Saturday 24th & Sunday 25th June. The Club Triumph 2023 Coast to Coast Rally.

 Despite my recent issues with the Triumph, Colin Wake and I decided to press ahead with attempting the Club Triumph C2C. (This is an overnight event)

I had worked on the car on Friday and changed the rock hard polyurethane gearbox mount for a more flexible one in the hope that it cured the vibration that I was getting between 60 and 65mph. (It did!) I had also topped up the gearbox oil. 

So, Colin arrived at mine around 12pm Saturday and after working out a way to avoid the M11 around Harlow which was choked up with traffic, we headed across to Chelmsford, then Great Dunmow and joined the M11 at Stanstead. Our starting point for the event was Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire. Some 180 miles away from my house! 

We had a trouble free run up, with just a couple of 'coughs' which was enough to prove that I hadn't completely cleared the issues that have been plaguing this car lately. On arrival at Mablethorpe we met up with Richard and Roger whom we would be running with on the event. They were piloting Roger's Triumph Stag. We all enjoyed a carvery before the start and with the weather being so hot, we also took advantage of the ice cream stand nearby. (Cheers Richard!)

Suitably fed and watered, we set off around 7pm and would be heading across the country towards the Welsh Coast. (See below)

The weather was still very hot and it was so lovely to drive through the night with both front windows wide open. We had some fantastic drives across the Lincolnshire flats, before heading across to Chesterfield and then across the national parks in the Peak District. Our halfway point was planned for 1-2am and was at Stafford services on the M6 southbound where we refueled with coffee, but definitely not petrol due to the insane prices.

From Stafford we headed for Shrewsbury and then into mid Wales for some more excellent driving roads that eventually led into Snowdonia national park. It was still warm and before we knew it, the sun was starting to come up. It felt like it had hardly been dark at all. (But then we were close to the shortest night on the calendar)

Sunday morning around 6am and close to Aberystwyth was when we started having issues with the car. We were unsure whether it was ignition based problems or the Lucal fuel pump playing up.

We stopped numerous times and tried different fixes and bodges, but all to no avail. In the end though it did run well enough to get to the finish at Whitland in Carmarthenshire, so we did at least complete the event and pick up our finishers award. We also enjoyed a lovely fried  breakfast which went down very well after the nights exertions. 

With the car making it to the finish, we were hoping that we would be able to nurse it home, but alas it was not to be. By now the fuel pump was making horrendous noises and was obviously dropping pressure. Within ten minutes of leaving the finish location, we had pulled into a services and had to ring the AA for recovery. I've heard some real horror stories (and witnessed some through my work) about the AA and how long they can take to recover people home, and the fact that we were 267 miles away from where I live did not bode well. Oh well, at least we'd have time to catch up on sleep while we were waiting. Or so we thought. 

A patrol van arrived after 55 minutes and after confirming that there was nothing he could do to fix the car, he revealed that he had a spec lift on his van and could recover us to the Severn bridge area. The AA would then let us know what was happening after that. 

It took a while for him to get set up and secure the car, but we were soon on the move. It was a very slow drive as well due to traffic, plus the fact that they are only allowed to tow at 50mph. Colin and I were struggling for sleep by now, but with three of us in the cab, there was nowhere to stretch out and relax.

After what felt like a life time, we arrived at Magor Services on the M4 and he set about unloading us while Colin went and bought us some coffees. Before the AA driver left, he showed us a message that said that the next truck from the AA would be with us at 15.40, but he didn't know how far he would take us. 15.40 was ok though and only gave us an hours wait so that wasn't too bad. Even better was that the second guy actually arrived at 15.20 and said he had only just started his shift and should be able to take us all the way home. (Depending on traffic)

So with the car quickly loaded we set out. We did catch some traffic at Bristol and then again at Newbury. Colin and I were hoping for a bit of comfort and opted for the crew cab section, but these trucks are not built with passenger comfort in mind, so sleeping wasn't really an option.

Due to the traffic jams we encountered on the M4 and M25, the driver had to pull into South Mimms services to take a 45 minute tachograph break. I did ask him if would be dropping us here for another vehicle to complete the journey, but he replied 'No, I'll still have enough driving hours to get you home and get back to my base in Bristol, so we'll carry on after my break'. This was music to my ears as dropping us off at South Mimms would have definitely added another two hours at least onto our trip. (If you're in a service area with food, drink and toilet facilities, you are no longer a priority and will move to the back of the queue!)

After another coffee and a sandwich consumed (Breakfast was now a distant memory) we carried on and with no further traffic issues, we arrived at my house around 9.15pm. In total 11 hours from when we had first broken down and made the call. It sounds terrible, but this is pretty good for the AA. It's a sad thing to say, but they aren't the organisation that they used to be and long distance recoveries can now run into days. I'd even said to Colin when we first broke down, 'That's us not home until Monday now'. 

With the car unloaded the AA man set out on his return trip to Bristol and Colin had a quick cup of tea at mine before heading off home. It had been a very long weekend and both of us were dog tired. Wisely, I had booked Monday off of work, so could have a nice chilled day the next day.

It had been a disappointing end to the weekend, but I still wouldn't have missed it for the world. The driving had been great and being with my mates had been fantastic. Oh, and the weather was pretty good too. Despite the issues of this event, I'm still looking forward to the next one already! You can't keep a good man down. 😉