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SFs Treffen Report, Sept 1999
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MGF Treffen Report
From: Scarlet Fever, AP1000000@aol.com on 25/9/1999
(Extracted from MGF General BBS)Well, what can I say other than a huge well done & thank you to everyone who was involved... :-)
A thoroughly superb trip - extremely well organised & implemented.
We arrived at Dover for the off on Friday morning - the final "delegates" were...
Ted "The Green Squirrel"
Newman
Richard Tookey
Casey Charlton
Patrick & Ann Beet
Andrew "Scarlet Fever" Phillips
After boarding the SeaCat we headed across the channel to Ostend where we were met by Erik from Antwerp who very kindly led us out of Ostend before departing saying that he would see us again on the "Treff" in Dormagen.
We then proceed on a high speed run across Belgium, through Holland & into Germany heading for Dormagen, which is near Dusseldorf.
We finally arrived at the Sol Inn in Dormagen at around 6pm where we were greeted by Dieter, Kristiana <sp> & Andreas. After a spot of dinner (& drinks!) we headed off to bed ready for tomorrows little excursion.
Total Mileage: 312
Saturday: Alan from Switzerland joined us at the Hotel & as a convoy we set off to Herrmann Rover in Dormagen - the meeting point for the "Treffen". They had put on a superb display of vehicles including an Elise, an F with the MVR front nose cone (MG World Magazine #5 June/July 1998 - pages 29 - 31) which I thought was pretty cool, although there was a distinct lack of MG badging. It looks like a cross between an Aston DB7 & the Mk.I MX5, a strange combination, but somehow it works! There was also an MGF with Lotus performance parts, it had a Lotus badge above the side repeater, which to my mind is a little unfair, after all, there is more MGF in the Elise than there could ever be Lotus in an F - So maybe the Elise should have an MGF badge... :-) After a short while the distinctive note of an SP exhaust could be heard, into the car park pulled Dirk & Luc along with Erik from Antwerp & Fabrice from Belgium. I had a nice long chat with Dirk & saw his ICON chip installation. We then all headed to the start point for the off, by which time we were nearly 30 MG's strong including Andreas' beautiful MGA & a vintage four seater MG which I couldn't identify.
The tour took the form
of a "Tulip" rally, in that there was a sketch of each junction &
a mileage reading between each stage. Dieter had thought of everything,
not only were our instructions translated into English, but the stage
mileage was in both km's & miles. It was around 100 miles long
& included a good mix of fast A & B roads along with some
superb mountain style hairpins & narrow windy lanes. Great fun!
Richard Tookey was navigating for me & he did an excellent job.
I will admit that I couldn't keep up with Dirk & that his SP is
louder than my MS Quad - however, I still prefer my system, both in
the looks & sound department. Speaking of which, I managed to
ground out a couple of times & damaged my central rear jacking
point
& flexi-pipe running under the sump DOH! Still, this was to
be the only problem with the car during the entire trip - not too
bad given my track record!
We ended up at the Rosengart museum which houses a superb collection of vehicles from the french car manufacturer Lucien Rosengart (1881-1976). Also, Casey's Griff was outclassed by the Ferrari Modena which pulled into the car park, between the two of them & the XK8 that was there when we arrived, Scarlet was a little overshadowed only being a humble F... On the plus side, despite overtaking me twice we still managed to beat Dirk to the finish line! Apparently, Luc had called him on the mobile when he was almost there & he missed a turn which caused him to be delayed! Oh well, these things happen...
We said our goodbyes to Dirk, Luc, Erik & Fabrice & headed back to the hotel for an excellent meal & drinks with our new friends from Germany. Thank you to everyone involved - it was a hugely enjoyable day & one that I won't forget for a very long time.
Sunday dawned overcast,
but dry. We packed our cars & headed off to Heidleberg, a large
town to the south of Dormagen. The day soon brightened up & we
followed the Rhine for most of the day admiring the scenery. We stopped
a picturesque little town called St. Goer where & I have a great
picture of Scarlet facing the river with a castle ½ way up
a mountain on the opposite bank. Heidleberg is a semi industrial town
with a really beautiful town centre. We spent a great evening wandering
around & eating in a little italian restaurant near the church.
Incidentally, what is about pork in Germany? Virtually every dish
has some form of pork in it (not that i'm complaining, I like the
stuff). An example is the Lasagne I had at this restaurant - made
with slices of ham instead of minced beef! Still, I enjoyed it.
The hotel in Heidleberg is a small family run business which was
very pleasant & did the best breakfast of the trip - nice.
