Oppomeet Wales: this month!

"duurtlang" (duurtlang) 03/06/2018 at 07:13 • Filed to: oppomeet, Europpomeet

5

41

At least 6 different nationalities joining so far! We still have space left in our cottages! Join us! March 26-30. I’ll add some extra information below.

When?

Monday March 26th until Friday March 30th. However, you’re free to join for as long or as short as you want.

Where?

Wales, UK. We’ve created 5 different routes for 5 different days and will be exploring Brecon Beacons national park first and then head up north to Snowdonia national park.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

What are you going to do?

Like I mentioned, we’ve created a route for each day. They are about 150 miles a day.

“150 miles a day, that’s nothing!”

Agreed, however besides needing enough time for activities you do have to take the types of roads into account. We won’t be driving on any highways.

Some of the roads look like this. You can drive quickly there, sure:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Then there are roads like these. This is a two way road:

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Besides driving we’ll have enough time for other activities. Go kart racing, take a ride in an old steam train, visit the ruins of a medieval castle, sampling the local brewery culture and lots more.

Will you sleep under a bridge?

Only the French might. Most others will stay in a cottage, some have booked a hotel. The cottages still have some spare beds left and are roughly £20 a night a person. We have 2 central hubs, 2 nights each in each national park.

!!! UNKNOWN HEADER TYPE (MULTI-LINE BREAK?) !!!

Why not? There are people flying in, including from the US. Others, myself included, will have to drive over 1400 km/900 miles one way just to get to Wales.

What will you drive?

Whatever is street legal. There will be rental cars, Kei cars/offroaders/diesel hydropneumatic Citroëns from the 1980s, multiple MR2s and MX5s, a Fiat X1/9, a BRZ, a BMW wagon and maybe a Twingo or two. Whatever you bring or rent is absolutely fine, fast or slow, new or old, boring or interesting, it doesn’t matter.

Do I need to bring a car?

No, you don’t need to bring a car yourself. You can be a passenger in most if not all cars. The owners might even allow you to drive one or two (maybe).

Will this be a sausage fest?

No. Well, not entirely.

When will I need to sign up?

This depends on if you need a place to sleep. There is no real deadline for people who simply want to tag along. If you want a bed in a cottage the sooner you tell us the better. The cottages have been booked already. The few remaining beds are first come (sign up) first serve I guess.

But I’ve never driven on the wrong side of the road or in the wrong side of the car before!

I haven’t either. I haven’t even spent more than a few hours of my life in the UK. You won’t be alone. We’ll be fine.

Our turnout at Spa (and later the Nürburgring) in March 2017

I can’t make it to Wales, what’s next?

There’s nothing concrete just yet. However, Classic LeMans (early July) has been mentioned, just like a weekend in June or July in Germany, including driving the Nürburgring . We have been there before, in 2017.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Clemsie McKenzie > duurtlang 03/01/2018 at 14:04

1

Time for me to ramp up my jealous-meter then! I really wish I could be with you guys on this one. Well, not with you guys per se, but with the bacon at least!

duurtlang > Clemsie McKenzie 03/01/2018 at 14:12

0

You’re always welcome. Would you be interested in a Nürburgring and surrounding area weekend in early summer? Bacon included.

Clemsie McKenzie > duurtlang 03/02/2018 at 05:17

1

Possibly! I plan to go back to the Ring this year for VLN anyway, I have won tickets for a race. And of course get the Clio back on the track then! Hard to not come back to it once you’ve tasted it...

DutchieDC2R > duurtlang 03/02/2018 at 05:43

0

I thought Classic Le Mans was on the table for July, lol....

duurtlang > DutchieDC2R 03/02/2018 at 06:11

0

True, I forgot about that one. I added it to the text.

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Clemsie McKenzie 03/02/2018 at 06:42

0

Which VLN round? I try to go to at least one every year!

