Jason

Whilst we are between website 'back ends', changes are a manual process. Self-serve will be reinstated but I have said that this isn't a high priority at the moment because I can cope with manual updates and there are other more pressing things that need fixing (I may regret that but it seemed churlish to say it's a high priority).

So, to get your entry changes send me a message through this forum and I'll up date it.

• For a change of co-driver in a multiple crew please tell me who's out and who's in.
• For an additional co-driver please hang on to that info - taking money is a challenge at the moment, I'll let you know when we're back up and running on that one.
• For a change of car please tell me the new car details - model, year, colour, engine, size.  

The process involves me editing the Google sheets data so it's a bit clunky, jus be patient please.

That made me think of this pic - many a true word said it jest!

You can't edit your entry atvthe moment but I can 😁 send me your revisions by PM and I'll sort it out.

J

On 27/04/2021 at 18:12, McJim said:

Where would we be without a "Tracy Island" in a Round Britain?

Jim.

F.A.B. mate 🙂

Just a quick note to explain what to do if you have to withdraw.

Please contact me by email direct, although contacts through any of the organising team or through the forum will work, it will be slower and will be easier to miss, so an email to chinn@ntlworld.com (or rbrr@clubtriumph.co.uk) is always the fastest most reliable option. 

I'll need to know your entry number and details of the bank account you want the refund to go to (account number and sort code). I cannot make split payments to crew members and I will only reimburse to the primary entrant - i.e. the CT Member in who's name the entry sits. All refunds are subject to the £50 admin fee as per the regs.

If you haven't already, don't for get to sign up to the WhatsApp announce group - contact me for a link or see previous emails. This group is for participants only and not friends and family so please don't share the link or post it in the forums - I will block unidentified joiners. The group is one way - it's not the usual WhatApp free for all, only the organising team will post in there and the posts will be on topic - RBRR related.

For clarity - if you are showing as "reserve" it's because I haven't yet been able to collect your fees - everyone except those who have withdrawn, is on the running list. 

If you have paid and are showing as "reserve" please get in touch with a copy of your acknowledgement form CT and/or the line ion your bank statement that shows the payment - I have had a couple of transactions that were not showing (I suspect it's because as things changed over to the new web page I failed to catch them in the web page. Don't worry, everything was still secure, it's just that the web page got it's updates last.

Finally, if for any reason you need to withdraw, please let me know and provide a sort code and account number for the refund. As stated in the regs, there is a £50 retention on all refunds.

50 minutes ago, RobPearce said:

Well... there does appear to be some misalignment of names to teams. My entry (team 122) has never had anything to do with Lord Nelson!

Good spot - bit of an ordering issue with entry numbers being our of sequence - they got allocated by time of drafting not time of completion of the entry so those who were unable to complete quickly often ended up a higher entry number than those who started the same time and were lucky enough to finish first. (I think!)

Anyway, fixed now until I break it again 🙂

One 'benefit' of doing it this way (which is how I used to do the entry list before it was on the CT web page) is that changes are instant and easily published. Might not be as aesthetically pleasing as I'd like it but for a quick lash up, it does what we need it to.

4 hours ago, McJim said:

Where's all the team names?

Part of the fun of the event.

Jim.

Fair point well made. There you go McJim 🙂

With Craig's help the temp Entry list is displayed here https://www.clubtriumph.co.uk/rbrr/entry-list/

I'm now managing things manually so there will be a lag for changes to appear.

Because we are not yet able to show the entry list on the website, I've set this up. It may be slightly out of sync so if you spot issues please PM me and I'll manually update it.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vR002uPE1O_0dUahtfqSq78n6IXkTvvP1j_JUhbuAl9JncH9bD2MvJk7hgd6m2iJd9Cu2UN7ofJUs8L/pubhtml?gid=1261331201&single=true&widget=true&headers=false

Recent rumours have underlined the need for decent communications between organisers and entrants on the RBRR. 

I thought I’d set out a few facts about how we keep in touch;

In the past we’ve relied on the bulk mail tool on the website to contact entrants. This was starting to get a bit hit and miss as increasingly our legit emails were ending up in spam filters. The service has been suspended and will be recreated in the new website.

