Area Groups Section- Suggestion box and requests

Just read this thread. Nice idea. But I bet no Londoners will meet up. What is it about Londoners

cherrybomb":2e61laix said:

Dr S":2e61laix said:

The northern region on Rekiborter's map is a problem too- a member in Berwick upon Tweed will be a 460 mile round trip away from Chester in the bottom corner of the same area.

Si

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That's the same with the original map too surely? I still think the three northern English regions make no sense logistically. It would make far more sense to split region 3 between regions 4 & 5.

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Looking down on a map I can completely see your point, but getting from area 3 to areas 4 and 5 are not as easy as mere map inches would suggest- take a look at the UK's road and in particularly its Motorway network.
Reki's map had one large area taking in Northumberland across to Cumbria then down through Lancs to Cheshire. Thats areas 3 and 4 of my proposed map combined. Its a huge area to cover. The top half of 3 (Cumbria) could be added to 4 (North East) but there is the countries physical attributes to be taken into account, the Penines split the north in half as i'm sure you are aware- Carlisle and the Lakes can be a 2 hour run from even the southern parts of the North East due to the lack of money that gets spent on road infrastructure up here, the A69 is the only route accross and is slow and has heavy traffic.
Also travelling from the end of Cornwall into Wessex and the Bristol and Bath areas are a pain and can take lots of time, hence a separate Devon and Cornwall group
Likewise the separation of Yorks and the NW group was brought about by the Penines, its slow going getting over them via the busy passes or the dreaded M62.
I do a lot of driving around the country and taking journey times into consideration was one of the many things I considered when making my proposals. Personally I'm easy- I don't mind driving so am happy with whatever form the areas take. I'm just trying to help.

There has been plenty of debate regarding the Northern areas, how down the Southern folk feel about the proposals? Its been pretty quiet.

I'm not trying to say my way is best- far from it, its just I have given this much though over the last month and have looked towards established clubs in the classic car and rallying world to see how they have divvy'd up the nation. These clubs have operated like this for years and will have been through this painful birth at some point and ended up with a practical solution.

Please keep your suggestions coming, have a go at doing maps, post them up and next week we can take a vote and get this nailed down.

Cheers

Si

In Scotland I would put the mull of Kintyre and the Island of Arran in the Northern Scotland section despite their southern location as they have more in common with the Highlands than the Lowlands and are just as remote.
Alternatively put them both in the Scots central belt region but not half and half as the map shows. On Arran it seems daft to have the small Town of Lochranza in the North in a seperate group from the Main towns such as Brodick.

Alternatively ignore all I've just said as Central Government usually does concerning the outer regions.

MacRetro are planning a trip to Arran next year, if theyre in our area we cannot tread on anyones toes

I'd agree with everything you've said about travelling across the Northern part of the country, it's a right royal pain in the arse.

I still don't think area three works though because it is an equally difficult journey from North to South. Living just below the southern boundary of area three I know how likely I would be to travel to Carlisle for an area meeting for instance.

I don't have an answer honestly except maybe splitting the area into two which creates as many problems as it solves probably. I do have one observation though. When I lived in Liverpool it was a much easier run down to North Wales for the day than up into the Lakes.

I like Macretro as it is - a one nation area, I just think we need to be more flexible as to where we plan meets, i.e. more up the A9 or aberdeenshire, but that is down to individuals planning those meets (including me )

Scottish members are spread out anyway and our meets are never really more than 5 or 6 despite our growing membership.

We have great distances to travel and crap road linking, people will turn up where and when thay can.

"If you build it they will come" ...we just need more 7 stanes further north.

As a southerner now, the area seams fine but we have roads rather than the dirt tracks that they have in the north and getting around at the weekend is usually OK.

cherrybomb":3brfz8gr said:

I'd agree with everything you've said about travelling across the Northern part of the country, it's a right royal pain in the arse.

I still don't think area three works though because it is an equally difficult journey from North to South. Living just below the southern boundary of area three I know how likely I would be to travel to Carlisle for an area meeting for instance.

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When you consider the prime riding spots in area 3 though it makes more sense. Forest of Bowland is a hour from anywhere in that area as is the Penines, the Lakes a little longer. Whereas travelling from Yorks to Bowland is a long haul as is the lakes from Berwick up in area 4. granted Liverp[ool to the lakes can be a bind but bloody good riding when you get there!
The main reason for the area groups is to have bigger better attended rides and events. You wouldn't drive for 2 hours for a few pints and a natter down the pub or an hour round the local woods- this will contiue as it has always done on a more local level.

Sorry i split Arran and the Islands in two- slip of the biro. Do we have any Islanders present??

As for stepping on other groups patch- thats not a big deal. The North Easterners are in Dalby this weekend- Yorkshire soil and its been handy to have Gil give us local help and weather updates, one of the benefits of having a structure like this in place.

Si

Hows this idea going? Are the mods still looking into it?

theboy":2f5hne37 said:

would it not make more sense to combine the top of area 3 with 4 and then 5 with the bottom of 3, that way Lancashire and Yorkshire could be together at last

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oh yeah! and we'll chuck Germany in with Great Britain shall we! Sacrilege!

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think how much the cool bike quota would go up tho

What is the latest with this??

Would love to see somemore local-ish rides coming up?