Ten Years of Backroads.ie

[Alfaguy]

I just realised (unless I missed it) that the 10th anniversary of Backroads.ie has already passed on the 17/11/22 and hasn't even got a mention? This introduction thread from the archives is obviously from the interim 40 Acres site before it evolved into Backroads. Its been a great resource for all the Octane refugee's but its obvious from looking at that thread that we did loose a lot of the regulars along the way but I suppose life changes and people move on to other things.

Thanks to everyone again for giving their time and effort and I assume money to create this and keep it going and to all the members for contributing their ideas, hopes, problems giving us glimpses of their lives and of course their vehicles and projects.

http://www.backroads.ie/forum/car-re...2-anybody-home

[Ming]

Wow. I didn't realise. It has been a great little community and I suppose the fact that it just meandered past its 10th anniversary shows it has been largely devoid of crises which call into question its viability. The fact that it isn't about making money means no-one is stressed about it, which is great. I think and haven't checked recently that the add banners mean it isn't quite paying its way but it is contributing. During the pandemic it was here I came to for informed views. Not RTE or etc. And some of my best IRL motoring memories have been with people I met here, or EOB.com. Thanks Eamon for putting this thing on the road. Thanks all for contributing. What a nice place this is.

[Speedy]

Holy crap, I was the first poster on here, didn't realise the demise of Octane was 10 years ago :O

We need a reunion.....an excuse to get OI to make some cake : D

[fortytwo]

Cake and track days.... them was the days!

[charlie]

Cake and track days.... them was the days!

What's the cake for. Ballast?

[fast focus]

I think I was just registered before octane's demise. I didn't realise it was that long ago. I always prefered this style of forum. I joined Cruise IRL before I was even able to drive then onto Racershaven and Driver.ie. I had thought at the time it was a great way to look back on builds I was doing over the years little did I know one by one they would all fall. From a time when I spent my weekends going off to cruises up the wicklow mountains, tramore, Limerick etc. Those were some carefree days.

Met an awful lot of lads along the way who are still good friends when we cross paths being in the motor trade they have been a tremendous help to me and I hope I to them on occasion. A lot to be thankful for. I don't think I have managed to get to a lot of backroads events? I have done a few trackdays and one dyno day but not much else. Just doesn't seem like a thing these days which is a pity but it is an older crowd in fairness and older people unfortunately have responsibilitys that youngsters dont.

I wonder if there is care from the people on here maybe towards the summer that a lot of us make a determined effort to make a particular C&C or somthing like that?

Funny enough I often see octane.ie stickers on cars that are in for testing... usually a lotus though.

[Cold]

PH is obviously doing their 25yo anniversary and I was incidentally wondering how long we’ve been running and whether we missed an anniversary. It seems we did! So well done everyone on keeping the place going.

I don’t know if you guys have noticed but the site has gone off line every now and then of late. That’s us running out of space which is a consequence of posts and photos and all that good stuff. Which means there’s life in the old dog. I have to say I enjoy a lot of the variety. Build threads, sh1te about the future of motoring. lots of nice ownership threads, and useful help on pretty much any topic.

Some of us here go back as far as Motorweb. That’s where practically all forums split off from back in the day. I think we attempted to meet up once and it was Ming, JackTDI, and myself. Thank god SteveIRL showed up on the forum scene and showed us how to do it with C&C.

There’s been a lot of characters over the years. Eob of course. Junior who started CruiseIRL. 528i who was involved in various police chases. Gaz who I think started RMS in the North.

[-alan-]

Dear Blessus - a decade, just like that kin'ell Worse when you know many of the repeat offenders from the other places as well.

Happy Anniversary one and all and - despite the very real risk, nay absolute certainty of sounding like a total l1ck@ss - a very big thank to the founders and mods.

[deltona]

Aye, thanks to all those involved who keep the place trucking.

And also to those who share and contribute regularly.

[Gus]

Great place, great people.

[JPW]

Happy Anniversary. I got you all flowers. From a petrol station.

[Flet]

Happy Anniversary one and all and - despite the very real risk, nay absolute certainty of sounding like a total l1ck@ss - a very big thank to the founders and mods.

Well, I for one appreciate that greatly, because the sequence of events between Octane dying and this forum becoming fully established/incorporated/on an IE domain etc. was unbelievably stressful.

Ten years on and the place is humming along nicely.

[8~)]

What was the interim called between Octane and BR, 40 shades of yellow or something?

And happy birthday Backroads.

[Flet]

40 Acres of Yellow.

The couple of us who set it up were at the Ring wan time and on the road between the main car park and the drop down to Breidscheid we came across a caged UK Focus RS which had been flipped into a giant field of lovely yellow rapeseed. In the subsequent Bitburger supernova that took place that evening, giving it yellow became a euphemism for something like what the younger Muricans would now call sending it hard.

The thing is, up to that point the 40 Acres forum only existed for the amusement of the handful of users who were on it. It was a bit of craic, no more but when Octane suddenly died it was able to act as a temporary lifeboat until something better could be patched together and then (if I recall correctly) its data was migrated here.

[8~)]

40 acres...
That's it, didn't know the back story but it makes perfect sense.