Strata Florida - this Friday

[Trugga]

I intend to drive the seven mile Strata Florida this Friday (accompanied by my mate "Sandy in a Landy").

We'll be meeting up in a carpark for about 12:00 on the north side and expect to take about 3 hours to driver the route.

For those that don't know, it's near Tregaron.

If you would like to join us, there are currently two spaces available.

Once we're done, Sandy and I will be making our way over to Radnor forest to marshal on the Baja GB 2006 3 day event.

Shout up if you fancy joining us.

Lawrence

[BUMPTJ]

Would have loved to have come but got to work bummer

[BUMPTJ]

Mind you its Driftwood's fault he wants his cheap pads!! Not that that 2.0l should need much stopping

[Drift]

Lets go anyway
Ste

[Trugga]

Well, the LWB is packed with all the marshalling stuff and the camping stuff plus about 120 bars of chocolate. Just need to remember to pack the food into the fridge in the morning, fill a couple of flasks and not forget the vid/stills camera.

Will be meeting up with a guy from the Difflock discussion forum for a bit of laning as he apparently knows of some "good" lanes between Strata Florida and Radnor Forest. He will also be marshalling the Baja.

Strata Florida apparently has 15 river crossings !!! - has it been raining recently

Have a good weekend - I'll catch up with you on Monday.

Lawrence

[I Live For FOG]

Strata Florida apparently has 15 river crossings !!! - has it been raining recently

Lawrence
your mentioning water you will have solihullsteve here

[sollihull]

Loads of Rain here!
I hope the weekend is good to you Lawrence

2.5ft of water in Solihull Ford at 8am this morning!!!

[Drift]

Hope it goes well there by all acounts Strata turns cars into submarines in the wet, some streams get very dangerouse.

Ill text Lawrence to see how its going as he is away for the weekened marshaling.
Ste

[sollihull]

Keep us updated Ste, I know he usually checks via PDA
but the weather we're having might interfere right now!

[Trugga]

Hiya guys - thanks for your prayers.

It rained all the way from the West Midlands to Strata Florida Village - I was a bit worried... When I met Sandy, we decided to do what we could and would be prepared to turn back rather than take risks.

We need'nt of worried. It was a superb drive, so much so that when we got to the end, we turned round and drove back (4½ hours total).

It was wet, but not as bad as the photo's I've seen. Deepest crossing was probably only 16".

Very rocky, stoney and occasional bedrock, very little mud. Being in a valley, the views were not as breathtaking, but the scenary was quite interesting and varied all the same.

I'll get a few grabs off the video and post back in a bit.


We also did 2 days marshalling on the UK's first Baja event (Bikes, Quads and 4x4's - I'm shatered: Alarm went off at 03:00 on Sat and Sun so we could be in position in the forest for 04:00. The "selectif" (competative course) was 38 miles !!! and each competitor was to attempt it 7 times over the weekend.

At the results presentation, it was announce that the FIA (Worls motorsport governing body) a approved the candidate event for inclusion into to the 2007 European Baja Championship calendar.

Anyway, you want to see some screen grabs...

Lawrence

Oh, bye the way - I've had no phone signal for 3 days.

[Trugga]

Sorry chaps, I'm shattered, after only 5 hours sleep over the last two nights (I thought I was getting my second wind, but it might have been something else )

I'm off to bed - I'll post some grabs during tomorrow (another days holiday)

Lawrence

[Drift]

Glad things went well.
Gutted I couldnt be there.

Night Night
Ste

[Trugga]

Strata Florida

As Sandy an I were to be marshalling three days of the Baja GB 2006 in mid Wales, we took the opportunity to go a day earlier and explore an infamous lane in the area.

The Strata Florida lane is associated with water, so much so that if you research this lane on the internet, the majority of the pictures you will find will most likely be of a Landrover upto its headlights in water. A couple of people suggested to me that the lane should be passable in a standard 4x4, so we decided to give it a go.

