MWF
Now needs wood
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He puts it in his pocket and walks home. 
Ownership Verified: My Vintage Sports Car - 1929 Austin Seven Special
- Thread starter Andeh
- Start date
GRtak
Forum Addict
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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- Fiestas, Mondeos, Anglia, Austin 7, Corsair, Chrys
On a trial there are plenty of spectators to push, on really bad hills there are sometimes Land Rovers with winches.
This time I was on my own (well nearly, certainly no recovery!), I just let the tyres down and had another ago, worked fine and I was moving again.
I've never had to be towed yet...
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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- Cumbria, UK
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- Fiestas, Mondeos, Anglia, Austin 7, Corsair, Chrys
Another month, another trial.
Saturday was the VSCC Exmoor trial, first of the year and of the season, I'm still awaiting results but suspect I fell mid-pack, which I'm very happy with. It was an awful cold damp morning, around 4c which combined with rain led to some very very cold fingers, as the day went on it dried out though and I regained feel of my limbs!
This one had a series of very fun sections, linked by nice roads and even the odd ford to cross. Our first couple of hills were easy clears with 25 points straight away, which led to a couple of similarly slippy ascents which scored 11 and 12 respectively, bit of a shame, but in line with the others. Tyres up and away to the next location. I should mention after our first hill, my handbrake had started colliding with the fabric coupling which transfers power from the propshaft to the gearbox, and was creating an awful racket, and sparks. Lots of sparks. The handbrake would shudder away side to side as I drove, and made a most alarming noise. This didn't prevent progress though, and with Tom's foot resting on the lever to absorb most of the vibration we continued on.
Next up was another easy 25, followed by a 5, 7 and unfortunately a 1! The 1 was an awful muddy bank that no-one seemed to score over 6 on, my 1 came from trying to take a different line, which proved that everyone else definitely knew the better way to go! Afternoon sections were due to open at 12:30, but we thought to give it a chance, skip lunch, and arrive early. This paid off very well, as we arrived at the next section of four hills with absolutely no queues, we had the place to ourselves! The marshals were happy to score us while having their own lunch, and we got the first bite at many ascents. This led to three 25s and one 24, an excellent outcome I think! Definitely pays to skip lunch sometimes. All of these hills were great fun, including a stop and restart. The 24 came from massive understeer at the top of an ascent as I desperately attempted to steer to the left for a tricky final marker designed to catch those travelling too fast out. I was definitely travelling too fast, but sod that one point, it looked cool at that speed and was epic fun.
We had one hill left to the west, and a stunning drive over Exmoor, and popped over that to join a queue of others who had finally had their lunch. This was a long muddy slog between fields, and we scored a measly 2. I'm still not really sure what happened there, I think the handbrake was perhaps stuck on for the start. Regardless we were done at 2:30pm while some others were just joining the queue for their first afternoon hill, so that felt good. We popped back to the pub to hand in our score card and sink a few well earned pints. A very muddy, but very enjoyable trial.
Next week; another in the Lake District, but with added timed sections and autotests...
Saturday was the VSCC Exmoor trial, first of the year and of the season, I'm still awaiting results but suspect I fell mid-pack, which I'm very happy with. It was an awful cold damp morning, around 4c which combined with rain led to some very very cold fingers, as the day went on it dried out though and I regained feel of my limbs!
This one had a series of very fun sections, linked by nice roads and even the odd ford to cross. Our first couple of hills were easy clears with 25 points straight away, which led to a couple of similarly slippy ascents which scored 11 and 12 respectively, bit of a shame, but in line with the others. Tyres up and away to the next location. I should mention after our first hill, my handbrake had started colliding with the fabric coupling which transfers power from the propshaft to the gearbox, and was creating an awful racket, and sparks. Lots of sparks. The handbrake would shudder away side to side as I drove, and made a most alarming noise. This didn't prevent progress though, and with Tom's foot resting on the lever to absorb most of the vibration we continued on.