The message service we have used in the past during the event was a bit clunky but worked. However, recent use declined and costs increased so we have discontinued it.

New for 2021 is a WhatsApp announce group - a group for all participants that only allows the organising team to post. As you can imagine, a group with posts from a few hundred participants would soon be unmanageable. The intention is that we will use this for quick snippets of info we want to get out to entrants. As of today, I’ve managed to get 152 users onto this medium. It’s aimed at main entrants and crew, not friends and family. If you are an entrant and have not seen an email or a WhatsApp invite from me but want to join, send me a personal message here and I will send you instructions. This service will come into its own on the run, so in order to stay safe and legal, I encourage all crews to sign up. There is no cost to crew or club. NB I have had some issues adding people to WhatsApp mainly due to users not actually having current WhatsApp logins - for the avoidance of doubt, you will need to download and sign up for a free WhatsApp account before I can add you. If I send you the link and you aren't a WhatsApp member, you will be asked to download and register for the app. This service will work globally so overseas entrants can use too.

Of course we will continue to issue emails, post on the blog and in these threads.

From a rumour control perspective we’d really like it if issues and questions could be raised here on the Club Forum so the organising team can deal with them and a record can be kept.

Facebook, Instagram, YouTube etc all have their place but there are a limit to how many of these we can keep up with so the ‘official’ places we use are CT Forum, WhatsApp, the RBRR Blog and the RBRR Banter Facebook page. This is monitored by Andy Pearce and I jump in when Andy kicks me.

As an organising team we do not all have access to all social media tools - not everyone has a Facebook account - we do all have smart phones and email though!

Anyone on the organising team are happy to help directly with any questions you don’t want to post in public forums - we are unpaid volunteers with day jobs and busy lives but we love the RBRR and will always find time to help.

If all else fails, a phone call will always be responded to 🙂

I’ve just discovered how good the site is on my phone, better than face ache, so clean!

It’s been built, they will come. 😃

It’s inevitable, apart from TR5s and white Mk2 Vitesse convertibles, they aren’t making them anymore. 
 

That GT6 is nice but not that price nice. Like any market economy, the buyers will decide if it’s worth it. 
 

My TR6 is for sale, I’ll see what the market thinks it’s worth! 

You can't make an omlette without breaking eggs and you can't make a great web site without breaking the payment process.

OK so I'm being a little 'general' here but basically, the new web site and the old entry list/payment process are not great friends. That means that there's currently no easy way to pay for your RBRR entry despite me asking you to do so - sorry.

DO NOT WORRY, top men are on the case 😁

Firstly, your place is secure. The event is fuller than it's ever been, it's also closed so we will not be accepting any more entries but yours is fine.

Secondly, there's no entry list you can see at the moment and finally, you can't edit your entries.

So, what's going to happen over the next few weeks is our crack team of digital ninjas (OK, it's just Craig), will be fixing things for us so we will have a viewable entry list, a method of paying and a method of updating your entry details.

Bear with us whilst we get this done, there are other priorities that need to be attended to before us but we are in line and we'll get there soon!

Occasionally rumours pop up around the RBRR, some ae genuine misunderstandings, some stem from general ignorance and some are just plain stupid.

Here's one that was a genuine misunderstanding that needs clarifying.

The rumour was that a Motor Sport UK Clubmans Licence was required for anyone taking part in the RBRR.

So, although the organising team were confident this was not the case and a quick read of the regs from the current MS UK year book led us to believe that we were right, we nevertheless contacted MS UK with the specific question.

The response was short and sweet, M&S UK said;

If you run the event as a Touring Assembly under a Certificate of Exemption then there is no Motorsport UK Licence requirement.

It is covered by D5.1.1 members of the public can take part.

We do indeed run the event as a Touring Assembly under a Certificate of Exemption. So, relax a Clubmans License is NOT required for the RBRR.

When the next rumour crops up, raise it with the organising team direct, we will get the facts and let you know what the truth is.