The resonably dry summer suggested that the route should be easily passable, but the rain during the week prior did give me concern. On my drive from the West Midlands over to Wales, it absolutely hissed it down. I arrived at the meeting point to find Sandy sheltering beneath a copse of beech trees - an idylic location for coffee and plesantaries.

It was just on 12:20 that we started the lane, that coincded with the tail end of a 300 strong mountain bike race. We stopped on three or four occasions to let them pass - all very courteous.

Strata Florida is rocky, stoney and occasionally on bedrock. The majority is also sunken. This lane also follows the path of a river as it meanders through the valley. There are numerous occasions where the lane crosses the river, either straight across or at an angle. At one particular crossing, the river actually flows down the cutting of the lane, running parrallel to it's main course.

We need'nt of worried, as the deepest we experienced was about 16". There are a couple of mild axel twisters and some rocky steps which is a nice change. The lane also crosses the Forestry Commission roads and care must be taken to avoid manic logging lorries.

Once at the end, we turned round and drove it in the opposite direction, finishing at about 17:00

Both vehicles managed without damage, with only minor undersite scraping heard from the LWB Frontera.


Typical surroundings:


Part flooded track, leading to the river:


River to the right, track to the left:


Interesting angles:


A technical ford exit:


Muddy water:


About the deepest it got:


Same crossing, different angle:


Dropping down into a shallow ford:


Lawrence

[Drift]

Heyyy nice one Lawrence great pics good write up as usual
Ste

[Trugga]

Bugger - video was greater than 10MB so it was rejected - I'll recreate it and post it this evening.

Lawrence

[sollihull]

Very nice Lawrence.
I had heard about the Strata Route before and was a bit concerned as it's known to get nasty.
I'm glad you guys got to experience it & returned safe.
Nice Pics & Good write-up as per usual. can't wait for the Vid

[Trugga]

Video Clip Now Available

If you get bored ! look out for the "moment" at 3m08s Also note, that even though Sandy now has a steering guard and a snorkel on the Landrover, they did not stop his number plate falling off

Enjoy

Lawrence

[sollihull]

Grrr it's Zippy and my ie not working together! flaming thing!
BUT in all fairness since I've seen other "Trugga Production" Videos I know it'll be absolutly blinding

[gazza]

cool video. on the welsh two day motorcycle enduro, we have 22 minutes to do the 6.8 miles of the strata florida. all the gates are open but it is pretty hairy at that sort of pace down there i usually complete it in 20 mins, once got down to 18 may give the sport a go down there next time we are on holiday and not racing there.

[Trugga]

cool video. on the welsh two day motorcycle enduro, we have 22 minutes to do the 6.8 miles of the strata florida. all the gates are open but it is pretty hairy at that sort of pace down there i usually complete it in 20 mins, once got down to 18 may give the sport a go down there next time we are on holiday and not racing there.

I am extremely surprised to hear that you took part in a motorcycle race over the Strata Florida lane - I'm pretty sure that is illegal.

Strata Florida is on the councils list of streets and therefore is a public highway. Unles the council requested parliment to relax the Road Traffic Act through the House Of Lords (and pay a huge fee circa 100K) then I doubt the race was legal over that section and the organisers could be jailed.

I know this as we recently arranged for a private road to be used as a rally stage on the 2006 Rally of the Midlands, but it was discovered the week prior that the road was on the councils list of streets and had to be dropped from the competative sections. We (with the councils assistance) are looking at closed road rallying in the East Midlands and have just about raised the cash for the HOL request.

Racing around on Green Lanes is just what the "anti's" want so that they can get all motor vehicles banned from them - I would very much like to know more - please feel free to PM me further details.

As an aside, there is a 2-day motorcycle Endure (Dawn 'till Dusk) at Walters Arean in South Wales this comming weekend - I had been asked to marshal, but I'm still recovering from the 2-day Baja event in Radnor forest.

Just to be clear, I am very much for motorsport, but it must be legal.

Lawrence