!st Green laning experience

[Sizer]

Well, what can I say. We met up with Jim (wilberforce) who within a few minutes got lumbered with my first child. We did a few local lanes and we all had a great time. (even though Im still cringing at the amount of scratches down the sides of me motor )

We didnt realise the lane was that overgrown and yes as a result my nice shiny green paintwork now looks like someones cleaned my whole car with a wire brush. Getting past that, we saw some stunning sceneray and a herd??.... of deer, must have been a good 30 all stood in a group.

I was surprised at how well a standard car could do and I was trying to get my car as filthy as possible (in part to cover up fore mentioned scratches so her indoors didnt beat me!)
Not sure how deep some of the wet parts were but they looked good from were I was sat. By this time Id lost another child to Jims superior off road machine!! (only one left!! at least my daughters loyal!)

I never imagined Id try and poke my huge car through so many small spaces but I did and it was a cracking laugh. So thanks Jim for showing us some lanes and putting up with two of my kids chewing your ear off for 3 hours. Roll on next time!!!

There were more deer but by the time I got the camera out they had buggered off (prolly due to my nipper farting or something)


Tried to get it dirty as poss...think I can do better.






A few Trivial Statistics:

Depart Time: 27/03/2010 - 16:17:10
Return Time: 27/03/2010 - 19:15:19
Journey Time : 2hrs 58m 09s
Total Distance Travelled: 37.8 miles

[andysd1]

well done,

[FronteraGirl]

Tee hee, looks fun!

[cheaterlad]

Hi all,

Just used your map today sizer, and im afraid to say im a bit disappointed.

I didnt have time to drive to all of these lanes, so started off at the top left of the map on location 2. This was an easy one to find, but it quickly deteriorated and became massively overgrown. I now too have a car scratched enough to induce an epileptic fit (!!) after driving through trees and banches so i could simply get to a clearing so i could turn around and go back!

I backed out of lane 2 and went to try and find number 3. This was a locked gate shortly before the church on the right and wasnt labelled byway at all?

I wasnt out to locate them all so might leave a few for another day, but its a disappointing start on these. You say some of the lanes were overgrown but i wasnt driving few a few droopy branches, this was full on hedge trimming!

You me and wilberforce might be up for something soon, but would need to know where you lot go and whether you still use this lanes as they are pretty much impossible to use at the moment.

By the way, you 2 could look at a club called Muddy Bottom near Cadnam in Hampshire. Its 10 times as much fun as green laning and would be great to see you there:

www.muddybottom4x4.com

Let me know what you think and whether you would be up for muddybottom one weekend

[bigdazz]

nice photos

[Sizer]

I got the map of the GPS as it tracked were we went but Wilberforce knew were he was going...I just followed

Ive sold the Fronty now as my trade policy wouldnt cover the Beach Buggy and VW Camper we bought so it had to go unfortunately.

[gregster]

(at cheaterlads post earlier....)

You will find that lanes that were a bit scratchy back in March are gonna be really overgrown this time of year, I think its something to do with stuff growing in spring but I might be wrong
Restrictions on lanes change all the time and what was open back then, isnt neccesarily open now....always worth checking that there is no TRO's in place before driving lanes as they might not be signed accordingly (or the signs misplaced by idiots who think the TRO doesnt apply if you rip the sign off!) and you dont wanna get nicked for driving where you shouldnt be...

There are some wicked lanes down in hampshire area...we have been laning with Jim down there before, and although the council had sprung surprise restrictions on a couple, it was a blinding day with loads of really good lanes open and well worth driving....hope to do it again soon...
A call to the local council before will make sure you are legit and save wasted attempts...

Laning shouldnt be confused with Pay n play....they are 2 totally separate entities...
Laning is all about exploring places that you cant get to in a regular car...if lanes are presenting themselves as being a challenge to a well specc'ed 4x4 through deterioration and over/improper use, then they shouldnt really be used till they have been repaired or have recovered naturally...continued use WILL result in a TRO or permanent closure..."playing" on a muddy or difficult section of a lane damages it massively for all its users and will result in the same...

