FridgeFreezer Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Think I might have to add this to the "to-do" list... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Could we do a forum foray ? A few of us sign up for the same year and perhaps travel together ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkey964 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 What an absolutely brilliant event,made even better thanks to the great teams who entered this year. Not just the Brits,there were some cracking Belgians & Dutch,even the French were OK...... Don't mention the Germans though.:-( It was a real pleasure to meet you all. All you guys who want to do it and have'nt yet.I would say do it soon,because it wont be long before it gets banned if the tree huggers get their way. Nige. You have'nt mentioned the fact you won a prize????? Not shy....are you. Marc & Annette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 Could we do a forum foray ? A few of us sign up for the same year and perhaps travel together ? I could be in, if the event ever gets hosted again. I thought it was actually stopped a few years ago due to not getting permits for the event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 It was the other, more extreme, event they ran that got stopped ..... Can't remember the name of it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkey964 Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 The other event that was stopped in 2010 was the Chevenol. The Mille Rivieres WILL go the same way.... Sadley. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 I see. Will have to fit it in soon then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 My thoughts too - or failing that get a GPX of the route and make it a holiday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Morning all No back safe and sound, no accidents, no damage, no problems, Steve drive like a star, and we had a fabuloyus time, but spoke to him yesterday and its defo "Knackered" time ! I was able to do a few posts, but once we got to the main event the mobile signal was poor to non existant, the wi fi, pretty much 100% non existnat, so here is a overview of the eventm, the pros cons, what I learnt and some info generally should others consider doing it. This was obvioulsy my 1st tome on the event, Steves was No 3, but ach time it does change ! Seems that with the passing of the Trophy Cevrenol event, which was a full blown serious competition it was closed down to the the land being made unavilable (much was in national parks) and it was a competition...the 1000 is a "Randomee event" NOT a competition as such more yopu against the terrian, which makes it in many ways better as you can expect help and give help, as it is very much the taking part, there are no 1st 2nd 3rd etc prizes ... The event is really 3 days + 1 The 1 is the signing on day, scrutineering and sticking up. We arrived promptly at the designmated location at 2.00pm and I was then introduced to "Le francey laid backness stylee"............. It was in english terms a bit of a slow shabbles, but your in the South of France, its there game and rules and you have to fit in with them. The laid backness of it all can either be frustrating with a sort of "FFS Get on with it" feeling, or in our case, we smiled and enjoyed the calm and easy going nature of the organisers. looking back the la sa fair attitude actually is very calming and relaxing if you go with the flow. Stickering done we were then free for the rest of the day until 8.00 for briefing number 1. This was done by the organisers and the Major of the town, who welcomed us all and thanked us for coming, doubt many towns in the UK woukld do this, major of Scotia challenge anyone genuinely there was a good feel in the air and the french were extremely friendly to us. I had some special Megasquirt V8 clothing done with "Cacher la bière, les Anglais sont arrivés" on the back which basically translates as "Hide the Beer the english have arrived" ...many did point laugh and comment Steve had sorted us accomodation - which having been let down by a potential 2nd team coming with us meant he was late booking, so we had an out of town farm house and we had a "Gite" which is a building converted to let. old immense thick walls clean and the food there was superb, and outstanding value. few beers and bed as we knew we were up early ... Steve having done this before had requested to go in the 1st release of trucks, which is a 7.00am start, there is another at 8, and a final at 9, there are also starts for the Quads, and the Motorbikes, this spreads the entrants over a time period, but he advise 1st as you could find massive jams if in team 2 or 3 and also the risk of either a very very late finish or unable to do all the sectiosn. At the briefing amongst final words of do and do nots you are given a Road map, which consists of tulips and