Day 16 - June 27, Bayan Hot to Hohhot and Day 17 - June 28, Hohhot to Beijing and the Great Wall of China

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.


Yesterday: 740km (of which 121km Special Section)
Today: 616km

They think it's all over ....... WELL IT IS NOW !!

Patricia phoned earlier today, from the Great Wall of China !

The Rally is over and she made it safe and sound.

Yesterday's stage was tough again, with the dunes relentless until the end. It was the final Special Stage and Patricia had a really good one. She came 23rd on the day. This resulted in her final overall position being a fantastic 19th.

After 3 countries, 17 days and 10,000km, only 38 bikes finished the Rally of the 58 that started. So Patricia was in the top third of the field. Who said girls cannot map read? Not me !

Today there was no Special Section, "just" the final 616km drive to the Great Wall, where the Rally finished. The Chinese people welcomed the whole event with enthusiasm and warmth. When Patricia phoned, she said the vehicles had been put in the collection zone (ready to be chucked on a boat for the sea journey back) and they were all unpacking boxes from the van, packing them back up, then unpacking them, then..... hang on, this is sounding familiar, was it really 19 days ago that similar scenes were going on in St Petersburg?!

Patricia has reported the smog in Beijing is indeed "very smoggy" (I guess it will blow away for the Olympics, once they shut all the factories next month) and that the part of today's journey that was on a bus, was the most dangerous section of the whole Rally.

Other news:

- Simon Pavey had a stunning final Special, coming in 7th on the day (!!), which made up for his sustained BMW problems throughout the Rally - on TV he said it was the
first "incident free day he had had" - well done Simon, who came in one step and just a few minutes ahead of Patricia overall - in 18th position.

- Colin Askey, the third member of the team, also finished the Rally, coming in 31st overall.

- The Support crew made it in one piece and so did the van - so well done to Linley, Hebert and Bernie. I expect there will be some great stories to tell from "the van".

- Overall 38 bikes out of 58 starters finished (65%), the only Quad finished, 29 cars out of 48 starters finished (60%) and 14 trucks out of 31 starters finished (45%).

- Statistically speaking therefore, cars are tougher than trucks and bikes are tougher than cars ! It would also seem that girls are tougher than most men and KTMs are
tougher than every other motorbike.

Patricia sends her best wishes and thanks to everyone who has been following these newsletters and sending their kind thoughts via me or direct over the ether!

I would also like to thank everyone who enjoyed the newsletter, especially those who provided feedback, which kept me highly amused. In particular I would like to thank the following:

Annette - who's faith in everything German is touching and extremely patriotic. I just hope your boys can live up to your hopes tomorrow ! England promise to join in next
time, so it can be a proper football competition.

Angelika - who refuses to accept that BMW's are rubbish, and maintains that the Aussie rider is to blame. Angelika, 90% of the bikes that finished were KTMs !

Patricia - for phoning through updates everyday, even when she must have been too tired to stand up.

Shreedevi - for keeping the blog up to date with all these updates stored on it.

Geology - for making such a stunning landscape through which the Rally travelled.

Finally, lets not forget the two guys that died on the Rally - one through stopping to help another driver and the second because of irresponsible truck driving.

Patricia and the rest of the team will be back home on Tuesday night, in the UK and Germany. We wish them all a safe journey and we salute them all !!!

Over and Out......that's it folks !!

PS : I just noticed that registrations are open on the website for the TransOrientale 2009. Angelika - get your BMW out, book yourself in ..... and prove me wrong !

Day 15 - June 26, Alxa Youqui to Bayan Hot

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.

589km (of which 202km Special Section)

It would seem that the English translation of the Chinese word "Bayan" might be "Very".

Yesterday's stage (sorry I'm a bit behind) ended in a place called Bayan Hot. Patricia said it was "indeed very hot" (polite translation).

More importantly, the dunes were not as big as the previous few days.

