Cannock****update****

[Bill]

OK, due to a couple of you being (smart a$$'s) ahead of the rest we have decided to ditch the idea of 'Tulip Mapping'

Instead, we are having 'Bluebell Style Mapping'


Keeping in line of the Chase and tread lightly etc.

Wicked Wills

[Bill]

A report of the day out next Saturday will be availabuble on here as 2 lucky members are riding shotgun with us on the day.
Should be good.

[Hoppie]

OK, due to a couple of you being (smart a$$'s) ahead of the rest we have decided to ditch the idea of 'Tulip Mapping'

Instead, we are having 'Bluebell Style Mapping'

so its going to be like following railway maps then

[Trugga]

A report of the day out next Saturday will be available on here as 2 lucky members are riding shotgun with us on the day.
Should be good.

What a cracking day out that was...

Having arrived at the Pines Cafe for about 09:30 and then armed with a 80p cup of coffee, the rest of the days group were soon found milling around the back room scoffing breakfast butties. A wild mix of people from young to old, different accents and a strange fashion sense in the form of combats and camouflage. The selection of vehicles were a good mix; from 2 year old shiney's through to 30 year old modified's.

After a short road trip we were at the "Sand Pit" for each driver to receive a little one-to-one instruction in recovering from a failed hill climb - trust me, this is necessary as there are a lot of hill climbs on the route.



I would be fortunate to accompany Bill in the luxury of the Range Rover (4.0L auto with air suspension and electrickery drive train), with a Mitsubishi Pinin, Ford Ranger, Nissan Navara (all standard) and a tricked up Landrover Defender.

The area BOFA4x4 hire for these events is not bigger than 3 square miles, but by using the forest (i.e. between the trees as well as the hard tracks), a full day out is had with very little repetition. The day progresses as a lead event (or follow the leader) but the pace is slow enough to really experience the surrounding; the sound of the birds, the smell of the earth and if your lucky (as we were) the sight of 8 deer.



Cannock Chase is not flat, in fact it is quite hilly and the route we took used these hills to full advantage, traversing from ridge to valley in the shortest distance - and back again. Each section has it's own character and the names they are referred to reflects something that once happened on that particular section; "Mitsubishi Hill", "Suzuki Gully" (encouragingly, none seemed to (yet) refer to a Frontera).

Bill's Range Rover gave a very comfortable ride, and to be honest, I was impressed with how this stately vehicle handled the conditions, although there was a lot of twiddling the auto box lever to select 4H/4L/Hill Descent/Hill Ascent (in a Frontera we'd stick it in 4-Low and use 2nd or 1st), but the big beast only falters once (it took a few attempts to get around a tree stump on an incline)



I was most impressed with how the Mitsubishi Pinin managed the terrain. As a totally standard vehicle on road tyres, it only bypassed one obstacle (a fallen log) due to lack of ground clearance, but it's driver was "up for it" in every other opportunity, even if it meant another attempt, a hands on push or even a winch extrication - Teresa was never seen without a big smile on her face.



Whilst the Ford Ranger was shod with MT's, the Nissan Navara was on road tyres - it did not matter as both drivers (and families within) would give anything a go. The huge rear overhangs did do a bit of scraping and the length might of been a disadvantage between the trees, but they managed everything put in front of them with surprising ability.



Following up the rear was the Landrover Defender 90, occupied by another family. This modified beast was unstoppable (well, almost - we won't mention a couple of stall's). For some strange reason I was offered the passenger seat for a one-off climb up some demonically named hill in this accumulation of bolt-on goodies. With my knuckles white through utilising the grab rails, we made it to the top in record time - not really my cup of tea, but nicely demonstrated what a tricked up green oval can actually do (in the hands of a mad man ).

Whilst the woods were reasonably dry, there were little pockets of water that would allow mud to venture onto you paint work (if that is you thing), but other wise the going was firm.

A number of us from FOG will be joining Bill in June and I would expect everyone to have an absolutely cracking day out, and come away having learnt even more about their Frontera's ability, standard or not.

YouTube Video or Google Video

A few more screen grabs here

Lawrence

[Red Oktober]

Cracking pics ..yet again Lawrence

[Bill]

smashin write-up and fotos.
Glad that ye enjoyed it

[john (smifffy)]

lawrence

nice report & photos looks like a good time was had by all

[fuzion]

I cant wait after seeing those photos Lawrence

[alex]

Put my report in the general section.

Alex

[FUDDY MUCKER]

Nice vid Lawrence.

Been trying to watch it all weekend, but virgin media in my area has only been running at 0.8 MBPS download speed instead of nearly 4 MBPS , but all up to spped again.

Can't wait till June's fronty meet.