Clemsie McKenzie > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 03/02/2018 at 07:28

1

The tickets are basically for one VLN round of my choosing, but they need to approve it first because they don’t open the VIP area if they don’t have enough requests. I was thinking April, as I will have some more time and hopefully got the most important issues with the Clio fixed (starting with the wheel bearing next week). But now seeing as some of you guys want to go to the Ring too I might go at a time more suitable for a mini Oppo meet!

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Clemsie McKenzie 03/02/2018 at 07:41

0

Ah I see! Keep in mind going on track during a VLN weekend, is generally not as easy as during a normal weekend , as the track will be closed before the race for qualification and such, and after probably for cleaning (I never got to drive the same weekend as the race, but maybe you find a way). I might be wrong though

Clemsie McKenzie > BvdV - The Dutch Engineer 03/02/2018 at 07:51

1

From what I read, the Sunday after a race is open and generally less crowded than usual because people don’t think to come after a race. So the plan was to drive early Saturday morning to watch the race, maybe do a bit of driving around after with the lady, wake up early Sunday, get a couple of laps early morning, and then drive home via some scenic roads (maybe Belgium like we did last year). The idea was to plan some non-car activities around so that my girlfriend would be ok with coming along haha

BvdV - The Dutch Engineer > Clemsie McKenzie 03/02/2018 at 08:03

1

Ah okay, didn’t expect that, as it is pretty busy when the race is on. I guess most of them drive home immediately.

Sounds like a nice plan you’ve got! I hope you can find enough non-car activities for your girlfriend, haha

Hoccy > duurtlang 03/02/2018 at 08:36

1

I’ll enjoy the Norwegian snow then, but I remain interested in Nurburgring. I will also go to WRC Rallye Deutschland in August, so feel free to join!

4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 > Clemsie McKenzie 03/02/2018 at 17:00

0

You came back a changed man after that lap around the Nurburgring. It was great to see

Clemsie McKenzie > DutchieDC2R 03/02/2018 at 19:05

0

Yep, and this one I won’t miss for any reason. Le Mans Classic is just the best thing.

DutchieDC2R > Clemsie McKenzie 03/02/2018 at 19:06

0

Same here, Im ordering tickets in a week.

Clemsie McKenzie > 4muddyfeet - bare knuckle with an EZ30 03/02/2018 at 19:06

0

It’s a hell of a drug!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > duurtlang 03/02/2018 at 21:46

4

Flight booked, London hotel booked, car booked,

FSI > duurtlang 03/03/2018 at 05:41

0

I really want to make it. But renting a car is not an option with my [low] wage and detaching my legs, while sounding reasonable, is also not the ideal option.

This time of the year sucks for car buying as I haven’t found anything I like since early January. Maybe this or next week a miracle will happen.

duurtlang > FSI 03/03/2018 at 05:52

0

What kind of car are you looking for specifically? Or is knowing what you want the problem?

FSI > duurtlang 03/03/2018 at 06:04

0

My parents will pay a not insignificant part of a potential car but they insist on something with low kilometers and preferably from a dealership. Stupid, I know but eh.

Maybe my expectations are too high lol

duurtlang > FSI 03/03/2018 at 06:25

1

Just start with something ‘acceptable’. Only search for something that you really like when it becomes time to replace your first car. First cars tend to get trashed quickly, statistically speaking . It shouldn’t be too nice.

Flavien Vidal > duurtlang 03/03/2018 at 07:26

1

That would really depend on how much money I make on the next few months (I’m not living on a fixed salary), but I wouldn’t mind flying back to get the Mini on the ring...

Edit: why the hell am I blured???

duurtlang > Flavien Vidal 03/03/2018 at 07:38

0

How far in advance would you need to know the specific weekend for you to plan such a thing?

You’re blurred because I posted this on my own blog first (so other meet people could review it) and a day later on Oppo. Clemsie replied when it was still on my blog only, and on my blog you (like everyone not-me) is grey.