They were bigger !! I saw them on TV and they were indeed like small mountains (well what we Brits, who live in East Anglia, would call a mountain anyway!). Apparently yesterday's stage did in fact go through the highest dunes in the world, so we can definitely say "it cannot get worse". Not only were they high, but also quite soft - so people were getting stuck all over the place - not aided by having 15 days of effort in their bodies. There were also lakes amongst the dunes - amazing scenery.

Patricia got to camp OK though, and I got a text when she went to bed - her tent was "between a party and a generator" - sounds perfect for someone who cannot sleep if a tap is dripping 2 floors down !! Anyway, she sounded in good spirits although exhausted.

Her position for the day was 21st, but she had moved up to 19th overall - which makes her in the top 1/3rd of the field !!

I'm not sure I can stretch much more news from a 15 word text !

However, if you would like an update on items submitted to the newsroom, here we go:

1. From Mr Tomlin : unprintable, because even I am not that brave...

2. From Louise : "Patricia, I am toasting your health from No1 court at Wimbledon" ..... its alright for some !!!

3. From Werner : "I did a presentation on Feedstock Price Developments at work today. My management will not be submitting it for your list of German achievements."

4. From Annette (in Germany): "Would you mind putting our football team on your list?" ... actually I would, because its not a real competition this year is it !? Annette, you know how to hurt a man....

And finally, from Patricia's sister.... Angelika:

"Did you just write "Patricia could make immediate repairs" ? Now this is getting really scary. Especially with the result that the bike continued to work. And, your analysis of Austrian vs. German superiority has to include the rider - it is never the bike alone. Simon is an Aussie after all. How can you expect any vehicle in the world to cope with that?"

Angelika then claimed to be from the European football nation !! I'm cutting my distribution list down !

Finally, back to business...... Patricia has actually finished Day 16 as well, as I write this.... but other than telling you she is safe and tucked up in bed again, you'll have to wait until tomorrow for the next update in this story .....

Over and Out......

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

For those of you unable to tune in to Motors TV, there is a video clip of each days action on the Rally website at http://www.transorientale.com/medias/video.php

Day 14 - June 25, Quinguan to Alxa Youqui

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.

636 km (of which 286km Special Section)

More dunes today ..... just as big, but very hot (51 degrees) ..... due to non cloudy conditions !!

The rally is now in Inner Mongolia.

Yes, there were indeed more dunes today, as promised, but also some pretty fast sections. From what I could see on Motors TV, the dunes were softer sand than previous days, which meant more "falling off" problems for the bikers. Navigation also looked like a challenge.

Despite the heat, Patricia sounded happy with her day - which she described as "uneventful and with no navigation issues". She said there was a bad sand storm at lunchtime - so I guess they had sandwiches to eat - literally.

The day started late, due to a local truck spilling its load across the motorway and holding up the rally vehicles for 2 hours, before the special began. In the end, they began at midday as the temperatures tipped 50 degrees.

Patricia had some good fortune, in that she got stuck in a dune and went to the top to survey her options. On returning to her bike she noticed the radiator was boiling over and so could make immediate repairs - rather than not noticing it (whilst riding) and causing permanent damage to the engine.

Apparently Simon's BMW was not faring so well in the heat and needed continuous "love and attention" to get it through the day. It would seem the KTMs are generally much happier in the hot weather. The fact that KTM's are Austrian and BMW's are German means we cannot yet add motorbikes to our growing list of German achievements.

24th position for the day, means Patricia is still at 21st overall.

Over and Out....

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

For those of you unable to tune in to Motors TV, there is a video clip of each days action on the Rally website at http://www.transorientale.com/medias/video.php

Day 13 - June 24, Hami to Quinguan

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.

727 km (of which 436km Special Section)

More dunes today ..... just as big, but not as hot ..... due to cloudy conditions. Patricia sounded a lot happier about this ! Today was reckoned to be the most beautiful of all stages - blue rocks and blue sand. The competitors have been informed that there are more dunes tomorrow, but as there obviously cannot be that much sand in the world, Patricia thinks it is just a wind up.

