And they're off!!

Well after much turble with turbos and a slightly stressed Kieran I have waved goodbye to Kieran and Keith as they set off for the start of the MAC4X4 challenge tomorrow.

Pinky has changed slightly. Gone is the yellow bullbar in favour of a bright green one.

We now await progress reports.




www.justgiving.com/monstarmac

we arrived safe at the travel lodge,
im on the managers internet account be rude not to
pub closed

we will try and update you on our progress up to yet no probs :cyclops:

over and out

monstars

Had a text from Kieran before. They had arrived at the startline.

but did they make it past the line?

Quote :

pub closed. We will try and update you on our progress up to yet no probs

What???? How can he say "up to yet no probs" when a split second earlier he said the boozer was closed. Bad start methinks.

Quote :

but did they make it past the line?

Say no more!

Not heard anymore yet !

They have'nt sent out any SOS messages yet !

Is Fred following behind ?

Latest update. Kieran Keith, Lu and Tweedie have all made camp near Bowes and before 8pm !!

Not like Landy Rally and the 3am arrivals !

So far so good for Pinky!

well Pinky has just crossed the border into Scotland. Are they going the right way ?

Who knows - Kieran is navigating !

Scotland - but they never took their passports? I can just picture Keith in a tamishanter with the ol' mullet-like ginger hair sown into the lining; very fetching. As for Keiran with a glengarry perched on his thatch ... nah!!!!

As it happens, spoke to Kieran last night (Friday) and he reckons they had one set of questions to complete all day - boring! He was "very surprised" that was it. Suppose the organisers were 'easing them into it'. Time will tell.

I think Keith was hoping for Eire !! so he'd gone prepared with his passport !

According to some participants, the event was too long last year, resulting in a lot of whinging. TOO LONG????? PAH!!!!! They ought to try Landy Rally, then they would really know what l o n g is!

Mind you, it's only Saturday, so still it might be an evening crossing to Belfast.

I've not had any phonecalls yet regarding smoke, smells, things not switching on or interference on the CB ... Kieran forget his phone charger?

did he make it home?? what position did he come in? sounds liek a test of technical skills, not physical or vehicle endurance

The Mansfield half of Team 42 - Mac Monstars, got home about 13:00. Last saw Kieran and Pinky in Warrington as he was about to set off for Buxton. All ended well Pinky in one piece though the turbo is a bit suspect and there was an ominous patch of steering fluid left on the startline but no drop in level over the event. We didnt get our hands dirty and nothing broke. Only electrical issue was a circuit breaker that tripped in Kielder forest but was fine when reset. Great team spirit and we both enjoyed the whole event but from an endurance point of view MUCH easier than Landy Rally though the navigating was significantly harder and the stage time limits introduced a certain level of stress. Only one significant navigational error when the Ditch Diver had to hand the map to the Student - sorry Kieran !

No idea what position we finished in as the results are not up yet but we didnt win any prizes. Just a thought it would be good to see a group of Landy Rally veterans in orange vehicles ..... perhaps next year ???

We would both like to say a big thank you to all those who sponsored us, in particular thanks Tom your contribution was fantastic - we used it wisely !!

Keith Johnson wrote:

Only electrical issue was a circuit breaker that tripped in Kielder forest but was fine when reset.

Blimey! He hasn't bypassed the circuit breakers yet?

Hi everyone

Thank you to everybody who supported us - we have raised £1000 for Macmillan so far, and the event has raised £80K so far this year

Overall, it was a little easier than we had expected following our practice events and what we had read - however it is different every year - so you never know what to expect. We were also a bit dissapointed that there was no real off roading (just some greenlaning / forest tracks really), but again it is billed as a navigation event and we certainly did a lot of that! I am very chuffed, as I feel my navigation has improved and finding hairpin left turns in the middle of the North Yorkshire Pennines in the mist and rain, as well as looking for clues was quite an achievement! We travelled from Shropshire up through Cheshire, Warrington and Lancashire to Cumbria, then across North Yorkshire and Teesdie / Northumberland to stay in County Durham on the first day, then a long Saturday (still not sure exactly where we went!) through the Scottish Borders, Kielder Forest etc to Lockerbie (the sideways Scottish rain was fun!), then via tracks through Dumfries and Galloway then roads to end at Gretna Services, and finally onto the hotel in Warrington, awards dinner and lots of alcohol on the Sunday night! The event was very well organised, the marshalls and AA recovery guys were great. We met some fantastic people - as always - we wouldn't expect anything less from the 4x4 community

Thanks again for your support.

Next jobs - fit the bathroom that's on hold (are you listening Tweedie? ), Pyrennes and Project 90 to get it back on the road! See you at Driffield, if anybody is going to the Spring Adventure.

Lu :bom:

Lu,

Did Tweedies photo's turn out ?? and can he remember who everyone was ?


Seriously though have a great time in the Pyrenees. I hope its not too cold though.

Well done you two, especially on the £1,000. Nice one! I dare say we'll have a couple of jars at Driffield to celebrate your triumph. Time to book a Landy Rally Club Stand I reckon - fancy displaying the Disco on it?

Sylvia Johnson wrote:

Lu,

Did Tweedies photo's turn out ?? and can he remember who everyone was ?


Seriously though have a great time in the Pyrenees. I hope its not too cold though.

Yes! We had to use a recovery programme to get them back after the card was formatted by accident! We know some of the people - everybody looks rather drunk at the hotel!

Cheers Tom

Lu :bom: