LGT 2010 IMPROVMENTS

I know I didn't do it this year - but just a thought on the auction. Some people just do Monday, so having the auction on Sunday may lose some bidders but some people don't stay due to having to get back on the Monday either - how about sealed bids that way those that can't be there for the bidding can bid as well.  You just need to a summary of items with lot numbers in with the run pack or with the tickets.

Also, as you now use both car parks at lee abbey, limit the time to 30 mins from arrival - only remember that the 1st lot have a lengthy stop compared to the last 100 cars that get there and then have to go shortly afterwards due to the time it takes to get everyone parked.  Also, you could use this time to get the marshalls at the back to the front instead of parking up before lee abbey,as this takes a good 30 mins or so.

re the street collection - why not take an average of the last 2 years for this part - until its counted I would imagine it wouldn't be too far out.

Hi Would it be possible to consider slightly shorther lunch breaks. Most years we are lucky with the weather and it is nice to have  achat and a break, but if it were raining it would not be nice waiting to restart. At Lee Abbey we were meant to leave at 2:15 but did not finally get away until 2:50. I appreciate there are safety checks to do and those last in the line arrive 20 minutes behind the first cars but an hour and 10 mins for lunch seems one area we could save a little time. Likewise Hartland Quay and Snapper stops, mean that most people are eager to get restarted.

Only bad point is we finish the tour faster!

The stop at snapper (on the road) is to enable the Marshalls to get the line so they can park you up at lee abbey the lenght of this stop deppends on how broken up the line gets and how long it takes for the last car to catch up.

Did you see the length of the queues for the gents toilets at Lee Abbey!  

Quoted from Jack Knightmare

Did you see the length of the queues for the gents toilets at Lee Abbey!  

There is a bush urinal at the bottom of the lower car park that the boys could use but only a few knew it was there. The more observant could smell it.

I spent over half my break time in the queue for the loo. Marshals could have a perk?

Were there any loos in the top field?

None that I saw

First my main concern is not how much money we raise but how safe the event is, not just for the Bikers or the Mini drivers but also the members of the public that come and watch us, that is my main priority and my No 1 concern.

The money we collect and raise is important but will never be greater than the safety of everyone.

The beast within the grand tour really started to show it’s self when we began going into little Bridge House. The queue to get in is nearly a mile long and when we get out we are all broken up. We have never been able to make up the time it takes to visit the hospice and who of us now would say lets not go there..

We changed the route after we caused a massive traffic jam in Barnstaple because the option the police gave me was send the minis out 20 at a time.

We now stop just before the bridge so that we can regroup and allow the bike & mini marshals to get back to the front because they look after the safety of everyone when we park. Who else in the country would park 300 minis on the side of the road.

As to the car parks we stay as long as it takes every one to go to the toilet and even when I left Lee Abbey with the bikes there were still queues at the ladies toilet.

We can move the auction that would not be a problem we might lose a bit of money on the other hand we might get a bit more who knows. That does not worry me.

We will also look into the Judging of the minis to see if there is an easier way, without the waiting.

But whatever happens I will not increase the pressure on the people counting the money.  That’s the problem.

It is so hard to imagine that we only travel about 50 miles on the Monday but that 50 miles fills you so many emotions the adrenalin and the tears, the aching arms from the waving and the cramp in the knees from the queuing. I doubt there is not one person who is not knackered by the end of the day.

You now know a little bit more about the beast that appears in North Devon at the end of August.

Quoted from siddarz

Could we have some of the areas fenced off, even if it's with red and white tape? Once the cars are parked up, the tape can be taken down?

it is down the far end where the cars come in, but the public just go through the tape or under it  

if we had a few more marshals down there it would help, there was only 4/5 of us

could we leave at 10.30 or 10.00 instead of 11 as most people are in position by then ??

Just a thought on Marshalling places we're going to...... There were a few of us who stayed behind at the Burrows on Saturday evening to make sure everyone got out without a problem. Jules and I decided we'd go straight to Bideford Quay to start parking the cars up. This didn't work as some of the Minis lost the car in front and did what we did so there were quite a few already parked up by the time we got there. Similarly, myself and Lottie (pick-up) left Snapper behind Terry and Linda and were able to get people through Lynton without too much hassle. My point is that if there are a small number of Marshalls prepared to sacrifice a part of the run(s) then we could have a presence at all stops before the main body of Marshalls arrive. Sorry if this comes as long winded but I think it may help in the long run.

I shall now run and hide