april run - take two
After the first run, which had me finishing 53 minutes ahead
of schedule, I needed another, longer, run to try and work the kinks out of my
planning strategy. The last couple of
runs didn’t have too many stops on them and were largely on A roads, so for
this run I decided to up the number of locations, as well as making sure that
some were in cities. So a bit of planning later, I had a route which
took me from Home – Moffat – Brough – Stockton on Tees – Middlesbrough –
Newcastle and Home. There were a few
Round Britain Rally locations as well, but I still can’t say where they are.
The plan was relatively straight forward, and I planned to head for fuel first, then leave at 8:00. As it was, I was early and set off at 7:21. Things didn’t start off too well when I realised that my Spot Tracker didn’t seem to be tracking, so I stopped to reset it, which managed to waste a few minutes. I reasoned that this is the sort of thing that could happen on the Brit Butt Rally anyway, so it was all part of the test run.
I was scheduled to reach the Buccleuch Arms in Moffat at 8:35 and arrived 11 minutes behind schedule, which wasn’t too bad. The A701 is always a great road to travel down, especially early in the morning when it’s quiet. The tracker still didn’t seem to be sending messages, so I decided to use the SWConnect app on my phone instead. At which point my phone decided to shut down and without the cable to charge it back up again, I had nothing to track progress with. I could use the Sat Nav to show where I’d been once I got home and plugged it into the laptop, but Dawn would have no idea where I was, and that wouldn’t go down too well…
The plan was relatively straight forward, and I planned to head for fuel first, then leave at 8:00. As it was, I was early and set off at 7:21. Things didn’t start off too well when I realised that my Spot Tracker didn’t seem to be tracking, so I stopped to reset it, which managed to waste a few minutes. I reasoned that this is the sort of thing that could happen on the Brit Butt Rally anyway, so it was all part of the test run.
I was scheduled to reach the Buccleuch Arms in Moffat at 8:35 and arrived 11 minutes behind schedule, which wasn’t too bad. The A701 is always a great road to travel down, especially early in the morning when it’s quiet. The tracker still didn’t seem to be sending messages, so I decided to use the SWConnect app on my phone instead. At which point my phone decided to shut down and without the cable to charge it back up again, I had nothing to track progress with. I could use the Sat Nav to show where I’d been once I got home and plugged it into the laptop, but Dawn would have no idea where I was, and that wouldn’t go down too well…
I decide to crack on anyway and I would stop at the first
services to see if they sold a charger cable, but first of all I stopped off at
my first RBR location (13 minutes behind schedule). At Gretna services I was in luck and bought a
charger that would plug into my 12V socket.
At least I could get the phone up and running and send text messages
from each stop if nothing else, so I was off the hook.
Next was a run up Hartside Pass to the Café at top. It’s a little weird to head for these places and not stop off for a coffee or bacon roll, but I was testing my planning strategy and had no time for “off plan” stops. Maybe it’s more about the journey than the destination.
Next was a run up Hartside Pass to the Café at top. It’s a little weird to head for these places and not stop off for a coffee or bacon roll, but I was testing my planning strategy and had no time for “off plan” stops. Maybe it’s more about the journey than the destination.
I had only planned for 30 minutes lunch break later on so,
picture taken, it was off to another RBR location before visiting one of the
IBA Ireland Lottery Rally locations at Brough Castle. Another RBR location was then followed up by
a run to Stockton-On-Tees and my lunch break at the Pit Stop Diner.
When I was planning this route, I was scheduled to reach the diner at 13:52, but it was only in double checking the location on Thursday, that I realised that it shut at 15:00. It would be a good marker for a timed location on the rally then. As it was, I got there at 13:42 and had plenty of time to stuff my face with a breakfast bun (full English breakfast stuffed into a huge roll) and a cup of coffee. I ran slightly over my allocated 30 minute stop, but I was back on the road 5 minutes ahead of schedule.
When I was planning this route, I was scheduled to reach the diner at 13:52, but it was only in double checking the location on Thursday, that I realised that it shut at 15:00. It would be a good marker for a timed location on the rally then. As it was, I got there at 13:42 and had plenty of time to stuff my face with a breakfast bun (full English breakfast stuffed into a huge roll) and a cup of coffee. I ran slightly over my allocated 30 minute stop, but I was back on the road 5 minutes ahead of schedule.
I think this next series of stops shows where the disadvantage of averaging out the stops (locations and fuel) to, in my case, 7 minutes per hour.
If you have a series of stops close to each other, but in built up areas, you aren’t allocated much time per stop, but you’re also travelling in slower traffic. I guess the lesson is to get yourself ahead in the rural areas, or where there are long gaps between stops, knowing that you’ll fall behind in urban areas.
I managed to find the transporter bridge in Middlesbrough easily enough (it’s big enough after all).
The bridge was built in 1911 and featured in Auf Weidersehen Pet, where they were supposedly transporting it to Arizona! In 1974, Terry Scott (of Terry & June fame…as well as the voice of Penfold, Dangermouse’s sidekick) thought it was a normal toll crossing and drove his car off the end landing in the safety netting.
Even though I’d been there on last year’s rally, I managed
to take a wrong turning heading for the next stop which was The Globe, in
Newcastle, which cost me some time. I
was due there at 15:17, but didn’t arrive until 5 minutes later
One last RBR location before I hit Morpeth. King John granted a charter for Morpeth's
weekly market in 1199 and the clock tower dates back to 17th century, while the
Town Hall was built in 1714. By the time I got there, it was rush hour, and
traffic had slowed to a crawl. I could
filter to a certain extent, but narrow streets didn’t help. Neither did the queues for fuel. By the time I left there, I was 16 minutes
behind.
After that, all there was to do was to head straight for home (via the A697 rather than the A1). I thought I would make up some time on this last stretch but finally arrived home at 18:27, 15 minutes behind plan.
After that, all there was to do was to head straight for home (via the A697 rather than the A1). I thought I would make up some time on this last stretch but finally arrived home at 18:27, 15 minutes behind plan.
As
you can see from the Spotwalla tracks (both via the Spot Tracker and my phone),
there’s still a problem in getting reliable tracking for some reason. I guess I’ll just have to live with it for
now. As for the planning, I think that 8
minutes might be the best option for timing purposes. If I give myself options for changing the
plan on the move during the rally, at least I should know what the effect would
be.