Once again, circumstances had rather restricted the planned transformation of the VW, but we had been able to improve the tyre pumping arrangements (my work colleagues are convinced that this is the main competitive element of Classic trialling) and had decided to use smaller wheels to reduce the gear ratio.

On the day, the arrangements at the start worked as smoothly as usual and we were soon on our way, making good time until just before the first section at Haven Hill where we were following a small group of cars and suddenly realised that we had covered more than the specified mileage to the turn off. By the time we had sorted ourselves out we had lost about 10 minutes which was a large slice of the time between us and the last competitor. Anyway the section itself was not a problem and we continued to Clough Wood where there was a long queue, giving us a chance to break out the coffee and biscuits. Again no problems on this or the following Deep Rake, where we showed an improved grasp of the essentials of the sport by remembering to close the tailgate before arriving at the start line.

Last year we nearly slid off the slippery track at the start of Litton Slack so took it very steadily on the approach and still nearly slid off it again. Whether it’s some combination of camber and the surface; or a force field left behind by visitors from another planet, you cannot be too careful crossing that field. It’s a pleasant place for a wait, though, with a bit of sunshine, more coffee and a chance to watch the action below; with a real treat for Golf drivers as Dave Haizeldean stormed the section. Then it was our turn and, just like last year, it started to rain, but fortunately only a passing shower so we made it to the start line without serious embarrassment (unlike last year) but only about 50 yards up the section, not that good, but 50 yards more than our first attempt so we were not too disappointed.

Beyond Carlton was the breakfast stop, and we were now very late, so that it was more like lunch and in fact closed about 2 minutes after we were served, which could have been our first major problem. At Haydale, feeling well fed and perhaps rather complacent we failed to heed the various warning signs including the erratic progress of other competitors across the first part of the section, set off with the tyres too low (worrying about getting going at the restart, which wasn’t a problem at all) and suffered a puncture, loosing more time as we fixed it.

At Haggside we were excused the restart which nearly destroyed the clutch last year but the section was very rough and the drivers side wheel was badly damaged by the time we reached the top. On the way down we met a lot of walkers who were very friendly, some of the younger ones seemed impressed by the car, or do they have a better grasp of irony nowadays than we did?

Onto Bamford Clough where again we made more progress than last year and really enjoyed the “cliffhanger” feel of the climb, but still did not get to the top of the first part and put some more dents in the same front wheel. At this point some strains began to show as the navigator accused me of “not looking after your wheel” which had suffered all the damage, in contrast to the passengers which still looked pretty tidy. It was the rough bit at the top of the restart area at Great Hucklow which finished my wheel completely; leaving it almost square. Of course that wasn’t the end of it as the escape route here also contains a couple of wheel smashing rocks on the navigators side which, of course, he remembered and directed me around.

Up on the road we were debating the best thing to do with the remaining one good wheel when we were passed by the course closing car. At this point it seemed too difficult to sort out the wheels, do the remaining sections, make it to the club supper (we were still a bit shaken by how close we had come to missing brunch) and get home the next day and so we wimped out and retired at that point. We were both disappointed to have failed to complete the Edinburgh for the second time and returned to our Hotel in rather a gloomy mood. However there was still the supper and after a couple of beers, a bottle of wine and some good company our enthusiasm for Classic Trialling (or at least dissecting it afterwards over a drink) had returned and we were able to think more about doing it better. In particular; paying more attention to the route instructions and improving our puncture repair capabilities.

Once again a big thank-you to the organisers and all those who stood out in the weather for a lot longer than they had expected to see us through (or back down) the sections.