Next up was another easy 25, followed by a 5, 7 and unfortunately a 1! The 1 was an awful muddy bank that no-one seemed to score over 6 on, my 1 came from trying to take a different line, which proved that everyone else definitely knew the better way to go! Afternoon sections were due to open at 12:30, but we thought to give it a chance, skip lunch, and arrive early. This paid off very well, as we arrived at the next section of four hills with absolutely no queues, we had the place to ourselves! The marshals were happy to score us while having their own lunch, and we got the first bite at many ascents. This led to three 25s and one 24, an excellent outcome I think! Definitely pays to skip lunch sometimes. All of these hills were great fun, including a stop and restart. The 24 came from massive understeer at the top of an ascent as I desperately attempted to steer to the left for a tricky final marker designed to catch those travelling too fast out. I was definitely travelling too fast, but sod that one point, it looked cool at that speed and was epic fun.
We had one hill left to the west, and a stunning drive over Exmoor, and popped over that to join a queue of others who had finally had their lunch. This was a long muddy slog between fields, and we scored a measly 2. I'm still not really sure what happened there, I think the handbrake was perhaps stuck on for the start. Regardless we were done at 2:30pm while some others were just joining the queue for their first afternoon hill, so that felt good. We popped back to the pub to hand in our score card and sink a few well earned pints. A very muddy, but very enjoyable trial.
Next week; another in the Lake District, but with added timed sections and autotests...
Captain_Whine
Well-Known Member
I also want to thank maestro of dirty outdoor games for technique i've borrowed yesterday. It was a humid melt~ish show and i had to free my mower with thoose fancy axle-rocking moves. 
Last edited:
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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- Fiestas, Mondeos, Anglia, Austin 7, Corsair, Chrys
Northern Classic Trial 2016
This was a new event for me; a none vintage trial, heck a practically modern trial, there was even an MX5 competing. Don?t let the name fool you, a classic trial is simply one with a classic format, i.e. 70-100 road miles between the sections to keep the reliability aspect in check. So pretty much the same as the VSCC stuff I've done before, right? Only this time I would be in an event with 70s Ford Escorts, 90s Suzuki X90s, MX5s from the early 00s and even motorbikes spanning decades. I was still in a class though, this time class 2, pre-war cars, mostly all VSCC competitors I?d seen before. Two Austin 7 Chummy?s, an Austin 7 special other than my own, two MGs, and a pair of Alvis? kept me and Cress company for the day as our closest rivals.
We took the Alvis to be our closest rival, and had fun competing all day
This trial was also local, and on my birthday, which was a nice bonus. Downside is, it was Cumbria in February, and a severe weather warning was in place from midday for rain and wind. Feeling fairly nervous about this, we signed on after we breezed through scrutineering. Unlike the VSCC events, the competition numbers on these trials weren?t self-adhesive, so for the first time of the day, I found myself grabbing the gaffer tape?
We were also given a start time, and a time we were expected to arrive at each hill, this all seemed very prim and proper in comparison to VSCC events where we had a start hill and could then basically pick and choose our order. Eager not to fall foul of the unfamiliar rules we lined up at our start of 9:06 and made our way to ?Humble Jumble?, the first hill I?ve attempted on tarmac. Well. I say tarmac, this was actually sheets of loose tarmac which slipped as you drove over them like loose paving slabs, they slipped due to the potholes. My god. What potholes. The sign said ?Unsuitable for Motors? at the end of the lane, and it was undoubtedly correct, these were feet deep in places and required very careful route planning to avoid the narrow little Seven becoming trapped surrounded by holes too deep to traverse, or worse yet, crashing sump first into a rising slab of tarmac.
We made it through with some careful spotting from Cress, and made our way to the first forest section. I wasn?t straight back into familiar ground here either though, first up was a driving test; a route around a designed (fairly flat) track, which required a reverse through a gate and then back out. Watching the others, I memorised the route, and then proceeded to fail spectacularly when my time was up, understeering into a bush before having to bounce ourselves out ? in reverse. 6 penalty points for us. (These trials score opposite to the VSCC, while in the VSCC you gain points by going up a hill, in this trial points were penalties, so a lower score was better).
As far as we got on our first real hill... oh dear.