instructions,. These are very well done and accurate, but you have to have a terratrip, and (unlike us) get it absolutely spot on - ours was "Near Enough" and to be honest it would have been easier if we have zero'd it a bit better, it wasn't far out at all, but a lille out over say 6 kms is a lot !! So, day 1. This was around about 140kms, and a misture of on / off road, prob around 50./50, it could be described as Greenlanning, except that many of the "Lanes" could be up to 3kms !!, varied terrian, some deep mud which caused many to be stuck, which caused minor tailbacks, but we made good progree, and finished in the light....and when the light faded the temps plumeted !! Half way through the road book we had a lunch stop. The organisers have basically agreed with a local resturant etc to open, all day , just for us, and feed whoever turns up. Having arrived in good time, we sat, and a plate of salamis pickles and pate and fresh breads arrived, and we tucked in. Getting ready to think of starting again, the plate was returned with Roast pork and potatoes which were to die for, ate that. Getting ready to think of going, plate returned with a selection of cheeses and wines. Now defo full we thought about leaving ....and the desert plate arrived .... Some time later and stuffed we left to continue ... The luchjes were this format every day and are inclusive in the entry fees.... Day 1 was good, some seriously beautiful scenery, and some really good tracks, toygh but not anything extreme (good I hate that word ) ... Day 2 Another 7.00am start road book MUCH shorter, and the driving switched to sort of 65 off road and 35 on road and defo tougher, some very very steep clims, steep decents and some quite sobering sheer drops a few few from the passenger side ... rocsk, shales with little grip, but we had with the exception of the early start day 2 where it rained for 1 hr or so, we had sun all the days and the drive back... We finished Day 2 again in good time, this time we ended up at a location where the dinner was part of the event, and we had food and entertianment. again the food was fabulous, starters and a wild boar cassorole main was superb, with a singer and the atmosphere was really enjoyable. Unfortunately one the the belguim team had destroyed their DC Propshaft, and Steve and I found ourselves outside in the dark and cold replacing the UJ with a claw hammer sockets and grease and torches, which we did and the team were back in for day 3. There was a fair amount of body damage, there has been a "Gentle" roll which took out glass on a triuck, few front end nose bleeds, and general pannel damage, often this was either the size of the truck, or I am inclined to say lack of experience, this event was Steve thoyugh much much tougher than previous years and thought peeps might of entered and found it tougher than they expected. prop done and few other thing sorted we were back in the tent for the entertianment, and then bee boos.... Day 3. Today the road book was only around 40kms. The guy who does the road books explained that by now we might have sussed that the shorter the raod book the harder the day, and 1 was 140, 2 was 120 and today 40....I speak virtaully no French but did understand "Tres Dangerouz" and "Tres tres Difficule" and it was announced day 3 was tough and hard and dangerous and all section ooptional. Sounded superb. We were the 1st to leave, pitch black and misty and we got lost with 10 mins, we soon got back on track, and theat track was from memory a 1.2 km near sheer climb up the side of a mountyain, with little grip, mist fog poor visibility and a bludy great drop on passenger side, once at the top we found ourselves needing to winch, and winch and winch. as it was cold I had about 4 layers on and shortly turned into a soggy mess, coupled with a cold and snot gurgly by the time I was back in the cab dripping Steve though he had broken me. The ENTIRE day was tough as hell. On one memoroable section a marshal shouted "Ze Germans are coming". Now I know you shouldn't label peeps or stick to generalizations, but if you wanted a caracture of "Ze germans" the group of 3x in this event were the, Arrogant, unfriendly, aloof, 3 x G wagons and F all clue what they were doing. The marshals has asked / insuisted we dropped air pressures, we decided unbeadlocked and 1000 kms from home and having seen tyres deflated due to to lo pressures we would go to 24psi and no more, but the germans did nothing. they arrived at a sheer climb, 3 x G wagons, and ALL of them had 45 PSI in tyres, and didn't actually mange between all 3 of them to enagage BOTH Lockers AND / OR centre diff, one had centre diff unlocked, one had front locker switched out and the other the rear. A portly stroppy female german shouted and shouted though the PWR she had and they just got horribly horribly stuck, it took an age for the marshals (who we helped) get them out, no