Pay n Play is all about extreme challenges for your 4x4 and is great fun, but horse riders, cyclists, walkers and farmers dont have to use the mess thats left behind, so it doesnt matter and the more you can churn it up the better it gets for everyone else to a certain extent...
We spent the best part of 20hrs with a 3 tonner excavator repairing farm tracks and putting new tracks in to bypass farm tracks at our woods down here as they were then impassible to other users after we had been playing on them all winter... This winter we have our own tracks so wont damage those used by the farmer...so we can do lots and lots of churning
Why dont you join the Jimbo convoy from down your way and come up at some point...its a great laugh with loads of like minded nutters (members)...

Not having a dig mate, but so many 4x4 owners look at lanes as somewhere to play...but they aint...they are a road that normal boring cars cant drive and it makes a nice day out but dont expect extreme stuff and expect some scratches...Some of the lanes that traverse mountains and stuff up in wales are more technically challenging, but are a long way away...there is some more tricky lanes down your way that Jim knows about, but if you wanna play use a offroad site not a lane...

Maybe see ya soon...we will be coming laning down there sometime soon, or maybe you fancy giving you truck some real challenges down here...

Laters

Gregster

[cheaterlad]

Thats a bit sad to here mate. You planning on getting another?

[Sizer]

I got a mate whos flogging a SWB for £250 that I may look at, need to sort the camper first though coz I blew it up and it caught on fire...lol

[cheaterlad]

Hi Gregster and thanks for the reply.

As always i am responsible when i drive through the lanes. After all they are byways that are other peoples land with a legality to drive through, albeit responsibly of course.

The pay and play days of course are worlds apart. In my view green lanes are boring in some senses as you cant get up to much because of technicalities and the general ly of the land. I like green lanes as they are 100% natural, and not an excavated play site that pushes your car to the limits constantly.

I like to know that my car can handle anything thrown at it in a natural environment, but also like to push it to its limits in an unatural environment such as pay & play,

I am more than happy to meet with you guys, so let me know whats happening and ill be there.

[cheaterlad]

I got a mate whos flogging a SWB for £250 that I may look at, need to sort the camper first though coz I blew it up and it caught on fire...lol

Yeah that would be good mate, imo the SWB's are the way forward for serious off roading.

Hopefully you will get it as you are near me and would be good to have another member in my area

[Wilberforce]

Hi all,

Just used your map today sizer, and im afraid to say im a bit disappointed.

I didnt have time to drive to all of these lanes, so started off at the top left of the map on location 2. This was an easy one to find, but it quickly deteriorated and became massively overgrown. I now too have a car scratched enough to induce an epileptic fit (!!) after driving through trees and banches so i could simply get to a clearing so i could turn around and go back!

I backed out of lane 2 and went to try and find number 3. This was a locked gate shortly before the church on the right and wasnt labelled byway at all?

I wasnt out to locate them all so might leave a few for another day, but its a disappointing start on these. You say some of the lanes were overgrown but i wasnt driving few a few droopy branches, this was full on hedge trimming!

You me and wilberforce might be up for something soon, but would need to know where you lot go and whether you still use this lanes as they are pretty much impossible to use at the moment.

By the way, you 2 could look at a club called Muddy Bottom near Cadnam in Hampshire. Its 10 times as much fun as green laning and would be great to see you there:

http://www.muddybottom4x4.com

Let me know what you think and whether you would be up for muddybottom one weekend

Hi there,

Just been reading this little lot, and thought I'd comment...
The lanes I drove with Si that first time were ones I'd used on the previous laning trip round Hampshire, with Greg, Trev, etc... Admittedly some of them were slightly scratchier than I remember, and probably are worse now due to them not being used so much, but whether you drive em is your call of course
Anyhow, Number 3 is accessed via the golf club entrance - if this is locked, that's a bit of a nono, so I might look into that.

If you want another go at laning round Hampshire (albeit slightly further afield) then drop me a PM cheaterlad, as I know far more than just those few, and they'll not be overgrown either. I did a nice little run round the Petersfield / Alton area a couple of weeks back which I'd be happy to lead you round. Couple of challenging rocky ones, then it becomes a little less dramatic. It'd be about 5-6 hours to do the lot, I'd say.

As for Muddy Bottom, I have been meaning to try that place out, along with CORE down Chichester way, so I'll try and come down with you one day. Be nice to show some folks just what a VX can do, eh?? I got your PM's on that subject too, btw.

Jim