London To Brighton 2010

[Karl]

I can see why there is the enthusiasm for another L2B , it is a "traditional" type of challenge and must admit I didn't appreciate the significance of the "classic vehicle" status. The original C5  L2B really caught my imagination, just like the idea of a repeat run seems to have hit the spot with a few others here.

The Cambridge run sounds exciting as well - it's just a question of fitting it all in 

For the immediate future I need to concentrate on the up and coming Brooklands meetings - September 20th 2009 and January 10th 2010.

Once these are completed I can take a more detailed look at another L2B run.

[Umpa]

Result !!! Karl is interested

was talking to a guy at work that cycled this for wwf. He says Ditchling becon is bad. I've never heard if it, did you go up it ?

[minidaz]

There is a really mean hilly area in to Brighton ( that might be it ). It was part of the classic Mini L2B route but they changed it as, due to the volume of minis, lots and lots kept overheating. They now use a different, flatter route in through the town .... and past the Lady Boys of Bangkok 

[Karl]

I think you guys are referring to Ditchling Beacon, a legendary hil that is absolutely huge and cannot be done on a sinclair c5.

Read this gents account of climbing the hill on his bicycle;
http://roadsofstone.com/2007/06/28/153-the-green-monster-ditchling-beacon-and-the-london-to-brighton-bike-ride/

Like minidaz and the mini run, we wimped out of doing the beacon and went for a route that passes closer to the windmills - the downside is it brings you out at Pyecome onto the four lane stretch of the A23 where it meets the A27  ...

[Retro Andy]

Perhaps it could be London to nearly Brighton  , but seriously if it goes ahead than I will take it as it comes, dont know if my heart will agree, but there's worse ways off going.

Retro Andy.

[Umpa]

What a wonderful write up. We should give the hill a miss again lol

[Retro Andy]

Can't we rig up a pulley system at the top of the hill to make the climb easier.

Retro Andy

[radiomarty]

Spoke to a senior manager at work today and put out a feeler for some sponsorship. He is going to look into it - I think we need to cover the cost of a support vehicle - batteries - spare tyres etc - Karl any rough idea of cost at this early point ?

[Karl]

..depends on what level of support is being offered, for example the last L2B was about £1k. This figure includes supplying all the necessary batteries (about 64 for use by seven c5's) - they were then sold off at a loss by the previous owner of c5alive,which is something I couldn't afford to do.

Then there was the hire van and fuel (around the £200) and catering for about a dozen people on the day , plus those that stayed overnight were fed an evening meal and breakfast. Fuel costs from my place to the start point, and again from the finish point back to my place  ferrying c5's and batteries about. Not forgetting prepping, modifying and repairs (we were very lucky and only went through one gearbox)

It all adds up

[Umpa]

Yeah it was an expensive job back then !  But I'm prepared to pay my whack, as I'm sure others are.

I really hope we can do it, and it would be even better if you did it too Karl. I'll do it alone if I have to, but I would much rather it be a club effort & no one is out of pocket is a must.

I have just had the house re-pointed and so have not been on my c5 for a week or so ! - I'm having withdrawal !!

[radiomarty]

I gave him a rough estimate of £2000 so it might be a way forward. Fingers crossed.

[Umpa]

That would be fantastic,  lets hope it all goes well.  My works made another 16 redundent yesterday   we lost a  lot of good lads.

Thats 32 in 4 months gone. I'll keep going untill they tell me not to. Aerospace - its down the pan !

[Karl]

.....  My works made another 16 redundent yesterday   we lost a  lot of good lads.

Thats 32 in 4 months gone. I'll keep going untill they tell me not to. Aerospace - its down the pan !

....Angie has been looking for work since being made redundant in August mate, it's not any better down here in the "affluent" south 

Like you say - just got to keep on going and hang in there for as long as you can.

Apologies for the thread drift 

[radiomarty]

Hang on in their mate - hope you stay employed.

My thoughts for L2B

I was wondering if we could get Adam 'santa' Harper involved. Maybe 'employing' his services for the day i.e we could pay him a fee to be our engineer following in the support vehicle and he could bring a selection of stock items IE gearboxes etc for rapid repair. Hopefully if we can get sponsorship  this would cover this and we would pay him for any items required replacing. Hopefully get the press involved as it is a 25 year / charity run and 80's seem to be in at the moment as well as drawing on Adams past high profile.

It would good also to promote C5Alive as the organiser and draw on they many media contacts already made.

Me feeling is that members would like to do the run but worry about damage to vehicles - if the repairs could come under the sponsorship budget then it would make it more appealing.
In need to put a good case in writing to work and over possible funding areas so any comments would be appreciated.

[radiomarty]

Hope Angie finds something soon mate- must admit I have been hanging on like a loose tooth as have a number of my friends  but seem to be a little better now- tough times at the moment - lets hope it starts lifting soon.