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All that I recall said at the drivers meeting was don't eat two pies at morrisons! The rest was a bit vague in my view. However next time I'll think more about when and where to eat in between the breakfasts. Scotland doesn't seem to be overflowing with places to eat by the road side! No ones going to starve I agree and but it was one area that was unclear to me. Re the money, you've got to spend it one way or another and it pales behind the cost of fuel.

Bob

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If you are late for a control to the point that it is unmanned, then photo evidence should suffice. It's not always practical to put out post marshall signage, take Edinburgh as an example - however a photo of the Terminal Building or similar should suffice.

Re texts/calls, yep good idea but remember that some signing in posts can be manic, also particularly up north, phone reception is poor. JOG, Skiach & Conan Bridge proved that!

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MikeyB wrote:
If you are late for a control to the point that it is unmanned, then photo evidence should suffice.


Now we're getting the kind of info it would have been good to get at the driver's meeting... :)

The road book and meet were clear about timings - make them!
And clear about the control stops - they'll close when they say because its volunteers etc etc etc.

It seems the reality for those in the know (i.e. those that have done the RBRR before) is different.

IMHO clubs that want to grow, never mind survive, surely need to go to great pains to share and involve first timers - traditions/cliques/established common knowledge that is uncommunicated only serves to exclude.

CT has some great events and great people - but failure to face outward, see things for what they are and move forward won't help the future of the club.

An additional thought: I feel a little odd for being congratulated on this thread for 'speaking out'. I'm not doing that, I'm just commenting on the few bits that I think would improve things as part of an overall great event.
I would hope everyone feels enabled to do that - doesn't mean I or anyone else will get their ideas adopted, that depends whether the ideas are any good and stand up to scrutiny of those wiser and more experienced.

R

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Fair point Ferny.

I'll back out - the comments are what they are. You only do something first, once. Then you're in the know. So I thought I'd add what I experienced to help the way in for further newbies.

RBRR is fab. It's clear why its lasted 50 years. Not too hard; not too expensive and overall well planned and organised.

Would be great to have 200 Triumphs doing it :)

R

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Ref food - its not a good idea to eat big meals on the route-best off eating little and often,fruit,bit of chocolate etc it keeps the energy levels up and prevents "Tracey island incidents"
Having Celoiac disease I cant partake in in "Forecourt meat based savory product gourmet" thus tend to provide for my self- eggs beans and bacon are fine at the breakfast halts- hence why I was giving my sausage away ...feel free to add a pun there

To be honest I wouldn't think to tell anyone at the drivers meet what to do about food -its common sense isn't it? your going to be in a car for 48 hrs two breakfasts are provided...throw a bag of ready salted in the glove box eat when peckish job done :)

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I didn't find the macmillan presentation too long, that was because I dosed off during it! I hope I didn't snore too loundly :-)

We had a Sat Nav with the POI files for all the checkpints that I had shared before the run. However we didn't use the Sat Nav for navigating, we ignored it and followed the road book and the map I had marked up with the route. The internal Sat Nav lady got quite irritated when we ignored her pleas to follow a different route! What the Sat Nav was useful for was, 1.   Having an idea of whether or not we were on track in terms of timing for the next checkpoint, 2, Having a view of the bends in the road ahead at night, particulary useful for overtaking as you had a view of when a straight bit was coming up before you reached it and could plan ahead, 3  Having a view of the speed limits and a warning when we were exceeding them. We didn't necessary slow down whne warned by the Sat Nav but at least you knew you were speeding and could slow down if a Police Car came into view.  4. Warnings about the Speed cameras on routre, especally the overzealous use of them on the A68 up to Edinburgh...

