| It was with some excitement that we arrived under the harbour bridge to
start our second ever Midget Trial… well, it couldn't be any worse than our first
attempt last month! We had a brand new clip board on which to attach the directions to
stop them blowing off down the motorway (believe me this has been an issue in the past),
we put the hood up… purely for the benefit of the other triallers to prevent it
raining half way round… and with a few bits of advice on how Rob had thrown in a few
tricky traps we were on our way. We started well, managing the odo check section into Bayswater before our first disagreement, which involved a bit of backtracking to pick up the first trap. Never the less, we got it and soon settled into the task of discovering the devious traps set by the plotter. We had learnt a great deal from the first trial and soon spotted the deliberate traps, but we still have much to learn… including the fact there is always a check hidden down a boat ramp, why is that? It soon became apparent that summer is near its end and the days are getting shorter, making the whole task even harder… one thing the driver has yet to understand is that the navigator cannot read directions and write down checks by torchlight whilst reading road signs, looking for following checks and trying to decipher the traps all whilst they are driving around at 50km an hour!! That's my excuse anyway for missing one of the CRI's resulting in several miles spent looping left down Lake Road and side streets before reaching the golf course and realising something had gone really wrong! Still, we made it to the end and had done significantly better than last month, so it is with great anticipation that we look forward to next month and hope that the plotter isn't too sneaky with his traps. Maybe I should make the driver navigate this time?! Many thanks to Rob for the very detailed answers and map, it has been fantastic for learning where we went wrong and in helping us know what to watch out for next time! Leigh and Keith Warr MG Midget |