Kick Those Shoes Off and Relax. It's the Delta 2017 Tea Break

[gary396]

Can I have the Rover then?

[bauble]

Here in Luton everything is calm, and sunny, no wind to speak of. Outlook is set fair with little chance of squalls tomorrow, however, enough about me. The weather is ............... Oh who cares?

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Well that's that then. Saturday is the end of the world. I'll cancel my Portugal flights then.....

Portugal looks good Peter.

The Bay of Biscay, on Saturday, less so.

That should not bother anyone here I suppose unless they are ferry travellers and the blow extends to Monday/Tuesday, right?

[grantp]

BBC reporting of the Iberian wildfires seems to suggest there have been a lot, likely deliberately started, spread over a wide area in northern Spain and northern Portugal and some roads have been closed.

Rains expected tonight and might help the fire fighting.

However if one is driving one might want to keep an eye on the situation I would guess.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-41634125

[John Turner]

Originally Posted by Alan Morgan

The sky has turned a very funny shade of yellowy-orange here but not much wind at the moment...

Yep, we had this up in South Lincs. Quite dramatic. I half expected to see the 4horsemen of the Apocalypse gallop over the horizon.

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Mike Bell

Another first yesterday- I met fellow historic tenther John Elwin at last! Despite the usual Friday nightmare that is our British M'ways, and a satnav that was way off target (French?), John called in on his way to an event at his old school in deepest N Norfolk. (The one with the very cold and very dusty squash courts..... )

Good to meet you John! Hope the journey home is less disrupted....

Thank you Mike! Starting at your workshops, the rest of the weekend was absolutely brilliant & no delays on the return trip until I got to Dover - a Romanian truck had broken down on the roundabout by the docks entrance. My sat nav was made in Holland & bought in King's Lynn, but many years ago.

Gresham's has upgraded its facilities somewhat & I very much doubt there are dusty squash courts any longer! I was a bit shocked at how even Norfolk is now so overcrowded - no room to park in Blakeney on an October Sunday...

Really good to meet you too & I'm sorry I delayed you going home but as I said I hope to be back in January when there'll be a bit more time to put the World & Bauble's shortcomings to rights around the Bell tea Urn! Hope you had a good trip down to Ricard.

[bauble]

Originally Posted by John Turner

Yep, we had this up in South Lincs. Quite dramatic. I half expected to see the 4horsemen of the Apocalypse gallop over the horizon.

I thought they had already been to your place, John!

[bauble]

Mr Elwin. How did you know my comings were short?

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by bauble

Mr Elwin. How did you know my comings were short?

Call it intuition!

[gary396]

Bit of advanced information from the VSCC for anyone thinking of entering the Pomeroy Trophy at Silverstone next year:

Date - Saturday 24th February 2018.

Entries opened on 13th October and will close two weeks before the event.

New for 2018 will be the running of a ‘Sports Libre’ class.

[Colin McKay]

A great quote in our local online rag ref the red sun "I thought it was the end of the world so I ran outside with my camera"

[Colin McKay]

Sorry, double post

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by Colin McKay

A great quote in our local online rag ref the red sun "I thought it was the end of the world so I ran outside with my camera"

Well, you just gotta have a selfie for every occasion these days!

[Lancsbreaker]

My its gone quiet in here.......You can tell the season is nearly over and everyone's tired

So I'm going to have a little rant......had to step in yesterday, as my step-son had wreched his back, to do a delivery drive to London and back. I always find the 50mph average speed sections of motorway where they ae introducing "smart" motorway tedious, and welcome the news at the weekend that they are considering raising it to 60, particularly at night when no-one is working, and I avoid them where possible - particularly the 20 mile stretch of M6 from around J19 - so I went over Woodhead to join M1 South - still some 50averahe near Donington, but only 6 miles or so.......

On the return journey however, the downside of completed "smart" motorways was apparent - on the northern stretch of the M1, mile after mile of overhead signs displaying 60 limit, with no apparent reason - 4 lanes running smoothly, no excess traffic, no accidents, breakdowns or roadworks - just completely unnecessary arbitrary limit.....

I know, intellectually, that even with 20+ miles of travel at 60 rather than 70 (the van I was using was governed to 70 ), the time difference is minimal, but its still frustrating to have to keep monitoring the speedo and extending an already long day even further for no reason. The ability to impose mandatory speed restrictions is being abused, I feel!

