limiter for it's audience at the first champagne stop, a clutch of latter day TVR's were in the mix and, of course, a selection of Lotus Elises and Exiges made up a few more in our class. All perfectly well placed in the French countryside on a Sunday morning of course ...and mainly British cars. The Ecurie La Grange Aux Damiers are supporters of British marques,and with Triumphs and MG's a plenty, we felt at home.

Stage 1 included a 'stamp' stop at the club house of the Ecurie La Grange Aux Damiers. It turned into a longer stop to take advantage of the facilities, and Bladder Boy , who we hadn't seen all route,was right there in the line up waiting his turn! He's go to get those kidneys checked out.

What a great place, a petrolhead's clubhouse in your own back garden. Just brilliant.It even had a chandelier to add occasion to those awards dinner nights! And the 'facilities' themselves? Best bog in France I'd say! only here,with the matter in hand , could you share the passing moment in the company of the most relevant of all benefactors...Colin Chapman of course!

And on to the lunch stop.

Parked up on the drive in front of Château Tilques is not the usual Sunrise Seven habitat, compare and contrast Delia's Diner on Hayling Island or Loomies Cafe on the A32, but today, it suited very well. Picture the French in their pressed trousers, elegant denouement and string backed gloves (yup, I actually saw some being worn, and not on a stall at the Goodwood Revival)... and then there's the 7even driving Brits: in oil filmed Craghoppers , long passed event emblazoned poloshirts and tourette laden conversation about passing a Testerossa this or Alfa Romeo that. All with a slightly boiled tinge to our complexions.And with this, we sat at the reserved Union Jack flagged tables for an immaculate multi course meal, served by string backed waiters (not really.)

There was wine a plenty on offer too: co-pilotes drank their fill whilst pilotes took Evian well chilled.

The afternoon's Stage 3 was to begin again with a staggered departure. Not as a consequence of the long lunch you understand, but so as to maintain the traditions of Rally starts with appropriate timing intervals.Despite the relaxed nature of this event, for us in car 92, these intervals gave us a target to catch and a gap behind to extend, which is what rallies are all about in real life, so, in this instance, a TVR behind and that Teterossa ahead...again! What is French for move over wide boy!?

This stage was relatively straight forward by comparison, no additional nav duties to perform in naming French villages that you didn't go through, or spotting and noting locations of carefully camouflaged jars of Foie Gras at the side of the road...or was that a wind up? Just some more great roads that simply needed dispatching on the loop back to Bethune.

Back across countryside and canal side we set off in pursuit of the Red Italian Fiat. Ahead, under a tree, in shade, the familiar green and yellow flash of Cannonball Bob's 7 ,Miss England...taking the 'elegant pace' option and having a moment's respite from the ever present and beautiful sunshine. By now,with only a few miles to go, the pack had caught up with itself on the relatively open roads. Ahead, now, an MGA, a Lotus Elite, a Lotus 7, another Elite, an original (looking) M3,That Red Fiat, us and behind a Chimera TVR with wind screen wipers all awry in their default 'failed' configuration ! An open view into a tight 90 left would see all but the 7evens braking into the bend (best not accelerate to take this one at speed) and, then, the evocative view across the field as the convoy accelerates away, a selection of 4 , 8 and 12 cylinder engines harmonising when the sound wave nodes synchronise...I wanna' join the road side locals and watch this stuff!

And so our parade makes it's return to the square at Bethune.Back onto the cobbles and the madly chiming clock.This time to a reception of Sunday afternoon enthusiasts lining the street, camera and phones flashing/clicking accordingly (when was it that 'phones' could colloquially be described as flashing or clicking and that factually be so?!) All great fun, such attention for such a small car, I kid myself...perhaps it was the Red Fiat just ahead? Or maybe Ian's long locks attract the Gallic eye?

Did we win anything? Nope, just some sunburn, an oily sheen and a whole bag of smiles. The award presentation did see mark of the SKCC collect a 'spirit of the rally' award on behalf of the British contingent, he got to shake hands with the mayor of Bethune, which was nice. We felt that Mark represented us well in his 'two day's later' stained Gulf T-shirt as he mixed with the elegance of the French winners.Champagne under the chiming madness of that belfry had us finishing the day off in style. Pizza's and beers would have our feet right back on the ground come the evening though ...and all was well en-Francais.

Thanks to Bruno and Jean-Pierre of the Ecurie la Grange Aux Damiers for having the Sunrise Sevens and the SKCC to your brilliantly organised event.Thanks also to the weather men for sunshine for the whole weekend in France... but not for the sharp downpour on the M20 on the final stretch home! Thanks to the French public and authorities for still embracing our enthusiasm for such an eco/politically incorrect activity, how many times was it repeated during the weekend that 'this would never be allowed in the UK!' Vive la France! And a final What-Ho! to the Sunrisers and 'Sunbeams' © :-) for making it a great few days...so much so, that we wanted to stay longer and missed the ferry!!

(Kerlique ici) The Photo Album

------------77777777777-------------

Mended!

2011-04-07T18:25:00.000+01:00

Team Carrots is reaaaaady! Weather looks ok too for the weekend en Francais.

----7----

Spotted!

2011-04-02T23:53:00.002+01:00

A different kind of Lotus:

Seen at Blakbushe today. That badge is strangely out of context on a tail fin of a modern jet aircraft somehow. Mind you, it was only a little, light, fast aeroplane, so there's a philosophical fit I guess. And Chapman's training was in aeronautical engineering of course!

Thanks for the photo Ian.(He's been plane spotting again hasn't he?)

--------0--------

That late night lure...

2011-04-01T23:12:00.007+01:00

...the kebab van! Like metal moths to the bright lights of cholesterol. Well the roads were dry, and the tea was hot, and what else is open at midnight?

Cannonball Bob led us mercilessly cross country along old smuggler's routes and highwayman ambush points, the warnings of deer and burning clutches being the only modern day worries however. (Oh, and the two ghost cars that made our four cars a train of six pairs of headlights for about four miles ...before disappearing.What were they, 'cos we weren't going slowly? They'd have picked off the slow one at the back first tho' wouldn't they Andy? He was quite tired, he'd been up since lunchtime.)

The next day whilst nosing through the engine bay, looking for trouble, I found it! Uh oh, broken chassis tube.

Since delivered to 7 specialist James Whiting to have this 'splinted' up. It's all getting a bit flaky under there after 22 years, but this type of damage takes a bit of doing. Pot holes won't help when cornering hard, but this could have been as a result of hitting something in the road...think I would have heard/felt this tho'! I'm hoping this is repairable before next weekend's Rallye de Jonquilles. Co-driver for the event, Ian H, is looking forward to a couple of day's ride in a proper engined car...and now he can also enjoy the guessing game as to which bit's going to fall off next!!

-----------7777-----------

A nice shot from Dartmoor.

2011-03-31T23:51:00.003+01:00

Thanks Ian.

--7--

.

Looking forward to this in a couple of weeks!

2011-03-24T23:33:00.003Z

The Sunrise 7's and the SKCC are making up the majority of an invite for the 'modern classic' category of this

road rally around some of the old Pas de Calais routes including Le Béthunois Rally, Les Routes du Nord and the Cedico Rally. Of equal interest will be the breakfast, château lunch and evening awards drinks at La Grand Place de Béthune... best give the car a polish before we go then.

Mange tout, Rodney, mange tout!

Is it Spring yet??

2011-03-21T21:33:00.006Z

From those with their work/life balance in order... (or specifically life/life balance in this case, no work involved) ...I get to receive images like this on a Monday morning, somewhere way out west by the sea.
Yeah, nice, thx for that.

----7----

The sun always rises in the east.

2011-03-19T23:25:00.005Z

Littlehampton via a cuppa' in Arundel - frost and sunshine - foxes in the hen house - web shots - and fast action in a slow motion movie.

So, the forecast showed clear weather, it didn't predict the subsequent-3C, but that didn't stop the inevitability of a Sunrise Blat for the morning...the 5.45 mark on the clock was made, and the long johns straightened ready for a quick get away.The calls went out, and across Surrey and Hants four pairs of long johns would now hang in preparation.

It's been a while since a proper early morning run out (ie not raining) and finally it's light enough to take advantage of an early start and, with that, the likelihood of some clear roads... although the clocks change in a couple of weeks and we'll lose that advantage again for a while. Arse. More reason to make it a good one then!

Alarm

Check text.

Various messages along the lines of 'Are we really going?' or 'By jings it's parky!' and 'You bastard' ... (that wasn't delivered by text) but we're all still in.

At the usual BP meeting point the early-shift staff were still straightening out papers and propping up wilting flower stems whilst we fuelled up. Despite the activity, they still had the where-with-all to suggest that 'sir might like a frapper cuppa latte' or suchlike 'for the journey'...the drinking opportunity behind the wheel of a screenless 7 is at best limited, but in the company of three other 7's with breakfast ambitions 70 miles away, there would be no room for such a challenge!

Next planned stop: Midhurst for a requested nature break...the temperatures shortened that expected range for one of us ... to 15 minutes.Turning south east towards the rising sun meant a moment's halt to retrieve sunglasses, and for one, a frost melting moment in the hedgerow.