Off to Rothenburg on the Monday morning, a walled town on the edge of the Black Forest. This place is truly spectacular & is one of the oldest towns in Germany. Consequently it has an extreme amount of tourists (including us!), cobbled streets (which Scarlet didn't like too much) & a highly confusing one-way system which resulted in us parking in the main square to get directions & being surrounded by hordes of onlookers! ("Say, is that an MGB?" asked one american, "Nope" I replied, "Its an MGF". "Do they still make MG's? - I thought they went broke in the 1980's... has it got a V8?..., my friend had an MGA once... etc, etc, etc! you get the picture!! By this time Casey & I had had enough experimenting with different cuisines & headed straight for the nearest McDonalds for a Big Mac!!!!! (Philistines!) :-)
Hazel & Paul Barker (Hazel, Munich) joined our motley crew here & we spent an excellent evening in a local restaurant (more pork!) until we got the subtle hints that it was time to go (them stacking the chairs on the tables rather noisily & taking the rubbish out right past us!)
We departed Rothenburg Tuesday morning, but before I tell you about our drive through The Black Forest, I am going to relate in incident that happened on the trip from Heidleberg to Rothenburg...
As you can imagine, overtaking
in a car with the steering wheel on the right hand side whilst driving
on the right hand side of the road is a little tricky! Fortunately,
by this time we had developed a system for getting the "back markers"
past the slow moving traffic. Ted would manage to overtake (how i'll
never know!), & he would stay on the left hand side of the road
until an oncoming vehicle came along. While he was on the left, the
other cars in the convoy who could see him know that it is safe to
overtake - simple eh?, or so we thought...
We were overtaking a lorry
on some nice, wide roads using the above technique. Ted had gotten
past it & was signalling the rest of us to come past as well,
Casey pulled out & got past easily, Patrick & Ann went next
in their VVC, I was going to
follow, but just then Ted pulled in. Unfortunately, the lorry was
longer than Patrick had presumed, also the oncoming Audi was travelling
at a fair lick of speed. I dropped back, not wishing to be involved
in a potential accident & from here I was able to
observe the approaching drama! Patrick, realising that he wasn't
going to make it positioned his car centrally on the white dotted
line. (I later found out that he realised that he was the only one
who wouldn't be forced off the road, so calm as a cucumber he just
sat there & played chicken with the Audi!!). Ann, in the passenger
seat, had had enough by this time & had her head in her hands,
bracing for the impact. Fortunately, the lorry driver realised what
was going on & managed to pull over to the kerb as far as possible,
giving the Audi enough room to pass three-abreast. I was in the
fortunate position to witness the complete look of terror on the
Audi driver's face as he went past me. It wasn't until afterward
that I realised that, to him, the driver of the oncoming MGF had
her head in her hands!!!!!! No wonder he was terrified!
Thus was born the phrase "Patrick & Ann Moment", & it wasn't to be the last one on this trip...
Anyway, back to Rothenburg
& the trip through the Black Forest. We left on the Tuesday morning,
once again heading south. Hazel & Paul had joined us for the rest
of the trip, so we were now 5 MGF's & a TVR Griffith strong as
we wended our way
in the early morning sunshine. I have to admit, that for me, the
Black Forest was one of the highlights of our trip. The roads are
extremely well maintained & they negotiate some of the most
spectacular terrain I have ever seen. There are the obligatory hairpin
bends & mountain passes, but there are also some wide, fast
roads which allow you to make very good progress. You are screened
each side by some immense conifers, every now & then they would
part a little affording some amazing views. By the end of the trip
I had such a huge grin on my face, my cheeks were aching. These
are the sort of roads the F was designed for - & I loved every
minute of it :-)
We reached the Hotel Ochsenwirtshof
just outside a town called Schapbach near Bad Rippoldsau in the heart
of the Black Forest. This, to my mind was the best Hotel of the trip.
It is nestled in a valley between two mountains & has superb views
along the valley floor. It was well equipped & had an indoor
swimming pool - cool! The staff were very friendly & spoke extremely
good English, also the meal in their restaurant was excellent. I
decided to have the steak as I was on a "pork avoidance" mission
by now - blast! the green beans were wrapped in bacon! "If you can't
beat 'em..." as the old addage goes... ;-) Wonderful scenery, good
food, good drink & great company - this is the life eh?
Wednesday was a little overcast, the mist ½ way up the mountain side was very picturesque, but a little concerning as we set off on the last part of our trip in Germany. By the end of the day we would be in France, but we still had to negotiate the roads out of the Black Forest, past Stuttgart & back to the Rhine before we got there. The remainder of the Black Forest was just as spectacular, however it was over far too soon as we headed for the main Autobahn to Stuttgart. At a place called Leonberg we split up for a while. Caroline Woodley was due to land at Stuttgart airport & Casey & Ted headed off to pick her up.