27th position for the day, means Patricia is still at 21st overall.

For those of you unable to tune in to Motors TV, there is a video clip of each days action on the Rally website at http://www.transorientale.com/medias/video.php

I have extracted some photos from the website - see attached powerpoint presentation, which includes some pictures of Patricia in St Petersburg, then some stunning library shots from the Rally itself. Wow ! The file is 4Mbit, so it may not come through to everyone - in which case, you can look at the Gallery on the website itself if you wish...

Your reporter thoroughly enjoys the regular correspondence from the global readership of this newsletter. Especially if the sentiments are recommending a knighthood, a pay-rise or ...... are simple comments of re-assurance about the sense of humour employed herein. Informative comments are also welcome.

For example, Annette from Germany has asked me add to my list of German achievements, which currently includes motorways, cars, beer and sausages - the important fifth dimension ..... GIRLS. I should be the last person to make such an omission and no doubt punishment will be swift and painful on the 2nd of July when Patricia lands at Stansted from Beijing !

Thank you as well for the good wishes to Patricia you are sending through - these are all passed on to her. You can also send her emails direct ... as she seems to have access most nights.

Over and Out....

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Day 12 - June 23, Turfan to Hami

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally Progress.

513 km (of which 414km Special Section)

The first of the "Big Dune" days arrived with 100m high dunes. For those watching Motors TV, the scale of the dunes was obvious. The secenery following the dunes was unique and breath-taking as the rally sped east through flat desert, peppered with huge rock buttresses.

One truck overturned as it crested a dune and tried to avoid a motorcyclist. Several cars were stuck as they failed to crest the dunes at adequate speed.

The heat was intense and the water supplies were inadequate or late arriving at check-points. On TV, the effect of the heat / lack of water was obvious on Patricia - she was visibly fed-up. However, she finished the day and reported in to our Newsroom on time and with spirits high.

24th position for the day, means Patricia is still at 21st overall.

If you are passing through Angola tomorrow, turn on the TV as the local TV station is running a half hour special on Patricia in the Rally !!

(Apology: We understand that one of our readers has complained about inaccuracies in our reporting. The specific complaint arose because of our earlier suggestion that motorways in China are better than those in Germany. This suggestion was based upon the observations of one of our Field Agents, which, following legal advice, we now accept cannot be the basis for such a sweeping generalisation. We therefore retract our comment and furthermore acknowledge that it is simply impossible for any country to build better roads than Germany. Or make better cars. Or brew better beer. Or make better sausages. We apologise for any distress that we may have caused.)

(Not the) BBC World Service
China

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Day 11 - June 22, Rest Day

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress and sleep updates.

0 km (of which 0km Special Section), Room 7456, Hotel Luxurious

zzzz zzzz zzzz zzzz ...........

Day 10 - June 21, Karamay to Turfan

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.

782 km (of which 431km Special Section, cut short to 100km)

Just had an update from Patricia who has finished Day 10 safely and is now firmly established in a luxury hotel for tonight and the rest day tomorrow.

Sounds like China is impressing Patricia. I know you may not believe the following story is impossible, but I can assure you it is true:

Patricia is claiming that the motorways and infrastructure in China are a lot better than Kazakstan (very believable), better than Russia (believable), better than the UK (unfortunately believable), but get this ...... they are even better than.......Germany !

No, it can't be, her judgement has finally flipped. Motorways do not come better than Germany. Apparently, final proof came in the hotel bathroom - where they have proper mixer taps ...... "unlike the UK" .....

Hmm.. sounds like communism is working wonders in this part of China - which has nothing to do with the oil fields they are driving through of course.

Other news includes the fact that Coca Cola seems to be considered a Class A drug in China - people actually take the cans away from you if they see you drinking it and give you a lecture on healthy living ! Come on Atlanta, you've let down the side of Global Brand Omnipotence - pull your finger out. Patricia will be telling us next, that she cannot see a McDonalds either !!

