Festive Bracknell

With the sky still blue and sun still shining the temperature had risen to a balmy 4°C so it seemed rude not to head over to Bracknell and catch up with some friends for some festive snacks. Rolling into the carpark in the toasty warm Passat we headed for the grub and spied this amazing piece of art, too impressive to eat until Babs finally broke it up.



We hadn’t decorated the car, neither of us had a santa hat on but it didn’t matter as Lily diverted all attention away with her super cute Elf outfit.



There was a good selection of Dubs out in the cold, on the chunky side of the carpark Pete and Gren took up more parking spaces than most.



While Mandi & Dave showed off their shiny Split Crewie, jealous, me?





Taking shelter in the Gipsy, Kim and Lily had lunch.



Somebody took the time to decorate their van.



Having nattered to some friends we hadn’t seen for ages the sun was going down and the temperature with it so we loaded up and headed home, a generous slab of gingerbread camper in hand.



Theres a few more photos here

Steve.

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Reading Toy Run

Christmas is all about traditions, for the last few years we’ve wandered up the road on the first Sunday of December to watch the start of the Reading Toy Run, now in its 25th year it began with a small group of bikers taking toys to a charity school in Wokingham and has grown. Despite the best efforts of the weather throwing down snow and then ice in the week leading up to the event, somebody must have been looking down as Sunday dawned dry but overcast until the bikers started to arrive when the sky turned bright blue and the sun shone.

Following a breakfast date with Steve and Izzy we headed over to watch them arrive and park up, the organisers were expecting around 2000 bikes and trikes to turn out and they weren’t wrong. All sizes and shapes of superbike, cruisers, scooters and tourers rolled in, lots decorated for the festive season.







I was pretty impressed when this bike appeared with a small decorated tree on the back…..



however the rider was soundly beaten by this massive real tree strapped onto a bike that rolled in a few minutes later!









My favourite from last year the KawaRudolf complete with Santa rider was a later arrival.







With a constant stream of bikes coming in we made our escape before the roads were shut for the convoy. Later in the afternoon we got a few text updates from our friend Paul who was watching the arrivals at the school.

Once more the generosity of the biker community gave me goosebumps. For more photos from a brilliant morning have a look here

Steve.

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Cuppa and cake in the Cafe......oh there were some VWs there too!

A few like minded VW owning friends descended on the Cafe at South Hill Park, leaving a varied selection of Dubs in the cold carpark.









Once inside we unleashed Lily onto a few people for cuddles leaving hands free for eating cake! She got to meet Molly as well, a playmate in pink.









With the nights drawing in and the temperature dropping (and the Brazilian Grand Prix on in 45 minutes) we headed home. A good afternoon was had by all.

Steve.
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Muddy fun

This time last year I started my blog with the line “Blue skies and sunshine in November ?” I could have used the same line again for this year. Thanks to the arrival of Lily early mornings seem to be much easier now so at just after 8am I was up and out the house heading for Rushmoor Arena for the 2010 Tempest Rally.

Getting up earlier meant arriving earlier and nabbing a space near the path that leads through the woods to the stage and service park. The 2WD cars were just being fired up ready to get out on the road so I had a flick through the entry list to see what retro gems were going to get muddy. The usual array of MK2 Escorts were out as well as a couple of interesting motors in the shape of a Peugeot 205 Maxi and a Mazda RX7.









The first cars were due back into service in half an hour so I stomped my feet to keep them warm and wandered round the service area to check out were the interesting cars and teams would be for later. Not long after the course car arrived signalling a quick fettle session and the arena stage.

















As the last of the 2WD cars finished the 4WDs arrived in service amongst the usual Imprezas and Evos were a couple of Focus WRC and a very noisy Vauxhall Corsa 4x4. The teams worked quickly cleaning the cars up and sorting out any issues the drivers had had over the last few stages.









Soon the drivers and co-drivers were belting up and on the start line for the stage, unlike the more basic cars, the early runners were top notch WRC spec running anit-lag systems that popped and banged like rifles as the cars surged across the gravel and mud.















With the last cars through the stage it was almost time to head home, I’d planned on being back for 3pm so we could go out in the evening but had a handy 90 minutes to spare so pulling into a country lane adjacent to one of the other stages I trekked through some trees and along a track following the noise of the cars until I was rewarded with an extreme close up of the action.









With the time getting on I retraced my route and made quick my escape, next year I’ll be back there again to see all the cars through there again!

Theres loads more photos to look at here. That’s it for my 2010 motorsport spectating, I’ve been to seven different tracks this year and seen everything from vintage trials to drag racing, next year I need to add another track to my collection as well I think!

Steve.

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