It’s time for a meet.

The plan is to attend xtreme karting in Falkirk for a mini grand prix on Sunday the 24th Feb. Details of the race style are available on the link below.

http://www.xtremekarting.co.uk/SmallerGroups.stm

Look to meet about 11 o’clock, have a chat and kick some tyres for a little bit, then go karting. Then find somewhere to grab a bit to eat. I thought possibly the Falkirk Wheel might be a good place to gather afterwards but don’t know the area at all.

We’ll need somewhere in the region of 10 -12 people to make it a go-er. Obviously forum members, but feel free to invite others; friends/girlfriends/whatever. Basing, for the moment, prices as quoted on the website (so best part of £40) although I will try and negotiate a discount once I know there is sufficient interest. It’ll probably involve providing a deposit at the time of booking so be prepared to hand over some cash to confirm your place.

Can we make this a saturday???

Ross

I would hope to be up for this, should have at least one other with me
Will watch this for a while before I commit though , looking in to the possibility of a holiday late feb/march at the mo.

I should be able to make it .

Baz

i should be able to make it to

i could make the sat but not the sunday

I definately cant make that date, as i work every sunday and i already have the 17th and 2nd march off. So getting the 24th off would be impossible.

Ross

Count me in.

i can't go karting, i get too competitve and break things/people.

Thats alright alaina..if we can't practice road rage on the public road then where else can we do it?

put mee doon fur it!

Any more word on what`s happening with this

Baz

Ahhhh .....that is a question for our local friendly *Scottish board member and events coordinator and organiser person *

Ok, so far I have:

mattB
Baz76
daz
fiat131turbo
Kelv27

Confirmed as intersted, which isn't enough. So either we need another few confirmed attendees in the next few days or I'll look at changing the date for this. I'm just a bit weary of it slipping as it'll get close to the Big Meet and there's some Crail dates in the mix there somewhere too.

Beware of this flying scotsman he may even win it if i can`t make it up...

Ok, I think perhaps I was a bit ambitious in the timescale for organising this. I’ll put it on hold for the moment and maybe we can go karting some time between the Big Coupe Meet and the SICD, probably on a Saturday by the looks of things.

In the mean time, I’d still be up for a meet/drive/lunch on the 24th. Happy to head down to the Central Belt if one of the guys around there wants to suggest a location or intended route? Perhaps head up the West Coast a little bit, something like that?

Can we not make it the 23rd?

Ross

I have no objection to changing it and have a meet on the Saturday, but it depends on what others want to do.

depends on the time of the sat meet for me,but let me know!

I`ll be fine for either day

Baz

I'm more of a Sunday person

On a serious note now Kev, do you honestly think you could handle the power of these machines.

Hmmm maybe.....as long they come in a non turbo variety

No wankers invited

Turbo's only.

Ross

P.S. anyone think a trip in around stirling would be a good idea? Allow the aberdeen boys and dundee boys a break?

Or what about a meal in perth/dundee?

Ross

p.s. the road to oban is a beasting good road and some good places to eat in Oban

same here as i work on saturdays

he he , its all about power to weight ratio and being a porky bar steward hinders me a bit . I did win the knockhill karting a couple of years back (better karts i think) oh and about 1 1/2 stone lighter at the time :P.

Ok, looking to this weekend we’ll keep the day as Sunday so as not to disappoint anyone who was previously in for this meet. Somewhere central as a meeting location but it’d be good if someone from that area would like to suggest where (we could go for the Falkirk wheel or somewhere like that if you want) and probably a route for a little drive.

Matt, is this confirmed?

We’re not going karting but I would like to have a meet. I’m heading down to deliver a set of wheels to Baz in any case, but might as well make it a worthwhile trip…

Karting I'll look to get organised in the next couple of months.

Okie..a meet up would be nice
Who knows of a good road around? My knowledge on that is zilch unfortunately.

My favourite is the road round Kilmarnock!

I think I can safely assume that your not a big fan of Kilmarnock then lol .

Like Kelv i`ve not that much knowledge of up past Glasgow/Edinburgh (if that`s the area were looking at going to anyway) but i`m happy to go pretty much anywhere .

Baz

How far is it from, say Ross' flat to yours Baz? Extra half hour on the motorway doesn't bother me much. As long as there's a few good roads at the end of it . And maybe something to eat....

It`s about 47 miles from Ross`s place to mine going via Ross`s favourite road (B740) which takes around an hour. There`s not really much down my way TBH,i`m usually looking forward to getting away from the place lol .

Baz

Right, well someone down that way must know somewhere to go for a drive!

agree with baz there! unless your on a bike

Why don't you head towards loch lomond and duck bay and further to this nice wee pub serves food and Im sure there is a place across the road.

There is also Arduli on the way there.

In my younger days I used to take the ladies to the drovers, cost a bit in petrol but boy was it worth it

Hope you guys enjoy yourselves

the weekend is nearly here can anyone think of anywhere ?

