Green Lane trip - Dover

[binge]

Bit late, but thought I'd share it anyway.
GF bought me a GoPro for Christmas. It's the first time I really got to use it.
Early last week, I made a post on Facebook asking who is up for a bit of laning a the weekend.
Tagged a few mates in it, who then tagged their mates. Before I knew it, there were shares on an Essex offroad page, and quite a lot of convo going on.

It boiled down to a meet at McD/Esso carpark in Dover (on the A2) at 10am.
I got there for 9.40ish, aired down my tyres, and grabbed a coffee with my pal Bobb while we waited for trucks to turn up.

Morning:


























And then linkey to my video:

https://vimeo.com/115928906


Was a very good turn out.
Was good to see a pretty standard (Muds and lift) Vitara make a couple of challenge trucks look silly at one point (Some of it is in the video).

I stayed quite humble throughout the day. Lanes were new to me, they were pretty difficult at some points. I didn't get stuck, but my mate Brandon in the white Vitara convertible (in front of me most of the video) got stuck now and then, but nothing a little nudge didn't sort out.
I was massively impressed at how 'ready' a Suzuki really is. That truck is 100% standard, it even has normal road/AT tyres fitted. And it did so well!

[donkeychomp]

Neat! What exactly is a Vitara Sport?

[Anton]

Wish I could've gone! That looks great!

[ScottieJ]

Looks like a good day but I really hope you all split up into smaller groups while you were laning, it looks like you didn't. Laning in huge convoys gives the anti's ammunition against us and can increase the chance of getting lanes closed. 4-6 vehicles is the max if you are following the Green lane code, it really is best to split up, maybe choose a few meeting points along the way and try to drive different routes if possible.

Please lane responsibly, our hobby is at risk as it is.
http://www.suzukiclubuk.co.uk/greenlaning

Please follow the links to tread lightly and GLASS and have a read.

[binge]

Pikeys are the reason we get a bad name. A fleet of legal, TAX'd and Insured trucks aint giving the hobby/sport a bad name at all.
And you're never going to stop the gypsy/traveler crowd ripping through farmers fields and trashing out lanes.

[ScottieJ]

Sorry but that is a really bad attitude to have And You say that when in one part of the video the boundary of the lane you are on is marked by wooden posts and loads of members are driving on the wrong side of them IN the farmers field... and then a bit later people are playing around in some woods off piste!!!!!! Exactly what gives 4x4s a bad name and gets lanes closed. we have had loads of nice local lanes closed around here for those exact reasons! I don't want to have a go but whoever lead that group needs to rethink their laning practices and all of the guys who went along should actually look into how at risk green laning is in the UK.

I went to a meeting regarding some of our local lanes recently as they are at risk of being closed because of damage from heavy use and while the local residents don't want to see them closed they also don't like the huge fleets of 4x4s that sometimes come through the villages as they view it as lots of vehicles = lots of damage. It's not hard to split a group up into smaller groups and meet up at certain points along the route during the day.

Please go and read the GLASS and tread lightly websites especially this page http://www.treadlightly-uk.org/index.ph ... &Itemid=28

[NylonAdmiral]

Never heard the situation blamed on pikeys before...

Come on guys, this isn't exactly responsible laning. Large groups of vehicles in convoys is well documented as inappropriate among all the organisations which are fighting to keep our rights of way open to motor vehicles.

Like Scottie says, read the guidance from GLASS, LARA, TRF, Treadlightly or countless other organisations which campaign to keep our hobby going.

[Ju]

I would definitely join GLASS to give money to the cause and so you can get the handbook to read. Laning should be done responsibly, we are a minority so we need to act responsibly so the less ammunition we can give the better. If you want a big group go to a pay and play.

[dan_2k_uk]

Agree strongly with everything above.

Going out in a large group of vehicles is quite ridiculous.
Then coming and boasting about it on a public forum is even more so!!

Please relay this back to everyone in your group and lane responsibly next time!!

[twiss]

Wow I'm really surprised you would come and post this on Suzuki Club UK... most people on here are strong advocates of legal and responsible laning...
Taking so many trucks out is very irresponsible as others have said above... especially down some of those tracks which are clearly ruined already. Im sure the land owner of that big field is pissed off enough at the state of his field without having a fleet of 4x4s driving though it!
At this rate everywhere will end up like west sussex... 7 miles of byways in a 769 sq mile area.