Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

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jes*b
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by jes*b »

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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by silverbullet »

I dont recall any of the lanes being that spacious.

"Snug" was my word of choice for a lot of it...

Thanks for the rides, it was good to get out and be under canvas again :D

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bene
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by bene »

Top weekend! Thanks to everybody involved.
I bleedin loved it. Although I did go through several pairs of pants a day!
Any one for cricket? what what?

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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by HarryMann »

Yes I'd say most of the lanes were 'friggin tight' and 'friggin scratchy' (read thorns and wild rose to name a few rippers) but not in any way terrain limited. IOW a great challenge for getting your line right within a few mm.
How the two hightops got through i don't know but well done Ben and Paul [THUMBS UP SIGN]
Really lovely campsite with great views over the channel. Kingsdown and Deal very nice area.
As in Devon days gone by we had an enjoyable walk (or run!) to the Sat night pub dinner.. and back in the dark... truly an evening of discovery!
Thanks to Jes Nick and Neil for organising it all...

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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by NickBab »

Thanks Jes, Nick and Neil from us too. Great to see existing and meet new friends over the weekend. Spent the afternoon with a bottle of T Cut on the van - it didn't help :(

Here's a quick E D I T of the video I shot over the weekend. I'll try to clean it up a little when back from a work trip next week :

https://youtu.be/lVVftW7yuXI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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PC52
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by PC52 »

Just watched the video, looks good.
Glad everybody had a good time and looks like the weather held up - unlike here
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J P
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by J P »

Thanks to all who organised the trip, we had a fabulous time. Can't believe how those high tops got through those squeezes and it was great fun working as a team getting you guys through. I hope you all manage to get some of those scratches out although I think your recently added war wounds should be worn with pride - as you're out there syncronauts! It's great to meet more of you guys and we look forward to the next one!

If there's one thing I learned from the trip is - don't keep your tools in your treasure chest, it's a bugger getting them out when you need them most lol.

:ok Jen & John

PS Great vid Nick thanks.
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by silverbullet »

Time for some polemic...

It was a cracking weekend and if my one was still on the road then I wouldn't hesitate in joining in. As things stand though, once the work is done and the paint is on it will be German trials only for the old lady. No more beatings at my hands.

At the risk of sounding critical (not my intention at all, post-mortem conversations have already been had on the q.t.) I would dare to say that any laning weekend needs to take into consideration what people consider "reasonable" conditions to drive in/though. The last Devon event I attended was very fluffy indeed and raked hell out of the paint (even if it was a rusty old heap) and rather put me off for good.

Maybe it's time for any much-needed new events to have a change in direction and attitude?

Interesting, challenging and scenic driving? Yes please! Tight scratchy lanes? No thanks.

Taking a syncro out and giving it a hard time isn't the same as beating it up a crappy old Vitara or Landy for fun. The latter are disposable and cheap to maintain, syncros are a finite resource and expensive.

By way of positive input: we somehow managed to skip any safety briefing both days and I noticed that some of the lane driving was a bit nose-to-tail, especially when climbing up to the radio mast high-point on Sunday. A bit of separation to allow for slipping and stalling is always a good thing.

Your thoughts, please.

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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by footstuck »

For my 'two penneth', i guess I'm in the other camp
If its not a challenge, I'm out.
show and shine aint where im at mate
Don't think for one second that i will not be crying in my hands if i badly damage my truck.
Heading up a lane with a mate, not knowing whether you may have to reverse what seems like half a mile just to get your door open,,,when you cant get your mirrors out and you can only just see your mate through the cab rear view and the the vindic, well thats what makes a GRAND DAY OUT!!!
Pay and play serves a great purpose in introducing those who may be enthused into pitting their paintwork and driving skill against a Drover's lane they encounter.
Its 'Rock n Roll Baby
Hence forth, let those who had the privilege of driving those 'Sunday Lanes' and enjoyed them
be known as ' Honnerary members of the 'Kent Splinter Group'. . .You know who you are :ok
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NickBab
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by NickBab »

My feedback : we all knew the risks and chose to venture out. More scratchy than I wanted, but no regrets. From my experience I wouldn't recommend green laning to anyone who's precise about their van/paintwork. Probably best to aim for a pay'n'play kind of events where they can do as little or as much as they want, similar to Syncropendence.

