Journey - In Cambridge
Mark S
And so it was that at 12.41 on Monday 5th July did the weighbridge at Madingley Mulch pronounce one white Citroën C15D van, by the
registration mark of L852 MFL, to be 400kg overweight – weighing in at nearly two tonnes. Mark and Olly were not best pleased, the
previous days and morning having been spent cramming Expo goods into every nook and cranny about the van.
It was a combination of the appalling handling and the measly < 1cm of suspension clearance at the rubber stop which persuaded us to
have the van weighed. It was clearly far more overweight than in previous years – so much so that it was more than 200kg over the
total maximum load on the tyres!
We returned to the Tackle Store having summoned Martin and Dave, and soon began the tedious task of emptying about 300kg of shit out of
the van – each item being monotonously weighed on Martin's bathroom scales. Many, many phone calls ensued and after various silly
plans (including driving to Expo and then coming back the next day for a second load, utilising a cheap day return on the ferry from
Calais!) we settled on a haulier who would transport it to Munich for 300 quid. Not too bad in fact, given it would cost well over 200
quid to do the two-drives plan. (In fact, subsequently a cheaper company were found.) We declined one company's quote of three thousand
pounds, refilled the van with lighter items and set off for Milton Tesco's, to collect journey food. At about 5.40pm all was ready (minus
the various tasks which we hadn't had time to do due to the massive hiatus). We set off for Earl's place and arrived without mishaps,
planning to leave for Dover at 4am. Expo had begun.