South and East into the low sun.

Low temperatures and low grip on cold road race tyres.

Patches of white on the grey asphalt... too late passed them.

The dive downhill at Steep, the speed signs warning 10mph, also too late.The switchbacks taken at a drift angle, neither expected nor regretted.

Challenging then, but ,with deep blue sky overhead and low angled beams of light 'pin spotting' the way forward, the scene has been set as we link between villages and market towns before most kettles have boiled the day's first.

Midhurst, for that scheduled nature stop.

We're one man down, the low sun is really less than ideal , but this road needs driving and the sun always rises in the east.

A dog walker delights at the cars 'out so early' , yup, we're up with dogs.

Still frosty out there.

Bladder boy enjoys indoor public frost free facilities this time.

Back on the road: and through the cartoon bends of Cowdray Park golf course and on into Petworth. The walls of the 'House' too much of an opportunity not to explore the reflected sound of low geared high revs. The following pair harmonising the trio of course..Wakey Wakey Petworth!!

Eventually to Arundel, and the chance of a cuppa. Brooklands is a guest house run by a friend keen to attract car clubs and enthusiasts to his beautiful barn conversion.Why not have some smart machinery parked up in the courtyard instead of the usual guest transport ? This tea stop had the secondary purpose of grabbing some shots for his website... ferraris and porsches would have helped attract a better level of guest clientele, but 7's at least maintain a British theme!

The Hen Party currently in residence probably didn't expect a wake up call from 3 x 7's... and a bloke on a ladder ... how unreasonable.(The foxes have got in the hen house!) The tea was good, and the facilities 'particularly comfortable' according to the Bladder.The pool looked nice too, but my Speedos were 65 miles away.

A short drive to Littlehampton, and the Cafe was open, breakfast ensued and ballast restored for the run home. We lingered a while though in the sunshine, the spring tide offering a glimpse of this toy for the sea:

Vid clip (click)

Incongruity amongst the usual fishing and pleasure craft of this old south coast resort.

By now it's 10.30, the slow motion pace of the day's traffic has begun. I set some music in the 'phones to stun the senses from the Micra's and Yaris's. It doesn't work, there's only one pace deserving of a 7, and an endless series of triple leap frog overtakes has us back on home territory in 45 mins...ready now to begin the day as well adjusted and responsible adults!

-----------777(7)-----------

We don't always get to see the Sunrise.

2011-02-06T00:15:00.018Z

.
Sometimes our positivity and hope for dry roads and clear skies are just not going to materialise into reality.Ignoring the weather forecast the night before an early morning blat is the first step, convincing yourself that it's not really that cloudy at 6am on the actual morning, it's just dark , is the final vain hope of the ambitious blatter.

6.45am on a February Saturday morning under another low pressure system tracking right across the country is only ever going to be presented in hues of monochrome. Perhaps the headlights can be viewed as to add a cheery brightness to the steely reflection of cold asphalt?

The like minded Southern Kit Car Clubbists are enthusiastic enough at the morning's RV to encourage all 11 cars to not head straight home to our still 'fragrant' beds.The majority of this dedicated team of blattists have again seen the best part of 80 miles of their mornings on the road before this outing has even begun... so it'd be a long haul back to the pit for them!

Eventually it becomes all too evident that the dark is in fact cloud and the wet stuff in the air is rain.

'Wrought iron trees against a tear stained sky' is the dominant and lasting image at times like this...I convince myself that it counts as payment in advance, an investment, for blats to come. However, the Basingstoke ring road and it's 5th roundabout add to ingredients that still fall short of a celebration cake that is likely rise any time soon.

But open roads are that key ingredient, add 11 other self convincing individuals in their 7even(esque) cars and it's not long before the rooster tail of spray and jack-in-the-box surprise moments of unnoticed feeble brake lights are adding to the adrenal slice of morning entertainment! Head north of Newbury, point towards Wantage and the rollercoaster road over the downs quickly negates the previous 30 mins amongst the early morning migration to Newbury, at sub 40mph, all the way from Basingstoke... why are all these people driving so slowly, going to whatever, at 7.30 in the morning? I'm going to conduct a road block questionnaire one day just to find out what's going on.Years ago I was warned to watch for any one wearing a hat in a closed car, and to afford them a few extra metres of clearance as they helm their vehicles vaguely towards a now forgotten destination. Most of the other cars out this morning were indeed hat wearers.

Sat nav shows a kink,naaa, open the taps and go for the horizon!!

Once the traffic clears, and any OCD fears for the previously shiny aluminium body work have streamed into the wake turbulence, the day's business can begin... a hunter spots his quarry, or, a photographer his sunset , but to say a driver 'anticipates the road ahead' doesn't really capture it does it? It's just a road for goodness sake, but in the hands of a driver accessing it's possibilities via the interface of a 7, even wet Oxfordshire tarmac on a cross wind blasted February morning can deliver nuggets of gold after an hour's panning in the spoil...

The sense of movement is enhanced by the the wet conditions and soon the rooster tails of ejected water and streaming goggles become part of that day's requirement in finding the gold. A spray trailing 7 at 60mph is a thing of dynamic pace when viewed from a similar viewpoint:

An eventual rest break and the chance to swap for some dry clothing is always welcome.Like a wet day on the piste, there's the rummaging in rucksacks, checking of cameras, recounts of 'who did what and when and got away with its' trailing off with the eventual realisation that the kidneys had been busily provoked in the harsh response to modern road texture, and, a choice tree or fence would make for a timely moment's personal contemplation amongst the steam.

With sat nav's re aligned it's eventually time for the departing do-nut expression session and off into Sat nav disparity. Groups would follow their leader and his trusty Tom Tom version of the itinery route file, so carefully prepared for the day, but slowly their trust would fail in his leadership skills.Smaller breakaway factions would follow their new leader with the same eventual outcome with the Garmin version of the day's trip. From opposite points of the compass we would arrive at a roundabout on cue, circle and take off in one group for a while before the attrition effect would again have its insidious way! Closed roads and missed junctions not withstanding, the cafe at Blackbush airport would eventually receive most of the day's participants for the post blat chatter and jabber and for the final hiatus of fried plates of stuff.

As previously blogged, the aeroplane people again spoke to the seated steaming drivists, probably in sympathy of our earth tied exploits. In their uniformed stripes of importance and with pilot cases of organisation, I wondered what their 'expression session' upon departure would include, what is the aeronautical version of a do-nut in a Cessna 152? Perhaps there is something really exciting in those pilot cases after all?

Blatfast at the airport cafe was good and the tea was hot.The kidneys approved of the new facilities and all was well with the world, although, I am going to have to get a new chamois leather on the way home to clean up that aluminium..... but not until I've had another cup of tea.

Cheers to Ian H for sharing the wing man duties today and for believing in the free form navigation experience of the latter part of the blat! Thumbs up to Mark and the SKCC again, thanks for having us along, and catch you again soon... if we could just get the weather right next time.

-------77777777777-------

A couple of Sevens, low sun, blue sky, country roads...all is good.

2011-01-12T22:33:00.003Z

A mid week video clip, to re-energise the Blat gland!

Press it!

From the 'New Year blat' : Thanks for the footage mate ;-).

__________77__________

F... f... f... frosty physics!

2011-01-09T23:24:00.008Z

It looked nice out there, but the reality was something different for this Sunday mornings outing. It was showing + numbers for the air temperature and yet the frost layer would suggest otherwise, strange. The meet was on though, and with the Southern Kit Car Club making a traverse across two counties to sample the delights of Farnham station and then on to breakfast at Loomies, there was no way we couldn't be there...so survival clothes were donned and preparation for the challenge commenced.

Now, when I say frost layer, I mean a micron or two of invisible glass under the more obvious, but randomly placed, dusting of white, which you'd attempt to avoid. But this stuff was inconsistently laid down in a murderous minefield pattern of 'now you see me now you don't'.

The fresh experience of 'drive with that roll of the dice, suckers!' caught out more than a few of the early learning Tin Top drivers.At least 5 of the players had scored low in the points before I'd even completed the 10 miles to the RV at 7.30am. It's not a good time of the day to be trying to extricate the broken bits of your Clio or Megane from the verge/hedge/fence that seemed to be the equivalent of the out of play area in this team event.

I haven't worked out why most participants on the losing side seemed to be female (just an observation!), I'm also not sure as to the meaning of the one armed semaphore flapping that goes with the post event debrief whilst on the mobile ;-?

Farnham station soon saw the arrival of the SKCC, some of them having been 'on the blat' since 6 am...(correction :5am!). Impressive considering the attrition rate already observed in my first 10 mile stretch.The report was that it was worse over our way, if that's not too disparaging just as we're planning to throw ourselves at it's mercy!

The deliberation time did allow for a moment or two of traction testing tho:

Time spent with a coffee at the station and a shuffle of i-Phones to download a 'find the local cafe' Ap revealed neither the location of a nearby sausage (wrong ap) nor a thawing in the Killer Ice Event Phenomenon. So the Blatference continued for a bit longer...standing around in cold car parks on a Sunday morning, I could feel the H1N1 virus molecules building a case against the defence.