Sad loss, he was a character that's for sure. Yes he and I had a lot of to and fro comms - one of my cars even features in a book of his! My go to Kas Kastner story is one of him helping Dave Pearson and I track down the original 8 port head to the Macau that Kas raced and turned into a 6 pot. Dave had acquired the car with the intention of returning it to its original Macau GP spec - but where to do you find any 8 port alloy Spitfire head let alone the actual head the car had when it went to the US? You mention it to Kastner who then said "I remember the car", turns out he sold the head to Lee 'Mother' Mueller one of his drivers - along with a few trucks full of Triumph parts. This got us interested so asked him if he knew where it went from Mueller and Kas said "nowhere, he's still got it" - my recollection is slightly hazy here and I can't remember if Kas approached Lee or the other way round but basically Mueller or his son was in need of some funds for medical care and was selling off some stuff. The head was on the shelf in the Mueller workshop along with some manifolds and a spare handmade gasket. A conversation was had, a deal was done and well, it got crated up, sent across the pond and is now atop a 70x engine, back in the Macau where it started life 50+ years earlier. 

I had some conversations with him about Lucas fuel injection modifications, he wasn't very complimentary he got it running well but said it was "like pouring fuel in with a bucket"!

Well the TR6 is for sale.

The Vitesse, which I agreed with Mrs C I would not touch until the TR6 is sold, is sat in its PJs looking intriguing. I've got lots of fettling to do on that one, including

• Rebuild the fuel system - from tank to pump to metering unit
• Get a new battery and check the wiring before connection
• Oil change - engine, gearbox and diff
• Probably need to rebuild both brake masters as the pedal goes to the floor and stays there, it's a Tilton pedal box with twin Girling masters I think
• Will change clutch hydraulic fluids too
• Start the engine and give it a proper check - there's a strong suspicion the camshaft's got worn lobes due to over string valve springs 
• Then, after all that, there's the stuff needed to actually drive it - like tyres 🙂

Might be an idea to email that sort of info out to us - assuming you need to be logged in to see a message that says you won't be able to log in 🙂

As you can see, I figured it out.

New forum feels much better and responsive, top work all involved!

Hi!

I've had a bit of a spring clean and a ring round a few people on the reserve list following a check up on what entry fees remain outstanding. As a result there are a couple of places opened up for the next in line.

So, there a couple of housekeeping things to get out there.

Please check your spam filters - in the past a number of our emails have ended up in spam, this might be because they come from an automated system and are addressed to many people.

Please keep your Club Triumph membership up to date - you must be a paid up  member to take part in the RBRR.

There's been a few spam emails around that seem to have confused people, if in any doubt about your entry status, go to the entry list on the website Sorry, link no longer available this will always be the most up to date version. If it says you're on the list or you now need to pay then please edit your entry and pay.

PLEASE keep your contact info up to date - if I'm chasing entry fees or trying to offer you a reserve place and I don't get a response to email reminders I'll generally resort to the phone number on your profile. However, if I can't get a response then I have to assume you've gone cold on the idea and offer your place to the next crew.

And finally, a word about WITHDRAWALS - if you withdraw I will need your bank details in order to process a refund, less the £50 admin fee that's withheld. Please be patient, the refund process is fully hand crafted and manual - I need to email the treasury team and they manually issue the refund. Remember, we're a bunch or amateur volunteers doing this on a shoe string - we try to do a good job but sometimes, life gets in the way!

I think that's all for now :-)

Fiona,

What is your budget and what do you want to use the car for? It will make a huge difference and help point you in the right direction.

Old cars can be beautiful and fun to drive, they can also be rusty money pits - the trick is to pay the right price :-) If it's a beauty that's well sorted and needs nothing but regular maintenance then the price should reflect that, what you don't want to end up with is an old nail dressed up by an unscrupulous seller.

The advice I was always given is the same as Ferny's - buy bodywork. Everything else is fixable DIY or for reasonable money. Renewing a tired interior is surprisingly satisfying and doesn't cost the earth to DIY. Parts for Heralds are quite reasonably priced and availability is good.

Some other asvice;

"Surface rust" on panel work is never just on the surface.

"Just needs a...." if it just needs something then a decent seller would just do it - there's usually more to that problem than the seller is telling you.