Finally however, a trial hill, one with a restart, and one which looked like any other hill I?d done before. The mud on the other hand, was not like any other mud I?d driven on before, and behaved like grease. We gained full penalty points, 12, and drove away a little scared that we?d entered something a bit beyond our novice vintage ways. The next hill in this section was a mixed bag, and we scored 6 penalties which seemed well in line with everyone else, this improved spirits a little, but not as much as the final hill in this forest which we cleaned (in the VSCC I?d say cleared, but here it?s ?cleaned? as your penalty sheet remains clean). This was a much needed morale boost, and reminder that all three of us, driver, bouncer and car all had enough experience between us to make something good of this event. We?d also struck up some friendly banter with one of the Suzuki X90 drivers, Mark, who I must admit, did make a good point about his ?700 trials car having both roof and a heater?
The Wythop woods were next, which I had tackled in my first real trial back in November with Fraser. Cress had done these hills before in her past bouncing role in a different car too, so armed with some knowledge we threw ourselves into the first hill ?Where Eagle?s Dare? ? I?d done this before, and knew what it held. A sharp ascent with a left hand twist, ending in a pile of felled branches. We scored 1, not quite cleaning the hill as my little Austin simply wasn?t long enough to reach the end of the section at the end of the branch pile ? my front end was firmly embedded in the branches, while my back wheels spun uselessly, the longer cars could manage to clean this final obstacle easier.
Tackling a stop and restart while looking rather muddy
The next hill I distinctively remember failing on in November, this time though me and Cress made the whole thing look rather easy, given it was an awful muddy mess with deep pools of water and a ?S? shape turn. The car took a beating though, and the offside headlamp plopped out of its housing into the mud, narrowly avoiding being ran over by the rear wheels. A kind marshal returned it to us at the end of the section, and without the time to re-wire it, we placed it in the footwell and forgot about it.
A run through the woods on some ridiculously good fun dirt tracks took us to another familiar pair of hills, the first we took home a 7, the second a clean. This was good, and the knowledge I gained was definitely paying off. We exited Wythop woods using a bridleway which had been specially opened for motor vehicles for us for the day, this itself was a steep rocky ascent, and one worthy of being a hill itself. Luckily we ?cleaned? it enough to leave the woods and on to our next stop at Whinlatter Forest.
Whinlatter showed us three hills, and a driving test. I?m very happy to say we cleaned the three hills, and put in a very respectable time for the test without any penalties, for the first time since I started trialling, I?d cleaned an entire area and could drive away very happy indeed. Whinlatter also showed us the worst of the driving wind which both me and Cress found very testing indeed. Very kindly, Mark Powley a bouncer in one of the Alvis? gave us some hand warmers and fudge, which really helped the queue for the third hill. The first two hills I had cleared in November, but the third left me with a paltry score back then, this time though we romped up in first gear, and I was confident the little car definitely had more power than it used to.
Having fun in Whinlatter, even at 15mph, a Seven can look fast!
It was starting to get dark as we made our way towards the last section of the day; fearing the wiring for the missing lamp might blow a fuse it was gaffer taped ?securely? into its holder, and we hit the road again, one light letting the oncoming dusk drivers know we were here. Cress confidently called out the route form the book, and before long we?d caught the Alvis up which passed us during our headlamp repair, what followed was a brilliant fifteen mile chase between two vintage cars on some fantastic roads, pushing the little Austin to its 60mph max on more than one occasion, which brought a great smile to both of us. These cars really are fun when pushed, and all within the speed limit!
Powering through Sandale proved very fun
Sandale was our last hill, and perhaps the most dramatic. It started by a house on an innocuous lane, paved as we turned off the road. We soon passed the ?unsuitable for motors? sign though, and things turned very muddy, the recent flooding having made a stream down the slick surface. The markers whizzed passed beside us as I went for a flat out tactic to power through the deep ruts made by the more modern cars, 6, 5, 4, 3?. and then we slowed, very nearly to a stop. Cress gave a frantic bounce, and I desperately yanked the wheel left to right to regain some traction, it worked and we gained speed again, flying out of the top of the section and cleaning the hill.
What a day, and what a recovery from such a poor start. We both had a fantastic time, and I?d definitely like to try some more classic trials in the future. When the results were published, I was both happy and annoyed. We scored 31, which placed us 4th in class. If we minus the 6 penalty points right at the start of the day from the driving test, (which everyone else passed), we would have been sitting on 25 and 2nd in class. Oh well, we have a challenge for next year now!
