The new mo'cycle track seems to have ruinned MB for ever, it's now a souless dustbowl and it ain't never coming back.
It's not often I disagree with my learned (and older
) friend, but on this occasion I protest!
MB had lost a lot of character this year, but I firmly believe that was because it had lost a lot of it's regular characters and big CA groups!!! (i.e. Team Zarse, Liverpool Boys, The Brethren, Melans, Lawnmower Man/Doris, SPS, Big H's Crowd, Stu, Robspot's Lot, Rick and Steve Cutler, Delboy's Crowd, Lorry's Group, etc etc etc and sorry if I've missed anybody!!)
Add to that the fact that the groups that were still on there were nowhere near each other (for the last five years we've always been directly next to at least 3 CA groups) and it all added up to a strange one. The fact that a lot of the groups had emigrated to HA/Bleu etc so had further to walk to the previous focul point of all CA activity (i.e. Drinking for Holland's Pitch) made it even stranger. Part of the comfortable feel of Le Mans for the past years has been to be able to wander around the campsite and meet up with other CA members and be invited into their site for a beer/low flyer.
IMHO, the bike track around MB meant it was far from a dust bowl!! Having had very hot or very wet years over the last three or four years, a solid road surface all round the campsite was in fact a pleasure to drive around and our "kit" came home in good condition and didn't need the usual "de-dusting". The fact that they installed a one way system so you drove into the site through the normal entrance and out through a new/different route made it really easy to get in and out!
That said, I am sure that Houx Annexe was agreat site as well.
All I would like to see, so that we can all have a great time, is a major allocation so that we can all try to get on the same site. I don't care which site that is! If the way to ensure it is to have an allocation of 80(??) numbered pitches for MB through DfH's agency then I don't think we should rule it out! If anyone can get the same sort of allocation for HA then that would be great as it's almost half the price!