'Still a bit slippery isn't it?'

'Do you think the triple 8's will cope?'

'Have you found that Cafe Ap yet?'

'Are those CCTV cameras on?'

'Did you really come all that way without a hat?'

'Aahhtchoooo!'

The lure of breakfast had us back on the road and heading for the original breakfast stop, Loomies, a funereal pace being set as we searched for the main ingredient of car physics: traction.It allowed for time to take in the surroundings though:

Cyclists on the dual carriageway, each in turn waiting for the other to pick his teeth out of the gutter whilst losing more core body heat through ever more holey spandex.
Two Buzzards feeding on roadside matter, hardly flinching at the snail pace parade of idling 7's
A sign offering Bulls for Sale.The boot sadly not big enough today.
Chawton End: where Jane Austin lived and wrote some of her novels , wonder if she could hold a pen wearing gloves in these temperatures.
A big old owl in a tree, more interested in thawing mice than slipping 7's.
A Peugeot, frozen mid hurdle of a five bar gate, the driver: sat pensive, perched alongside.
A horse box on it's side, no horse kept inside.

Even in the sun the stuff persisted, the worst of it not visible at all.

But here's the thing, whilst all else on the road struggled to keep within the boundaries, the 7s remained predictable and collectable.Traction was minimal , further exacerbated by road/track tyres, but, breaking from sliding to static friction didn't unsettle the cars enough for the momentum not to be caught and controlled. At any time and at varying speed, the momentary loss of grip under acceleration or braking was instantly sensed and captured. Realisation that this balance and feedback was available at such a micro level in hugely unpredictable conditions, further emphasises the wide band capabilities of a car with the inherently right design qualities. No traction control, ALB, DSC etc to artificially broaden the car's dynamic user range, just proper physics designed-in from the start...unlike the 'improper' physics which the weather Gods had cooked up for the day!

Discussions over the well earned breakfast concurred on this, the main fear on the road being the barrelling metal coming in the other direction, of which we would have no control.

Empathy went out to the half dozen bikers who'd made it for breakfast, we were told that some of their number were to have a late breakfast at home, once the recovery truck had collected the big pieces from the pitch. No major injuries reported. Camaraderie of the shared challenge brought free discussion amongst the survivors of both camps. Like a winter mountain restaurant only accessible from a hazard strewn black run... and with another black run still being the only way down! Each new arrival spoke of their experience and incredulity at the unexpected conditions.I mean, you really wouldn't have ventured out on a sports bike if you were expecting those conditions surely??

So, with reference to the 'This can't be for real?' weather headline to the previous posting... no it wasn't, not in the way that most of the Sunrise collective on this particular morning were expecting!

However: we counted them out , and counted them all back in.... the slowest Blat in our history, but a success non the less.

Cheers to Mark and the guys from the SKCC for giving us the incentive to get out there and test our resolve.Let's do it again when the roads are dry and the breakfasts are bigger ;-)

________________77777777________________

This can't be for real?!?!

2011-01-08T22:31:00.000Z

Quick, run around , check oil, tyre pressures... find shoes, helmet , glove (only one so far), need fuel ...send messages and hope it's true!!

______0______

First Blat of the year...finding the magic.

2011-01-02T19:15:00.018Z

There wasn't a lot of notice of the sunshine today, but it was kind enough to occur just inside the limit of personal tolerance for the endless grey, damp overcast of the past 7 days.Gollum like we emerged from our respective garages into the daylight....and dry roads.

Only '2 up' today, but virus's, SORN status, relatives and frankly an hour's notice isn't going to allow for a full house...despite the temptation!

Impressions after having not driven a 7 for a while?

Well, it's not always the acceleration that you notice first off, that's almost to be expected in comparison to the mass of a usual road car.

Initially it's the noise. There's a lot going on it would seem, I guess you don't get to sit that close to any sort of machinery in normal circumstances, and frankly, you're surrounded by it.The mechanical noise recedes pretty quickly though, wind noise takes over, blanketing the activity around you.

So, if acceleration and noise aren't the prevalent indicators that you're back in the 7, what is?
To me it's the braking that is truly noticeable.It catches you out at the first medium speed dab on the pedal. Even with cold pads and tyres, the middle pedal acts like a momentum kill switch and you'll be yards short of your turning in or stopping point. This happens more than a few times as your mind goes through a recalibration period. And, when the relevant surfaces have reached what's considered a normal operating temperature, the impressive nature of light weight car dynamics are truly demonstrable under braking alone.

Bear in mind that this relates to a X-flow engined 7 with drums on the back, discs with admittedly decent pads up front, and very little in weight saving features. In comparison to other big disc multi pot 7s with carbon panels, that are pretty usual these days, I imagine the contrast to be even greater!

Directional change at medium and high speed are the next factors that seem to come effortlessly to these cars when you've been away for a while.
There is no lag between thinking it and having executed the input, no apparent lateral flex or lean, just a 'point and done'.Sometimes this is video game like in response, but the feedback from our road surfaces remind you that this is going on right now and there's no pause button on the apex of a real time turn in !

Here in lies the addictive nature of that lack of momentum, that sense of minimal mass, and, as the driver, it frees the car to do as you wish. It'll go exactly where you point it and as fast as you can think it, there's every reference from the car to indicate as to what's going on, but little sense of restriction from the machinery around you and the physics that normally binds you. It's that sense of weightlessness and freedom that can actually be captured and savoured for a few minutes that has you going back for more of that 'magic'.

So, how come this isn't all just a one way route through the hedge?

The truth is that most of us haven't the skill to get anywhere near the limits of a 7 on the road.Track experience proves that these cars are barely stretching themselves on the roads of Britain...and, most of the rest of us, haven't the nerve to go to that corner of the performance envelope to even look at the limit! That's the safety factor, a margin of capability that the car rarely has to fulfil.

Most 7 drivers have a good perception of what driving is all about, they wouldn't have the car if they didn't, and a 7 has to be 'driven', demanding involvement. Most 7 drivers will apply all of their driving skills all of the time when behind the wheel, that's where the enjoyment is after all, but the car is actually many times more capable than the driver. Stay with me on this...A missed braking point is remedied with fractionally greater pressure on the pedal, or carry the braking into the turn, and then change down a gear if you have to...not recommended for real pace on track, but if the car's way inside it's performance range there's room for forgiveness and the lack of mass allows things to come back in line very quickly ... preferably before the fellow blatter spots your indiscretion as you flick to another tune on the i-Pod and miss the gear change or braking point!

This is why today we could still enjoy the discovery of a local road that gave us some hairpin switchbacks speed signed at 10mph ! That'll be like a sign to the sweet shop then ;-)

The barely treaded and hardly appropriate R888 rubber on cold roads, that we weren't familiar with, are factors that could begin an accident report...but the predictability and familiarity of the 7 have me only reporting a great drive out in winter sunshine and finding more of that magic!

Not bad for a car that is more than 50 years old... well, with a few mods along the way.

Anyhow, we came across a microlight fly in day, so we stopped for a bit.

They were having the aerial equivalent of a Blat I suppose, but they had a BBQ and men with radios and stuff. I liked the space frame chassis (OK, fuselage) in this one...I believe it was made of drinking straws:

Some of the air machine men in their awkward fitting and unhappily coloured romper suits spoke to us ... we think it was because we had helmets too. I mentioned wing loading to one of them, we nearly missed our lunch.

Lunchtime in these parts doesn't offer favourable traffic conditions for extended sprint opportunities, even on a Sunday,but it does offer a fair amount of 'sport'. Safe over taking manoeuvres were counted off by the dozen, to cries of 'pull' ,sometimes 4 of the 'clay pigeons' were dispatched in one shot ;-)

And so to lunch at 'Loomies', where our two wheeled brethren stood on parade in the car park talking bike. Ian H and I went in to speak chips and eggs.

The Loomies Cafe 2011 wall calendar is now available and doesn't just feature images of visiting bikeists, no, July (or perhaps August?) features a rather splendid line up of three particular 7's ...

Fireblade Ring blat: Oct 10

....a small but significant moment of satisfaction as the Sunrise Sevens make a 'wee on the tyre' mark at this famous biker stop!

Check out the arch clearance, slam that ride!

(...or is it just the live axle with one wheel in a hole?)

_______________77________________

Stop everything!!

2011-01-02T11:30:00.001Z

.
Put the hoover away, cancel the trip to the dump, postpone the inevitable visit from relations... crack open the garage door and BLAT!!!

A rare and special appearance by the sun from behind broken cloud and the day accelerates rapidly into a set of
different priorities.

See ya ;-)

____________7____________

End of Year 'Sunrise Sevens Family Lunch'.

2010-12-29T18:44:00.004Z

.
...or some 'beer and grub at the pub'.

The Sun Inn (get it?) at Bentworth, near Alton, were happy to take our money for a long leisurely lunch on a bleak afternoon in the dieing gasps of 2010.We struggled to recognise each other on arrival, tin top cars and civvy clothing not being the norm, of course, but introductions duly made.We were naturally careful not to regale too loudly our tales from the year of driving skills and prowess, nor of trunnions and A- frame bushes, balanced carbs and limits of adhesion... because, we'd not only be 'in public', but also with the SWMBO's !!

The 'She Who Must Be Obeyed's'.

It was great for everyone to meet each other at last and the conversations were suitably positioned to include all in attendance, from 5 months to nearly 5 decades.

Paul C made the effort to bring a particularly virulent strain of virus along, the rest of his family remaining at home in the isolation ward, he sat by himself.

Andy DaLongBloke did his usual long range trip up from the coast ... this time in SWMBO DaLongBloke's diesel Smart Car...no wonder we didn't recognise him! And he went all the way to Italy and back in that? The small run up from Worthing in the middle of winter is nothing then, thanks for making the trip up though, good to see you and the oft spoke about missus.

We didn't get to touch Cannonball B's new sheepskin flying jacket sadly ... or his Nurse SWMBO. Both were administering elsewhere.

All of Ian H's family were wearing shorts, it's a cult thing.

Rob W and wife SWMBO ate hot spicy chicken wings, but they're all right now.

Missus Carrots and Baby Carrots were both well behaved and will be invited out again next year.

Happy days and nice grub.

We look forward to a good year of Sunrise Seven Blats and fine breakfasts in 2011.

One love and that ;-?

_______________0_____________

Bored!

2010-12-27T13:00:00.003Z

.
So without any ice clear roads to drive on , or temperatures that would allow the thought to develop into reality, then a collage from the album is all that suffices for now:

Roll on spring.

Ooooh.... blue sky at Murky Benz World!

2010-12-12T22:22:00.006Z

.
A flurry of txts and e-mails, a quick confirmation that a drive to Brooklands for the Piston Heads 'Sunday Service' might do nicely to clear the cobwebs, and it was so.

More than 700 cars turned up to bathe in the Benz patronage.The three pointed star turned slowly atop the altar of the new car showroom, sorry, 'Mercedes Benz World', beaming it's corporate icon across the world's home of motor sport.The heritage 'sheds' of the Brooklands Museum shone less brightly in the shadow of their new neighbour, despite the clear crisp winter sunshine. A Concorde tail fin flag waved as a reminder of true glory from behind a green corrugated hangar, now silent to the V8's of Daimler Benz joy rides and demonstration runs. A cuckoo with a different voice.

That being so, the facilities are superb. The hotch-potch of super, and less than super cars were martialed into three immaculate rows, by which the subliminal game of trumps is more easily completed.The displays in the glass and steel showcase building are pretty impressive as immaculate examples of flow management and brand efficiency with an ever present 'go on, you know you want one' sub text.Tempted by all the sweets on display, look carefully for the modern day child catcher in a suit with an earpiece. He can smell your interest and he's more than likely already got your e-profile in his net.

The exploded 3d representation of this year's F1 car with all 3600 of it's components suspended from the ceiling by wires was truly impressive. Not sure how they'll dust all those bits so as to maintain the sterility of the curators demands.

Meanwhile: in the visitor display line, there was extreme stuff:

Expensive stuff:

Old classy stuff:

...and unfortunate stuff:

Nice to be out in public again, even if my attempts at interaction were less than eagerly received:

PS: Ian H's car looked mighty shiny, he's even been polishing his carbon nose cone. Snigger.

______________777_____________

Anyone for a Blat?

2010-12-05T13:12:00.005Z

.
The previous post's mention of the gritter truck was not meant to have been the harbinger of what then followed! Doesn't seem long ago that I posted a similar picture...

-6.5C is taking it's toll on the 7 's battery, so that's the excuse for running the car up to temperature in the garage and delivering the word of the X-flow to the neighbourhood! The carbon monoxide exhaust cocktail is strangely soporific I find.

I'll have to start summarising the year soon, planning next year's activities and organising the Sunrisers Annual Awards Dinner (or lunch at the pub, to reflect the true scale of things).

____0____

Bang On!

2010-11-24T13:13:00.002Z

77

Just seen the first gritter truck of the season!! I could hear the howl of pain from the garage at home and I was 3 miles away.Sad day.Salt & bare aluminium do not make for a happy 7.

Here's a reminder of what we've been missing over the past 3 weeks:

A Blat clip ;-)

The Pirbright Ring a few weeks back.

Now if I could just get some quality kit together like my fellow blatister's previous offering...

__________777__________

New blog header.

2010-11-10T00:06:00.002Z

Just an opportunity for a pic of more autumn colours and a speed blurred 7.

_________ 7_________

Old Timers: The London to Brighton Run 2010

2010-11-07T20:26:00.004Z

.
Apart from reading the brass plaques, counting wheels and realising that the horse had deliberately been left in the stable, how do you tell your De Dion Bouton from your Sunbeam without some real car knowledge?

The quest for understanding meant that the 8am blat to Handcross in Sussex was well attended by 10 or so ReHab'ers (you know, the Reading & Hampshire 7 clubbists), the damp and mist being no barrier to our education.There'd be sausages and coffee too (with a donation to Leukaemia Research) and an estimated 100 or so 7's were expected to pitch up to the layby on the A23... maybe these were the real reasons to catch this traditional end of season event!?

The race boots having absorbed worm cast and attendant moisture from the wet grass, made the sun that broke through very welcome and, from way off, it picked out the array of brasswork that was rolling down the A23 towards Brighton. How curly the horns and how furry the coats in the parade of back to front, tiller steered,wheezing devices mixing with the cyclists, euroboxes and the welcoming audience of 7eveners! There was a lot of 'toot toot'!

Old Timer ... get me some of those headlamps!

Click here to get some more snaps of vintage stuff...and a few classics.

Great morning out supporting a good cause on this historic event.The roads were dry for the solo blat back, I took the long way...and then ran out of petrol. Arse. I realised the race boots had dried out though after a couple of miles with can in hand.

______________7777777777__________________

I'm off to test the present.

2010-11-06T20:22:00.013Z

.
You know when the sun's out, and the afternoon is free, and when you've just had your birthday and the wife wrapped up that camera you gave her to give you back the next day? Isn't it great to spend a few hours just arseing about and creating a little something for the hell of it! Especially when you live right near the Pirbright Ring:

Blat time video!

One of the Sunrisers has the work/life balance sorted.

Note: The Sunrise Seven Squadron (The Sunrisers) cannot guarantee future videos to be of this quality and professionalism.Some of us have to work god-damn it...and anyway this type of mid week fun and frivolity can be addictive and mess up your head.So it cannot be condoned by the other members of the Sunrisers, so stop it.Thanks.

Same bit of road different technique!

____7____

Fall.

2010-11-06T20:02:00.008Z

Nice colours out there, even if the temperature is a bit crucial at dawn! Low mist, low sun, damp leaves and later starts are not ingredients that we're used too, but they make for some great scenery at visor eye level at full chat. Traffic count is higher though, the horse box fraternity and car bootisters still compete for the same bit of tarmac, who'll be the last still holding ground before the year is out?

_______ 77________

Couldn't resist!

2010-10-23T20:44:00.000+01:00

_______777_______

The sign of Sunrise 7 quality.

2010-10-19T11:08:00.029+01:00

As judged by the Sunrisers: the above design will soon be spotted as our mark of recognition, be it of a good cafe, a blat destination, perhaps the site of a memorable experience, that of a friend or just an attitude. Look out for this sign...they're out there.

Some say that Sunrise Seven members ate their own bed sheets so as to leave no trace as to where they had slept before their first Sunrise Blat. And that, inserted deep in their subconscious, is an alarm set to go off when the roads are dry and empty, irrespective of responsibilities, duties and needs of others.

They are amongst us, outwardly the same as everyone else, but, at dawn, when the elements are right, they can be heard across the counties of Southern England 'heeling and toeing' into every apex in close formation, rarely seen, but very well fed: we know them only as the Sunrisers.

(Cue the music)

(Raise curtains)

(Drop the maturity)

(Roll grainy archive footage of wild overtakes and whooping middle aged men!)

___________

The Sunrisers C7 (TM) is the unofficial drivers association of the Sunrise Seven Squadron and, as such, does not represent the Squadron in matters of noise infringement, ebullience, sartorial malwear (sic), misuse of the Queen's English (or any of Freddie mercury's lyrics), flagrant displays of road craft skills, environmental ignorance, rubbish table manners and post blat sulking.

The Sunrisers are a British Virgin Island registered organisation and we've hidden all the funds, so try getting that off us you suckers.

____777____

Frost and Beaches?

2010-10-17T19:33:00.004+01:00

...don't usually mix.

0.5C is cold on the Hog's Back* at 7am with no screen and the prospect of a beach destination (well, a cafe on the beach) represented a fair stretch of will power in taking advantage of this morning's dry roads and promised sunshine.I could see stars, so it must surely warm up at some point?
*this is not a euphemism!

It did, and of course the webers welcome the opportunity for a venturi of cold dense air to deliver to it's eager partner the X-flow valve gear.

Hayling Island Sunday morning, October. Doesn't excite does it? It's a good blat destination if you choose the right roads ,the Full English at Delia's is it's only other saving grace. But add some crisp clear sky and a light weight sports car and it's as good as anywhere in the world at that point!

