Road Taxed Vehicle Trial

ASTON CANTLOW -13 January 2008 – Report by: MIKE HAYES

Mud, mud, glorious MUD!!!

Where else could we possibly be except Aston Cantlow? High winds, rain and snow had been battering the country all week long, with no sign of letting up.

I kind of knew what we were in for on Saturday, when I passed a drowned Discovery in chocolate brown flood waters on the way to the venue for a flying visit. The land owner had phoned me to see if we were calling-off the event due to the conditions.

When I arrived, it was much worse than I had imagined. John Messer, Steve Smith and a small band of enthusiastic helpers were stranded on a small grassy island, surrounded by water. It looked like the tide had caught them out on the beach at Weston-Super-Mare. I gingerly slithered in a sideways, crab-like style, down the hill to see them, only to find that they weren’t stranded at all. A lunch break had been called and they were merrily filling their faces, exchanging jolly banter and slurping tea. Several sections were already laid out and they were covered in mud and loving it.

The event was definitely ON !!!

Competition day brought more grey skies, a fresh breeze and 25 RTVers, including 5 new members, all mad-for-it and ready to tackle the course. We were not to be disappointed.  

The boys had laid out a fab course, which was tough enough to challenge everyone, but not so tough that time would be wasted, pulling drowned motors out of bomb holes. After all, nobody wants all that, and the course they prepared turned out just right. Lots of fun was had by all, with total scores generally in the 20-40 range. However, Nick Ives in his sun-bleached, sky blue ‘standard’ disco picked his way round masterfully, for a total score of only 9 points. He’s obviously been closely watching those Camel Trophy DVDs over Christmas.

At the last event of 2007 (Avon Dassett Quarry), John Chesters was awarded the prestigious ‘SPANNER OF THE MONTH’ trophy for managing to wreck his 90 before he got to the event. He said: “I was bombing along, making good time, then I saw the bonnet do a little wobble & a shimmy. I thought I better stop soon and have a look. Then WHAM!!! The bonnet flew up and smashed through the windscreen!!!” I pretended to be sympathetic, making all the right noises and facial expressions, then thrust the ‘SPANNER’ into his hand in front of the gathered competitors. John was obviously touched deeply. I’m not sure if I may have seen a tear in his eye as he walked off, muttering something I couldn’t possibly print in the Journal.

John had the honour of awarding the ‘SPANNER’ at Aston Cantlow. The only problem was that John had “Got a bit lost” on a section where he went through 10, 9, 8 gates, then back through 10 again. He had no choice but to do the honourable thing by retaining the ‘SPANNER’ for another month. I admire the sentiment, but the pressure must be mounting not to do anything stupid at the next event. Three times on the trot does not bear thinking about, does it eh John?

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