The end! Filthy and cold, but happy to have completed another fantastic trial
This was a new event for me; a none vintage trial, heck a practically modern trial, there was even an MX5 competing. Don?t let the name fool you, a classic trial is simply one with a classic format, i.e. 70-100 road miles between the sections to keep the reliability aspect in check. So pretty much the same as the VSCC stuff I've done before, right? Only this time I would be in an event with 70s Ford Escorts, 90s Suzuki X90s, MX5s from the early 00s and even motorbikes spanning decades. I was still in a class though, this time class 2, pre-war cars, mostly all VSCC competitors I?d seen before. Two Austin 7 Chummy?s, an Austin 7 special other than my own, two MGs, and a pair of Alvis? kept me and Cress company for the day as our closest rivals.
We took the Alvis to be our closest rival, and had fun competing all day
This trial was also local, and on my birthday, which was a nice bonus. Downside is, it was Cumbria in February, and a severe weather warning was in place from midday for rain and wind. Feeling fairly nervous about this, we signed on after we breezed through scrutineering. Unlike the VSCC events, the competition numbers on these trials weren?t self-adhesive, so for the first time of the day, I found myself grabbing the gaffer tape?
We were also given a start time, and a time we were expected to arrive at each hill, this all seemed very prim and proper in comparison to VSCC events where we had a start hill and could then basically pick and choose our order. Eager not to fall foul of the unfamiliar rules we lined up at our start of 9:06 and made our way to ?Humble Jumble?, the first hill I?ve attempted on tarmac. Well. I say tarmac, this was actually sheets of loose tarmac which slipped as you drove over them like loose paving slabs, they slipped due to the potholes. My god. What potholes. The sign said ?Unsuitable for Motors? at the end of the lane, and it was undoubtedly correct, these were feet deep in places and required very careful route planning to avoid the narrow little Seven becoming trapped surrounded by holes too deep to traverse, or worse yet, crashing sump first into a rising slab of tarmac.
We made it through with some careful spotting from Cress, and made our way to the first forest section. I wasn?t straight back into familiar ground here either though, first up was a driving test; a route around a designed (fairly flat) track, which required a reverse through a gate and then back out. Watching the others, I memorised the route, and then proceeded to fail spectacularly when my time was up, understeering into a bush before having to bounce ourselves out ? in reverse. 6 penalty points for us. (These trials score opposite to the VSCC, while in the VSCC you gain points by going up a hill, in this trial points were penalties, so a lower score was better).
As far as we got on our first real hill... oh dear.
Finally however, a trial hill, one with a restart, and one which looked like any other hill I?d done before. The mud on the other hand, was not like any other mud I?d driven on before, and behaved like grease. We gained full penalty points, 12, and drove away a little scared that we?d entered something a bit beyond our novice vintage ways. The next hill in this section was a mixed bag, and we scored 6 penalties which seemed well in line with everyone else, this improved spirits a little, but not as much as the final hill in this forest which we cleaned (in the VSCC I?d say cleared, but here it?s ?cleaned? as your penalty sheet remains clean). This was a much needed morale boost, and reminder that all three of us, driver, bouncer and car all had enough experience between us to make something good of this event. We?d also struck up some friendly banter with one of the Suzuki X90 drivers, Mark, who I must admit, did make a good point about his ?700 trials car having both roof and a heater?
The Wythop woods were next, which I had tackled in my first real trial back in November with Fraser. Cress had done these hills before in her past bouncing role in a different car too, so armed with some knowledge we threw ourselves into the first hill ?Where Eagle?s Dare? ? I?d done this before, and knew what it held. A sharp ascent with a left hand twist, ending in a pile of felled branches. We scored 1, not quite cleaning the hill as my little Austin simply wasn?t long enough to reach the end of the section at the end of the branch pile ? my front end was firmly embedded in the branches, while my back wheels spun uselessly, the longer cars could manage to clean this final obstacle easier.
Tackling a stop and restart while looking rather muddy
The next hill I distinctively remember failing on in November, this time though me and Cress made the whole thing look rather easy, given it was an awful muddy mess with deep pools of water and a ?S? shape turn. The car took a beating though, and the offside headlamp plopped out of its housing into the mud, narrowly avoiding being ran over by the rear wheels. A kind marshal returned it to us at the end of the section, and without the time to re-wire it, we placed it in the footwell and forgot about it.