Which one's been polished?

It's Twisty!

2010-09-26T21:32:00.044+01:00

7am, roads are dry.

Zig Zag Hill, never heard of it? Neither had we until we went to find it! Somewhere on the Dorset/Wiltshire borders sits a nice little anomaly of a road that remains untouched by the health and safety mentalists...we went for an early blat to find it, and to have breakfast of course.

There was a particularly nice, freshly restored Tiger Moth running pleasure flights during our breakfast break at Compton Abbas airfield. I enjoyed the aviation equivalent of the Japanese tea ceremony performed by the crew before each 'experience'. The choreography must remain as it has done for the past 70 years: the checks, the prep, the confirmations, the affirmations and finally the start up... good to go.Confidence for the passenger, confidence for crew. All sorted, all waves and goggles.

I couldn't help but notice our equivalent automotive tea ceremony that was not long to follow: cursory checks, adjustment of layers, insertion of ear plugs, donning of head gear, the gymnastics of feeding yourself into the driving seat (each has his own technique), harness adjustments...all before turning a key, and certainly not until checking that each other has completed their respective ritual, then: it's all waves and goggles and off to blat.

180 mile round trip: the 'long blat' then, we'll do it again of course...just for the wiggly bit, not the breakfast.

Quotes from the day:

'When they say 'full English' I expect the plate to actually be full...and English'

'Thruster? Farkin' stupid name for that feeble thing' (ref a particularly light microlight.)

'I had quite a bit of understeer'

'I've quite brown underwear'

'That was fun, let's do it again, three times'

'There's a rattling sound, I think it's my head'

Light painting?

2010-09-25T19:41:00.002+01:00

This is a nice photo effect that has been ably demonstrated by John Radley on the recent ReHab to Le Mans Classic... night shot with an open shutter (f10?) and with the car 'burnt in' with a torch. A few early attempts helped to set up the method , but it worked well!

Full Formation.

2010-09-18T19:04:00.025+01:00

Saturday 5.45: As a destination, is Littlehampton enough inspiration to get anyone out of bed when it's dark and 4.C out there?? It would seem so...

Sevens at Sunrise

The lone 'K' amongst the smell of X-flows.

Breakfast was good too at the aptly named Cafe ;-)

Now you see it.

2010-08-16T09:48:00.001+01:00

Back on call up.

No Permit to Blat

2010-08-12T23:03:00.001+01:00

Received today from one of the regulars : 'I can't get the car out of the garage!'

His Blat licence is under serious review.

Simple Pleasures

2010-08-12T07:43:00.001+01:00

A daytime blat - some miles - lunch - some more miles - rain - tea - home...and then a night time run

Wednesday: mid week blues, but met check seems OK... anyone fancy a cheeky blat?

Most seem to have their work/life balance all out of kilter, but Rob W with fresh MOT and ink barely dry on the tax disc was up for it and keen to scrub in the new tyres. Paul C rearranged his life's responsibilities to join us and a plan was set: Hayling Island for a big plate of whatever we fancy at Delia's Diner.

Hayling Island remains a destination only for a specific few types: by reducing the average age considerably with each of our visits alludes to one, and by being considered 'more local' than most would indicate another. A destination yes, but for a holiday? If it's better than where they spend the rest of their time, I really have sympathy and won't be visiting.

By contrast the run down to the coast is superb, traffic not withstanding, we leap-frogged our way down the Meon Valley, across the downs overlooking Portsmouth...

...and dropped into Cosham for fuel, only to loose Paul.We watched as he circled the roundabout and explored the various exits whilst we topped up.

He'd ordered his pasta lunch and was sitting with coffee by the time we'd given up waiting and decided to head for Delia's.

Food was good ;-)

Whilst the clouds gathered....

Paul finished his pasta just as we started our lunch, he wished he'd had some of mine instead ,of which he then did, that completed, he realised that his responsibilities were waiting for him at home...in half an hour! He left in a hurry.

And the clouds gathered some more whilst the holiday makers tried to make holiday. Rob and I soon left them too it, the island's Scarecrow festival did little to encourage us to stay, many of the unknowing exhibits were particularly convincing as they idled by the pirate amusement arcade...mmm.

The Sussex countryside was soon welcome relief, the freshly gravelled roads less so (another key road struck off the blat list for a few weeks) and , with a few more miles in amongst the South Downs, a retreat was called when the gathering clouds delivered their promise. A quick '180' and the welcome lure of more tea and a piece of cake saw the rain storm through.

A time check confirmed that we'd manage to lose a whole afternoon, this blat route is usually completed in three hours including the breakfast stop, today it would conclude at close to 6 hours!! Analysis showed that 3 hours of it were taken in sitting and eating and drinking, half an hour meeting up for the blat and another half an hour filling up with fuel and looking for the missing man! Which is how we now managed to find ourselves amongst the reality of rush hour at this point, not that this quiet corner of the county had given any hint as to the time, decade or era.

With the tea shop closing around us and the roads now dry, a modified 'return to reality route' avoiding the worst of the traffic was planned. The old A3 going north is nice these days, everyone's on the big A3, so this is a good stretch... shame about the cones on one stretch of the dual carriageway bits. Thing is they're spaced just perfectly for a 7 slalom course, and with no sign of works or any possible reason for their placement...well, it was just too tempting!

Rob headed off North to his territory and I too returned home for a change of clothes, more food, fuel and enough time to turn around and head out again for the ReHab 7 club meeting over in Heckfield, Hampshire way. We stood in the pub car park and talked about the day, and many days like it, looked at cars like ours and tried to spot a constellation resembling a number 7 . To no avail, but I did spot an outline of Hayling Island, it went unmentioned.

The 30 mile return run (should have been longer) with an i-Pod soundtrack (something obvious usually suits) and cool clear air, all rounded off an unexpected day of 7evening. A few gallons of petrol, a few £ on sustenance and a handful of hours poured into the selfish cup were taken with pleasure.Could do with a few more days like that...

Simple.

Le Mans Classic 2010

2010-07-26T07:05:00.000+01:00

The Le Mans Classic 2010 weekend with the Reading, North Hampshire and Basingstoke (ReHab) area of the Lotus 7 Club of Great Britain.

Fun in the sun in our Sevens.18 cars, 36 degrees C, 8 toilets, 6 showers and a field with 3000 fellow campers...it was going to be tough.The sites and sounds,without the smells, are hopefully captured right here!

Sunny Sunday (A world cup alternative)

2010-06-28T06:33:00.000+01:00

After a few weeks lay off (tyres, half shafts, MOT, service...) all is good.

Lotus 7 Club Welsh Blat 2010

2010-04-21T22:53:00.000+01:00

As organised by the Taffia contingent , the annual 'fish and chip' run came early this year. Any fear of the weather not being conducive was dispelled along with permission to fly over UK airspace.

A photoshop azure blue sky gave us the horizon to aim at and the Welsh roads provided the apexes to clip...perfect.

Pictures speak louder etc:

And the blatting was good!

2010-03-08T02:39:00.000Z

.
A good day out in the sun... cold to start,-4C,but it soon warmed up!

(6x7's, 2 x 911s, a Daimler Dart, an MGB, a Cobra, an R1 7'esque thing, an other Cat 7, a cyclist, those 2 x 911's again and a Mustang ... all before we even got to Goodwood!)

.

At last!

2010-03-06T13:33:00.000Z

A bright burning thing in the sky? Whassat?

Forecast for Sunday:

Early morning call up orders have been issued. Awaiting response.

RV Farnham.... :-)

Please Stop!!

2010-02-27T19:36:00.000Z

Enforced Hibernation.

2010-02-21T11:39:00.000Z

It's been a long winter...and still it continues.Snow,salt,rain,snow and drizzle.

Managed a quick blat yesterday, once the frost had thawed, but the roads are cold and gritty and caution was the watchword.

The aluminium needs some polishing after months in a cold garage and there's a list of niggles to sort.Temps and oil pressures were all good and the ratio of 'smiles/thumbs up' were quite high.At 5 degrees C it's a rarer sight I suppose: no roof , no screen and virtually no car!

Whilst waiting at a roundabout for the sprint-in-turn getaway, two bikers behind me could be heard to say (in muffled helmet shout speak) 'F**k me that things quick' :-0.

(We'd just had a little group throttle test along a straight, around a clear to view roundabout with a sprint-and-brake up to the next roundabout)

Nice of them to say so of a 21 year old X-flow a- top their modern sport bikes, and still more amazing when the basic chassis design is more than 50 years old!

Let's hope the snow and cold will soon give way to spring and more opportunities to blat.

Brooklands Photo Shoot.

2009-10-25T22:40:00.001Z

An easy autumn Sunday, kicking tyres, drinking tea and taking snaps of the car...106 others had the same idea!

Some more images here.

WEDNESDAY, 7th OCTOBER 2009

Croix en Ternois

A blat across the channel for a couple of nights B&B (booze & bullsh*t) and somewhere amongst it all, a track day in the French countryside!

...and then it rained.

...so we had lunch.

A Friday night blow through.

