As the evenings are drawing in, the days are getting shorter and the weather is turning interesting, my thoughts have turned to the big/touring meets for next year.

So far I've come up with a couple of ideas and would be interested in what you think. I reckon 2 or 3 meets spread through the year.

For locations for said meets, how about:

Spring - Borders and Scotland

Summer - possibly Wales

Autumn - Derbyshire/Peak district.

I'm not so sure on the Summer one as traffic and tourists are at their peak, and 3 meets could be considered excessive. What do you think?

I'll post it as a poll to get some idea of interest and will try to sort dates as soon as I can as I know diaries fill up quick (as we found out this year). I'll start a seperate thread re the Ring.

Jon

Could someone edit this to make it "allow multiple choice" please.

Ta.

3 spread across the year would be good, and gives people plenty of opportunity to attend those that they can.

Summer in Wales would be fantastic if the weather's decent next year - like you say though, traffic and tourism. Was suprised how busy it was in September.

Maybe if the drives took place at less social hours...?

Rob.

How about an overnight tour of Wales or Scotland? 300 miles, start at 8pm

Ah memories of following the RAC rally in the good old days :misty eyed smiley:

Good Idea Jon (& Welcome Back )

I will wait until the Multiple Choice option is available before voting.

:cheers:

Graham

jon's back!!! :D

the crowd go wild!!

Originally posted by Huck in this post

jon's back!!! :D

Did he actually go away then?

I like all those ideas - Scotland is such a jolly long way away though :(

I LOVED Wales. I was impressed by how un-busy parts of it were. I'd go back there again in a flash. Peak District could also be very good - higher police presence there though, and VERY busy in the summer.

I'd make every effort to go to all of them if in different venues. I only didn't attend both this year because they were essentially re-runs of the same thing. Having said that, if the Wales route is to be driven again .....

i like borders and scotland, but then i'm biased.

Sort of....but thats another story.

Yes Scotland is a long way, however, if it was aweekend thing then its not too bad. Bear in mind that we do have a fair number of members ooop Norf (proper North ie Carlisle and upwards) that do seem to make it to the more Southerly/Westerly reaches of this fair isle. It only seemed fair to hold a meet up that way to repay them for their travelling down to shandy drinker land.

Peak District, agreed it does get busy during the summer hence the suggestion of an Autumnal drive.

Wales, lovely roads!

Jon

TAVIA GOOD TO SEE YOU BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!

How about a weekend in France, for me its closer than Scotland, the weather is better & theirs no f'ing cameras. Having seen the French Polices attitude on the Cannonball when they were shall we say heavily provoked I want to drive their every day. They need to be congratulated for using Common Sense & in some cases dare I say turning a blind eye !!!

A run to France and the lowlands could be a good option, and I have a couple of natty little routes already planned for over there. Trouble with that is the cost involved for members and the cost of recceing the route.

Hi Jon,

how about track day for "track virgins"?

Be interested in that.

Pre May events are probably a no no for me; baby due in May. But after this.....who knows.

How about a "Euro" tour...

Trip thru Europe to Czech, Ending with the Factory & Museum at Mlada Boleslav?

As for the other meets, i'll try and do all 3

Bugger you don't want much do you?

Logistically, Europe is a bit of a pain, I mean, the Wales route took about 3 or 4 attempts to get right and I'm arsed if I'm driving to Czech that number of times to get it right.

France and the lowlands are a possibility, possibly in conjunction with the Ring & Spa trip at Easter.

Trackday for beginners, well, I've been talking to Colin about this - it needs a little more thought as to where to do it and how to organise it.

keep the thoughts coming

Jon

Lol, it was just a thought, as i hope to be heading that way anyhow

I wouldnt mind passing by the 'Ring on the way thru now i think about it

Well... I'd say Scotland... Or more precise north west Scotland has the best, and usually with little or no traffic on... + NO SPEED

CAMERAS unlike the north east... A9 etc...

A82 --- From Loch Lomond up thru Fort William and then up to Inverness.. There are loads of different roads, and places to stay

+ the scenery is fantastic!!!!!!

and as Jon has already pointed out there is a few members that live 'up north'.....

:cheers:

Dazz

ball and chained already!!!!

Ok, Track days...

How about Centering a couple of meets around 1 Northern & 1 Southern track day, a few months apart ?

Track Day on Saturday, and a Day out on the roads for Sunday, or vice-versa ?

I did say I will make best efforts to attend all meets. The only proviso with Scotland for me is that it would have to be a weekend to make it worthwhile - it's 6-8 hours to Glasgow from Swindon and probably 8-10 from where Jason is.

No disrespect or disregard for the Northern members intended or implied.

Nick, its a fair point mate, but remember the same also applies for us "Northerners" when heading south

By comparison with Glasgow you are about half way up ... and that's just the very south of Scotland.

I fully appreciate the efforts you make to get to meets. The Welsh one was probably about equidistant for you and me.

Personally i've never been past Penrith, so scotland would be my choice (for a weekend trip).

Also interested in visiting the 'ring sometime.

Phil.

Sorry Jon, looks like its only admins that can make it a multiple choice poll :(

But to voice my thoughts, I'd be interested in 3 national meets (though not so close to each other as it makes SWMBO edgy), with possibly one of them a trackday experience. I'd prefer weekends with some basic accomodation (as I live in the sticks and am nowhere near enough to just turn up on the day). I'd even be up for a European trip, but I don't think SWMBO would allow me to venture on that alone (after she has witnessed the Cannonball start, all European trips will be considered Cannonballs, even though they aren't).

Q.

Having managed to miss both meets this year (Summer one - inconvenient; never mind I can do the autumn one... Autumn - oh, ****! I'm too busy!) I'm determined to do at least one next year.

I've voted for Wales (what a surprise!), but I'd really like to try a track day -just to see what the combination of Jabbasport and slush box is really capable of.

Looks like its shaping up as I'd originally thought it would :smug: the only oddballs were the european side and the trackday.

OK, how about this then:

In Scotland you have Knockhill, who do run trackdays.

In Wales you have Llandow, Pembrey and Anglsey that run trackdays.

In the midlands you have Donington and Oulton.

That choice gets narrowed down somewhat as most of the sites are prohibitively expensive to hire just for a few of us (eg Dono @