Come on all you Scotsmen! One of you must know somewhere..i'm the foreigner here!!

Well, the A817 is supposed to be a crackin road to drive. So how about we head out that way, then up towards Tarbet and on to Ardlui. Stop at the place Sparkyman suggested for a spot of lunch. Then either back down the A82 or continue north a bit, onto the A85, then the A84 which ends up at Stirling. Might be back down the A82 as that’ll have been a fair drive already I think? Only problem with that plan is that it means getting to the other side of Glasgow, and then I don’t know where we meet up.

Make it saturday.

Ross

Sounds Like a Good plan Matt. We can always meet up by my place..big carpark up front next to the House of Sher along Wallace Street. Easy in and out access from the M8 as well..via junction 20

Sounds good to me, Kelv (for some reason I thought you were Edinburgh not Glasgow ). What time shall we say? 11:00?

Cant make it Saturday Ross, sorry.

Haha..well i did go to Edinburgh last time round to buy the car

So what do others think about the plan then?

Sounds fine for me,I imagine Daz will be cool with that too .

Baz

Goodie..

So now we've got

MattB
Kelv27
Baz
Daz


Sparky, why aren't you coming?? Come on..it'll bring back memories on those 'winching' days of yours

yeah sure am
what about the rest of the folk from earlyr in the post

MR.S ????
FIAT131TURBO ?????
FLYINGCUSTARD ?????
KEVCRAB ?????
H2YPR PULL A SICKY ???
SPARKYMAN WHY ARE YOU NOT COMEING ????

trying to get rosso to come along aswell
as he has now got his old coupe back

i think i will give it a miss,lets get some karting organised!

could we not just do a pay and drive at the karting ?

sounds fine to me!

Organise karting for another day, i really wanna go.

Ross

I will be organising karting for a different date. Probably try and space it for between the Big Coupe meet and the SICD, so at the beginning of May.

Ross

Kelv is fae glasgow, he has style

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Not associated with this man!!!

Ross

How ?

I'm all at sea saturday and sunday , so couldn't make it anyhoo

Work comes first


plus it is too far for me

My number one fan

Remind me to autograph your bonnet Ronnie

not much point in this as only 4 folk will be going
so i think i will giv it a miss as i think it is a long way to go for a mini meet
sorry folks

Daz, you got to be joking?

nope sorry bud

Whats wrong with having 4 guys anyway? Baz is coming? If you pull out then it leaves just the 3 of us which is worse!

Don't think Matt will want to travel all the way from up North if that is the case

think i will just stay at home and fit my sound system into the coupe and give it a clean

just think it is a long way to go with just 4 of us

thats what i mean why not just go some where more central

I'm delivering a set of wheels to Baz anyway so I'm making the journey. If no-one wants a meet, it doesn't matter.

Maybe I'll just go for a run round loch lomond on my own.

You won't be alone Matt, I'll be on your tail..try and shake me off if you can

You havent seen matt on the twisties......

Ross

I have

I blame the coilovers

You're quite welcome to tag along with me if you want Kev?

If you can stand the rattles and the fact I dont have a stereo...

I never though of that Matt !

I will have a thinks

So 11:00 outside Kelv's bunker it is then.

Neither have you seen me on one rossyboy

Its a date

From memory, u have trouble braking for bends....

Ross

Looks like I will be there now

but coopless

Have you taken on co-pilot duties then Kev .

Baz

might have done ....

I would have trouble braking for bends if i DIDN't make the bend. I did.

Anyway great day today guys. It was nice of Sparky to join us for abit as well
Good choice of road by Matt and good recommendation of pub by Sparky.

Where did you guys end up then ??

Drove up to Ardlui and had some food at Drovers Inn, the place with alot of dead animals in it

Forgot to tell you about that

Was it busy?

How was the food?

How was the roads ?

Wasn't too busy..had the dining room all to ourselves. Food was good. Very healthy portions

The road was fun to say the least. Some scary dips as well

Was a great day out guys

Karting was an unexpected bonus , are we posting up the times ?

if you insist 0:40.22

Nice roads , and lovely food too , got a few pics, will try and get them on to crapbucket laters

Anyone remember where we stopped beside that hugeemungus ship? can't see it on the map .

Yup,had an excellent day . The weather stayed ok with just the occasional downpour but they were over pretty quickly.

The road was great fun,a real roller coaster affair lol and the food was very tasty,looking forward to the next stop-off there again .

Highlight of the day was the wee surprise karting session though (my fastest 0:41.36 I think I was the slowest of the group ,but then it was very slippy ) need to get back there on a dry day and try and topple Kelv`s crown .

Thanks again Matt for taking the trouble to come down as far with the wheels too ,looking forward to the next meet up guys .

Baz

0:41.36 Baz ?? In yir face !

