It’s been far too long since the last update though much has happened and we are most definitely on the road again.
Earlier in the year we joined the Historic Rally Car Register as it has a Scenic Tour Championship with events across England and Wales throughout the summer and autumn months. These are between 80 and 120 miles in length and are organised by various local car and motor clubs. They’re non-competitive tests of navigation, observation and driving though crews can ‘wrong slot’ (miss a turning) and find themselves heading in the wrong direction. Heated discussion between navigator and driver quickly follows when this occurs…
We’re intending to enter five HRCR tours this year, four in England with the final one of the year in October taking place in mid-Wales. We’ve also entered three locally organised events: The Crooked Spire Classics Parkside Tour, The Sherwood Restorations Classic Tour and The Haunted Lincolnshire Classic Tour, the last organised by Mablethorpe & District Motor Club. We’ve also discovered one that coincides with our September holiday in Pembrokeshire so The Laugharne Charity Classic Tour is also in our calendar.
Unfortunately we had to withdraw from The Parkside Tour at the last minute due to mechanical failure (loss of brakes!), otherwise Riley Blue has coped well with being driven up to 600 miles in a weekend though the very rough state of the country roads and lanes along which such events pass has added considerably to its ‘rattle count’.
Each tour starts with the essential breakfast, usually a bacon or sausage cob, bap, roll or whatever it is known as locally plus tea or coffee while documentation is completed and handed in and the road book and last minute route updates collected and studied (navigator) and a rally plate fixed to the car (driver). Cars are flagged away at one-minute intervals and with up to 75 taking part, for those down the field the wait can be over an hour. In our four events so far we’ve been car 9, 54, 62 and 21.
Riley Blue 