Meanwhile, Patrick &
Ann, Richard, Paul & Hazel & myself headed west to our meeting
point where Casey, Caroline & Ted would join us. Wouldn't you
know it, we had been separated for less that 15 minutes when we got
stuck in a traffic jam!!! I
would say that we were there for around ½ an hour before
we got to the meeting point - still, it's nice to know that us Brits
aren't the only ones who have to put up with the chaos caused by
road works.
Caroline had arrived safely in Stuttgart, unfortunately, her first taster of the German roads was the traffic jam on the way to meet us! - never mind.
We all headed off to the Rhine & made good progress once we were out of the jam & before we knew it we were boarding the ferry. I said my goodbyes to Germany by whistling the theme to "The Great Escape" ;-)
We drove into France & here my story ends for the moment anyway...
There is a marked difference in the architecture & road system between Germany & France. I was expecting a gradual transition, a blurring of cultures if you will, in the region around the Rhine. Instead, as we entered the first French town a host of subtle differences combined to give us a real sense that we were in a different country.
Germany, to my mind, is picture postcard beautiful. France, on the other hand, has that “lived in” feel to it. Despite the picturesque, tree-lined avenues & pretty squares & courtyards adorned with flowers, France has an air of realism that brought me down to earth after the spectacular Black Forest.
Also, in spite of having some superb, perfectly straight roads that seem to go on forever, the terrain in this region is quite hilly, making it difficult to get a clear view of the road ahead. Yep, you guessed it, “Patrick & Ann Moment” number 2!
Yet again we were stuck
behind a lorry. Ted, Casey & Hazel had managed to get past it
in spite of the rain shower that had decided to “make our journey
a little more interesting”. Richard, however, was having difficulty
being immediately behind
the lorry, Patrick & Ann were following him & I was bringing
up the rear. Unfortunately, the undulations in the road surface
meant that the only person who could see far enough past the lorry
to overtake was me. The rain stopped after being stuck there for
a good 10 minutes watching Richard struggle to get a clear view.
I decided to give them a hand by pulling onto the left-hand side
of the road when it was clear. Our overtaking trick in reverse,
as it were. Once I was out there I could see that there was plenty
of room for all three of us to overtake, however, Richard, Patrick
& Ann were too busy concentrating on what was going on in front
of them to realise what I was doing. On the horizon, I could see
an oncoming truck & I’m thinking to myself that, as I have to
overtake two F’s as well as the lorry, I need to go now or I will
miss my opportunity. So I signalled left, shifted down a gear &
went for it. Unfortunately, it seems that Patrick had the same idea
at exactly the same time! I had just drawn level with him when he
started to pull out! By this time I am committed, so I pull further
to the left & glance across at Ann in the passenger seat. Fortunately,
he realised what was going on (something to do with Ann’s screaming
no doubt) & steered back to the right, away from me, allowing
me to finish my manoeuvre & get in front of Richard. While I
was out there I had seen that there wasn’t anything behind the oncoming
truck so when it passed us I was able to pull out again & dispose
of the troublesome lorry. After that “near miss” the adrenaline
was starting to flow, with Ted, Casey & Hazel no-where in sight
I decided to “boot it” in an effort to catch them up. I crested
a rise & wouldn’t you know it, the road became a dual carriageway!
Typical! Anyway, by this time I’m flat out (*), I emerge round a
long, sweeping bend only to find that Ted, Casey & Hazel are
waiting for us in the next slip road off of the dual carriageway.
It was close, but my emergency stop was just good enough to avoid
me overshooting the exit - Phew! :-)
(*) Interesting fact. Did you know that without the little spoiler on the drivers’ windscreen wiper, it lifts completely off of the windscreen at speeds above 100mph!
Richard, Patrick & a very excitable Ann had managed to get round the lorry on the dual carriageway & joined us as we exited & headed off towards Epernay.
The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful, France has some wonderful scenery, the fields of grape vines heaving with fruit as far as the eye can see, little rural towns & villages, the occasional Chateau on the horizon – beautiful.
As we were driving along I noticed something quite unusual. The fields were full of people & the towns seemed almost deserted. It transpires that the Champagne region had only just been given the go-ahead to start harvesting the grapes, consequently every able body was in the fields getting them in before the first frost.
We arrived at Les Vetus, near Epernay, around mid afternoon in glorious sunshine to the sound of some high-spirited local lads hanging out the windows of a minibus decorated with grapevines. They were obviously in a party mood & I wondered if I would be getting much sleep that night. Fortunately, our rooms were at the back of the hotel complex, away from the main road & the commotion.
This, our last hotel, had an unheated, outdoor pool that only Patrick was brave enough to make use of during our stay (lunatic!)
