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Intro

Saturday

The weather on the other side of the channel was nice, and improved with every kilometer I drove. Along the way I made good time on the M40, traveling in convoy with a 996 4S, a Ford Focus and a Vauxhall Astra. When the 4S took the exit I pulled alongside to give him a wave (one of the advantages of driving a lefthand-drive car in the UK) and continued on my way to a cheapish generic motel near Birmingham. It really doesn't rate mentioning, were it not for the presence of a Frankie & Bennys across the road. This one was full when I went in for dinner, but they put me on their waiting list and gave me a nifty little gadget that would start buzzing when my table was ready. Luckily I'd come prepared by bringing a book, and instead of standing at a crowded bar with lots of loud people I took advantage of the capabilties of the little gadget and spent the waiting time outside, reading in the sun, and thinking that driving 800km in one day isn't much of an effort in a 964.

Just before I went to bed my phone beeped: a text message from John enquiring if I was still on for tomorrow. Silly question :-)

Sunday

It wasn't 10am yet, and I was already on a Welsh mountain eating a late breakfast. Things were looking up: the rain had stopped, and there were some sheep around that were doing their morning gymnastics.

The view from here (Horseshoe pass) was nice. The sheep didn't seem to appreciate it very much though.

The early start enabled me to stop by the local Tesco to stock up for lunch (a BYO affair): some sandwiches and chocolate chip muffins, with some cans of Fanta Icy Lemon Zero (still not available in the sometimes backward Netherlands) to wash it down.

As the meeting point was a petrol station I decided it'd be convenient to fill up the tank prior to starting the Run. Arriving early meant that I got to pick my parking spot. It wasn't long before John and Paula arrived, with the famous Blue Shadow shadowing them.

Over the next few minutes the other participants showed up, resulting in a continous flow of chatter. Cars were a red 964 C4 Cab (Ian), a very nice polar silver 964 (the nicest of the various shades of silver Porsche has on offer, IMHO) driven by Paul, and a 964 Turbo in Speed Yellow (Steve). Apologies to the better halves: trying to remember all those names over such a short period of time overloaded my tiny brain.

The Blue Shadow gave my car a thorough inspection, noting the replaced fuel filler cap and neck, and mentioning that he'd replaced the windscreen washer fluid cap replaced too. Mine doesn't leak, so even though it looks very original (read: old) I'll hang on to it for a little while longer.

Meanwhile the local wildlife took advantage of the Blue Shadow being away from his car: a cat jumped onto the bonnet and then proceeded onto the sunroof. Collective breaths were held, as a slipping and sliding cat can do some nasty things to the paint. The Blue Shadow remained unflappable and gently asked the cat to get off his car. The cat, obviously not used to being treated with such a measure of respect complied without scratching the car.

There was still more to come though: a fly assaulted John's pristine GT3. Again, the animal left without permanently damaging the car.

The Blue Shadow then tried on the Polar silver's sports seats.

Shortly afterwards the rain started again. As there hadn't been any frantic "wait for me!" calls to John's mobile we all started up the cars to begin this edition of the Rennlist North Wales Run. Reckoning that I'd be the least familiar with the roads I leeched myself to John's rear bumper and stayed there until we came to the Pentrefoelas rest area. The roads were a nice mix of narrow country lanes and more open two-lane roads. Especially the latter were great fun, thanks to the variety of sweepers and tighter bends. I did notice that the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups threw up loads of stones. Ah well, my car was never meant for concourses anyway.

John noticed he dragged a shoe over the door upholstery getting out of the car, resulting in some improvised detailing.

The springs and shocks on my car were changed in 2004. At the time the car was set to RS rideheight. During my most recent excursion I'd noticed that there was a bit of wheel rub at full opposite lock with a heavy passenger in the right seat while spinning out during a spot of drifting. The conclusion was obvious: the rideheight had dropped a bit below the original height due to the springs sagging a bit. When compared to a 964 at standard height mine does look more than a little low. Better add it to the list of things-to-be-done-by-my-mechanic at the end of the year.

The roads of the second part were great too. Being able to follow somebody who's familiar with the road (and who's kind enough to tap the brakes to provide an indication of the tightness of the bend coming up) makes driving them all the more enjoyable. I won't bore you with a bend-by-bend description (which I could, as I've recorded most of the drive on video), but I do recall thinking "why bother going to France or the Alps if you have roads like these at home?"

Lunch was in a picnic-friendly spot. The weather let us down a bit, but despite that there was still quite a bit of chatting going on. It also provided a good opportunity for a group photo. Or rather, a group-minus-one photo, as Steve had peeled off to head somewhere else just before lunch.

The Blue Shadow (who could just as well have been nicknamed Eagle Eyes) noticed something hanging off of my car. Quite a feat as the car is so low. It turned out to be a bit of insulating foam.

I'd booked another nondescript motel in Wrexham, but there was plenty of time to tag along with John, Paula and the Blue Shadow (who supposedly also listens to the name "Brian") for a bit. During a stop it was clear that modern youths prefer GT3s to old-fashioned 911s. There were lots of "Cool, a GT3!" sounds, and nobody seemed to notice either my own 964 or the Blue Shadow's ultra-clean one. A bit like when I took the 964 to a wedding. People stopped noticing my car the second a Lamborghini Murcielago turned up. It didn't help that the Lambo was yellow, mind you.

There were three things that made the drive to John & Paula's memorable:

1. John took a different route than he'd mentioned to the Blue Shadow. Hence we saw the Cobalt blue 964 driving briskly past in our respective rearview mirrors while we were stopped in the turn-off.
2. The onramp onto the A55 was a bit slippery. John later asked if I'd noticed his little moment there, but as I had a slightly bigger moment myself I was too busy handling that.
3. Traffic was crap all the way. Almost as bad as a regular workday rush hour in the Netherlands.

Monday

I stopped off in Bicester to have lunch with my mate Jocke, leaving early to make sure I'd be done with the largest more or less circular parking lot called "London Orbital" before rush hour. This cunning plan succeeded admirably, and the time I gained came in very handily when it started raining. The water came down in buckets, cutting visibility to not much at all, and added some aquaplaning to keep things interesting.

There was a big queue of HGVs on the M20 into Dover. Luckily I travelled with Speedferries, who operate out of the Hoverport, which is off the first roundabout. Thanks to that I was able to bypass most of the traffic jam ahead.

The ferry crossing was uneventful. The drive back home through France and Belgium went swiftly. So swiftly that my trusty Garmin kept adjusting my ETA, down from the original 0.30am to 23.20pm. Weird, the Quest is usually very accurate with it's ETA prediction ;-)

So, to sum it all up: 2101.9km in three days; dinner at Frankie & Benny's; enjoyed the company of like-minded people on the great roads of North Wales; lunch with Jocke; quick drive home; hope to do it again next year!