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Old Thread (http://www.zroadster.net/forum/viewtopi ... =1&t=41919)

The route has been decided...

The evening before the challenge = Day 0.

Day Zero (53 miles)
Meet at Lizard Point(A) (most southerly point in GB)
Lizard Point to Land's End(B)
Land's End to hotel at St. Ives(C)

Day One (569 miles & 9 hours)
St. Ives to Glasgow(D)

Day Two (383 miles & 11 hours)
Glasgow to Ardnamurchan Point(E) (most westerly point in GB) (150 miles & 4 hours)
Ardnamurchan Point to Sheigra(F) (233 miles & 7 hours)

Day Two (Night)
Sheigra to Duncansby Head(G) (Sunset to Sunrise Challenge) (114 miles & 3½ hours)

Day Three
Duncansby Head to John O'Groats(H)
John O'Groats to Dunnet Head(I) (most northerly point in GB)
Home via Cairnwell Pass(J) (highest paved road in UK)


Google Maps

Day 0 is planned to be Tues 23 June.

Confirmed
Pingu
Deano1712
Brian H (Meeting at Crianlarich)
Hairycheeks (Meeting at Erskine)

Interested
Bertiejaffa

If anyone else is interested, just let me know. There is accommodation arranged at the start (hotel [£40 pp]) and Glasgow (sleeping bag req'd). There is no accommodation arranged at the finish. We will be using sleeping bags in the car or tent.

Did a bit of a recce yesterday

really want to do this - lets hope the dates/work requirements change

bertiejaffa wrote:really want to do this - lets hope the dates/work requirements change

The hotel is booked (but not paid for, so can be cancelled with 5 day's notice at no cost).

Tues: 1x double, 1x twin, 1x single
Wed: ditto
Thu: ditto

Wed and Thu are reserve dates. The preferred "Day 0" is Tues.

Yep, still like to take part, I'm think I'm in your part of the world today Pingu

Brian H wrote:Yep, still like to take part,

PM sent.

Brian H wrote:I think I'm in your part of the world today Pingu

Work or pleasure?

pingu wrote:

Brian H wrote:Yep, still like to take part,

PM sent.

will reply when I get home tomorrow.

Brian H wrote:I think I'm in your part of the world today Pingu

Work or pleasure?

Pleasure, at Cadwell Park

I would like to take part in this, I am in Argyll but would like to meet and start in Glasgow?

Hairycheeks wrote:I would like to take part in this, I am in Argyll but would like to meet and start in Glasgow?

PM sent.

Slightly modified itineries PM'd.

If we can get on the 1215 ferry (or earlier) at Nether Lochaber, we can go to the Argyll in Ullapool if interested.

http://www.theargyllullapool.com/pdf/sample_menu.pdf

I don't know what they are talking about when they tell us there is no inflation. The price of the ferry has gone up from £7.90 to £8.00 .

Something to keep an eye on...
http://www.theweatheroutlook.com/twofor ... tlook.aspx

Hairycheeks I hope you drive round to Erskine and not cheat and get the ferry

I'll be driving round Geoff to warm the engine up

I've just done a recce for the section frm Stoke to the end of Day 1.

Motorway is Motorway until M6 Jct36, then the real driving starts .

This might help a little. Facebook A82 road watch

Were are off! Lovely weather today, but wont last all week!

Deano1712 wrote:Were are off! Lovely weather today, but wont last all week!

Ha ha your a couple crackpots ( but nice ones )
Cant see the support vehicle, (petrol tanker )
Good luck an be carefull out there.

See you guys on Thursday Morning, looking forward to meeting you both. Weather does not look too good but hey ho.

Brian

Good day today. 600 miles driven, with a run through chedar gorge, and the off the motorway Cumbria and northwards. Some great roads there. The v8 is running well...just a lil coolant leak and a temperamental starter motor to keep me on my toes :-S

Deano1712 wrote:chedar gorge

My neck of the woods
Have a good trip

Started here (Lowestoft) at 1650 on the 22nd...



and ended up here (Duncansby Head) at 0400 on the 26th...



Lowestoft - tick
Lizard Pt - tick
Land's End - tick
Ardnamurchan Pt - tick
Sunset to Sunrise Challenge - tick

Dunnet Head, John O'Groats and Cairnwell Pass still to do.

Suffering from sensory overload . The views and the roads have been [Revel-Howard's Voice]A-MAZE-ING[/Voice]


Deano and Brian seem to have enjoyed it, even though Brian was a bit gobsmacked when he realised what he had taken on . I've no idea what happened to Hairycheeks.

Fantastic driving and scenery. The sleep was surprisingly good too! The rain and wind have caught up with us now
Here we are waking up at Duncansby Head.

Brilliant! Absolutely stark raving bonkers but brilliant! Well done guys. Just out of interest is someone keeping an eye on the fuel bill?

Gud stuff' an a great challenge of skill an endurance,your a right pair of eccentrics. Lol.
M

I'll be taking in some of those views at the weekend. Travelling from Cults (Aberdeen) to Kingussie in the Cairngorms. Recently put the Zed back on the road after almost 3 years. Drove up to Abz from Middlesbrough about 4 weeks ago and didn't miss a beat, had forgotten what a pleasure to drive.

Just back home now, wow, what a drive, stunning scenery, superb roads and a pair ///Ms (well an ///M and a special ///M) to try and follow. Thanks Deano and Pingu for letting me tag along.

Pingu was right, I had not full appreciated what was involved until the day before, good job really. The last drive yesterday from Sheigra to Duncansby Head was 114 miles and was interesting to say the least.

Who's up for a Scotland trip next year!

This must have been epic, especially chasing down that V8!
Some amazing roads up there...

Dino D wrote:This must have been epic, especially chasing down that V8!
Some amazing roads up there...