OK, that is the geopolitical news over, back to the Rally....

The special section was cut short from 431km to 100km today because the Chinese decided they did not want people riding through a certain part of the country (no explanation offered). There was a lot of waiting around as "The Organisation" still seems to be struggling with logistics. One US competitor has pulled out after the fatal accident, feeling the infrastructure is not in place to cope with emergencies. Patricia does not seem too fazed, but I think is relieved that the Assistance van and her Dad have now caught up with her. I will make no comment about her Dad appearing just as they check into a five star hotel. (That is english dry humour by the way, before all of Patricia's family disown me for dishonouring Herbert!).

The Kamaz (Russian) team have pulled out of the Rally. It was a Kamaz truck that killed No.42. The locals were becoming increasingly aggressive towards the team who really did not seem to appreciate why it mattered that they had squashed an innocent rider stone dead. The truck driver was still complaining bitterly that he got an informal warning for the incident .... as he revved his truck up and headed back towards Moscow. Apparently Kamaz were also last in the truck ranking, so it was also more commercially honourable to pull out, than lose !

Tomorrow is rest day, so I expect much sleeping will be on the agenda in China....

Thats it for now folks.....

BBC World Service
China

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Day 9 - June 20, Ayaguz to Karamay (China)

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress

528 km (of which 82km Special Section)

Today the Rally crossed into China and into stunning landscape. For the riders, the border seems to have presented little bureaucracy, but unfortunately one of the rally cars hit a pedestrian in Kazakstan and the border was immediately closed whilst the incident was investigated. All the support crews were stuck on the wrong side of the border.

Due to the slow speed of the support convoy, it is now 4 nights since Patricia has actually seen her Dad/mechanic - but other riders have helped to do essential bike maintenance and tyre changes.

When Patricia called tonight (10.30pm local time), she was in her sleeping bag - the first time it had caught up with her in 4 days..... in a tent that is not waterproof ... in the pouring rain. I'm not 100% familiar with German expletives, but I think I heard a few being muttered !

Some good news, in addition to the stunning landscape, is as follows:

- Patricia had a great day on the Special Section - due to altering the angle of her trip meter, which in turn meant she could navigate whilst standing up on the bike, and hence drive faster (umm....yes apparently going faster is good news! What happened to "I just want to finish?!") - she came 14th in today's Special out of 47 riders who seem to remain in the rally. She is still 21st overall.

- Tomorrow is the last day before rest-day on Sunday, which is not a moment too soon , as tonight she sounded completely exhausted.

Sounds like it might be worth watching Motors TV tonight, to see "riders weaving between small hills, cut through by little fjords", and possibly catching a glimpse of No.22.

Teaboy
BBC Cambridgeshire Newsroom

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Online progress of each stage is allegedly going to be available on the www.transorientale.com website, although it is still not working from what I can see. I might be the only person in the world who cannot get it working, so feel free to try for yourself.

Day 8 - June 19, Botakara to Ayaguz

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.

729 km (of which 446 km Special Section)

Today (Day 8) was the longest special section of the Rally - but in fantastic terrain according to Patricia : "Great Fun". Patricia's trip-meter broke off it's fitting today which means she had to hold it on while she rode along. It is key to navigation. That should be fixed tonight by the team. I spoke to Patricia this evening about 10.30pm their time, and the organisation vehicles were still not at camp and no-one seemed to have an ETA. It seems the logistics of this Rally are causing as many problems for the organisation as for the riders!

Patricia was 21st in today's special section, placing her 21st overall to date, of a remaining 51 riders in the Rally.

Sorry for the brevity of this report, but information is getting thinner the further East they progress - as phone reception becomes unreliable. Overall progress is good, with largely minor issues on the bike and careful attention to navigation paying off. Touch wood.

Over and Out,

Your humble and intermittent reporter.