2009-10-05T00:24:00.000+01:00

3pm Friday, weather clear and early autumn cool despite a forecast to the contrary.It'd be nice just to get an hour or so in to clear the week's log jam of unsolvable BS.

The 'Call up' is made to Ian H and CBB to join the jam... Ian's in.

So: RV 6pm in Farnham it is.

Objective: clear the crowds and head south and try to re-map the middle part of the route from last weekend for inclusion in the Sunrise route file. 5 days after the event and with dusk by 7 we'll have a challenge in dealing with memory and spotting the landmarks, but it's better than an evening consigned to otherwise 7evenless activities.

By 5.30 the promised clouds have rolled in, nice, thanks for that.Configured for fair weather, the aeroscreen set up at leasts allows for good visibility in the gathering gloom.

Encouragingly, the home bound commuter is keen to beat the daylight and, despite their numbers, we join a brisk pace down the A31 to Alton our unintentional diminutive 'challenges' taken up by Jag v8's and a big Audi or two.

The corporate fug begins to clear.

To be continued....

Newbury, Sunrise and Solent 7's - Blat to the beach.

2009-09-27T22:49:00.001+01:00

Chill & mist - Sun & Fun, 15 sevens dissolve into the late summer Hampshire and Sussex countryside (picked off one by one by the BlatGoblin?)

Turnout for the 8am RV at Farnham was good: 10 cars and their willing participants.Temperature was a bit cool ... but that'll be the season then. So, a crisp start.

Roll call:

Andy of Coastal Command made his legendary 'pre blat' blat up from Worthing and came dressed in his ski gear.Very pessimistic/hopeful so soon after the recent drop in temperature!

Also in formation : Ian H , now more well known as 'Wolfie' after a tragic predictive text message that has left him with a tirade of themed remarks and accusations of other after dark activities.

The new Mr and Mrs 'Wilto' Wiltshire both joined the blat (cruelly prized from the grapplings of the marital bed, arrived with blankets and coverings ...presumably from that very bed).

A cross section of our local area 7 club members (ReHab) made up the remaining number along with the lone Solent Sevener, Trevor, in the fireblade 7... who was to lead the group on the ensuing main blat route... and most of us right off the map!

A swift spin down to Alresford, a pretty town woken in the crisp morning to 15 Caterham 7's as they manoeuvred in the main square for the RV with the Newbury group, who arrived at exactly the same time... all tightly planned of course by Jon Croft of military mind.

All too soon,Trev of the 'blade selected a sequential heap of gears and fled as the head of the blat, promising to show us selected routes in 'his' territory... 3 cars at the back were missing within 3 miles!

Low sun, narrow roads and the blind resolve to pursue anything of familiar 7 shaped outline up ahead, kept the senses sharpened. Only the Indian tracker equivalent of bent grass stalks that are the tell tale signs of a recently hooning 7 : the 'paused-to-cross dog walker (with strangling spinning dog on lead)' or 'stopped and looking behind cyclist' give any indication that this could be the right direction.

Quick check behind, Wolfie's there then !!

Junctions appear and are guessed at as a glimpse of something low and familiar just slips from sightline up ahead. There's three up ahead and 5 behind ... that'll be three missing: the lead pack of hounds. A cross roads, the three in front raise hands of surrender, I dive past and break right (it's got to be south here, further behind Trev's lines so he can really up the pace!), it was, we open the taps and climb the straight passed Loomies.

Our two wheel motorbike cousins, basking in a seal colony of leathers on the shoreline of the car park, turn from their sweet teas at the familiar yowl of Trev's full Honda Fireblade rev range, but find no source for their reference: something pink with four wheels and only 3o inches high is not a match they'll make today.

We know what hybrid we're dealing with , which is why we can't follow him and keep the man behind in sight, which is the normal 'Blatiquette' you understand. This is one Pied Piper that isn't going to have many rats to lead to the watery end.

More to follow- here's some pics in the meantime.

Newbury 7 patrol heading through our territory Sunday 27th 08.45 hours!

2009-09-24T00:36:00.001+01:00

Sunrise Squadron standby RS 12 hours.

Intelligence reports that a neighbouring county's 7 patrol is planning to pass through our airspace.

Escort operations are required to:

1) Secure the territory in case of insurgent activity.

2) Add noisily to the fly through.

3) Ensure that breakfast is plentiful.

Met check and orders issued Saturday 20.00 hrs

... so, to summarise: anyone fancy a LazybellylateBlat to the beach on Sunday?

Overdue postings....

2009-09-22T23:43:00.000+01:00

Bad form... there's loads to catch up on, but the weather's not been bad enough to force me to be indoors doing the blog updates!

The shortening daylight window will mean time to get up to date I guess, but I'm two sets of 'A' frame bushes further into the blat season, so plenty to commit to these pages.I need a blog whaller.

Gratuitous flame shot:

Blog comments to come include:

The London Tunnel Run: An exercise in losing 50 cars in 5 mins
Introducing the Nav-Can: Bending tin meaningfully.
Blat 'n' car show: A Sunriser for two and a car show for 300.
Stelvio Bob: A long solo recon trip.
A North loop Blat: The welcome return of two missing men.
Rob W's RAFstagBlat: A cul de sac of 7's gathers for the send off.
Rob W marries: his girlfriend.
Brighton NightBlat 2: The full moon has Ian out for meat at midnight...as wildlife gathered.
Goodwood Revival: Flt Sgt CBB and I dress up and join the parade.

Jeeez... that's some home work!

(This is a few days later, so i'll make a start on the list above) -

25th July, Midnight.

The Tunnel Run.

'There's this thing they do, where everyone meets up really late at night , they all get together and drive off through loads of tunnels, there's ferraris and lambos and TVRs and stuff, it's all a secret and organised by Pistin Hedz, don't tell anyone, but come along and bring friends and....'

So three of the Sunrise Squadron gave the idea a go, adding 3 x-flows and their own micro climates to the rising temperatures and thickening fumes of central London on a Saturday night did little to relax the soul, but this run was a charity thing so we persisted through Greenwhich and on to the meeting point in the lee of the Dome.

Motor Neurone Disease robs the basics right out of healthy living. This evening was dedicated to Simon, a sufferer, already looking at the loss of the simple pleasures of musicianship and driving.

Donations were given for stickers and route maps, mementos presented and passenger seats made welcome for Simon in the top trump card section of the exotica turned out for the tribute. So, with good charitable intent we prepared for a spate of outright howling hooliganism around the streets of London!!

As seen in a Countach side window!

With pre-programmed Tom Toms apiece, using the 'TYRE' files sent out in advance, we loaded the diminutive 7's into the breach with 'high number' Ferraris, Lambos, A Tiger striped S2000 with an Osama Bin Laden wax work passenger ( :-0), that fast Datsun , a Sagaris etc etc...and we were fired into the teaming streets of the City and West End like a video game scene from Fast and Furrybus or something modern!

Tunnel names that you only hear on travel reports flashed by at the same rate as the speed camera salvoes. Multi cylinder flat plane cranked howls were doing their charitable most for the occasion as the sprints from 'traffic light -to roundabout exit -to sharp left' offered full rev range opportunity to excel... mostly in first gear!

We kept station for all of 15mins. Those visible in front thinned at one complex junction, as did those behind. The tell tale howls echoed unsighted about the city and with one more set of lights and a right turn later, our three 7's were on their own. Another blink and change in direction, and then there were two... and breathe.

Help!

To be continued....

The Black Mountains (Blatting for Jacko!)

2009-06-29T09:18:00.000+01:00

A flock of 7's compete with the woolly ones on their own turf - former holiday seaside splendour - a sense of directionlessness and camping it right up proper.

640 miles, 70 x 7s, sunshine and sheep...and it all started from a pub near the horse running place in Chepstow. The start was at 10 am and the initial damp weather and similar enthusiasm was left on the other side of the Bristol channel along with the sat nav signal which fled back down the ozone drain. At the same time the road signs turned to consonants and the tarmac turned into roads again. Smooth roads, remarkable, and the 7 feels like a real piece of driving kit again. Love it.

The briefing by the blatmeister ,Dave Jackson of Welshland, had us directed to follow in groups of ten , despatched in 10 minute intervals: it's simple, follow the guy in front!

You can guess....within 20 mins the 10 were 6 and then 3.

We boiled a brew and wondered as to our fate as lost and tender Englishmen in a mining community, where presumably they do singing and stuff. I think the sign might have said 'miming' community as nothing happened, if it did, it was silently and we weren't looking.

The route through the Black mountains that the Evo team use for testing was nearby and part of the planned route, the 7's sensed their way back on track and the first of the day's legendary sprints had us scrabbling to avoid sheep whilst opening the taps in the sunshine wreathed in smiles. These were mainly at CBB doing the 'I'll go left, as the sheep went left, as he went right, as the woollen chicane went right, as Bob went'... you get the idea, the directional changes of both were rapid and meaningful.The sheep lost the staring competition and stepped aside to let the 'Ball by.