We were booked to stay here for two nights & they had arranged for us to visit a local champagne house the following day. After we parked up, I took it upon myself to remove some of the road grime that had adhered to Scarlet during the days “events”. This I found quite therapeutic & was decidedly more relaxed once I had finished. I then retired to the room & cleaned up ready for the evening meal in the restaurant.
Thursday
We ate a leisurely breakfast and readied ourselves for the trip to the Tarlant champagne house. The hotel provided us with a picnic lunch and we set off in the morning sunshine, hoods down through some excellent French back lanes. The route Ted had picked out for us was great fun, a good mix of tree lined lanes, some twisty hairpin bends and a few narrow alleys through some of the local towns. It was here that I made a little bit of a faux par. We were negotiating some tiny back streets trying to find our way onto the next country lane when we entered the market square for the second time. If you have seen the Inspector Clueseau/Pink Panther move “A Shot In The Dark”, there is a scene towards the end where an old man is trying to cross the road in a French market square. Meanwhile there is a chase sequence going on involving half a dozen different vehicles and a pantomime horse all entering and exiting the square from different routes. Substitute a small group of kids for the old man and you begin to get the picture! Basically we came to this square three times before we found our way out and I managed to run over one of the lads feet (by accident), in a narrow alleyway! Much to the amusement of his mates!! Oooops! :-)
We found the champagne house and were treated to an excellent tour of the facilities. As they were harvesting we actually got to see them pressing the grapes – something that only happens for about 1½ weeks each year. The Tarlant champagne house is a small, family run business. They produce 100,000 bottles of champagne per annum, 55% of which is exported. They do everything in-house, from extracting the juice from the grapes, through fermentation to bottling for shipment and we were shown the entire process from start to finish. Unfortunately, most of us were driving so we had to be a bit careful with the quantities we tasted. :-( Casey and Caroline managed to fill the Griff’s copious boot with cases of champagne. The F’s boot being more “compact and bijou” meant that I only bought a couple of bottles. We all then set off to find a picnic area for our lunch. Finally we returned to the hotel at around noon where we split up for the remainder of the day. It was then that I realised the amount of muck that had adhered to my F during the day. I mentioned before that they were harvesting while we were there. The roads were thick with debris from the fields – most of which ended up on our cars! Guess who spent a large part of that afternoon cleaning his car? – Again!
Friday arrived and the end of the tour was near. We set off nice and early and headed for the remains of the racing circuit at Reims. On the way there was nearly another “Patrick and Ann Moment”. We exited a roundabout to find the tarmac covered with grape juice, the back of Scarlet popped out once before I caught it, Patrick, who was following behind, was moving a little quicker and overcompensated managing to get his F to perform a graceful double tail slide. Right-hand side first, then a perfectly symmetrical left-hander! We found the circuit easily enough after driving through Reims. It has been abandoned since the early 1970’s and the track itself has been absorbed into the French road network. It’s quite surreal driving along a public highway and then being confronted by grandstands each side of the road! We spent a good ¼ of an hour wandering around taking pictures before we returned to our cars. Pilgrimage over we said our goodbyes to Richard as he was going to head back into Belgium to stay with friends for another week.
The remaining 5 cars headed for the nearest motorway for some
high speed driving to our next rest stop. After fuelling both the
cars and ourselves we split up again as Casey and Caroline headed
straight to Calais. Hazel and Paul, Patrick and Ann and
myself followed Ted one last time along a planned a route through
the northern France countryside. This was to prove to be one of
the most enjoyable drives of the tour. Not that it was any more
spectacular than the previous stages, but, to me the countryside
became more like home, the closer we got to Calais. The sun was
shining, the roads were mainly fast country lanes, through some
lovely scenery, finally opening up to give a view of the channel
- breathtaking. And that’s about it… Except for the final “Patrick
and Ann Moment” :-)
Hoverspeed, unfortunately, had a mechanical problem, so we were all bumped onto a SeaFrance ferry for the crossing. As we were boarding we all got split up, only Hazel and I were parked together. Once we were underway, we all met up, where else, but in the bar!, for the voyage home. Upon arrival in Dover I was waiting for us to be guided off the ferry when Ann appeared and got into Scarlet next to me! Apparently she had got separated from Patrick. Then she couldn’t find the car so she had asked an official where their red MGF was and he had sent her to Hazel and me, being 2 red F’s together! Fortunately they let us off before Patrick so I was able to park in an obvious location and wait for him to drive past. There’s never a dull (P+A) moment with these two I can tell you!
A truly superb week, well done to all involved, especially Dieter’s crew in Germany and most importantly Ted, for putting up with us all and guiding us through some of the most challenging/enjoyable/spectacular roads. Great job, give yourselves a pat on the back from me.
To quote Forest Gump “That’s all I have to say about that!”
Roll on next year!
SF