In terms of Food, apart from the hassle with delays of actually getting the brekkie at Lands End the Food was bang on, especially suplemented by a car full of Pasties, Sausage Rolls, cakes and energy drinks we certaibnly didn't starve. And the Lamb and Black Pudding Pie purchased at Tebay was yummy :-)

We made all the checkpoints on time except the last one at the Plough as it actually took 2 1/4 hours to get from Didcot to the Plough following the Roadbook due to the Traffic Jams on the Oxford Ring Road and M40. We were however early at Blyth and waited to get the book signed but only reached Carter Bar with about 10 minutes to spare thanks to the Jams on the A1 so anyone leaving Blyth towards the end of the checkpoint window probably wouldn't have made Carter Bar on time. When there are big Jams like that there needs to be a bit of flexibility in the chjeckpoint openeing times but this is difficult to manage at locations like Carter Bar and Sugar Loaf where phone reception is non existent so it's not going to be possible to let the Marshalls know that the field of crews are all being delayed.

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ah yes, the Tebay catering. Did anybody have one of the sausage rolls. Bl**dy hell, it was like a Sunday joint wrapped in flaky pastry - very nice indeed.

Just like the Scours - Be prepared.   Food is easy; take what you need for the week-end. You do not know where the food will be.

Roger

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Note: Tebay catering must have been provided FOC by the owners of the Service Area, how fab is that.

As Andy Pearce states, if one enters a 48 hour car run, and are told that they will get two breakfasts and maybe snacks at maybe two/three other points, its is not to difficult to work out that one will have to purchase some food along the route?

As for Control Stop opening times, I instructed all stops that after the Control has stopped, it was up to the Marshals to make a decision about signing afterwards. Most Marshals had done the job before and most decided to stay open longer to allow for stragglers, this was their decision and one that we do not have an issue with.

As for Cliques, we were worried about that before the event and really did not wish for newbies to feel excluded in any way. Dave L's phone calling of all newbies before thr start was one way that we counteracted that. During the event, I am sure many newbies got to talk to the more experienced RBRR's (Not sure about this as I was not there). I know Dave did chat to many during the event, I would have done likewise, but for my retirement. I for one go out of my way during the event to talk to all. Please note that I specifically wanted the Organisational teams to hand out the packs at the DM, this way we all got to meet and speak to all crews.

I have read all the criticism of the DM and will work out how we can modify the meeting to make it more appealing and inclusive. I don't agree with the comments about the preview of the route, I think that part of the DM is valid and required.

The RBRR is an interesting event, it attracts Entrants from all parts of society, therefore we must be all encompassing and democratic. I would hate the event to become an event that only the well heeled could undertake and vice versa.

Most of the Organising team take part in the event and really do want all to have a good time. We will of course listen to all comments and will act upon them, its a Club event open to all CT members, why would we not.

One comment above has got my goat though, that being that we are behind the times. I think with the RBRR, 10CR, HCR and the Autosolo as part of our event calendar, we are in front of the game, what other old car club offers such events?

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timbancroft61 wrote:


One comment above has got my goat though, that being that we are behind the times. I think with the RBRR, 10CR, HCR and the Autosolo as part of our event calendar, we are in front of the game, what other old car club offers such events?


Spot on Tim, I just wish work and family commitments would let me take part in more, still there is next year .....

Constructive comments welcome too, a bit of tweaking here and there, but the RBRR is what it is, what it has been, and what it will be in years to come.

We are all adults, and should be able to care for ourselves.

The organisers cannot be responsible for late breakfasts, or accidents and bad weather that cause delays. - these in their own way are part of the RBRR, and its how the crews overcome them, and deal with them that make the event what it is.

The RBRR is meant to be a challenge, if it was too easy what would be the point ?

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The food thing seems to have been blown out of proportion. In reality it comes down to it not being clear at the meeting from the perspective of one who hadn't done it previously. I am in agreement with the op that the meeting could have been better but once you have done it, it all becomes clear. Sure you can work it out and we are all adults but if that's the logic, why bother with the meeting? It's not a big deal either way and it's a minor point in a great event.

I felt there were clearly cliques but that's how it is. No one was unfriendly and as the event went into day two, I felt there was more chat and sense of cameraderie.