A run through the woods on some ridiculously good fun dirt tracks took us to another familiar pair of hills, the first we took home a 7, the second a clean. This was good, and the knowledge I gained was definitely paying off. We exited Wythop woods using a bridleway which had been specially opened for motor vehicles for us for the day, this itself was a steep rocky ascent, and one worthy of being a hill itself. Luckily we ?cleaned? it enough to leave the woods and on to our next stop at Whinlatter Forest.
Whinlatter showed us three hills, and a driving test. I?m very happy to say we cleaned the three hills, and put in a very respectable time for the test without any penalties, for the first time since I started trialling, I?d cleaned an entire area and could drive away very happy indeed. Whinlatter also showed us the worst of the driving wind which both me and Cress found very testing indeed. Very kindly, Mark Powley a bouncer in one of the Alvis? gave us some hand warmers and fudge, which really helped the queue for the third hill. The first two hills I had cleared in November, but the third left me with a paltry score back then, this time though we romped up in first gear, and I was confident the little car definitely had more power than it used to.
Having fun in Whinlatter, even at 15mph, a Seven can look fast!
It was starting to get dark as we made our way towards the last section of the day; fearing the wiring for the missing lamp might blow a fuse it was gaffer taped ?securely? into its holder, and we hit the road again, one light letting the oncoming dusk drivers know we were here. Cress confidently called out the route form the book, and before long we?d caught the Alvis up which passed us during our headlamp repair, what followed was a brilliant fifteen mile chase between two vintage cars on some fantastic roads, pushing the little Austin to its 60mph max on more than one occasion, which brought a great smile to both of us. These cars really are fun when pushed, and all within the speed limit!
Powering through Sandale proved very fun
Sandale was our last hill, and perhaps the most dramatic. It started by a house on an innocuous lane, paved as we turned off the road. We soon passed the ?unsuitable for motors? sign though, and things turned very muddy, the recent flooding having made a stream down the slick surface. The markers whizzed passed beside us as I went for a flat out tactic to power through the deep ruts made by the more modern cars, 6, 5, 4, 3?. and then we slowed, very nearly to a stop. Cress gave a frantic bounce, and I desperately yanked the wheel left to right to regain some traction, it worked and we gained speed again, flying out of the top of the section and cleaning the hill.
What a day, and what a recovery from such a poor start. We both had a fantastic time, and I?d definitely like to try some more classic trials in the future. When the results were published, I was both happy and annoyed. We scored 31, which placed us 4th in class. If we minus the 6 penalty points right at the start of the day from the driving test, (which everyone else passed), we would have been sitting on 25 and 2nd in class. Oh well, we have a challenge for next year now!
The end! Filthy and cold, but happy to have completed another fantastic trial
Captain_Whine
Well-Known Member
Ohnoes! You scratched your national treasure! ...i-mean y'ARRRR! Tuff goin so far, saileh! *heavy manly spit*
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Another awesome write up! Love it!
Keep them coming!
Keep them coming!
Heathrow
Yes, as in the airport.
.. I saw an old Austin today, a 1960s? Austin Cambridge II with the Wolseley grill/hood:
Wolseley 15/60 -Wiki
DVLA says about 100 of those left are still active, the condition was kind of OK/fair, but not front page of "Classic Cars".
.. it was all one colour in maroon.
Wolseley 15/60 -Wiki
DVLA says about 100 of those left are still active, the condition was kind of OK/fair, but not front page of "Classic Cars".
.. it was all one colour in maroon.
Last edited:
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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- Oct 23, 2007
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- Fiestas, Mondeos, Anglia, Austin 7, Corsair, Chrys
Long time no update... Since March I've entered quite a few trials, the VSCC Derbyshire, VSCC Herefordshire, VSCC Scottish and the Airedale and Pennine Motor Club Yorkshire Dales Classic.
I'm afraid I can't really do full write ups on them all, although I wish I could. I just don't have the time right now, as the lack of content in this thread can attest... I can do some summaries and cool pictures though.