At the end of the day I just appreciate some people took the time to organise another Syncro weekend. We need more. I'm happy to work with someone to plan a Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey event if there's any takers?

It was a small group and I think all had driven with 1 or 2 other drivers before so not sure we needed drivers briefings. I appreciate things can go wrong quickly so never a bad thing to include at future events as a reminder.

My biggest feedback is to try and encourage more to have CB's when green laning. The best way to stay together, warn of upcoming dangers, ask for distance for obstacles etc. This setup is a great, cheap option:

http://r.ebay.com/XHvoHX" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by silverbullet »

Everyone has a different take on things, if we were all the same the world would be a very dull place indeed! Nick you always drive your truck like you just stole it anyway :wink:

I was more worried that such a scratchy inaugural weekend could put some people off. I'm so sensitive to the feelings of others these days...

+1 on the working CB's, it really should be a requirement for any event imho. It saves a lot of lost time due to "eh? what? can't hear you!" and is of course legal to use while driving; never mind the group leader losing a tail-end Charlie and the rest of the group not knowing whether to pull over or do another lap of the roundabout...

Surrey Lanes day needs reviving but could be done anytime of the year and we need more gatherings like this; if any region has even two or three vans then just get out there with a map (and gps) and let us know what you found!

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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by footstuck »

Thanks for your kind words Ian
I agree that all attending should have working CB radios.
CB's help massively with the speed of Group travel as they add another diamention in terms of group awareness.
We use them on single-carriageway sections when traveling between lanes, letting the group know the type of obstruction you come across so that we can all bunched up and pass as one party OR yield to oncoming traffic and reverse, to prevent us blocking a road.
Or simply inform of over shooting a turning and all of us having to spin around where it seems impossible
They contribute massively to the enjoyment of the day out, and childish banter can be had when one of us does somthing stupid like Drown your truck in a bomb hole etc etc!
As long as nobody sustains serious damage to their vans that banter can be highly amusing even when you are on the receiving end.
Those of us who regularly use them know all this, and you defiantly miss out part of the group experience when you are without one. So if you fancy coming along to a laning meet,
Tool up!!
They take a little setting up and installing, but I read somewhere that some radio sets are simply plug in and transmit.
As a group we use channel 25(if it is free of other users) with a frequency of 27.845MHz.??
It is helpful if you radio set has the UK band widths, but I think they are selectable from a European set if you have a chart to identify the corresponding channel number
Great Vidio Nick, well done mate

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NickBab
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by NickBab »

:ok

I bought the CB in my previous post for another van and it's a simple plug in and go setup. Even comes with a plug for the cigar socket so no need to wire into the van. The actual CB is tiny too.
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by axeman »

hi all
first off thanks to all who made the effort to attend, makes it all worth while, how ever i have now found most of the nicer pubs with in a 20mike radius of home which cant be sniffed at. it was the first time event so there are always going to be issues or concerns and the odd "cock" up, these can be addressed if its decided to do the event again which i hope we do. as said pay and plays have there place,i enjoy them but lanning is my preference all day long, as for german or english trials several years ago a scotish guy at s/p in his doka planted his cill on a tree stump during the trial and mangled it quite badly, i would rather have some scratches than panel damage. this was a touring laning weekend, every one knew that it would be tight in places, if paint is a concirn dont go out and drive off road be that in kent, surrey or any where, all our vans and trucks are all more than capable to do the lanes that we chose to do in fact we have yet to find a lane that we could not drive locally and safely. although i did have my doughts about the 2 high tops, but they both exceded my expectations.

so could the new members of the 'kent splinter group" send a large self addressed jiffy bag to the address below for the t shirts please

nick's house or jes's house
folkestone
kent



nick most of north surrey is covered so maybe have a look around berkshire and hampshire. anything new is always good.

all the best neil
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Re: Kent Green Laning Weekend 26th-28th August

Post by Wedgbury »

Looked a really good weekend with good company again.
Unfortunately we were in Edinburgh for the festival so had to miss this one but will definitely be up for a visit next time.
About 20 years ago before it got as popular as it is now a days we used to go Green laning every other weekend( in landrovers :lol: ) and know how difficult it can be sorting routes out suitable for all capabilities even when you have a regular group of friends. So well done for organising this new area Neil and Co and look forward to a visit next year.

Anybody up for some scouting trips in the Shropshire/Powys area? for some suitable routes for a weekend for everybody.

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