Pre-Ringmeet Roadtrip 2013 - Always check your nuts. (That's what she said)

[Redliner]

 

[DaBoom]

Later that evening we went to the "Bear Grill", a Restaurant near the campsite. It was really late when we got our food, atleast I had some good piece of viande on sauce or whatever it was called in french, but others went for cheap pizzas, and they really got themselfs some cheap ones. Cheap in as not-really-good-looking, that is.

Well, at least they didn't serve piss. Even when the beer ran out..

 

[lip]

Monday, 5th August 2013 - (Day 6 of 12)

0730, and here we have a first view at the beautiful scenery out of my mobile hotel room
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The 850 getting prepaired with all the necessities to keep it running
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The breakfast was taken in style and fashion of the highest order, as usual
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MWF had to do some lunch-bread shopping. It seems there is no hiding from his royal masterlords.
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At this stage the sandwich-making wasn't yet on the spiffing industry standarts it reached later on.
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Finally at 1145 (ack, come on people) off we went, but for sure first to do some boring stuff:
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But that boring part dragged on, here we were waiting in the heat infront of a shop to open, to get some coolant or whatever it was the limping BMW needed at this point. - It was almost 1400, and I was truly bored at this stage. "Officially bored" I called it then and there.
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Then some split-up happend, with the M3, the Saab and the Audi going on their route, and the rest of us taking in some more alpine driving. And suddenly I was happy again.
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Not a bad view, eh?
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For most of this day (or what was left of it) I gave up my driving seat to shad. This was the guy who made my Renault to shoot flames out of the exhausts during downshifts.
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The boring morning was soon forgotten with views like this:
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Some time later that day, finally leaving the alps behind. Look at that angry face. Grrrr. First I eat my numberplate, then I eat you. Grrr. - A wonder how I could sleep the next nights after a sight like this. :lol:
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Ah, castles. Truly marked on the maps for some visits during some of my personal roadtrips.
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Ou-la-la, suddenly two motorcycle flics squeezed themselfs in between Adrians' BMW and Tobias' Alfa. Probably lured in by the Modball stickerage on the 850. Suddenly 50km/h was 50 again, and 70 was 70 again. Never seen Adrian drive so carefully as during these 5 minutes.
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But as soon as the police gave up on us brave sunday-drivers... the tabs went open again.
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Only to be stopped by some dense civilisation.
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Last toilet stop before reaching the next campsite, Joker seen here doing his very analogue route planning. I may have cracked a joke about this once or twice during the endure of the Roadtrip and Ringmeet. There and on the Internet. But only once or twice. Not more. I think. :lol:
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Since the last leg of this day was a bit uneventfull the C3 suddenly went a bit antsy by the looks of it. Cutting corners and climbing curbs. - Shad and I were guessing it probably had also to do with the fact that Joker was missing a cold Feierabend-beer at this point and time. We gave him a bit more distance and followed him carefully after this. :lol:
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Finally, at the campsite in Chezery-Forens. The last few kilometers were actually good stuff again, some fine twisty forest roads.
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Important things first: Watching some dashcam footage highlights.
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Whilst the youngest and the fittest took on the sport of frisbee abuse
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Lady Sarah's very graphic answer on why she took MWF as her boyfriend
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Of course, there's always more videos
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And later on after some good catering we let the night come in. Illuminated by M3.
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More to come. Stay tuned.

 

[Heathrow]

lip, you have a talent as a Blog writer. Keep them coming!

Loving all the comments! Well played.

Yeah, I think lip wins the Internet with the journal.

 

[lip]

Tuesday, 6th August 2013 - (Day 7 of 12)

Part 1/2

Good morning Vietn... France!
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The sandwich production line at the height of it's productivity. At this stage there was actual discussion about the name of the business we should open together. But suspicially there was no talk at all about the long-term financial plan...
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Joker cutting bread and later tomatoes and more cheese, I was made chief of mayonnaise, Sarah placing in tomatoes, Davetouch bonjouring his fromage as usual, DaBoom putting some sliced animals to rest, and Shad having the job of shoving in some funny green crunchy but still moist stuff that according to Sarah grows magically out of dirty dirt and is more healty than salty chips on top of all things. - Yeah, right. - Anyways, last in line was Snowman counting and stacking the finished products. Of course it was hard to spot from my angle if he actually had already some of them stuffed down his pants.