Trade sellers expect to make a profit, so trade cars will always be more expensive than private sellers - if you're not getting a "service" from the trade seller than you should be looking elsewhere. The trade can often fix little things for you and include it in the price - new number places, tyres, fix a dent, that sort of thing. But don't expect the fix to be a premium one, often it's not - so just be aware of what you're getting.

Go see several cars at both the upper and lower end of your price range - get a feel for where the market is.

Never buy in the dark

Never trust a car that's just been washed.

Always test drive for 20 mins+.

Always suspect a car that's warmed up already when you come to view it.

Cars that haven't been anywhere for years will need work as soon as you start using them - so something that's been 'dry stored for years' will probably need a hydraulic overhaul immediately, new tyres and new hoses soon after that.

Lucas electrics are simple - a Herald only has a handful of fuses. Consequently, it's easy to neglect them and melted wires are often a 'feature' - stick your head under the dash and have a look!

There are buyers guides out there, a quick Google will get you to some like https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/classic-cars/104977/triumph-herald-buying-guide-and-review-1959-1971 which is not a bad place to start.

I've emailed out to reservists and put something on Facebook and here. When I getvthe time I'll contact individuals and try and work through their issues. Not sure why a RBRR entrant wouldn't check the forum though.

After much conversation, negotiation and a little arm twisting, Tim has managed to find us space for a few more entrants on the 2020 RBRR.

I will now open up the entry to number 145. That means anyone on the reserve list with an entry number 145 or less will now be able to edit their entry, pay and take up a place.

If you do not want to take up the offer then please let me know and I'll offer it to the next in line. In light of the number of remaining reservists, this offer will only remain open until 16th Feb, if you haven't been in touch then I'll withdraw your entry and offer the place to the next reservist in line.

Tim and the team will continue to try and find ways for the remaining reservists to get on the run and as soon as spaces become available, we'll let you know.

J

Colin, the roadblock is actually quite cheap to print in the scheme of things, it's regarded as a souvenir by many crews so we do like to make a nice one worth keeping.

UPDATE on the numbering  - we've had a fiddle and fixed the numbers! Keith's found a bug that's resulted in an 'extra' entry sneaking onto the live list - yes we have 126 live entries. Oops.

We are now working on how we get the extras through the food stops whilst preserving the integrity of the event. We'll get there, I hope!

Phew, what a rollercoaster ride that was, adrenaline, fear, trepidation, elation, sleepless nights, early mornings - and all this just for the entry opening!
I'm always overwhelmed by the process, despite my best efforts to reduce the admin and increase the self serve, entrants always keep me on my toes. The system Keith has created for us is very good considering the lack of resources we work with - we don't have much money to spend, we're all amateur volunteers and we all have lives away from Club activity.
It takes a team to put this together and to keep it together  - although the web site takes a kicking when the event goes live, there's so much goes on in the back ground before hand, it's been especially tricky this year.
Anyway, we got there and the site didn't freeze, fall over or otherwise stop the show.
This time it's been very challenging, not least because of the high demand for places - sold out in under 5 hours.
Yes we have some residual issues, primary amongst those is the entrant numbering- we are not 100% sure what happened there but we have some duplicates - I will sort that out with Keith over the next couple of days, hopefully we can get the system  to do it but more likely I'll manually adjust. So, don't get attached to your entry number please!
I hope I've helped all those with website problems which seem to have been far fewer this time, most people heeded the advice and checked/updated their accounts long before entry went live. If you had problems please please please don't leave it to the next event to sort them out, report them via the website and sort them out when the pressure's off.
Reservists - we will try and get you all in, somehow. We don't take payment until a place becomes available and we always ask if you want the place before we do so. It may be very late in the run up to the start that places become available, as entrants fail to get cars ready or personal circumstances intervene and they withdraw - so prepare your cars and keep fingers crossed.
And finally, anyone with a status of 'revised', it just means that you made a change after payment, you're still "in". Anyone with a status of 'incomplete' it means you need to edit your entry and update missing details. There are a couple of payment anomalies so do check your bank account to male sure the right payment was taken and let me know if something looks wrong.

Jason