Here is the breakdown of the day and a few more pics (some duplicated, as this is from our other fourm as well)
We met west of Chester 10am, ready for a 240 mile route through some of the best roads in North Wales.
Most of us were relatively local, but several of the members travelled up early or stayed over.
Routes were uploaded to all the car's Pro Navs, which allowed everyone to follow the same roads, broken down by 6 legs (Matt is a genius at this route stuff)
We had a roll call of 6 M-Lites, and the grey sheep of the group, a lovely 135i coupe. All cars had been washed, except for one (Alex!), but with hindsight this was a total waste of time!
Thanks to guys for the pictures (alex and burn have taken yours from the meet thread). Below are mine pics as well, with the SLR ones are Matt's.
We then all fuelled up with VPower at the Shell station on site, conscious that we didn't want to run low on fuel in the middle of the route. err hum, see below!
Needless to say, we caused a bit of a blockage at even this big fuel station, with M135i's everywhere!
Traffic was quite bad as we went into Wales, and then the weather turned and it started raining. However, as the traffic died down, our pace upped and we all began to enjoy the drive.
As the saying goes, the sun shines on the bold (as I announced over the radio) and at the Evo Triangle the road seemed to dry up with the sun illuminating the amazing scenery.
Bryn commented on how technical the first leg of the triangle was, while Mark talked about how different it was when doing it clockwise! The thing that impressed me most was the amount of fun we had at a road legal speed, and how much the M135i had in reserve still.
No pics of the triangle as we were having too much fun, but we then drove to a near by damn, for a much needed stretch of legs, oh and to help Dave turn on his adaptive suspension!
It was then time for another leg, down to Machynlleth for lunch and to do the Mach Loop. I led for this run and its far to say the weather got really bad with very heavy rain. However, it was still fun to press on, and in one of the low flying valleys the sun did shine for a couple of minutes!
We had amazing local produce lunch at Number Twenty one in Machynlleth, and the service was good for all 13 of us on the biggest table! Perhaps a telling factor of the lack of spring weather were all the tea's and coffee's we ordered!
The next leg took us up to Llyn trawsfynydd nuclear power station, with the rain seeming to be clearing up a good pace was set. The only snag came when a sheep stepped in front of Matt (i was behind him). Matt stood on the ABS, then lifted off as the sheep backed away. I witnessed first hand, how the electronics can help calm a potential crisis. Its worth pointing out, that before I left home, I smashed my iPhone on a run (don't ask
). While both Matt and I prefer Sport +, we both decided that Sport would be the most sensible option for the weather (and me not smashing my other expensive shiny thing). This sheep incident proved we were right!
There were also a lot of roadworks on this leg, with most drivers kindly moving over for our convoy. At one point an MG Rover was leading the pack, and set a good pace, although for some reason couldn't shake the 7 135i's in his review mirror
Another season then came and this is where the weather turned really for the worse, lighting, thunder and a hail storm all in one! As we pulled away from the roadworks, the road was covered with ice and the temp dropped to 6c.
Very surreal, the storm was gone as quickly as it had arrived.
The weather then kept clear as we arrived at Llyn trawsfynydd. Bryn informed us that he worked in the nuclear industry and now way would he swim in that lake!
The decommissioned nuclear buildings gave me the creeps to be honest!
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Unfortunately, Mark now had to leave the group to get his lad back for work. As his 135i coupe wailed into the distance, we all noticed how different the M135i exhaust sounds to it.
The next leg was then up toward Llanberris, and I think everybody rated this as the best leg.
Hairpin after hairpin, a max speed of 50-60 then back on the brakes. The sun was out now, but it was still cold. I had all 4 windows down, the heater set to max and my heated seat set to 2 - i was just warm enough, but the sound of 6 M135i's howling up the valley was amazing. I was fourth in the convoy and at one T-junction there was a distinctive 'cooking M135i' smell
. mmmm lovely.
I think this is the leg that really made my fuel needle drop!
We got to Llanberris lake, buzzing after the best drive of the day
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We then decided to go and get a proper coffee so headed over to LLanberris centre. However we seemed to be the last tourists in town, and we had the place to ourselves!. So with several artistic directors guiding us, we decided to go for the arty shots
Needless to say, it took a while to get these
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The final leg took us near the Evo Triangle again and back west, with the stunning Llanberris pass to clear first.
We also used the radio's with impressive effect, helping guide overtakes when you would be a bit unsure by yourself. it was a very strange feeling though when Matt and I passed that tractor with Bryn and Dave guiding us.The tractor driver was not impressed!
At this point we neared Betws-y-Coed, our planned Shell fuel stop, and Dave A announced over the radio shall we stop. My range was at 86 miles and I still had quarter of a tank, so I said no. Everybody else agreed and we pressed on….bit of a mistake.
Over the next 20 miles, Bryn and Dave seemed to know the roads and up the pace, this resulted in my range warning coming on at 180 miles (a new personal best,
) it then rapidly headed down to 36 miles with the fuel gauge in free-fall. Matt had 50 miles, and Dave at the front smugly said he still had 70 miles showing! Thankfully at our last stop we came to a petrol station (a Shell luckily, as I had 5p fuel vouchers for everybody) and we took all the pumps up! This was much to the chagrin of a local polo driver who had to wait, and then hurled abuse at Dave and his 'gayer' mates. He then forced another car out of the way, to put his £3 of fuel first…what a dickhead.
We then had a final stop at a pub, with Dave heading off. Followed by Alex on his long drive back to MK. With 4 of us left, we had a drink and chatted about even more car stuff! Never has a diet coke tasted so good! I then limped home, shattered but buzzing at what these amazing cars are really capable off.
Thanks to everybody who came, as it was the people first who made this a epic road trip.
Oh and the cars were absolutely filthy :thumbs:
Tim