Didcot to the Plough

[Dannyb]

Game set and match ;D

[Velocita Rosso]

thescrapman wrote:

You said monthly meet...  :P

....but it is every month......(think)

[thescrapman]

michael_charlton wrote:

....but it is every month......(think)

Advantage Charlton...  :-/

[Velocita Rosso]

thescrapman wrote:

Advantage Charlton...  :-/

...and after arriving from a leisurely 70 knot sail down the A1............all the committee were there!
Game! ;)

[McJim]

Don't understand the point of this thread.

2000 miles round Britain and some traffic difficulties reaching a destination near one of the most conjested cities in Europe and folk are whining?

Why not get rid of that long drive down to Land's End from Gordano when everyone hits "the wall"?  That's a difficult bit.  We could lose that.

Or what about the slow single track bit round Loch Naver which takes a lot of time or the other slow bit over Dartmoor?  We could lose them too.

Face the fact that this is a unique event in this day and age.

We drive on motorways, dual carriageways and single track roads.

We drive on deserted roads in the middle of the night when it's well past our bedtime.

No one moans about these difficulties but a bit of traffic and there's complaints?

You get the chance to drive in just about every traffic condition and just about every type of weather that can be thrown at you.

A bit of conjestion is just the same.

All part of the challenge of the event.

Replot your route if you run into traffic.

We're all big boys and girls and we're allowed to make our own decisions now.

I'd change nothing.

For me, driving in heavy traffic is something I don't get to do too often but when it happens, I find another route.

Didcot to the Plough?

Just another part of the RBRR legend.

Jim.

[mikew]

9926 wrote:

Didcot to the Plough?

Just another part of the RBRR legend.

Jim.

I hope this is the real McJim, good to have you back

(clap)(clap)

Point well made.


Although I have a complain about the pies at Sterling, nearly caused a disaster at Lands End - for more information see the Shedtune blog

[McJim]

mikew wrote:

I hope this is the real McJim, good to have you back

No, I'm a clone, one of 300.

We're like the Spartans but guarding the gateway to our sovereign nation at Gretna Green.

Come on up if you're hard enough!

No, not that kind of hard!  Put that away before you have someone's eye out! ;)

Jim.

[thescrapman]

I knew you wouldn't be able to resist too long Jim.

:-)

You are correct, it is part of the challenge, but it is far more of a challenge now that it was 20 years ago.  Why deliberatley include a 2 hour traffic jam on the route?

The problem is that the M25 is so totally unpredictable now (4, 5, 6 hour delays are perfectly normal now following an "incident"), even worse if the  police are playing the "Lets join the ends up game" and going for the 125-mile jam (they almost manage it a couple of times a year)

Even worse, just think what the moans would be like if we tried to go over the Dartford Bridge, It would probably have us all jumping off it, if we ever got onto it to try!

Everyone is getting really excited as the end is in sight, and what could be worse that sitting watching the world go by? It just frustrates.

A few alternatives have been tried, not that successfully.

Escaping a jam is not that easy either now, as the alternatives have been "re-managed" to ensure that they do not allow decent flow as a deterant to people thinking of trying. I have been burnt quite a few times now. It is easier to just sit it out.

As long as the alternatives have been investigated, than I will be happy, as will most people. Or factor in a 2 hour delay, and knock 2 hours off earlier on Sunday.

Perhaps Didcot to the Plough should become somewhere-else to the Plough.

Perhaps not!

Cheers

Colin

[TedTaylor]

McJim  Don't understand the point of our reply.

1. Thought the Forum was for expressing ideas especially as I understood the organisers wanted suggestions.  This thread has produced some interesting observations which in my opinion is good and what the Forum is about - or should we not make posts in case they are openly considered pointless.
2. There were lots of motorway slogs - all very necessary for keeping up to schedule.  This one was in my opinion (and others who I mentioned it to and who suggested I put the idea forward) an unnecessary one because there was an alternative along a more pleasant road that I knew well, the only possible problem being circumnavigating Aylesbury but that is not too bad early on a Sunday evening.  In fact the fast run down from Aylesbury would make a pleasant finale ...... especially if not way behind schedule so it is driven in daylight .........  :-/
3. Cynical points about losing other parts of the route which are very necessary to be able to maintain schedules are rather fatuous. This was one part of the route where it could be made shorter and more pleasant.  Do you know the road I am referring to?
4. Yes as I said when I started this thread in future I would re-route along the more pleasant A41 ........ I must be a big boy and make my own decisions, and not get sidetracked into wanting to do the final run in along the M40 and keep to the road book as part of the 'legend'.
5. So glad you like getting stuck in traffic jams on motorways.  Got pi**ed off with doing that decades ago.
6. One minute you talk about the RBRR legend ......... then you talk about re-routing.  Not very consistent.

And where were the pies at Stirling?  Had you nicked them to stop them being eaten by a Forester who lives stuck between the Rivers Severn and Wye ......? (whistle)

Sorry that I thought constructive comments about the event were wanted - glad Colin can appreciate what I was trying to say.

MUT

[McJim]

First, I wouldn't eat the pies at Stirling.

Why do you think that Scotland has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the western world.

My point on the traffic conjestion is that it is part of the challenge of the RBRR.

It's a difficult part of the RBRR, just like the M5 "wall" and should be treated in the same way.