thanks at all, the only really good bit was that one wifety passenger looked white as a sheet and fumed at husband who thaye shouted at each other, she was not amused".... When they finally left the marshals cheered and made "inappropriate" guestures, seems they or germans are "Not loved". Steve then started his asscent from the base up this mad climb, which nobdy had manged which multiple winches, and I was ready with strops and recover gear half way up. I heard a Tedious 5 on its rev limiter and saw the 90 bouncing all over the F place but still climbing, the rattle then shot past me and continued to the top only having to stop becuae the F germans were still there shouting at each other / everytone, but he was up in one, as was Marc & Annette. who are ex pats we meet and sort of teamed up with part of the day ...and THAT ladies and Gentlemen is the way to do it. Marshalled cheered and clapped, prob as much praise as relief they could have a rest no having to recover us. Some motorbikes tried to get up, they literally fell over with the bikes on top o them, they looked absolutely knackered, when at the top most finally collapsed for a breather !... And so the day went on, we did so well we arrived at the luchstop before they were ready, but the sun shones and we chatted,. We found the french but particularly the belguim and Dutch were both amazingly polite and friendly but spoke superb english that really puts us to shame, and, after another "Satifiying luch" we restarted. I could go on about how tough etc, but it was we were right on the last section of the day just before the finsh when we came across a french crew, highly highly experienced drivers who had on a climb slipped sideways and had a big roll. The RR was defo a right off, the screen was out and the tailgate twisted and the entire top body had moved, we stopped and schecked they both thanked us and said they were fine "But er eum take care there..." There was a nasty short climb, hairpin Right hand turn and a F steep severe drop on the entire left (where he has rolled down) Steve didn't make it up 1st go, and on stopping the 90 slipped back and the pass rear wheel dangled over the drop, another balst and it slipped more and dangled more. I remeber" I don't like this barker" as the comment, no humour at all, we agreed one more go them winch, Steve jiggled the 90 as best he could for best approacjed and floored it, and then clambered right and up and out. The final Night was a huge supper of buffet stylee, but fabulous, and the shock for us was that we won a Bon Ammie prize (this is selected by the marshals for team/treams / individuals) who have made the event better for them being there. We knewMarc & Annette.(ex pats) we met had won as the organizer had to tell them as they were planning to leave (and had no idea) equally Steve and I were stunned too, and had a lovely selection of local food and goods given whilst the Mjor took our and others pictures (erm, and in the UK the picture would be for the police probably !!). Was a brillinat final topping to a superb 3 day event, I have it on video, but need to add a few "Bleeps" to the soundtrack :D ....will post up later I had the on board Vid cam all 3 days, I have a huge amount to edit down, which I will and I will post a few short best clips up in a while. But in the meantime some piccies !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad_pete Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Has Nige decided to drive to the top if one of the mountains and lost phone signal ? Or is he busy in the editing suite with all the footage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 [stickering / Scrutineering, About 110 4x4, 40 Quads 40 ish Bikes... Nice short steep drops ... Rickety bridge - Ze Germans ver Stuck . .. Groupe of entrant did some repauirs, steve drove over you can see rear wheel just thinking of falling through ! Ze German and where it was going to have 3 x G Wagons stuck for 1 hr ... The same climb, looking up the hill shortly after Tedious 5 hit the limiter ..... Some Damage .... ERM...righthand down a tad please ... Some of the biggish riocks bit back ... Final Night Buffet ....fantastic !...costs in entry fees Marquee set out for the main evening and entertianment On the MAIN EVENING EVENT, THE LOCAL VILLAGERS PUT ON A SPECIAL MARKEY FOR US, SELLING ALL THE STUFF THEY MAKE LOCALLY, wE BOUGHT LOADS - cHHESES WHICH ARE JUST SOMETHING ELSE, SALAMI SAUSAGES (eVEN A fIG BASED SALAMI) AND A huge AMOUNT OF FRESH GARLIC, TRUCK HOONKED A BIT DAY 3 AND RETURN HOME LOL aRGH CAP lock lol On the retun time home the sat nav said : And that because over the 3 days we had gone both south and east and were even further from the Tunnell..... But a long but uneventfull journey home, Steves 90 was faultless, and just desperately does need a complete set of suspension bushes, its handling like a pig in jelly at the mo lol So