Dave then went on to raise the value of HMS Saab by cleaning his beloved turbo
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While everybody else did his favourite past-time thingy
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Meanwhile on the other side of the campsite...
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The "past-time thingy" pic above wasn't very flattering to MXM, so here is a better one:
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Look at this! Before I started on this trip I had laid down all I wanted to take with me on our bedroom floor, and then only took 50% of that actually with me: "Travel light" is one of my credos. - But coming to the Roadtrip with an almost empty car was a short lived dream: Somebody was always putting his stuff in the Renault, tents, food, drinks, dishes, matresses, sleeping bags. And of course I was too nice and mostly too stupid to say no.
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Almost ready. Almost. At this stage I simply took my car, parked it near the entrance and went for the free Wi-Fi there to wait until they were really ready. - Which could take some time. - I'm sure I haven't mentioned this so far. :lol:
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A bit later, already underway, my passenger for today was Sarah, who used a short stop by the side of the road to do some girly stuff.
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Lunch stop somewhere in the middle of nowhere, I'm a Swiss and hence I need mountains to orientate, without them I'm lost. Sorry.
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Shortly after the M3-tumbledryer incident happend: A pebble had itself lodged somewhere in the rear brake disk and made some disturbing noises during wheel rotation. To get it out the car went on the lift in the next garage:
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Nobody actually ever saw that pebble coming out, but after one time wheel off and on again all was suddenly fine.

The sight of a breakdown probably brought up all-to-fresh memories up for his one and he had to sit down.
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Meanwhile outside the garage MWF bizarrely fell in love with this, ahem, car. Some of us were shaking our heads, others encouraged him. Not sure about the final verdict. I'm not even sure what it actually was.
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Underway again, and in the meantime I had given my Renault keys to Sarah and was her passenger. Here is her first overtake:

The scenery went more rural, saw another big castle for my list
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Very rural
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Very very rural :lol:
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Relevant to the picture above, here is the muck spreader video in it's full glory. The silly use of the radios made it even more funny. :lol:

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Because the M3 had to be driven careful over split roads (no paintwork protection at all on the sides) the combined fact of slowness and cabriolet lent itself to some silly dictator/hero passenger positions in the Saab
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And driving by some beautiful scenery without much stopping lent itself to some serious multitasking in the Renault.
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End of part 1/2. More to come, stay tuned.

 

[Perc]

We agreed to a tow to the mentioned Renault Garage in Bellinzona.
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Towing a car with an automatic transmission is usually a big no-no.

 

[lip]

Yep, that's why left the car idling in neutral on the remaining five cylinders during the tow, with the added bonus the get power steering and brake assistance.

 

[Redliner]

Shooting flames on the Laguna?

Also:
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A FIAT Strada Adventure? In the middle of Europe?


I did NOT expect that!

 

[Perc]

Yep, that's why left the car idling in neutral on the remaining five cylinders during the tow, with the added bonus the get power steering and brake assistance.

For those wondering what the deal is: an automatic transmission is lubricated by an oil pump on the input shaft. If the engine doesn't run, there's no lubrication. Bearings etc don't like that. It's also the reason a slushbox can't be push-started: it needs oil pressure to go into gear. Some really old Mercs (I think) have a secondary oil pump on the output shaft as well, allowing them to be push-started and towed freely.
</anorak>

Too bad I didn't have the time nor the cash, really, for this. Looks like you had a blast, breakdowns and all. Maybe next year.

 

[Matt2000]

http://imageshack.**/a/img189/9420/0tp2.jpg

Aww, I remember you lawn mower man. Bonjour! :lol:

Video is excellent too, I really was expecting him to release the shit over the M3 or something.

