RTV Cowdenbeth

I was out yesterday competing in the SORC RTV at Cowdenbeth. I was rubbish. I forgot to hand my card in at the end of wone of the sections and scored a maximum. I also smashed a rear light and managed to dent my roll cage. All I can say is that I was happy to here my brother had stuffed his rally car in a Canadian Rally this weekend. I don't have the full story on that one yet.

No pictures but there was some video.

Video Clip.

Video Clip 2.

It's a Tough Job

The plan was simple. I was going to drive down to Ullswater in the Lakes and we would spend a day Open Canoeing using other methods of propulsion as well as paddles of course.

Sailing rigs were constructed.

We stopped for a spot of lunch and looked at ways of using Tarps to stay dry. The Lakes was a nice place to be.

Knots were tied for lining.

And of course we did use our paddles. It was a great day catching up with collegues from other stores, and the weather even held a little.

Product Testing

For a while I have been wanting to get out in an Open Boat. The Mad River Reflection 15 to be exact.


Yesterday I took the chance to take the afternoon off and go for a paddle on Loch Tay. It was like the calm after the storm. We have had some crap weather with raging storms and heavy rains. Yesterday it was calm with only a drizzle in late afternoon.


The boat was great. It tracked well and was very easy to handle off the water. The Brookbank Canoes Demo boat is kitted up with a kneeling thwart which is alot better than sitting on the bow seat facing the rear. I headed out from the beach at Kenmore out to the small island and made a quick coffee with me new optimus crux stove and pots.


The Loch was mirror like and just a joy to paddle on. Having work here over ten years ago it was very nice to be back. The autumn colours were coming through and Drummond Hil was looking stunning. I'm looking forward to my next Open Canoe trip in a week or so down in the Lakes with the rest of the Brookbank Team.

Cairngorm

We took a quick trip up to Cairngorm on my birthday the 12th of October.

We took Munch up.

It was her first journey on the Funicular. It was a coldish day with +0.5degrees up the top.

Loch Morlich was looking stunning and I took the chance to ride my push bike down from the Carpark at Cairngorm down to Aviemore. It was a great day out. Happy Birthday me.

Biking in October Sun

Got a chance to get outdoors this morning. The sun was shinning and I wanted to go up to Deuchny woods and try and get a decent route sorted out I could do regularly.

From the Jubilee Carpark I headed up towards the Downhill track but stayed clear of that craziness. It lead up to great forest trails down parallel with the River Tay before bending back towards Scone.

There really is some great single track up there too.

It is all signposted and with a bit of imagination you can get an awesome figure of 8 route with enough uphill to keep you fit, enough single track to keep you on the ball, and enough downhill to keep you entertained.

It was a great Autumn morning. The colours are not quite changing yet but I'm sure it won't be long as the temperature has definately dropped. I also got to see a couple of red squirrels too.

Wheels in the Woods 2009

Last weekend the 20th of September saw the return of Wheels in the Woods. A SORC run event which has become very popular over the last 4 years it has been running. As SORC members we are mostly on marshall duty with a bit of recovery thrown in every so often.
I turned up on the Saturday along with a few folks we finished setting up some of the section that Hugh and his team had been working on for most of the week.
The Sunday was a day with good weather and with the Toy I was sent up to one of the Red Routes to look after that in the morning in Cardrona Forest near Innerliethen. The highlight of the morning for me was with the help of Bob we had to extract a Disco 3 that had slipped a little bit too close to the trees. It was not in any major danger apart from maybe a bit of panel damage from the trees. With careful winching we got it back onto a safe route to a very happy owner.
In the afternoon we were in Elibank Forest and I was up on the Moor Run. A great Red Route that must be almost 2 miles long. Great views and driving all day. Well done Hugh and the team along with all the other SORC members making the day run smoothly.
As they say what goes up must come down. That is true to say about the sections. The following weekend was set to make sure all the sections had been cleared properly.. ; ) This time I took the family.
We were lucky again with the weather. Blue skies and warmish weather if a little windy. I got a chance to stretch the legs of the Discovery. Although on Road Tyres it performed well. We drove many of the green runs and even got up the moor route and lunched by the cairn at 1361ft on the summit of Middlebar Knowe.

