Car was loaded up with usual bits needed for a boys trip to Le Mans, leaving just enough room for myself and front seat passenger. For some reason and just before leaving I found that the boot light stays on all the time, this is because the o/s boot spring has broken and so there is nowt to push the plunger to turn it off. Normally not a problem but in my packed boot, my tent which was pressed against the boot light was a little warm to say the least. Potential disaster was averted by disconnecting and insulating the wire to the switch...
Once on the road I quick 60 mile dash to South Godstone to pick up my Péage ticket bitch. Right hand drive cars can be a problem on French motorways as the ticket machines are nearly always on the wrong side. A couple of years back I had a kiddy fishing net to pass ticket and funds to the paybooth but having somebody in the passenger seat is a lot easier. Anyway the good times lasted as far as the m25/m4 interchange whereupon it took me an hour to get to the a3 – bloody rush hour. I eventually made it to my first stop nearly 2 hours after leaving home.
Alas by now the weather had taken a serious turn for the worse and is was hammering down. Also the tender van with all the gear for 9 blokes was a nightmare of an LDV with a top speed of 75mph (verified in France using satnav and a downhill stretch of motorway) and cruising speed of nearer 60. Not all bad though as we made it to Le Chunnel for an earlier train. Once in France and at 21:30 we set off for a steady drive to Le Mans via Rouen and several stops for vend espresso and petrol. We arrived at the circuit at 1:30am CET on Thursday morning and set about enjoying a few beers while erecting tents etc.
I had fuelled up not far from our destination wise to the fact that the queues for Petrol on Sunday after the race are many miles long. On calculating my economy I was pleased to find 30.5mpg for the 400 odd mile trip thus far. Ok so the car had been grumbling along at 65-70mph the whole journey and hadn’t been over 2500rpm except when departing Péage ticket booths, well you have to don’t you!
The only problems apart from the rain were the occasional vibration at about 2000rpm which went away and the odd bouncing sensation that I sometimes get from the back end of the car at low speeds. It is all coming apart next week for new bushes and a brake overhaul so I may well find the source of that after 17 years of ownership.
The long weekend of beer, blokey antics and top quality motorsport was great. Sunday afternoon the car fired up fine and we set off home via several stupid diversions courtesy of the CRS hard looking blokes. If you have ever seen these boys in action you do what they say. Anyway soon on the a28 and heading North East.
The van had quite a head start so I enjoyed some (probably quite naughty) high speed motoring before reverting back to the drudgery of 60mph cruise. It was then that I spotted the Jean Claudes (Gendarmes) and their speed cameras hiding behind bridge parapets and bushes etc. Oops. I didn’t get a tug at the Péage exit so hope it is all well. Stopped for fuel , phood and pressies for the kids (Le Mans is fiendishly expensive for odd and sods) at Baie d Somme services just north of Abbeville before dashing back to Le Chunnel. We found ourselves back in blighty at 10:00pm and again it was pishing down.
Made it a few miles before finding that some CRETIN had closed the M20 motorway and diverted everything through Maidstone. That was another hour of my life gone. This highlighted the biggest problem of my journey!!! Traffic rolls at 5mph and my clutch is fully disengaged at 10mph so plenty of left leg action was required which was quite tiresome.
Eventually made it to Clacket Lane services where I dropped my ticket bitch off and set off for my speedy dash back to High Wycombeshire, arriving home at 1am Monday.
Over the entire weekend I covered just shy of 800miles, the temp gauge never went over 5/8ths, oil pressure never dropped below 50psi (at 1500rpm), I used no water, about 1/2 cm of oil on the dipstick, collected 84,673 flies and other bits of wildlife on the front of the car / windscreen and averaged 31mpg but regrettably the hood never came down once. Now that is Stag motoring for you J
Once on the road I quick 60 mile dash to South Godstone to pick up my Péage ticket bitch. Right hand drive cars can be a problem on French motorways as the ticket machines are nearly always on the wrong side. A couple of years back I had a kiddy fishing net to pass ticket and funds to the paybooth but having somebody in the passenger seat is a lot easier. Anyway the good times lasted as far as the m25/m4 interchange whereupon it took me an hour to get to the a3 – bloody rush hour. I eventually made it to my first stop nearly 2 hours after leaving home.
Alas by now the weather had taken a serious turn for the worse and is was hammering down. Also the tender van with all the gear for 9 blokes was a nightmare of an LDV with a top speed of 75mph (verified in France using satnav and a downhill stretch of motorway) and cruising speed of nearer 60. Not all bad though as we made it to Le Chunnel for an earlier train. Once in France and at 21:30 we set off for a steady drive to Le Mans via Rouen and several stops for vend espresso and petrol. We arrived at the circuit at 1:30am CET on Thursday morning and set about enjoying a few beers while erecting tents etc.
I had fuelled up not far from our destination wise to the fact that the queues for Petrol on Sunday after the race are many miles long. On calculating my economy I was pleased to find 30.5mpg for the 400 odd mile trip thus far. Ok so the car had been grumbling along at 65-70mph the whole journey and hadn’t been over 2500rpm except when departing Péage ticket booths, well you have to don’t you!
The only problems apart from the rain were the occasional vibration at about 2000rpm which went away and the odd bouncing sensation that I sometimes get from the back end of the car at low speeds. It is all coming apart next week for new bushes and a brake overhaul so I may well find the source of that after 17 years of ownership.
The long weekend of beer, blokey antics and top quality motorsport was great. Sunday afternoon the car fired up fine and we set off home via several stupid diversions courtesy of the CRS hard looking blokes. If you have ever seen these boys in action you do what they say. Anyway soon on the a28 and heading North East.
The van had quite a head start so I enjoyed some (probably quite naughty) high speed motoring before reverting back to the drudgery of 60mph cruise. It was then that I spotted the Jean Claudes (Gendarmes) and their speed cameras hiding behind bridge parapets and bushes etc. Oops. I didn’t get a tug at the Péage exit so hope it is all well. Stopped for fuel , phood and pressies for the kids (Le Mans is fiendishly expensive for odd and sods) at Baie d Somme services just north of Abbeville before dashing back to Le Chunnel. We found ourselves back in blighty at 10:00pm and again it was pishing down.
Made it a few miles before finding that some CRETIN had closed the M20 motorway and diverted everything through Maidstone. That was another hour of my life gone. This highlighted the biggest problem of my journey!!! Traffic rolls at 5mph and my clutch is fully disengaged at 10mph so plenty of left leg action was required which was quite tiresome.
Eventually made it to Clacket Lane services where I dropped my ticket bitch off and set off for my speedy dash back to High Wycombeshire, arriving home at 1am Monday.
Over the entire weekend I covered just shy of 800miles, the temp gauge never went over 5/8ths, oil pressure never dropped below 50psi (at 1500rpm), I used no water, about 1/2 cm of oil on the dipstick, collected 84,673 flies and other bits of wildlife on the front of the car / windscreen and averaged 31mpg but regrettably the hood never came down once. Now that is Stag motoring for you J
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