Got a few pics uploaded now -


Spot the odd one out...

karting coops

and again

moody coops

bigaboat

Fort Austin ( in Gare loch )

rainbow coops looking lost

somewhere..

somewhere..

and somewhere else !

Need a yellow coop(or 2 !) in the pics the next time

So who won the karting?!?!

Ah just read Baz's post, well done Kelv!

That would be Kelv,the professional driver .

Baz

Sure he oiled up that suit too

We had far more drag with our loose fitting boiler suits

( that's my excuse ...)

My hands still smell of those gloves lol,they`re minging .

Baz

I'm off to wash my hair too

I just took a couple of photos when we stopped by the boat,just before the hail came down.

By the big boat 01

By the big boat 02

Baz

There are photos of that ship on a certain boat related site now as well .....

don't know who put them there though

Haha Kev, you love your boats duncha

Thanks Tartandude Got a lap time of 37.82 today. Must say that all of you did very well. Hey atleast you lot got waterproofs!

You guys are so efficient with the pictures. Gonna get siti to upload them now

^ hurry up !! I'm away to bed soon

Got videos as well..

Just told Siti to hurry up ( cause Kev said so! )

She says..'you can't rush art..'

Leave your mrs alone!!

She get enough hassle

Ross

What have you been doing to her done Ross???!!

Ask her

Ross

I got her side of the story...

I want to hear yours..

As always folks, it was a pleasure to meet up with you again. I had a good day out, despite the reasonably long drive.

There’s some cracking roads over on the West coast. Admittedly some of them were a bit too small and roller-coastery for my liking (particularly when you see a 306 take off over the crest of a hill heading towards you ) but there were also some really good driving roads. In fact, the way I can home along the A85/A84 was a really good road.

A85/A84 is the road i recommended

Ross

We`ll need to remember that for the next meet up that way then .

Baz

Sorry for the delay guys..here are some pics and vids.

Mini Coupe and mini-van Meet
Sexiness 1
Sexiness 2
Sexiness 3
Sexiness 4

Videos
Spyshot
Errrm..how do we get there?

More to come..

About time ! I haven't been to bed yet ! LOL ( only joking ...)

Good pics Kelv , but I'm sure it was all Siti's handywork

Never realised we were under surveillance from you flat either

What kind of camera were they taken on Kelv ? seem very bright and clear compared to mine, my camera is meant to be 10 mega pix

Yeap its all Siti's work

I didn't know we were under surveillance as well!

Its a compact Lumix camera that she just got. Its 12 mega pixels..so you've been beaten by 2 . Its not the megapixel that gives clarity..Its the lense and CCD that does all the work. I've got a Nikon DSLR which is only about 6 megapixels but its as clear if not clearer. Megapixels mean nothing if you're not producing big prints.

Cool pics Siti .

Baz

Kelv27 is to be known from this day forward as "KelvIdonttakecartingfartoserious27"

Good to meet you all again and hopefully at the next one we kick his arse

Sorry I had to leave early.

Nice pics,even got the coupe spotting transit in

Time 0;40.72

Hmmmm thats catchy

Yeah was good to see you again, you missed out on the food though ..... Steak and guiness Pie mmmmmmmm nom nom nom

Will need to go back there again

Have been asking about the karting up here a bit ( just ''research''...) , there is a big place in Aberdeen, meant to be very pricey.....but there is also a new place in montrose ,meant to be quite good too

I had a look at that montrose place too. They do practice sessions akin to what we did on Sunday where you just turn up and £20 for 45 laps (probably 25 minutes or so). TD and Matty both seem quite interested and you only need about 6 people.

Also, can you email me that picture in a decent resolution of the coupe's infront of yon big boat?. Ta.

Aye , I'll have a go....

Might not want to tell the world your email sir

Aye Daz was kicking himself for missing out on the karting ,he`s looking forward to taking on Kelv the next time we go.

Incidentally did you see the wine red Delta flying down the opposite side of the DC on our way out of Glasgow(I think!). I`m sure it was Daz`s mates,he`s going to check with him as he`s bound to have noticed the convoy of 3 Coops .

Baz

Yes Baz I saw that too, remember saying to Matt theres one of them Lancia thingys.....

Come on guys don't drive AGAINST me..just drive WITH me

Anyway here are more pics and vid..

Wildest Police Chase 1
Wildest Police Chase 2
Boat shot 1
Boat shot 2
Boat shot 3
Errmm..how do we get there? 2
B&W

Video

Drive 1
Drive 2
Drive 3
Drive 4

I see dead animals..

Great pics and vids Kelv! ( mrs Kelv )

Puts my efforts to shame .....need to get some tips ...

Glad you got some footage of the twisties in ,that ship certainly looks impressive in the last vid

Cheers Kev. If you need any photography/photoshop tips i'll try my best to help

Thanks Kelv, I will take you up on that