This
was a first for the club - an ON road event in our 4x4's.
The event was designed to be a test of navigational skills
with a mixture of map reading, plotting, route finding, tulip
diagrams and clue solving. As it turned out it also turned
out to be a test of timekeeping !
Each
entry was given a list of 32 grid references and 6 hours to
visit as many as they could and answer the question associated
with each reference. 4 of the references also marked the start
of special tasks which could be used to gain extra points
if successfully completed. One of the stipulations of the
MSA regulations for this event is that only 75% of the references
should count so the maximum number of points any competitor
could score was 20 points for the references with another
20 points available for the special tasks.
Myself
and Pam were hoping to do the event in Pam's 90 but with no
sign of the necessary documents arriving from the DVLA we
had to use my Discovery instead. We turned up bright and early
on the morning of the event, went through scrutineering without
a problem and, following a briefing from Dave Barker (Clerk
of Course), each vehicle was supplied with their instructions
and references for the day with 6 hours allowed from the time
these details were received to get back to the finish.
For
many of those competing, including ourselves, the 6 hours
seemed like an eternity when we set out but soon turned into
a race against time. Having plotted all the references on
the map prior to setting off, we had a route planned out that
should see us getting the maximum available points within
the time. During the day we had no navigational mistakes at
all and seemed to have made all the right decisions regarding
the routes we took. Time was beginning to tighten but with
an hour and a half to spare we had visited 18 of the 24 references
we were to visit with the remaining 6 all being along a single
road that would lead us back to the finish. The first of these
points proved simple enough but on the way to the second Pam
felt that there was "something wrong" with the Disco
so at the next reference a quick look around the vehicle revealed
a flat tyre.
As
the Disco is still quite new to us I was relieved to find
that the jack was still in it's place and the locking wheel
nut adaptor was in the dashboard. Unfortunately we then found
that the spare tyre was also flat ! Luck was on our side though
as a few minutes into the operation Dave Reid stopped in his
Range Rover and had a 12V compressor with him which we borrowed.
It seemed to take an eternity to get any air in the spare
but eventually we were ready to go having lost about 20 minutes.
This left us very tight for time with another 4 clues to get.
Of the remaining clues, only 1 proved to be a problem and
with little time to spare we had to give up on it. The other
3 were solved without problem although our bad luck returned
briefly when a Discovery travelling in the opposite direction
cam round a corner on the wrong side of the road and smacked
our wing mirror as he went past. Hasty repairs were made to
stop the popped glass swinging around in the wind but this
further delayed our progress.
As
is always the way, when you are trying to get somewhere every
"Sunday driver" seems to decide to drive along the
road you are on and after a series of these slowed our progress
to a slow crawl with the odd complete stop for good measure.
With penalties being awarded in 15 minute intervals the levels
of frustration were rising as we approached the outskirts
of Harrogate with our target finishing time now upon us. In
the end the run from Harrogate wasn't too bad, following the
back roads to avoid traffic we arrived with a couple of minutes
to spare before the second level of penalties would be applied.
We
turned up at the finish expecting a car park full of vehicles
with everyone else having returned on time and a great deal
of mickey taking at our expense. Strangely the car park was
nearly empty and, as it transpired, we were actually doing
a lot better for time than the majority of other competitors.
As the rest of the field gradually filtered in and made their
way to the bar it seemd that everyone had had a great day
but in the end it was the time element that had turned out
to be the difficult part.
It
was a cracking event and I'm still not sure where those 6
hours went to ! A number of those taking part have already
asked when the next one will be... well it's up for discussion
but perhaps a summer event would be nice.Nigel and John should
receive special mention as the only competitors to acheive
a maximum score which, unfortunately, they lost as a result
of late arrival at the finish.
Before
the results, I though the following emails would be of interest,
I hope their authors don't mind me "publishing"
them...