Cheviot 4x4 Challenge Round 3

With my new daughter only 3 days old it was time to get to the third round of the Cheviot 4x4 Challenge event. It was set in Morebattle down in the borders. This is a site previously used in events like the Muddy Truckers. It is mostly open moreland so we knew that ground anchors were what we needed.


We set off well until a little map reading let us down and we had to back track to find the first two punches we were heading for. Those in the bag we set off back down the hill into a gully with several punches. The third punch of the day was the first disaster of the day. I was lowered into the river and started to winch out the other side. The solenoid pack gave up the ghost and I could now longer winch in on the front. Not good in a Winch event.
We got through another couple of punches without the use of my front winch we even managed to drive one without the winches at all. The next stage was down into a ditch sharp left and then right up a hill. My truck fell onto its right side and manged to bend my D44 bumper and front right wing.

With loads of time wasted getting through that punch it was time to try and make up some time. We headed onto the next series of punches and disaster again. Dave's front winch brake had fried and then will trying to hold me on a hill the motor burnt out. Game over for the day. With 8 punches out of 20 in the bag it was not a great day for us but we still managed 3rd place.

Wet, but we managed third place. Thanks to the Cheviot 4x4 Team for another great event. Round 4 will be in Drumglog. A site I know quite well so lets hope for a better result.

Lizzie 2 weeks 3 days

Lizzie had her first photo shoot this morning.

New Arrival

Our new arrival arrived safely after a couple of slight hitches on the 20th of August at 5.30pm. She weighed only 7lbs 6oz. She had to stay in the hospital with mum for a couple of days but was home by Sunday. She is gorgeous and both Mum and Dad love her to bits. A week old and she is doing well. Right now she is sound alseep next to me.

With mum still in the hospital.


Elizabeth Skye Allan
20th August 2009

SORC Drumglog Challenge 2009

Last weekend saw the annual SORC Drumglog Winch Challenge. I competed last year. Details can be found here. This year with a higher spec car and a bit more experience I was hoping to do better than the second place I managed last year. Unfortunately everyone else was the same. More experience and well prepared cars.

Entrance to the first section we attemted.

The event was a bit different to the previous events as Rab had set up specific sections we had to drive through and on a couple of sections there were two punches to be got.

Making the first punch of the day early is always a good feeling. It gives you loads of confidence.

After getting that I had to turn the car on the hill and drive out through a ditch following the red and white tape and get the punch on the steep climb out the other side.


Unfortunately still in the first section I managed to put my car on it's side. It then took us a while to get it sorted and up out of the ditch to the next punch.


My winchman Robert telling me what the options were as all I could see was dirt and sky!!!

Gavin and GRC who we teamed up with exiting the 3rd stage we did after I had just exited. Yes it was a steep descent to the river.........

The day was really enjoyable and thankyou very much to Marcus who took all the pictures you see here. More Picture from SORC events can be found here.
If you have a 4x4 and fancy trying some more gentle forest off road driving then you can come along to the SORC Wheels in the Woods event. Details can be found on the SORC Site here.

New Number!

The Discovery has a new Number. Thanks to my lovely wife my anniversary present is now on the car.

Perthshire Hill Rally 2009

This year I was helping Dave Mac out with service for 3 Tomcats. Driven by Alan Crow, Paul Ansley and Iain Lawrie.

Alan Crow at the finish.

Iain Lawrie at the finish.

Paul on the finish line

Three Tomcats still in one piece and ready for the last stage.

This shot taken at the last Service on the Saturday before one last stage.

All the cars did very well. We had 2 first in classes a 2nd in class and a 4th and 5th overall. All in all some good results. A good learning curve and a very sunny weekend. It was back to work on Sunday afternoon with a good bit of sun burn.....