If you are thinking of douing this event (which is something I woukld defo recomend) With what I have experienced I would NOT Enter without a Cage And you MUST have 1 x Winch minimum and 1 x Locker MINIMUM you need to think about spares, carry what would cause you real problems idf broekn ie track rods Track bvar Belts UJs lighhts brakefluids wheel bearing pads etc etce tc Make sure you have AA Euro recovery AND Pribvate medial and ECIS Cars Insure your passenger should the driver be unable to continue Take loats of water you sweat like a good un and rememebr the Villages around here are in lock down, there is NOTHING open, so things like petrol stations you HAVE to use a card etc... But consider douing it, its brill, they ahve defo made day 3 a more Chevronel event than 1000 randomee stylee When I have sorted some vids I'll post up ! Thanks to the organizers, the villagers, the other entrants and Steve for poking me with a stick to do it......grinning Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 2 x Press Piccies ....cracking weather too !! Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Looks fun. Is the cage really necessary tough? How much of the route can be bypassed if you don't want to risk a certain section? Or is that out of the question completely? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Thanks for the big write up - and looking forward to the videos . I wondered about the cage - nearly all the youtube videos show vehicles without cages ...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Having done it / seen it NO WAY would I be happy without a cage !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 14, 2014 Author Share Posted November 14, 2014 Day 1. One of the best bits, nice gulley, and nice views (and slide slopes / drops !)... Excuse quality - youtube compression ! In HD HiRes its superb ....... More to come still downloading and wading through, Video has no soundtrack on Day 1, must have prssed a button whilst flaing about in the 90 And yes, this is day 1 !! N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve King Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Excellent Nige - looks like good fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkey964 Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Here you go Nige.Steve on one of the big rock steps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anderzander Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 Nice clip ! And a good line. He seems to drive as slowly as I do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigelw Posted November 15, 2014 Share Posted November 15, 2014 And to think this would have been on my event list in my Disco had we sorted the registration sooner :o You really think a cage is a must Nige? How much damage you think a Disco might encounter on this event? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 You could do it in a disco, but some of the drops are "big" ....a cage could mean no dmage really vs a la RR a write off. I have had a couple of Big rolls in my time and am now prob more cage happy than before then you can miss out stuff you don't like which quite a few opted for esp day 3. Care and expereince is a good thing, as I said to steve "Now is NOT the time for me to start to drive your truck in hard off road sections" ...we know what our own 4x4s do, behave like / quirks, and that counts for a lot. Cage will prevent damage if you decide to go for the trickeier stuff, and make a minor error ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Anyway, wading through the vids, so far @ 1.00 I have only covered Day1 stuff, few worthy vids, this one to show there was mud ............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 And I do NOT NOT NOT like heights, of Big drops. Many routes took us over breaktaking scenery, this took my breathe away, partly scenery, and partly the narrowness and F great drop ..... On this section a cage prob would not help ........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 One of both our Favourite section was in day 1, and was a seriously steep drop, near vetical with a tigher than 90 left afterwards with plenty of potentials for cocking it all up, this was were the GRM Press Photographer took one of the pics above, and is the Onboard Footage of the video posted earlier by marc....it is steep belive me, vids and pics flatten out what its like when your there !! Enjoy ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hybrid_From_Hell Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 And Finally the rock crawl. day 1. I have been asked via a few PMs to extend this vid, so here is a bigger longer version Defo fav of the day, poss even fav of the event ... Day 2 and 3 vids another day lol ... Thats is peeps are interested ? Nige Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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