just another morning here

Oh yes, there is always something to track, some stats to watch, some challenge to beat, some graph to draw! Since I’ve been driving a bit further to work every day, I have challenged myself to keep track of mpg. In the first tank of fuel, which lasted 2.5 weeks, I drove at the speed limit all the way to work and back, not really paying attention to mpg, more just staying at 70mph all along the dual carriageway.
This returned me a mpg of 54.7 – which I wasn’t happy enough with.

Since then I have been driving more mindfully of mpg and have managed to get the car’s gauge up to 73mpg although I don’t think that will quite match up to the receipt when I fill it up – we will see … whether it will be worth the embarrassment of driving at 50mph all the way to work remains to be seen. Sometimes I really wish I hadn’t started caring about this!
The Insight’s battery isn’t working properly at all at the moment; not really very good for a hybrid. I am hoping that Steve is going to sort it out sometime soon …

Steve’s hillclimb season this year has been very different from before. In the past he’s been quite competitive, tweaking his car here there and everywhere at huge expense, etc etc.

This year, he and his dad took a smaller car (a Toyota Starlet) out and both drove the same car, in a different class to Steve’s subaru. They’ve also only done Sundays, so halving the time and cost commitment, which was good I think Steve has missed the competitive edge; on a couple of occasions when Russ couldn’t make it Steve took the Scooby instead, but otherwise he’s quite enjoyed the slightly more leisurely approach to the sport. They are now talking about ‘what we can do to the Starlet’ though

On Sunday we went up to Mamhead House, which has long been my personal favourite hillclimb venue, simply because it is so beautiful. They also have the best catering by a mile, and the central ’roundabout’ area with marquee at the start line just gives it a wonderful feel. However, sadly, the current owner is putting the estate on the market, and so it’s uncertain whether Torbay Motor Club will be able to use the venue again as it will depend on the buyer.

Anyway, it was an early start, and a long day – but the sun eventually came out and I had a lovely time sitting around, chatting with acquaintances, reading my book, and watching the motorsport. I’ve only made it to one other event this season so it was really nice to be there. We left the children at home for the day, because none of them wanted to come, but Grandma kindly took them out for a picnic lunch so they weren’t too bored. Because Mamhead is so close to us, Russ and Steve both took their own cars, so there was plenty for me to watch. It was Russ’s first time at the venue and he did well to improve his time throughout the day. Steve came second in his class, leaving first place to one of his rivals

We decided it was fitting to have a photo, anyway … one of the nicest photos of Steve and I in recent years was also taken at Mamhead in its first year … and we’ve had a few nice days there over the years.

If only we could afford to buy the house … !!

Not stopping when I knew I was tired

Totally my own fault (reminiscent of another accident a few years ago … not mine, I hasten to add). Luckily no-one was hurt, neither of us, nor the driver of the truck that I clipped on the way round. I was driving Anna to Bryanston where she was due to be for a week’s music residential. We got there eventually and she hadn’t missed much, so she decided to stay. She managed to borrow a bassoon as hers had flown out of the car and got damaged, so we left her there. This evening she has been very wobbly and wanted to come home but that was before tea and a good night’s sleep, both of which we’ve encouraged her to have, and hopefully she’ll feel better in the morning. The people there are being lovely and looking after her very well, but if you’re the praying sort, please pray that she gets through the night and feels that she can stay for the week.

I have had my knuckles rapped for the sponsored post below – cars aren’t quite as cute as dolls, and I don’t notice Steve Clarke doing a giveaway on his website – but he does have a rather nifty £1000 minimum part exchange scheme running at Steve Clarke Cars in Exeter, and some other nice shiny cars available at BMWestcountry, so I suppose he grudgingly deserves a mention And if you would like to share his links on facebook it’s probably useless unless you live in Devon … but feel free anyway!

(There, Steve, was that good enough? )