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Weekend of Doom
Nov. 29th, 2009 08:35 pmSaturday: Much of the day was taken up by Tom (WINOLJ)'s stag do, which involved first going here to race buggies. We were slightly daunted initially by the wind, zero temperature and snow on the ground, but dammit, we'd already paid for this and we were going to see it through! I'm so glad we did, because it was tremendous fun :o)
We had three activities and about an hour on each. First up were Power Turns - no steering, just an engine on each side and two throttle levers - which we had to manoeuvre around a track between low white poles (I mentioned the snow, right?). Let's just say they need to buy a few new poles...
Second was quad biking over a rough terrain course, and I was reminded how much I love quad bikes. I think it's because they are so incredibly simple to control. They're about my level. I also found myself struck by a childish desire to splash through all the puddles and go over all the bumps and hillocks.
We were in Rage Buggies for our final stint. Nothing fancy here, just a flat-ish circular track and very fast buggies. They had accelerator and brake pedals like a normal car, though we all quickly decided that the brake was for wimps. This led to a certain amount of sliding round corners and belting it through potholes and puddles at top speed. Oh, and the track was unbelievably muddy, which allowed us all to gain new appreciation of the phrase, "Eat dirt!" By the time we were done we were all plastered from head to toe and indistinguishable from the track itself.
It was time trials rather than racing head-to-head. Because we were a big group they split us into two teams. I'm pleased to say the team I was on trounced the stag's team in all three events, and I didn't do too shoddily myself. My lap time on the Power Turns was a respectable 1:19, including a 15-second penalty for taking out three poles. That put me third in our team of six (best and worst times were 0:58 and 1:42). For the quads we were scored for handling over the trek course, and I got 10/10 (The judges being more than slightly generous here). And our relay time on the Rage Buggies was a blinding 10:01 over 14 laps, including compulsory pit stops to change drivers every two laps.
After a quick trip home to shower, brush the mud out of my teeth (!) and change, we all met up again for a meal at Bella Italia at Centertainment. This was certainly the first time I'd had Italian-style duck (marinaded in a plum sauce and served with penne and mushrooms). It was nice, but I'm not sure I'd have it again.
After the meal, most of the rest went off to do bowling then go to the dog track, neither of which are really my sort of thing, so instead I joined what was left of the monthly D&D session. As I turned up, my character had just taken 21 points of damage, been knocked off his pteranodon and was slowly being eaten by worms. Thanks guys. I suggested I go straight home, but I stuck around and we had fun killing monsters, nicking stuff and dinging to 9th level.
Sunday: Today I went with the Chiverses to Buxton to meet up with![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mathcathy, who I don't get to see nearly often enough. We had a pleasant wander around town, including the Pavillion Gardens and various shops selling cool toys. We also had a very nice (and filling!) lunch at Lone Star, which I recommend if you find yourself in the area.
I got home about 5pm to find out that tonight's roleplaying was cancelled. This is fortunate, for I am well and truly knackered.
*collapses*
We had three activities and about an hour on each. First up were Power Turns - no steering, just an engine on each side and two throttle levers - which we had to manoeuvre around a track between low white poles (I mentioned the snow, right?). Let's just say they need to buy a few new poles...
Second was quad biking over a rough terrain course, and I was reminded how much I love quad bikes. I think it's because they are so incredibly simple to control. They're about my level. I also found myself struck by a childish desire to splash through all the puddles and go over all the bumps and hillocks.
We were in Rage Buggies for our final stint. Nothing fancy here, just a flat-ish circular track and very fast buggies. They had accelerator and brake pedals like a normal car, though we all quickly decided that the brake was for wimps. This led to a certain amount of sliding round corners and belting it through potholes and puddles at top speed. Oh, and the track was unbelievably muddy, which allowed us all to gain new appreciation of the phrase, "Eat dirt!" By the time we were done we were all plastered from head to toe and indistinguishable from the track itself.
It was time trials rather than racing head-to-head. Because we were a big group they split us into two teams. I'm pleased to say the team I was on trounced the stag's team in all three events, and I didn't do too shoddily myself. My lap time on the Power Turns was a respectable 1:19, including a 15-second penalty for taking out three poles. That put me third in our team of six (best and worst times were 0:58 and 1:42). For the quads we were scored for handling over the trek course, and I got 10/10 (The judges being more than slightly generous here). And our relay time on the Rage Buggies was a blinding 10:01 over 14 laps, including compulsory pit stops to change drivers every two laps.
After a quick trip home to shower, brush the mud out of my teeth (!) and change, we all met up again for a meal at Bella Italia at Centertainment. This was certainly the first time I'd had Italian-style duck (marinaded in a plum sauce and served with penne and mushrooms). It was nice, but I'm not sure I'd have it again.
After the meal, most of the rest went off to do bowling then go to the dog track, neither of which are really my sort of thing, so instead I joined what was left of the monthly D&D session. As I turned up, my character had just taken 21 points of damage, been knocked off his pteranodon and was slowly being eaten by worms. Thanks guys. I suggested I go straight home, but I stuck around and we had fun killing monsters, nicking stuff and dinging to 9th level.
Sunday: Today I went with the Chiverses to Buxton to meet up with
mathcathy, who I don't get to see nearly often enough. We had a pleasant wander around town, including the Pavillion Gardens and various shops selling cool toys. We also had a very nice (and filling!) lunch at Lone Star, which I recommend if you find yourself in the area.I got home about 5pm to find out that tonight's roleplaying was cancelled. This is fortunate, for I am well and truly knackered.
*collapses*