 

[lip]

Part 2/2, still Tuesday, 6th August 2013

Our route took us out of France trough the north-western tip of Switzerland, atleast for only a few kilometers before we entered France again. - Some geographically confused soul mistook it for the Italian border, as can be heard in this video: "THIS IS SWITZERLAND???" :lol:

A few meters right after the border crossing we had a highly unsucessful attempt of a group photo, it just didn't work somehow, I think everybody was just to eager to get on.
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Some time later we had reached the massive campsite in Belfort. Ample space there for us. - Look at these computer/phone geeks.
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A bit of a preview was already visible of what was to come later during the night:
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But first on with the cooking
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Round 1: Starters. Good stuff.
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Round 2: Main course. I like my meat rawish. Superb. There even were some roasted onions for flavour around FFS. Awesome.
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At this moment I want to say again a big Thanks! to Matthew and Sarah for the allaround catering. A thanks also to Snowman and all the others who I've seen taking in some grill duties. I had some nibble-stuff in my car I had bought in Switzerland at the beginning of the trip and I actually brought most of it back home, and that says a lot: I felt well looked after with all the food provided on the spot.
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Somebody was very proud to be able to present his magic bottle-flashlight construction: Badass camping, right there.
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Of course we still used some car lights for illumination too, with predictable results regarding Ice's Audi the following morning...

As mentioned before, during the night some mighty storm came in to say Hello. Of course with my luck I had to use the bog (which was a one minute walk away) at exactly the wrong time somewhere between 0300 and 0400 in the morning. Here's me strolling into the direction of the toilet/shower house: - 0:17

Of course a few seconds after this video the heavenly gates opend and some torrential downpour took posession of me, my clothes and escpecially of my shoes, regardless of me speeding to safety like chased by wolfes. :lol:

More to come, stay tuned.

 

[thomas]

I think everybody was just to eager to get on.

Now that sounds unlikely, considering we're talking about a FG Roadtrip

 

[lip]

They showed the eagerness, I wished for at around 0900 in the morning, always only at around 1800 in the evening. :lol:

 

[DaBoom]

Meanwhile, the final traveller has arrived home

 

[loose_unit]

Somebody was very proud to be able to present his magic bottle-flashlight contruction: Badass camping, right there.
http://imageshack.**/a/img839/2425/v57q.jpg
Of course we still used some car lights for illumination too, with predictable results regarding Ice's Audi the following morning...

That light just didn't have the warmth of one with a real non-LED bulb...

Also, thanks Lip! Awesome update with pics and commentary

 

[lip]

Wednesday, 7th August 2013 - (Day 8 of 12)

Good morning... to the sight of a class-1 German Fr?hst?ck, beautifully laid out and presented here on this picture by our own Tim. Love the motto he told me at this point: "Be prepaired to share with others, but be also prepaired to do it on your own". - Hope I got that quote right.
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As mentioned in the last post the use of the Audi's headlamps as a lawn-kitchen illumination the night before took it's toll: Flat batt. - And since this was a FG roadtrip it was elemental that nobody had starter cables. - Leaving only one solution:

After breakfast sadly we had to say thanks and goodbye to Sarah. She took a lift in the Icemobile to catch a plane/train? in Basel. Ice and MWF would join us again later on during the evening. - With the leading Lady gone MWF finally could be the fucking sweary brit he really is. - But Sarah, if you are reading this, I said "could". Because he never did. Not one swear word for the rest of the Roadtrip and the Ringmeet. Sure some videos have turned up where one can hear him swearing like a fucking sailor but they are all fake. Yes. It's the truth. Ahem. Yes, it is. I guess. Probably.