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Online progress of each stage is allegedly going to be available on the www.transorientale.com website, although it is still not working from what I can see. I might be the only person in the world who cannot get it working, so feel free to try for yourself.

Day 7 - June 18, Arkalik to Botakara

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress. Posted June 19 2008.

692 km (No Special Section)

Yesterday's special section was cancelled, due largely to disorganisation resulting from the tragedies from the day before. This made the day relatively straight-forward for Patricia, from a riding point of view, although it seems that the organisation trucks and assistance vehicles are arriving in the camp after the riders - which is meaning all the work seems to happen between 10pm and 3am, including about 3 hrs for sleep!

The good news is that the Assistance Van was repaired yesterday, with a new shock absorber.

Story on the death of No 42 seems to be that the truck saw him, sounded the Sentinel and he heard that. The impatient truck came up close behind him, as he tried to manoeuvre the bike out of the deep rutted track they were on. He was climbing the side of the rut, but didn't make it and slid back into the rut (still riding). However it was too late, the truck driver had assumed he would make it out of the rut and put his foot down in anticipation. In most places that would be called "Causing Death by Dangerous Driving", but on a Rally it is called an "accident" and not even a time penalty was administered to the truck driver. Astonishing!

Day 6 - June 17, Bogotse to Arkalik

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.

705 km (of which 328km Special Section)

The Eagle guards the entrance to Kazakstan - the image of foreboding proved horribly accurate.....

Today, one of the racing trucks hit French motorcyclist (Tonin No. 42) and he was killed, despite medical services being on-site within minutes. This accident is under investigation. The bikes are always being chased by the cars and then the trucks. The sentinel system should automatically alert bikes, when a car or truck is approaching from behind, so they can pull over. Something obviously went wrong with the system or the interpretation of it by one of the drivers. The trucks are monstrous - the wheels are taller than a motorbike.

A somewhat subdued atmosphere covers the Rally at present, as we can imagine.

Today, information has been sparse, but a text from Patricia reports she has finished for the day. She had an electrical problem on the bike which meant she had to turn her road book manually (slowed her down) and no GPS, so navigation was challenging. She says number 42 did not get out of the way quick enough as the truck came from behind, but the investigation continues. Today is marathon day, so the van and mechanics will not meet the riders tonight - hopefully one of the other riders will help fix the electrical problem. No results yet posted for today's stage....

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Online progress of each stage is alegedly going to be available on the www.transorientale.com website, although it is still not working from what I can see. It does work from USA though

Day 5 - June 16, Mrakovo to Bogotse

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress. Posted June 17 2008.

630 km (of which 295km Special Section)

Not a good couple of days on the TransOrientale. Yesterday a chinese driver stopped to help another car out of trouble. The towing cable snapped and hit him across the face. He was taken to hospital and died this morning.

Yesterday the Rally entered Kazakstan. With temperatures rising to about 35 degrees, the green pastures of "tele tubby" land were making way for drier desert like conditions. Motorcyclists had a police escort into town, to change money at the bank, as it was not safe to go alone! The special stage was tough and Patricia "dropped" her bike once. Many people failed to find a check-point and got a 3 hour time penalty. She called me with 200km to go. The night before she had her first (cold) shower. The roads were getting rougher - so the van is still a major concern. By the end of yesterday, she has achieved 26th place for the day and 24th overall. Still in the top half of the field.

Day 4 - June 15, Yellabouga to Mrakuvo

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress.

693 km (of which 123km Special Section)

A good day for Patricia, on several fronts:

TV Coverage : if you are reading this on Sunday evening or Monday morning (UK time) and have access to Motors TV which is running a daily update on the Rally ..... tune in at 23.30 tonight or 10.00 Monday - as the programme includes a special profile on Patricia (and her Dad).

Results : Today was very muddy and a most importantly a very difficult navigation day on the Special Section. Several riders got lost and some for 30 minutes or more. Patricia did not and gained 19th position on today's stage, out of the 55 bikes still in play. That moves her up to 31st overall in the General Classification.