Derbyshire: Really, really fun trial with just the right amount of mud to keep things good and sticky. Lots of nice tricky sections, and I was immensely happy to achieve a third, marking my first ever VSCC award and first award in a trial in general. I received a nice little pewter pot as my award the other week. (Higher finishers receive tankards).
Herefordshire: Cress was unable to bounce on this one, so my father stepped in at the last minute. Unfortunately this was quite a rough trial, and I managed to do a lot of damage to the car on this one. Steering arm, windscreen, rubber coupling and most of the rear axle needed replacing... oh and the rear springs finally gave up the ghost with the car bottoming out all of the time. Still, limped to the finish on this one, didn't score too badly either. My father made bouncing look incredibly easy too:
Scottish: Cress back in the hot seat gave the car some extra power, so we expected good things for this one. Bought some second hand springs and fitted them before this trial, bad idea! They turned flat on the first hill and the car would bottom out over just a pebble, also on the first hill the fanblade made contact with the radiator hose and split it, making a great cloud of steam. Managed to repair this, however the bottoming out was just too harsh on the car and we called it a day at the half way point and spectated the rest. Just look how low the springs are here compared to earlier (and later) in this thread!
Yorkshire: Brand new rear springs with an extra bit of lift over stock completely revitalised the car before this trial, along with a complete rear axle rebuild prior to the Scottish, the car was in perfect form. The weather was incredibly dry and hot, despite having snowed the week before. All bar one of the hills were bone dry, resulting in a scorecard with only 6 points dropped all day. Final result for that one: First in vintage class. We won something!! Unsure if I get some tinware for this as well, although to be honest, I'm more than happy with just the result!
Both front wheels off the ground!
The car is currently laid up having the steering wheel refurbished, and a new windscreen being cut.
I'm afraid I can't really do full write ups on them all, although I wish I could. I just don't have the time right now, as the lack of content in this thread can attest... I can do some summaries and cool pictures though.
Derbyshire: Really, really fun trial with just the right amount of mud to keep things good and sticky. Lots of nice tricky sections, and I was immensely happy to achieve a third, marking my first ever VSCC award and first award in a trial in general. I received a nice little pewter pot as my award the other week. (Higher finishers receive tankards).
Herefordshire: Cress was unable to bounce on this one, so my father stepped in at the last minute. Unfortunately this was quite a rough trial, and I managed to do a lot of damage to the car on this one. Steering arm, windscreen, rubber coupling and most of the rear axle needed replacing... oh and the rear springs finally gave up the ghost with the car bottoming out all of the time. Still, limped to the finish on this one, didn't score too badly either. My father made bouncing look incredibly easy too:
Scottish: Cress back in the hot seat gave the car some extra power, so we expected good things for this one. Bought some second hand springs and fitted them before this trial, bad idea! They turned flat on the first hill and the car would bottom out over just a pebble, also on the first hill the fanblade made contact with the radiator hose and split it, making a great cloud of steam. Managed to repair this, however the bottoming out was just too harsh on the car and we called it a day at the half way point and spectated the rest. Just look how low the springs are here compared to earlier (and later) in this thread!
Yorkshire: Brand new rear springs with an extra bit of lift over stock completely revitalised the car before this trial, along with a complete rear axle rebuild prior to the Scottish, the car was in perfect form. The weather was incredibly dry and hot, despite having snowed the week before. All bar one of the hills were bone dry, resulting in a scorecard with only 6 points dropped all day. Final result for that one: First in vintage class. We won something!! Unsure if I get some tinware for this as well, although to be honest, I'm more than happy with just the result!
Both front wheels off the ground!
The car is currently laid up having the steering wheel refurbished, and a new windscreen being cut.
Last edited:
Captain_Whine
Well-Known Member
...not to mention new seat cover.
Where'd ya get that pare o balancers to join yer dur'ry games?
Last edited:
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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[video=youtube;rsk_ciLR-XQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsk_ciLR-XQ[/video]
Captain_Whine
Well-Known Member
Woell, you c'eitainly have a c-hooo-ca-hooo-klka-hooo-lass, sir. *dusted monocle*
Also, Gentlemen! On the begining of yearly official event of 30 to 35 mph hillclimbdragracing, please welcome...