The roads were stunning Dino, we had mile after mile of traffic free roads. I tried to keep these guys honest and I don't think I did too bad in my little 3.0

Brian H wrote:

Dino D wrote:This must have been epic, especially chasing down that V8!
Some amazing roads up there...

The roads were stunning Dino, we had mile after mile of traffic free roads. I tried to keep these guys honest and I don't think I did too bad in my little 3.0

I had a chuckle about how your roadcraft "evolved" .

Here are the main routes that we actually did (they are not the actual routes as it would take too much effort to key in the changes to the maps and my tracker failed ). Anyway, it gives you an idea...

22 Jun 2015 (Day -1)
23 Jun 2015 (Day 0)
24 Jun 2015 (Day 1)
25 Jun 2015 (Day 2 - Day)
25 Jun 2015 (Day 2 - Night)
26 Jun 2015 (Day 3)
28 Jun 2015 (Day 4)

(links now "shared"}

That must have been amazing. I just completed a lap of the cairngorms on Saturday / Sunday from Cults ( Aberdeen ) up through Tomintoul and down through Pitlochry before coming back up through Glenshee. Great drive , roof down in Scotland for 300 miles and two days straight . Not quite the mad dash but then I did pick up some good Whisky on the way round

With nutcase now arranging the next trip I realise I didn't write up the experience from 2015.

In summary it was an amazing trip. Great roads, scenery and a lot of laughs. The best drive I have ever done was the overnight trip across the top of the land from Shiegra. 160 mins of driving, two other cars seen on the road, plus a dozens of deer and hundreds of sheep. There was a storm chasing but I managed to get all the way there with the top down. 550 hp was a challenge on a single track road but it was exhilarating. I was shocked to see Brian arrive a few minutes after me in the 3.0. He was hammering it too and what a shock to see he had very loose rear wheel nuts in the morning. Oh we laughed lol.

He is my car outside home at 4am on the Monday. My usual trip to work in South Wales ahead but with a fun car and many miles ahead.

After a single day at work and a stay in a very posh hotel Monday night I made my way down to Lizard to meet up with Pingu. The nutter had already been to Lowestoft to ensure he was to bag the full NEWS+JOGLA. A few pics from the southern end and note the fine weather (not to last).

Lizard Point


Lands End including the lunatic birds eating our left over food.




Entry here in the book at Lands End


Wednesday was a day of mostly motorway driving north with a detour to Cheddar. The driving got lots more exciting at Cumbria with an excursion and then into Scotland lots more so. We had an overnight at pingu's mums house which was fun. The locals fish and chips are weird. You get two fish (Scots are weird)

Thursday was where the driving got amazing. Most of the photos I have are not great, taken on the move. Most of the roads are amazing with little traffic and great scenery. We met up with Brian in the morning and then a long adventurous drive to Ardnamurchan Point (Spelt right?)




After a break there we headed north up past Loch ness and more fish and chips at Ullapool. The road north from there is one of the best. I may upload a video at some point from that area. We finished up where the road ran out, at Sheigra which is as far West as you can go at the north part of Scotland. All a bit giddy from the driving and the anticipation of the night drive ahead.



As said earlier, the drive was amazing. Soo want to do it again. Maybe next year in the daylight. Such a remote place, but still within a one day drive from home at a push.
Brian and I share beers at 1am but the sleep monster caught up and the overnight waiting for sunrise was not to be. It was pissing down too! Here we are at Duncansby Head at 6am.



Friday morning we headed up to Dunnet Head...

Brian was wondering what the noises from his car were here...oh dear!


And then to John O'Grouts...



Entry in the book up there...


There ends the tale. A drive south to follow with a detour through the Cairngorms. I was home by 7pm Friday in Yorkshire after 5 days, 2100 miles and £550 gone in fuel. The organisation was impressive I have never seen an event so well planned. Congrats to pingu for a super event and we have lots of great memories.

Nice write up Mark, good memories the trip across the top of Scotland at night was exhilarating say the least. As Mark said I had some horrible noises coming from my car on the Friday morning, I thought the trip the night before and ripped the diff out of the car! (That's what you get trying to keep up I guess) Turned out that I had lost two wheel nuts and the rest were loose a quick tighten up and all was good again, phew

Glad you enjoyed it. Shall I put you down as "interested" on DTEC 2016 ?

I need to get to work on the videos.

pingu wrote:Glad you enjoyed it. Shall I put you down as "interested" on DTEC 2016 ?

I need to get to work on the videos.

It will come down to available holiday dates Im afraid, just about to change my job so need to work this out.

Brian H wrote:

pingu wrote:Glad you enjoyed it. Shall I put you down as "interested" on DTEC 2016 ?

I need to get to work on the videos.

It will come down to available holiday dates Im afraid, just about to change my job so need to work this out.

No dates arranged yet. The diary is completely clear at the moment. Let me know available dates as soon as you know them.

Awesome road trip & great write up too.

How did you manage for Fuel Stops in the V8 XLS? I was up in the Hebrides in the Front Bottom last weekend and was a bit cautious of using the loud pedal too much just in case we ran short!

Hey Stu. Whats the front bottom?? Pingu had the fuel stops well planned out. I had 15litres in the boot and only used it once or twice. There is a 24-hr unmanned station at Durness which was a blessing.

Oh and I got 23 mpg all week On the motorway run the refill cost less than pingu paid. The v8 used a little bit more than the 3.2 but low octane is cheaper.

Deano1712 wrote:Hey Stu. Whats the front bottom?? Pingu had the fuel stops well planned out. I had 15litres in the boot and only used it once or twice. There is a 24-hr unmanned station at Durness which was a blessing.

Front Bottom = nickname for a Porsche

Videos at last...