And on we went across mid Wales where we did our best to loose each other completely at one point, I was eventually to meet up with CBB at the Elan Valley visitor centre, having come at it in opposite directions.With roads this good I think 'driving' was more the order of the day than navigating, looking in the mirror or generally giving a monkey's about anything else!

How very selfish, but that seems to be a little bit of what this is all about, this driving thing, which is worrying. Rob was already in Aberystwyth having taken a different Elan Valley!

In the end we did all make it to the rendezvous, on the seafront, in the sunshine, at Aberystwyth. Discussions and dissection of who went where and why were had, and then the pastie and chips from the hut were discussed and dissected with similar incredulity.

Slowly the 70 7's left the seafront in groups, pairs and singles, the Victorian terraces reflecting the noise of seagulls, four cylinder barks and the questions about kit cars from holiday makers.

And then, we too were on our way in a 3 car formation to the campsite which lay somewhere a long way back through the mountains and over the other side...what, more of them there roads?

Well get me back in the seat then for a whole portion more! Such is the addiction , further heightened by more sunshine, a sense of direction this time, and the lure of not being in another one of those seaside towns in the UK, where holidays aren't going to be made and the Pleasure Palace has long since pleasured and lies pale and peeling in flacid hope.

Various halts were necessary to capture the images en-route ... check out the click link at the end of this entry for the full eyebag of pics. Without the deadline of the pastie and chips rendezvous , we'd drive a bit then go back for pictures, then drive it again. Insatiable and self gratifying, but it's 'fill ya' boots time' as it's a long way back to do the same again.

Don't let it stop!

The family run campsite owners welcomed us into their grassy embrace like returning pilots from a hard fought sortie.What they actually were, was kind. They listened to our over stimulated tales from the roads that they travel daily....to collect milk, and then offered us a pitch a good way from others, how welcoming they all seemed.

Sporting the smirk of self appointed heroes and with the slow arrhythmic drum roll of X-flow idle chunter, we passed our firmly staked out fellow residents on to our assigned field station site. Children emerged from their tadpole hunt and wondered as to the funny men struggling with big tents and small cars.Their parents doing their best with explanations avoiding Freudian theories and late development accusations.

Morning: Sun, early mist and the snores from hydro carboned sinuses still rattling on behind thin wet nylon.

But eventually things are wiped, folded and packed into small places and the previous evenings discussions with a local, at the local, has given us an objective to fulfil the Sunday morning religious experience that we have come to expect at home: the breakfast blat. Just 'cos an airman is a long way from home does not mean he should forgo the civilities he has grown to expect, even in these foreign lands.

The cafe was identified and the route was planned for a 'medium' blat rating.

Daffyd in the cafe, wasn't able to accommodate the coach load that I hinted at when enquiring for a table, referencing our appetites, but he had room for three of us at any one of the tables that were all free.The flies didn't eat much and refused to sit down, we ate loads and ignored the bare wired electrics and wheezing of the leaky hot water maker, that was Daffyd's unseen keeper, behind the curtain. Still unseen, she wished us well on our journey.

Opposite: a closed 50's service station ,complete with rusting petrol pumps, wooden service counter and, still hanging, a framed, signed picture of the Rootes brothers wishing all in the garage their very best for the future.Does it still count now that it's a charity shop with broken windows?

No more the Hum of the Singer or the tune of the Humber

And still there was more blat to come.With the breakfast pooling heavily the next leg was back to the campsite to collect the rest of our drying tent materials and then to point eastwards and back home.

There were a good many miles to enjoy cross country back through 'Avan'ta'vowel', 'Isitwyrthyt' and the like, before attempting to pick up the top of the Wye Valley road at Monmouth and the river route back down to Chepstow from where the long circuit had begun only yesterday!

Although, just out of Monmouth where it goes from a 30 - 60 limit , who do we find lurking in a hedge with a big ice cream van and a camera??

Like moths we honed in on the big clear NSL sign with the taps nicely open, straight into the gaze of the glorious technicolour panaflex lens, our performance destined for the full critique and consequent damnation ... nice. Just not fair somehow, and the lunch stop at the old railway station lost it's charm as we cursed the bursting of our bubble!

The ensuing pace was less eager as a result, but somewhat agressive. Challenges to our road postions and line astern formation on the motorway back in England were met with formation overtakes and synchronised head shakes.

The A4 renewed a certain amount of enthusiasm that only the Witshire rolling chalk downland can drag from hardened and tired 'Elan Valley' veterans! Final stop for the journey, and we're back at Nelson's for afternoon tea.

'So where were you when Jacko died?' they'll ask in years to come... I'll say: 'Wales, so it couldn't have been me'...'which Jacko do you mean anyway?'

(Post Script: The speed camera didn't have any film in it)

A whole load'a pics.

Never return to a lost hat!

2009-06-14T10:59:00.000+01:00

Running on vapour, an old Sunriser returns and is out for a duck, 2 up in the bends, 'what's that brown stuff and no NIPs today...

Alarm! Scramble! Sun! 5.15 BST

All of which is a surprise having listened to the rain on the windows a few hours before and fully expecting not to have to take the RS 15 to operational status... it's tough having fun.

Right, roll call : Ian H? Present.

Paul C ? Present after 3 years or so, excellent, welcome back: famous for cold brakes and racing pads and frightening whoever's in front with grip scrabbling noises.Briefed to warm the brakes before using them today.

Rob W? Call up papers not acknowledged.Tut tut.(Since reminded us that he was in Italy blatting around Lake Como in a Fiat...so a reasonable excuse given the choice! )

Andy Coastal Command? Sent apologies, coil problems persist, parts are on order.

Cannonball Bob? Usually early at the appropriate RV ...and not present!

The call came in 'Mayday, Mayday, had to ditch... think it's a fuel thing... not enough of it!' 'Send a refueller and help me to clear the humble pie engulfing the 7 !'

Fuel gauges are never an indication of the fuel status in a 7.

Way over left on the passenger side they bounce, flicker and lie their way into the least popular position of all the instruments in the class. The end of blat reports are just never likely to see them performing with the integrity and energy of the oil pressure gauge or, the head of class : the Rev counter.

Only once does the 'I've done my homework: it's all here' over-bluff from the fuel gauge go on to reveal the empty satchel that brings the rest of the class average to a slow coasting stop and detention!

Long before have experienced blatters called on other pupils to support the class in this area, like the steady maths pupil that is 'Trip'. When it turns to 160 your attention is drawn to fuel reserves, and at 180, it's really time to attend.

So, here's Bob, of sound and logical mind, having run out of gas :-)

The Blat was not to be thwarted by mere pilot error ... we were away.

Paul C's straight cut bag of gears helps to keep tabs on his cosy proximity behind, some times closer than comfortable. Hindhead and Haslemere were dispatched as a warm up exercise ready for real engagement of the old A3 from Liphook south (now mostly deserted having been demoted to a 'B' road).

In and out of tree cover, through nicely changing elevation combined with lead swapping on the short dual carriageway stretches quickly had a man down... a lost hat. Paul C dashed back for the faithful brown beanie, whilst we sat playing the chuntering idle music to the well heeled sleeping neighbourhood.

'SHRT': Standard Hat Recovery Time came and passed.

The hat had made a dash for freedom or perhaps was scooped up by a passing tramp or hungry tarmac sniffing intake scoop. Check nose cones. All clear.

The morse signal came in.... H.A.T. M.I.A. N.O. D.R.I.V.E. A.F.T.E.R. M.A.S.S.I.V.E D.O.N.U.T.

R.E.Q.U.E.S.T. A.S.S.I.S.T.A.N.C.E. S.T.O.P.

Man down.

Warm tyres, grabby tarmac,the loud pedal and an Ital axle: do-not a happy do-nut make.

We found the drive-less 7 in a cinder layby, going nowhere. A nice spot to leave a car, no one around.It'll be fine, no one will find it. (See note 6)

So Paul , keen to have his promised breakfast, jumped in as observer with me and we picked up where we left off. Good man. Blatting for the greater good.

Petworth bends with two up was an exercise in energy management and a reminder that 7's are based around 'the less the better' when it comes to people. The 272 on to Wisborough Green stretched the Blatgland and warmed the soul further... something else had been warmed and loosened 'cos there was brown stuff coming out of the louvres at the front end of the bonnet.

Paul was invited to unbuckle and make his way forward to identify the leak source.He said no.

The breakfast in Guildford beckoned and we pressed on with brown vigour.

Mmmm...nice.

I had some brown vigour on my eggs. Paul ate by himself as he contemplated a lost 7 somewhere in Liss forest:

Outcomes and learnings:

1) Fill up with petrol.

2) Are hats worth returning to? Even ones that you have had since they were lambs?

3) Brown stuff happens when the expansion tank cap is left loose.

4) Remember where the 7 is parked , it saves a lot of time driving around with the trailer trying to find it again.

5) Drive shaft key-ways break off in woods in Hampshire.

6) Keep driving up and down the same road thinking your broken 7 has been stolen until you drive down the right road and find it!

7) Ian H didn't get arrested today.

From chilly sauce to maple syrup...X-flow cuisine.

2009-06-01T09:47:00.000+01:00

A night run for kebabs, handling lunch and breakfast in America ...