Now is a good time to tell a little story, the motto of which is "think before you speak". During the preparations in St Petersburg one of the male riders (they are all male except Patricia!) came up to Patricia and asked what size her engine is. She told him and he replied "good, I'm in a different category which means I won't have to worry about having a girl in front of me". His race number was a few behind Patricia, so he started 10 mins behind her on the first day. Frustrated , he caught up with her and did a loopy overtaking manouevre, to establish his point about being "faster than girls". 15 minutes later, Patricia turned a bend and there he is in a heap on the floor, with his belongings spread around. He refused to let Patricia leave him for 5 minutes because his arm hurt so much (who's the girl now then !!?). Turns out he broke his collar-bone and exited the Rally on Day 1. It is fine to be competitive, but as they say "better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you might be an idiot, than open your mouth and prove it beyond doubt".

Back to today - the scenery was gorgeous apparently - rolling green hills, just "like Tele Tubby Land" said Patricia. Many people were struggling to keep upright in the thick mud. Simon got lost for 30km and Colin dropped his bike 10 times - sounds like attention to detail and selective pacing were key to the day (he said having never been on a motorbike in his life !!).

Patricia phoned me with 70km of Liaison to go, having just fallen asleep under a (parked) lorry, because she was so tired. She got to camp OK and has just woken up to start Day 5 - during the night, the local fireman had kindly hosed the mud off all the filthy bikes - sounds like the locals are supporting this Rally big-time. Day 4 also visited the home town of Kamaz trucks - many of which are in the Rally - so extra support and excitement was generated because of this.

The main worry at the moment remains the Assistance Van, which is still limping along - plans are afoot to fly some new shock absorbers out from the UK to arrive on rest day - but it seems a long time until rest day, so it is touch and go.

Tomorrow's update (ie today on the Rally) will report on progress as they leave Russia and enter Kazakhstan....the desert stage is looming closer.....

Your humble Correspondent.

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.30 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Online progress of each stage is alegedly going to be available on the www.transorientale.com website, although it is still not working from what I can see.

Day 3 - June 14, Petrovsky to Yellabouga

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress

574 km (Special Section cancelled)

Following torrential rain on Day 2, yesterday's (Day 3) Special Section was cancelled due to a waterlogged route.

Therefore the main tasks of the day were to dry everything out, extract all vehicles from the Quagmire of the Petrovsky bivouac (with the help of locals and their tractors) and then get to last nights bivouac (574km) at Yellabouga.

News from Patricia is that she arrived safely at Yellabouga but she cut her hand when making lunch (!) and is now bandaged up - claiming she is more dangerous in the kitchen than on a bike (hmm...nice try!). She is tired, and will have lost another 2 hours sleep as the clocks moved forward again for them last night (heading East).

The most worrying news is however, that the assistance van is not healthy - the cooler needs refilling every 30kms (I don't thing this has anything to do with keeping beers cold) and the right rear suspension has gone (Russian roads taking their toll). Given there are only Kamaz trucks in Russia, getting spares for an Iveco is impossible. This could mean that the van cannot go further at some point - which would be an interesting challenge as it has all the bikes spares and Patricia's Dad/Mechanic on board. Fingers firmly crossed at this stage, that the van does not get worse.

Simon Pavey's wife, Linley is driving the van, an experienced off road motorcyclist herself, so I hope she can work out how to drive a van on two wheels as well?!

As I write this, Patricia will be well into Day 4 - a long day with a long Special Section, where navigation skills are key....

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night (21.00 GMT and 23.00 GMT) , repeated the next morning (10.00 GMT) , if you have access to it...

Online progress of each stage is allegedly going to be available on the www.transorientale.com website, although it is still not working from what I can see.