Please remember that the original idea of the RBRR was to go from London to John O'Groats to Land's End and back to London in 48 hours.

Dropping one of the original locations, because it's a wee bit hard to get to now doesn't justify it's omission.

By the second day, Land's End is hard to get to through fatigue but I don't see anyone on here calling for it to be removed.

The RBRR has a long heritage, London, John O'Groats, Land's End, London.

To change any of that dilutes the challenge and diminishes the event.

By all means move the start and finish but they would still have to be within the M25 to qualify as London.

The problem has always been that no matter how well you may benefit from a well located start in London, it will be poorly sited for the finish.

Didcot, while an excellent control stop is in an awkward location when you look at the possible route options to get back to the Plough.

It's too close to London to enable a more north westerly approach route avoiding the M40 corridor and all the large towns in the area.

Even if you started in the South Mimms area, you'll still have problems as you get closer to London.

There is no magic bullet solution to this one.

Just grin and bear it.

Jim.

[Steve P]

Quote from Jim:
First, I wouldn't eat the pies at Stirling.

Funny thats the second Scotsman that`s said that,i was talking to a local chap with a Red Spitty that turned out to see everyone and he said he wouldn`t because he knew what was in them...insider knowledge maybe?

I still had one though.
Steve

[TedTaylor]

Who said I was suggesting we move the finish - not me.  But as people have said, road conditions have changed since the original concept which does create problems.

My route brings you across the M40 to the M25 a few junctions from the one for the Plough.  Chops off more or less three sides of a rectangle of motorway and substitutes a section of 'A' road.
Why have a section of congested road unnecessarily when there is a good alternative.

Anyway now this alternative has been suggested entrants can decide for themselves if they want to re-route if the final Motorway section is still included in the road book.

MUT

[McJim]

There have been suggestions about moving from the Plough as it's ownership is changing, if not on this thread, then elsewhere.

The "problem" with the route starts after Pimperne.

If, after Pimperne, the route headed north rather than north west and avoided Didcot, then further alternatives would be possible.

In previous years, the route stopped at Fleet on the M3 but complaints about the length of time spent on the M25 and the traffic problems that arose led to a more northerly approach.

The same may be relevant today.

On another point, the route in the roadbook is not part of the legend.

The route in the roadbook is not written in tablets of stone as we've been told many times that taking an alternative route is not penalised.

Both times I did the RBRR, I was stunned by the amount of cars at Blyth who had started after us.

They had taken the M25/A1 route direct to Blyth avoiding the A10 and Royston.

Those who rigidly follow every road and junction are in a very small minority.

Perhaps it's my past rallying experience that sees a sting in the tail at the end of an event as a challenge and not something that should be removed because, on some occasions, it can cause a problem when there are alternative routes available.

Those who went through Chinnor seemed to avoid the worst of the traffic.

Modern technology allows advance warning of these hazards and preplanning for alternative routes for the more than likely problem locations with traffic gives crews the chance of circumventing difficulties.

It should be noted that doing the RBRR is a lot more than making sure that the car is reliable.

Familiarity with the route and possible preplanned route alternatives at the usual problem areas can prove invaluble on the day as I found out myself.

Jim.

[Shed 1969]

mikew wrote:

I hope this is the real McJim, good to have you back

(clap)(clap)

Point well made.


Although I have a complain about the pies at Sterling, nearly caused a disaster at Lands End - for more information see the Shedtune blog

It was more the "post badger halt" situation....provided quote of the run "I pity the poor soul who goes in thier next ...the flush didnt work"
As to Didcot Plough- your buggered sideways each way - I would keep the orginal route in the "book" but mention to entrants that basicaly its a free for all just get to the Plough any which way you can ...?

[mikew]

9926 wrote:

No, I'm a clone, one of 300.

ah, a bit like Dolly the Sheep then ?  ;D

[McJim]

mikew wrote:

ah, a bit like Dolly the Sheep then ?  ;D

Don't you bad-mouth my sister!

Jim.

[thescrapman]

9926 wrote:

First, I wouldn't eat the pies at Stirling.

Why do you think that Scotland has one of the highest rates of heart disease in the western world.

I'm hoping that once every 2 years isn't going to knock too much off my life expectency.

:-)

[Radders]

The RBRR in 2010 had us coming down the A41 which as Ted says, is quite a nice route. We still saw a few other Triumphs decide to ignore this way and turn onto the M40 instead and surprise surprise.......we reached the Plough long before they did.  :P

I think the A41 is a nice alternative, but it can be a bit of an ordeal trying to get on it from Didcot in the first place.  :)

[TedTaylor]

391 wrote:

I think the A41 is a nice alternative, but it can be a bit of an ordeal trying to get on it from Didcot in the first place.  :)

I think you will find that the roadworks they are doing will resolve the ordeal which is largely because of them.  Looks like there will be three lanes - one for M40 north, one for A41, and one for M40 south.

MUT

[Roger Keys]

michael_charlton wrote:

Being a new member you would not know,but The Plough is the original and North London area meeting place.

Errr? No. Cock o the north on the A1000. May be im too old.....................

[Wilfrid]

Evening meetings were in various places before the move to the Plough. Sunday morning meetings at the Cock O'The North were extra.

[DaveKent]

Trent park golf club when I started, then a rugby club in potters bar for a very short period of time!