Sprite surprises cyclists

This Austin Healey Sprite showed up on Friday night on Beaconsfield Avenue, by the Drake Hotel, off Queen Street West. The cyclists were gigging at the Drake, lead by the Deadly Nightshades, before touring local shops and design outlets. These girls favour urban cycling and used gladrags, hard for an old geezer to comprehend. I rode the forty-one-year-old Kent Auto-Mini which meant we had something in common - see PunchBuggy Passim. The original Cordatic tyres held up against the odds.
Pic by RLT.

Vortx at Le Val

This MNR Vortx looks good in the paddock at Le Val des Terres hillclimb, by the sea in St Peter Port, Guernsey. The #34 is the car of Marc Maubec.
Pic by RLT.

Darryl Danko dominates Giants Despair

Multiple-winner Darryl Danko clocked up his sixth outright FTD at the Giants Despair Hillclimb, held near Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on July 9/10, 2011. Driving a Gurney Eagle he climbed the mile course in 42.187 seconds.
Pic supplied by Ron Mann, PHA.

Wet day at the races

To Le Val des Terres hillclimb on a wet day. The folks are friendly and the motors mixed. We talk to Tim le Pelley, driving the KAD 16-valve mini, who marks our cards about hillclimbing in the Channel Islands, notably the Petit Bot Hill Climb on Guernsey and events in Alderney.

The startline is in St Peter Port and traction is minimal up the hill. After a walk in the woods checking out the course we dive into the Half Moon Cafe Restaurant (Havelet Bay, tel: 730770) just before the hillclimb crowd arrive for lunch. The atmosphere compares to the best in racing anywhere.

Scott Moran is leading the British Hill Climb Championship and he wins the first top-12 runoff in a damp 35.86 sec. Here Roger Moran drives while son Scott looks on in blue cap.

The Channel Islands are known for sand racing and the cars have crossed over into hillclimbing. They look oversized and agricultural compared to the high-tech carbonfibre cars but are an intriguing local phenomenon. For price/performance they are unbeatable.

P.S. Le Val des Terres hillclimb admission: No charge. Programme: No charge. Remarkable.
Pics by RLT.

Great Day at Bouley Bay

We took the #4 bus to Bouley Bay Hill Climb, Jersey. £4 admission charge. After watching at Radio Corner we walked down the steep path through the woods to the startline by the sea. What fun on a sunny day!

Geoff Guille from Guernsey has been competing in hillclimbs for 43 years. He set fastest-time-of-the-day at the Liberation Day Hill Climb held at Bouley Bay on May 9 this year in a personal best time of 41.03 secs. He is currently driving an OMS-CF4-Vauxhall 2-litre which puts out approaching 300 b.h.p. on methanol.

Another Guernseyman Scott Rayson appeared with his self-built Chevrolet-engined hillclimb special, which was originally built for sand racing. He set a personal best time of 43.08 secs running on pump petrol. The car features a Jaguar gearbox and drivetrain.

We had a picnic lunch on the beach and were kindly given a lift back to town in the back of a diesel Land Rover. We topped off our Jersey tour with supper at Hector's Restaurant & Take Away, first-class fish and chips at 1 Dumaresq Street, St Helier. Paul Spears, mine host, could launch a second career in stand-up, as he jollies the customers along. Highly recommended.

Pics by RLT.

Yachtsmen favour folders

We have encountered both Brompton and Bickerton bicycles in the Channel Islands. The first being three Brompton folding bikes in Victoria Street in St Anne, Alderney, which arrived by yacht.

We then met a couple while riding from St Helier to St Aubin, on Jersey, on their two vintage Bickerton folding bikes. These bikes had spent much of their lives on a canal boat, but now fitted with new tyres and arriving on a yacht. The Bickerton is notable for having different sized wheels.

Pics by Annette and RLT.

Island round-up

We arrived at London Gatwick airport early morning and were delayed in the aftermath of the UK border workers strike - Aurigny would not honour our ticket as we missed the connecting flight. They told me I couldn't get to Alderney that day but I bought two new tickets to Guernsey and talked my way onto the connecting flight and we got there on schedule. I was rather cross.

The arrival in Alderney calmed us down as we sat on a bench at the airport and waited for the car from the hotel to pick us up. Holly arrived in the Subaru and we were whisked into St Anne. We were in Alderney for six nights - staying on Victoria St in the centre of town at the Georgian House (good value at £70 per night for two incl breakfast). Alderney is generally quieter than I remember - air fares are a deterrent.
We went on the Alderney railway twice, on the Saturday and Sunday. We found the Harbour Lights of yore, now completely rebuilt, and I sampled the Breda lager. We did plenty of walking - a cycling tour went wrong as we got separated and it rather spoilt the day.
We sampled the restaurants - Jack's, the Mai Thai, the Pizzeria, Little Rock Cafe (a wagon run by Krys from Florida at Braye harbour, she put us in charge as she went to the store, recommended), Gloria's Food, and the Braye Chippy. The Chippy was a joy at £20 for two including tip, good food, good service (but bring your own alcohol).
The weather was mostly delightful in Alderney. We went to Cherbourg on a rather rough crossing on a charter day boat, The Lady Maris II, with six passengers. Annette barfed on the outward leg but managed to hold it together on the rougher return. Got her sea legs now. You can't beat a trip to France - we returned with a view of the wonderful old railway station in Cherbourg and the roadstead where the Titanic anchored on her maiden voyage.
We hopped over to Guernsey on the Aurigny Trislander. Staying at the Le Chêne Hotel, near the airport, we walked from arrivals with our (light) luggage. There is a free bus pass provided by the hotel - we went right round the island, a 90-minute tour clockwise. Some locals don't approve of the grockles filling up the buses but they can suck it up!
Trips to St Peter Port take us to the old market, Italian lunches at Bella Delicatessen (42-44 Fountain St., recommended), the Guernsey Tapestry, the Condor Ferries booking office, Fort Cornet, the archives and The Priaulx Library. We went to the startline at Le Val de Terres to check out the hillclimb course. The whole place seems very busy after Alderney.

To Fort Saumarez and Fort Grey (shipwreck museum) today. The Occupation Museum is unmissable at £5 per head. The Germans installed a 90cm narrow-gauge railway on Guernsey, but sadly it was ripped out in the 1940s - we are told nothing remains of the railway. We are leaving for Jersey on Monday.
Pics by RLT.