Flavien Vidal > duurtlang 03/03/2018 at 08:02

0

Damn, Kinja is complicated :)

It’s really difficult to say... but I am due for a trip back home. I haven’t put a foot in France for 2 years now and I’m fairly certain my mother hasn’t started my Mini for at least one.

Flights from Japan to France are utterly cheap right now “thanks” to terrorist attacks. I can fly back to France for like 400$ round trip which is insanely cheap. My main problem is that I can’T really plan this stuff in advance... Depending on how many cars I have in stock that I sell, I can take 2 weeks to go back, visit family and go to the ring with the Mini. 2 weeks off are 2 weeks worth of cars I can’T check and buy at auction though, which is also my problem :)

My best bet would be for you to set something up in July, August or September and I’d see what I can do with that... September would be ideal on my side. Americans don’t buy that many cars starting from there as most would arrive in winter.

SteveLehto > duurtlang 03/03/2018 at 09:44

0

I just love the logo. Will there be merchandising?

duurtlang > SteveLehto 03/03/2018 at 10:31

0

Probably. There was the last time. The logo was made (not by me) a few days ago during the snowpocalypse in the UK. No ability to work, so time to create a logo :)

Would you like merchandise?

SteveLehto > duurtlang 03/03/2018 at 10:51

0

I’d love to see a window sticker and the fantasy, of course, is that it would find its way onto an XXL shirt I could wear on camera during my podcasts.

Klaus Schmoll > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 03/03/2018 at 18:06

0

What class of car did you book? Compact? VW Up! or similar?

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Klaus Schmoll 03/03/2018 at 18:32

0

Audi a1 or mini cooper. So a tarted-up polo.

The first thing I booked was the car back in January, was a c class mercedes for (by US rental car prices) cheap, But when I started looking insurance, it wasn’t reasonable availible so I canceled that and went searching again. I’m picking up the car at heathrow and after driving to edinburgh to fly out Monday, so all the prices were jacked up. At that point the price increase was minimal from a 308, seat leon.

Are you flying in or driving over?

Klaus Schmoll > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 03/03/2018 at 19:03

2

It’ll be a 2k mile round trip for me to even get there. So flying and renting is a good better option, BUT I am somewhat stupid and stubborn. I am ignoring the math on what would be cheaper because I see this as a great road trip. The planet and my credit card will hate me but I’m driving this battleship there and back.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Klaus Schmoll 03/03/2018 at 19:12

0

big enough to even tow a twingo or two!

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Klaus Schmoll 03/04/2018 at 16:38

0

are you driving up saturday or sunday?

Klaus Schmoll > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas 03/05/2018 at 07:46

0

probably sunday.

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > duurtlang 03/16/2018 at 14:23

0

Hmm. I might actually be able to get some time off work.

duurtlang > BlurpleToyotaDishwasher 03/16/2018 at 14:33

0

Great! How can we keep in touch? Do you want to be invited to the whatsapp group? Email is a possibility too.

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > duurtlang 03/17/2018 at 17:39

0

Sure, how do I add you?

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > duurtlang 03/17/2018 at 17:39

0

Sure, how do I add you?

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > duurtlang 03/17/2018 at 17:39

0

Sure, how do I add you?

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > duurtlang 03/17/2018 at 17:39

0

Sure, how do I add you?

(and a quick edit to the last one to say sorry for the spam; Bad phone signal does not play nicely with Kinja)

duurtlang > BlurpleToyotaDishwasher 03/17/2018 at 18:01

0

Bad phone signal? Are you in Wales already?

Anyway, to add you to the whatsapp group I would need your phone number.

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > duurtlang 03/19/2018 at 16:33

0

Not quite, I’m in the land that time (and everything else that isn’t cider) forgot.

BlurpleToyotaDishwasher > duurtlang 03/19/2018 at 16:54

0

... And the bit I forgot to put on that is that I was wondering if there was some way of doing it without putting my phone number in a post, but then I found the form in the previous meet post and filled that in. So hopefully that should get to you. :)