"Ban camper vans" are you lot off your rocker?
Whats wrong with camper vans? Otto was pleased to have camper vans at Story, he and Marianne often came the UK rallies in their camper van.
This years NMCR would have been a disaster without all those camper vans, in fact the revenue raised from them was so great that without them the rally would have made a loss. Besides that Alan, I remember you sleeping in your van at rallies in the past!!
Also the one wash basin provided at this years rally would not have been adequate if we had all been tenting.
Get a grip of yourselves and face up to reality, camper vans are part of modern society and in my view a welcome sight at microcar rallies.
Did not say ban them. Chuck them off the event site to a peripheral area where they do not dominate. If folk wish to be boring and watch TV or go to bed early they can do it in private, not inhibit the rest of those present, whinge about noise, fill the bogs up with their effluent and get stuck. Besides it means far less disruption to the Farm as the tent city need less room and makes less impact on the soil.
Otto touring in a campervan on a holiday is not the same as going to Story. As Nick says Otto was not greatly impressed at the state of the event site at the end of 2002 but then it was mainly folk camping who were left on site to know that and help clear up the mess which is telling in itself about commitment.
We are not talking about the standard British 'microcar' rally we are talking of a hypothetical Story Rally. What modern society wants has little to do with it as an idealised event.
It would seem we are not allowed to have even one event without being dominated by Campervans. If as many felt so hotly about really using their cars we would have some great rallies to attend. The fact is, your right, the events have changed and the modern events have little to offer the, now, minority who actually enjoy the camaraderie of driving to and from an event in the cars and either camping or using local accommodation. These guys are out of date and considered a bit weird and embarrassing even. Ultimately to organise against that group is a loss to Microcars, I would suggest, as it still contains a high proportion of people who are prepared to do things rather than arrive to be entertained. Now there is move away from pure Micromounted activity in this old hardcore group, frankly because they are fed up with what is on offer. Who is to provide that entertainment? I do not make the rules up but I can see where it is going. I am sure there will be a series of campervan events folk will enjoy but it will not be an inclusively Micro activity as lots will not attend.
Interestingly without the campervans we would not have been using the NMCR venue this year and would not have needed the large budget. We managed for a long time using camp sites and travelling out over the weekend even to the Sunday rally venue. It opened up many sites unavailable if you include all the support vehicles. You are just proving the damage the campervan and its demands has made to what used to be great fun and now is not such great fun. But I accept it is a lost argument. Adjustments are being made on that basis, though I reserve the right to join them later as I collect my old git credentials from the NHS for my leg. THe last laugh, hey ho!