Here we go. Pouring liquid money into cars and checking radios. The usual. - MXM was to be my chauffeur for today...
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...but he gave up on it only about an hour later during a short stop in the forest. I'm not sure what it was, the very french automatic gearbox on ma V6, or having to endure the boring swiss guy as a passenger maybe? So we swapped positions there and I took the wheel and he the passenger seat.
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A quick look into the Saab: WTF? - Somebody should invent some small cameras quickly to prevent DIY as this. You know really small ones, and then we could call them GoPro and Contour for example. Just as an idea.
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Some driving time later: Hello, what's all this with the sudden rubbish parking?
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Well, this is what happend:

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Just to be sure I also checked my nuts at this point. Everthing ok and tight. - Both.
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Some more reliable cars went by
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Yeah, this wasn't the Alps anymore, but the roads were still good. - I had fun, regardless of the rainy weather.
But of course like every day we still met the Roadtrippers worst natural enemy once or twice:

Toby cares a lot more for the side mirrors on his Alfa than I do for the ones on my Banger, apparently. - As he told me later on. - The bantery word "Moth..fu..er" may came in use too. :lol:

Last short stop before driving to the campsite:
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This last leg was the only time I was underway in another car than mine for the whole roadtrip: I took a passenger ride in the 850. At this stage on about 8.5 to 10 of 12 cylinders, and rough like a draisine. But still, cool car.
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Very strange to watch your own car overtaking you
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Arrived at the campsite in Schwerwiller. What a campsite. Minus 1 star I guess. Basicly it was someones back yard with a little toilet/shower shed in the middle. Meh. - Here is the daughter of the landlady telling Joker, Dave and Snowman the Do's and Don't for this marvelous place. Mostly it was Dont's.
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Later on, Dave explaining the correct pronunciation of "Bonjour le fromage" and inherent waving technique to us...
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But some incoming rain cut that lesson short.
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As bad and low-pointy the camping lawn was, it was followed by a high point: The Restaurant a la Couronne in Schwerwiller:
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Great locality, great service, great food, and according to the alcohol resistant bunch: great wine.
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Btw, at this point Joe and Adrian had been gone with the 850 to get it into the repair circles in D?sseldorf, and Tim and Dino had been gone home to be spiffy for the Ringmeet, but we were joined at the same time by a vertical bundle of northern coolness called Frankiess.

Sadly whilst the food was excellent somehow I didn't felt too well at this point and had to call in early (read: even earlier than usual). I gave Matt-the-Redshirt next to me some money to cover my expenses and then left with the words "The old man needs his sleep".
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Sadly this also meant I missed the apparently truly awesome steampunk toilettes of the Restaurant, I was only told about this the next day by others. Saw some pics and videos of it tough. Somebody should post them.

More to come, stay tuned.

 

[MXM]

...but he gave up on it only about an hour later during a short stop in the forest. I'm not sure what it was, the very french automatic gearbox on ma V6, or having to endure the boring swiss guy as a passenger maybe? So we swapped positions there and I took the wheel and he the passenger seat.

Well... it was indeed partly due to my inability to deal with the autobox. It distracted me too much to keep the pace up and enjoy it, and I didn't want to waste all the good roads learning to drive this car. I also genuinely wanted to see how do you manage to drive it fast. Now I understand better

A quick look into the Saab: WTF? - Somebody should invent some small cameras quickly to prevent DIY as this. You know really small ones, and then we could call them GoPro and Contour for example. Just as an idea.
http://imageshack.**/a/img42/8307/8wx1.jpg

May I point out that this is the very suction cup holder that gave up on the previous day while carrying my little action camera on the outside of the Alfa Very brave, Joe...

 

[Davetouch]

Joe will have the video from that; it lasted about 2 minutes :lol:

Also; lol at the video of the Saab's wheel. From 'Can we think about looking for somewhere to stop' to 'o shit stop' in seconds

 

[MWF]

Dayum! If I'd known that was what awaited transgressors I'd have been noisier when we got back from dinner!

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[TobiasG]

She came running towards us in just her nightgown at the end of the night when we returned from the restaurant telling us to be vewwy, vewwy quiet! I was amazed and baffled by the entire situation. Then of course we ignored her and went for a few beers at the campsite