There, I feel a little better, and after a 13 hour day yesterday am taking it easy today

[MGDavid]

Just back from another superb Spa weekend, shared a C1 in the Citroen 24 hours. Very variable conditions i.e. plenty of dry - damp - rain, 5 drivers who'd never met before and a motley pitcrew of just 4 friends and wives.
Reeled back our expectations after losing an hour and a quarter for a complete engine & box change - but we finished ahead of our friends and rivals who had a BTCC driver in their team. (We beat them in the workshop as their engine change took 2 hours plus)
Some of the best racing ever, great camaraderie, after 297 laps we ended up 29th from 42 in the class.
Now looking forward to the Race of Remembrance - it's 12 hours this year - in just under 3 weeks where I share an MX5.

[midgetman]

>>>>>>>>>>>>On the return journey however, the downside of completed "smart" motorways was apparent - on the northern stretch of the M1, mile after mile of overhead signs displaying 60 limit, with no apparent reason - 4 lanes running smoothly, no excess traffic, no accidents, breakdowns or roadworks - just completely unnecessary arbitrary limit.....

Lancs, maybe that was the *consequence* of the 60mph limit??????? It is after all the theory that keeping all the traffic to one steady albeit slower pace actually takes out the pulses in traffic that cause frustration and accidents. It clearly works on this section of motorway.

Just a thought..........

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

My its gone quiet in here.......

Yes, I've notice an almost complete lack of comments (anywhere) from Bauble lately, I hope he's OK?

[Gerard C]

Originally Posted by MGDavid

Some of the best racing ever, great camaraderie/ Now looking forward to the Race of Remembrance - it's 12 hours this year - in just under 3 weeks where I share an MX5.

David, one of my ex team mate is running a front row Capri he's gonna sell now. He tells me he finds so much more fun racing a 2 CV Citroën in England that they built a kind of Brit/ French team. Next year we'll probably share an MX5 for several races. Our pockets are not deep enough to race with historic pros anymore.

[Tim Falce]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Yes, I've notice an almost complete lack of comments (anywhere) from Bauble lately, I hope he's OK?

He's been mooching around here today, last seen 13.55

[grantp]

Originally Posted by midgetman

>>>>>>>>>>>>On the return journey however, the downside of completed "smart" motorways was apparent - on the northern stretch of the M1, mile after mile of overhead signs displaying 60 limit, with no apparent reason - 4 lanes running smoothly, no excess traffic, no accidents, breakdowns or roadworks - just completely unnecessary arbitrary limit.....

Lancs, maybe that was the *consequence* of the 60mph limit??????? It is after all the theory that keeping all the traffic to one steady albeit slower pace actually takes out the pulses in traffic that cause frustration and accidents. It clearly works on this section of motorway.

Just a thought..........

That's what they want you to think Max. Shows that smart motorways "work".

Mind you if they frequently run a running M-way at 60 and then propose 60 for the roadworks ... erm, where's the safety?

Most of these "smart" M-Way roadworks have narrow and rather wiggly lanes. There is not way that everything running nose to tail at 60 would be a good idea - it's not that great at 50.

The "at night" idea is probably even more stupid in some ways.

However I would support the use of higher speeds to pass a truck in any lane. Sitting alongside a truck for mile after mile is not good for either party. Especially not good in narrow wandering temporary lanes.

[bauble]

My its gone quiet in here.......You can tell the season is nearly over and everyone's tired

Now look what you have done! Woken us all up, rotten blighter.

[bauble]

It's nice to ne missed, shows how popular I am. I will endeavour to keep all you splendid chaps entertained throughout the winter months, with a steady stream of abuse, derogatory remarks, and jolly banter.

All together now "For he's a jolly good ....."

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Yes, I've notice an almost complete lack of comments (anywhere) from Bauble lately, I hope he's OK?

Too late - you've ruined the peace & quiet, or did you just miss the abuse?

[Gerard C]

Fella !

[midgetman]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>That's what they want you to think Max. Shows that smart motorways "work".

I've got a couple of spare rolls of tin foil if you need some head gear, Grant.

Some years back the by-pass around Batheaston was opened - previously a notable blackspot on the way into the fair city of Bath itself. My friend who lived locally said "it's stupid, there's no-one on the bypass what a waste of money!" Yet he was the first to notice there were no queues in the village.

Controlled traffic at a constant speed certainly seems to clear quicker than the usual hectic chaos.

I'll crawl back under my stone now. See you soon :-)