Last edited:
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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narf
Sgt. Maj. Buzzkill
Have you started a Ringmeet swear jar yet? 
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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Entered my first three trials of the coming winter today.
I'm aching to get out in some mud again....
I'm aching to get out in some mud again....
Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
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Well it doesn?t seem that long ago I was awaiting the start of the trials season, and now I?m 1/3rd of the way through it! I?ve already done three trials, with one more post-Christmas lined up to round this year off.
The first in October was the PDVCC trial at Bolton Abbey near Skipton. This was a single site trial with no road miles, and consisted pretty much entirely of grassy hills. A nice gentle start to the year; we used this to prove the car and so I could get my head back into things. It also provided invaluable grass practise, as it?s by far my least favourite surface and the easiest to mess up without careful clutch/throttle control. I did pretty well, coming joint 6th in class (the other person being the chap who built my engine) and really learning a lot about grass. The dry weather made things very pleasant too, if a little easy.
The final hill was quite a challenge though, being a steep sided cutting which forced you up the banks as you came around a corner, and straight into a massive pile of nettles, which is a real problem in an open topped car. Great fun though, and by far the highlight of the day!
Spinning out in the slimy grass... still my least successful surface, but I'm learning!
Taking it slow and steady on this technical section paid off. The Austin actually has terrible lock and usually hills like these do me in if I'm too enthusiastic with the throttle, as it tends to understeer like a pig.
A Riley special heads into the nettles...
In November came the Lakeland trial, my home trial, my favourite and arguably one of the most gruelling of the season. With memories from last year fresh in my mind of being pelted with hail during the 70+ miles of road work, with 13 hills in-between, I was fully expecting the worst.
It didn?t come though, and instead it was again, dry all day. This was a blessing for driver and bouncer, but did my comparative score no favours. With many drivers remarking this was the driest Lakeland trial in memory, grip was relatively easy to come by and scores stayed high. For me though the real challenge was beating my score last year from when I was a novice to this sort of thing, and I well and truly did that. The highlight was climbing ?Drumhouse? for the first time, which follows a rocky, rough, troughed 1 in 3 track up a slate mine to stunning views down Honister pass. Last year I failed half way up with a misfire reducing my power, this year I stormed up to easily clear it, and it felt amazing. The forest hills were once again, great fun and my bouncer was completely amazed at the off road capability of a 1920s economy car.
Hitting the mud in the forest sections...
Climbing up Drumhouse!
Last weekend was the Cotswold trial, a low road mile (40), compact trial of 14 hills. Again, the weather stayed dry, although heavy rain previously in the week kept the sections sticky. I am a little afraid that my first wet trial this winter will come as a big shock though. I started the morning with a disappointing pair of hills scoring 4 and 10 (out of 25). It didn?t help I started alongside one of the top drivers whom I watched clear the hills in their Austin 7 with ease.
Things picked up however, and after putting my new grass driving skills to the test I got back in the mindset. Hills whizzed by, although the highlight was probably Big Bumblebee Nest which was a double hill scoring 50 points, to get the full points you had to clear a lower section worth 25, to get to the upper one for the other 25. We cleared the first and got half way up the second, but it was a really fun hill nonetheless. Rough in places too, for the first time on the new springs, the car actually bottomed out. No damage though.
Another highlight, Baines Bank, was proceeded by an hour long queue which was mostly caused by a Model A becoming trapped sideways on the hill, and then the Land Rover Discovery sent to tow it also becoming stuck. After a long wait the hill reopened and we miraculously cleared it. Looking back on the scores a lot of people failed here, so I assuming that while I was waiting for the hill to reopen the lack of use helped it dry out a bit and give me some extra grip.
The final afternoon hills were as usual at the Bugatti Owner?s Club HQ; Prescott Hillclimb. Here there were hundreds of spectators which is unusual for a trial, which are usually done on the quiet in private land. All the hills here were really fun, but being fairly gentle slopes, don?t give spectators a true picture of what goes on.
2016 VSCC Cotswold Trial - 19th November 2016 - 1933 Austin 7 - VF 6639 by Gary Walton, on Flickr
Tackling a stop start at the Bugatti Owner's Club. Enthusiastic bouncing by Tom making the most of the new springs.