Not sure where behind the times crit came from, must have missed that. I think it's a good programme of events. My perception of the club is that it south east based but maybe I need to get in touch with the Yorkshire element. Is there a thriving branch up here?  Like many I've got family work etc commitments but the RBRR gave me a taste for other event- assuming of course that pies are laid on......

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Another first timer here...

As it happens, we had no problems (other than the traffic related ones) and as such, did OK for timing at all the Controls (back at the Plough 1 minute inside time!). We didn't really discuss it, but had we ended up arriving at a Control too late to get our book signed then I suspect we'd have made the decision to either take a short cut or skip the next one to get back on track- this might have meant that we'd miss a stop where we could have got our book signed, but that's part of the game- you can't always win!

As for food, we'd gone on the assumption that we'd be getting breakfasts and anything else would be a bonus- we had a decent meal mid afternoon Friday in the Plough, and bought something hot at Tebay on the Sunday (and very nice it was too). Pies at Stirling and cakes and Pimperne were very welcome, but we didn't treat them as part of our planned food. That was what the pile of crisps, choccy bars, peanut butter and jam sandwiches, and token bits of fruit in the car was for ;)

While there were obvious existing friendship groups, I thought we were made very welcome with several folks coming to say hello, commenting on the car etc- both at the Plough and on the way round.

I do have to agree on the Driver's Meeting though- although I didn't have a problem with any of the content, it was a bit disjointed at times which made it a bit hard for us to follow. I also agree that, while the bones of the MacMillan presentation were good, and I found the "what we do" really interesting, the "sell" was a bit unncessary considering we'd already signed up for it, and the "what I did on my holidays" was just self gratification really.

The two girls at the start were great though- we'd been talking with Helene (the dark haired one) via email, sorting out payment details for our corporate sponsorship, and she made an effort to seek us out to say hello, and emailed us afterwards to ask how it went- can't argue with that 8)

In case you hadn't guessed... we'll be back in 2016!

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Drivers meeting, yes the charity bit maybe went on a bit to long. But the format seemed fine to me. Very similar to last year when we were newbies. The pics of control points I think is good as you know what you are looking for when you get there. Yes it is a bit of a trek for us to go to Gaydon from Northumberland, we travel the day before. For us it is all part of the build up to the event.
Food en route, as others have said we plan on breakfasts and then buy something as and when hungry, normally at or near control stops.
Yes we live a fair way from any of the local area groups but are still made welcome by all we spoke to on our first event and again on this years.

Yes we failed to finish this year, but we'll be back

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Hi folks, we are newbies, we are foreigners, we did not attend the drivers meeting, we measure distance in kilometers, not miles, we don't speak very well the language and with an awfull accent, we are eating frogs and snails...., anyway we made the trip without any issue and with a lot of pleasure.

We read the advices send by the organisers with attention and we were not surprised at any time. We had enough food and water in the car to stay in good shape between the two breakfasts. It was for us a real amazing experience to share traditionnal breakfasts with others attendants. I was never able to eat beans before but this time I enjoyed it, really! There was a short queue at Land's End, no matter, it was not so long and it was an opportunity to discuss together...

We were sometimes a little bit late at controls but we always found kind persons to take care of us.

We recorded all controls points into a satnav as a B-plan just un case maybe going POI to POI (I don't know what it means!!). In fact we mainly followed the roadbook, relying on the satnav only a couple of times when the codriver was asleep.

Then I must confess I am guilty to eat two pies at Morrisson's. I am really ashame of this, we were rather late, I didn't realize they were limited. Sorry!

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7263 wrote:

Then I must confess I am guilty to eat two pies at Morrisson's. I am really ashamed of this, we were rather late, I didn't realize they were limited. Sorry!


Michel

I think we will forgive you, just this once.. :-)

But don't do it next time!  :P

Interesting to note... you were running late, but there were still pies left.... Mmmmmm

Cheers

Colin

p.s. glad you enjoyed it.

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