Low Loader

So as you'll have quickly identified, day 4 of the Club Triumph 10 Countries run didn't pan out exactly as we hoped. After yesterday afternoon's problems, we knew today wasn't going to be easy. Leaving Ulm we needed to travel through Germany, France, Luxemburg, Belgium and onto the finish in the Netherlands this evening. We told our friends to crack on to the finish and not wait for us.

We decided our safest option was to stay off the motorways avoiding the risk of tricky breakdowns. Running like this we got to France with a few cooling down stops along the way. It was slow but picturesque. With time ticking on we went for the motorway but were soon in trouble so it was back to the country route. The cooling down stops after lunch became more frequent as the day got hotter. Eventually after 1900 miles of driving, and frustratingly only 200 miles from the finish, we threw in the towel. We're sure the car would have made it eventually to the finish, and we're sure the fault is not a major one, but we're not mechanically experienced enough to fix it. We also recognised that after the finish, we still had a lot of miles to do to get home tomorrow.

We had the trauma of seeing the car going on a low loader; it will be repatriated soon the insurance company promised. We must admit we felt more than a bit sad leaving it.

For us it's an unexpected hotel stay (well at least in terms of the location) and then various forms of transport to get home tomorrow.

It's been a fabulous trip and we've loved every minute of it. The car has come from a non-runner earlier this year to doing a massive number of miles over the last 4 days including breathtaking mountain climbs and descents. Well done little car - we will be back!