Anyway, that was that and in the end we scored just 12 points from being in the awards. Next trial on the 28 of December in Lincolnshire?
Addendum:
I've just found this video from a friend from this year's Derbyshire trial where we scored a 3rd class award. It does a great deal to show how rough the hills we use are, how fast we sometimes go, and what the public never see. This is well worth a watch, and is pretty much exactly what I see and hear from my seat!
The first in October was the PDVCC trial at Bolton Abbey near Skipton. This was a single site trial with no road miles, and consisted pretty much entirely of grassy hills. A nice gentle start to the year; we used this to prove the car and so I could get my head back into things. It also provided invaluable grass practise, as it?s by far my least favourite surface and the easiest to mess up without careful clutch/throttle control. I did pretty well, coming joint 6th in class (the other person being the chap who built my engine) and really learning a lot about grass. The dry weather made things very pleasant too, if a little easy.
The final hill was quite a challenge though, being a steep sided cutting which forced you up the banks as you came around a corner, and straight into a massive pile of nettles, which is a real problem in an open topped car. Great fun though, and by far the highlight of the day!
A Riley special heads into the nettles...
In November came the Lakeland trial, my home trial, my favourite and arguably one of the most gruelling of the season. With memories from last year fresh in my mind of being pelted with hail during the 70+ miles of road work, with 13 hills in-between, I was fully expecting the worst.
It didn?t come though, and instead it was again, dry all day. This was a blessing for driver and bouncer, but did my comparative score no favours. With many drivers remarking this was the driest Lakeland trial in memory, grip was relatively easy to come by and scores stayed high. For me though the real challenge was beating my score last year from when I was a novice to this sort of thing, and I well and truly did that. The highlight was climbing ?Drumhouse? for the first time, which follows a rocky, rough, troughed 1 in 3 track up a slate mine to stunning views down Honister pass. Last year I failed half way up with a misfire reducing my power, this year I stormed up to easily clear it, and it felt amazing. The forest hills were once again, great fun and my bouncer was completely amazed at the off road capability of a 1920s economy car.
Hitting the mud in the forest sections...
Climbing up Drumhouse!
Last weekend was the Cotswold trial, a low road mile (40), compact trial of 14 hills. Again, the weather stayed dry, although heavy rain previously in the week kept the sections sticky. I am a little afraid that my first wet trial this winter will come as a big shock though. I started the morning with a disappointing pair of hills scoring 4 and 10 (out of 25). It didn?t help I started alongside one of the top drivers whom I watched clear the hills in their Austin 7 with ease.
Things picked up however, and after putting my new grass driving skills to the test I got back in the mindset. Hills whizzed by, although the highlight was probably Big Bumblebee Nest which was a double hill scoring 50 points, to get the full points you had to clear a lower section worth 25, to get to the upper one for the other 25. We cleared the first and got half way up the second, but it was a really fun hill nonetheless. Rough in places too, for the first time on the new springs, the car actually bottomed out. No damage though.
Another highlight, Baines Bank, was proceeded by an hour long queue which was mostly caused by a Model A becoming trapped sideways on the hill, and then the Land Rover Discovery sent to tow it also becoming stuck. After a long wait the hill reopened and we miraculously cleared it. Looking back on the scores a lot of people failed here, so I assuming that while I was waiting for the hill to reopen the lack of use helped it dry out a bit and give me some extra grip.
The final afternoon hills were as usual at the Bugatti Owner?s Club HQ; Prescott Hillclimb. Here there were hundreds of spectators which is unusual for a trial, which are usually done on the quiet in private land. All the hills here were really fun, but being fairly gentle slopes, don?t give spectators a true picture of what goes on.
2016 VSCC Cotswold Trial - 19th November 2016 - 1933 Austin 7 - VF 6639 by Gary Walton, on FlickrAnyway, that was that and in the end we scored just 12 points from being in the awards. Next trial on the 28 of December in Lincolnshire?
Addendum:
I've just found this video from a friend from this year's Derbyshire trial where we scored a 3rd class award. It does a great deal to show how rough the hills we use are, how fast we sometimes go, and what the public never see. This is well worth a watch, and is pretty much exactly what I see and hear from my seat!
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Andeh
is teahte tbungafloed
- Joined
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