Another weekend with a good forecast, we must have done something right and already the BlatMile count so far has easily exceeded the whole of last year. This is good.

Friday 7pm

Solent 7's have their monthly meet on a Friday evening and the last one that the Sunrise Sevens attended spawned the eminent Brighton run to the Market Tavern, so, rude not to put in an appearance really. The chosen pub, being Winchester way, offered a choice of 7 roads that would have CBB and I chasing pheasants and rabbits off the tarmac whilst in search of somewhere from the 17th century, that we would discover to be serving drinks in the same time frame, but at prices from the 22nd century.

£3.72 for a lime and lemonade?

I'll buy a bottle of Scotch and be done with it sir!

We were first on the bouncy castle tho'.

A fine evening in the country, but the shadows lengthened and faded and girls reached for cardies. Not having reached for the menu early enough to be served inside the predicted one and a half hours, and, unable to find an unoccupied cardie (sp?) to chew, I now needed a BlatSnack.

The mental route map ran through the options: Brighton really equated as too far east from where we were to head for The Tavern, cop out really, but the rest of the weekend was looking good to blat, so we put that in the 'next time' folder.

Loomies had a late night opening on a Friday : we had a look, but not that late apparently. CBB's petrol bomb progress singed the way clear back to Alton and Odiham, and by reversing the tried and tested route, lent a different aspect to that forgotten bend and missing dip or two.

This led us to the modern day roadside coaching in : The kebab van.

Glorious in its welcoming bath of neon light and flickering telly, (how do they manage to receive live turkish boxing on a coat hangar aerial?), it's popularity measured by the exploded contents of the wind blown bin.

I am not convinced that the kebab van equivalent of the McD litter patrol doesn't actually fill this bin before they start the evening and then spread more of their produce liberally about the road and pavement as an enticement to the passing motorist, drunk, policeman and... er... 7evener into thinking 'oooh, must be good, look how many people have eaten there'.

The funny cars looked more than usually so amongst the moth like arrivals of Saxo modded boygirls and out-of-body-clock-synched wedding guests in BMW's that all came, fed and were gone in the time that my chicken shish was born, lived briefly and was scattered on the pavement in customary approval.

The two stroke yamaha backed conversation in stilted boxing from behind the counter, suggested that our cars had engines that were 'a bit small innit'. The chilly size/strength ratio example I gave to illustrate the theory was lost amongst a brilliant piece of between flickers boxmanship and, with a new arrival of lexus light clusters, we moved on, scattering wrappers in appreciation amongst the fallen remnants of my simile!

Next,another 10 miles and then the flip side of nightstops, the Wild Bean Cafe (It's a BP garage isn't it, sussed that early on). Latte's and doughnuts under more bright neon ... we've been here before, and so have the lexus-lens kids and wedding guests et al. But, needs must, every blat sortie requires a de-brief and sustenance and this stop has petrol too, of which Bob likes to make full use.

A further loop south back up to the Hog's Back, not a food reference this time, a well named road, will conclude part 4 of the evening's blat. Bob and Miss England salute their departure with a ball of flame (blue then yellow) and make off back to Alton and Basingstoke...they like their petrol used in a blat of 5 parts.

Saturday: 10.30 am.

A lie in! Didn't sleep well ... the kebab and coffee that are essential Nighblat ingredients don't make for an easy shut down of all systems just 'cos it's time to sleep then. Good job that the Sunrise blat is planned for tomorrow. Truth being that the 7 Club Handling Day at Dunsfold is today and we'd planned a run down to have a look...20 mins away hardly constitutes an early departure and most of the other Sunrisers are either on half term, having girlfriends or 'off air', so any sense of my lack of commitment to the Sunrise cause this morning goes unoticed.

The sun shone.

Right, breakfast time, and a blat to Dunsfold...what do you eat after a short and defensive struggle through the grid lock of Guildford that soon turns any driving ambition to thoughts of bacon and egg rolls instead?

A bacon and egg roll then.

And dispensed from another van...mmm. CBB assures me that his friend in the Health and Safety Squadron would take his chances from the mobile caterer over a budget restaurant anyday.

So, a bacon and egg roll is bought from a ten year old with burns.

Caterham 7's were put through their paces as bacon and burgers were fitted in faces.

The sun shone on some more.

Tea was next on the ingested catering list, Rob W joined us and we watched instead of 'doing' for once... and the sun shone a bucket load more.

To interrupt the BlatSnack thread , a mention must be made of the RS Caterham Levante in attendance at this handling day. £100k's worth of cereal packet shaped carbon fibre with a siamesed motor bike engine, making a mini V8, and throwing out 500 broken horse powers!

There mentioned it.

How big is it? How Much is it?

And man did the sun shine ... and so did I. Jeremy Clarkson and Co have clearly not put the coins in the ozone layer meter over Top Gear Land where we stood. The water bowser being used for the skid pan was looking like the only way of extinguishing the kilojoules absorbed by my nose and forehead. Clown like, I sought sanctuary in some shade by discussing alloy wheel refurbishment with a driving instructor in a Ford Focus :-/

The RS Levante continued tearing more seconds off the 0-60 test event, and more holes in Jeremy's ozone account , and there in we were reminded of the outcome for not being in banking (or even wanting to use them) , our cars being perhaps a tenth of the value of this thing .Yeah, but is he happy?

Compare the Cosworth powered CSR 260 ... a short reign as king of Caterham Hill with that of the Levante.

(If you're quick these vids will run in tandem to give a bit of a race thing!)

Time to go, I need an ambulance for my face.

Sunday 05.15 BST

Sunrise Squadron Scramble!!

Back on it, the face flames have been dowsed and the previous evening's tirade of clown abuse has left no lasting damage. Any DNA changes from the intake of radiation are not obvious in the simple requirements of left, right and 'go' at this stage. Maybe that comes a generation or two later, won't harm this morning's Sunrise Blat then, green light go!

The clear sky and cool air at this time of the day cleans the tubes, but it hasn't helped Andy (of Coastal Command) to get his kite to fly this morning. Somewhere in Worthing a X-flow cranks on it's battery to all the neighbours, for about 20 mins. The vinegar stroke that a good squirt from the coil would have concluded, was not to be. Andy retires from the mission and a wingman goes without. We've cleared his locker and stopped his priviledges.

Ian H, fresh back from holiday and with the sound of NIP's rustling in his licence, slots straight into formation. We RV with 'CBB and Miss England' (they are one and the same) in the Cow Car Park in Hook (where today some free range Aberdeen's stood and wondered as to X-flows and their comparably steamy breath and fluid losses).

Today the mission objective is to convert the previously blogged NatBlat route into a fully operational alternative to the Southern based routes. 80 miles north to Pangbourne, Didcot and back south to Basingstoke and home. Just as well Andy (CoCom) missed this one,to join us he'd have been way up on the carbon footprint profile thing and that. Somewhere a cormorant remains clean and thanks a silent X-flow in Worthing... just visible, under a webbed foot, the handle of the wire snippers.

The best bit of this route comes after 40 mins of light exercise through country lanes and small villages (see NatBlat entry), speed cameras and new found fondness of our permits-to-blat keep the pace even. Tom of the Tom has us repeating a triangular road section a few times as one of the satellites, that makes him do his thing, falls through Clarkson's ozone hole or something.

CBB and Miss E stop for some fuel right at the nub of the good bit, they like fuel those two.

He advises that the quality of top shelf literature is particularly rich and plentiful at this BlatStop. Which reminded me, where are we going to get the day's BlatSnack? (The blog thread re-aligns smartly back on topic.)

7.20 BST and all is good.

And so to the long awaited 'downs section'. Do you remember the cartoon road analogy?

Meep meep !

12 miles of coitus un-interruptus!

Yup, grab the adjective book and include all the balancing, finger tip, apex cutting, foot dancing, tyre grabbing stuff you can and spread it on the next 12 miles promised by T of T to the next roundabout... and it'd not even come close.

This is top shelf, plain wrapper, trouser bursting BlatPorn.

Sullied by our exuberence and self abuse, we stave off the inevitable post coital depression with the weekend's final BlatSnack at the 'hope it's open' American Diner thing.We're 'twixt Newbury and Basingstoke and, as we park, the blinds open and the door unlocks. 8 am .

Our two wheel half brothers are standing their machines on pegs and are already looking for strong sweet tea, presumably after having ridden the crest of a continuous accident all morning, as is there wont.

Waffles, maple syrup and eggs to the sound of 'doo wop' surrounded by 1950's ephemera add an unusual culture shift and time travel conclusion to the main part of the weekend. Or does it?

Consider: The car that is our star in this blog was first set free as the Lotus 7 in 1957. This 50's roadside diner, in it's optimistic deco revival make up and period enthusiasm, represents the wave of response to the post war austerity years that helped give possibility to the man on the street for a better and brighter future. It's a dead cert that, across the country, a brace of Series 1 7's will have stopped for breakfast and coffee at similar roadside stops on a Sunday summer morning,in the same way, 52 years ago ... and every year since.

So here's an image that says something about car design, enthusiasm, hope, simple pleasures and BlatSnacks :

...and still the sun shone :-)