Day 2 - June 13, Rogatchevo to Petrovsky

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress

736km (of which 93km was the Special Section)

Photos from the start in St. Petersburg (June 12)

Friday the 13th, Day 2 ..... and more adventures for Patricia No 22.

I spoke to her earlier and got the news on the day.....here is the story:

The Special Section (the timed, always off-road, part of the day's course that really counts), was "interesting".

It started off well, with Patricia being given a webcam to wear by the TV company - and for over 70 km she filmed and gave a commentary into the webcam. So watch Motors TV if you have it overnight, she may feature in it a lot.

Then...... she hit a water hole...... or by the sound of it...... she went into it and started to swim !!

When she got the bike out, the back-wheel was locked and would not move. A "tecnical looking" chap came over and diagnosed "you have broken your gear-box, you are out of the Rally".

A few swear words later, Patricia decided to apply the best German engineering principles to the situation and revved the engine, and dragged the bike forward with locked wheel for 100 metres. The wheel suddenly freed itself and she carried on for 370km of Liaison (the road bit) stage to the end of the day !! Broken Gearbox..... fixed !!

For the 370 km the rain was coming down in torrents and there was loads of thunder and lightening. In addition to the obvious challenges, it was added to because Russian petrol stations will not serve petrol if there is a storm happening (but you can use your mobile phone!). So Patricia had to drive economically and get 370km on 23 litres.

I spoke to her, soaked through, in the Bivouac, where it was so muddy the support vehicles could not get through !! She was still in good spirits though!

Patricia came 43rd on today's stage and is 44th overall after 2 stages.

Reminders if you are glued to progress and want up to the minute news:

Motors TV is a good watch each night, repeated the next morning, if you have access to it...

Online progress of each stage is alegedly going to be available on the www.transorientale.com website from tomorrow (Stage 3).

Day 1 - June 12, St. Petersburg to Rogatchevo

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress

834km (of which 78km was the Special Section)
.....4 hours later, up we all get, for the first bikes to depart at 5am.

Patricia is bike number 22, so she left just after 5.30am (in bright sunshine - as the sun does not go down in St Petersburg at this time of year). She was in good spirits as we waved her off into a quiet but bright St Petersburg. Simon Pavey, her team mate in the van Posse had gone earlier (No5) and Colin Askey, also a team mate, followed on a bit later. The cars followed the bikes, revving off into the City. Then the trucks powered up and roared off for their 10,000km adventure.

Then there was peace ..... and no-one around.

This first day involved long road sections and a short but challenging special section. It turned out to be quite eventful for Patricia, although she got to the end safely. Her GPS stopped displaying for a couple of hours, so she could not tell her speed through the villages. When it burst back to life, it informed her she had been breaking speed limits. This may cause penalties to be applied to her time, but I saw none on the provisional results for the day. One tyre also shredded on the bike and so is being changed overnight - I've not found out what happened there yet.

Patricia arrived first on the scene of another rider having fallen off, and rules state she had to wait with him until he was safe and well - which took 5 minutes and lost a bit of time for Patricia.

Patricia finished the eventful day in 43rd position (out of 58 riders).

Day -2, Day -1, Day 0 - St. Petersburg

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress
Patricia, with Eddie and Yours Truly in tow, travelled out to St Petersburg on Monday this week, to begin final preparations for the Rally start today. We arrived safely and after a stressful (on the wallet and the nerves) taxi ride through town, arrived at the hotel where everything would happen for the preparations.

First impressions of St Petersburg included:

1. The taxi drivers all wear suits (although the jackets and trousers/pants do not always match)
2. No-one smiles as they serve you in bar, restaurants, taxis etc
3. No-one serves you if they can possibly avoid it !
4. Ladies spend a lot of time putting on make-up before going out in the morning; men do not and usually carry a beer can !
5. It is a beautiful city, but the speed of industrialisation is evident in many ways, the better side of which is the renovation of many old buildings.
6. Roman Abramovich was in town for the World Economic Forum last weekend. Unable to afford the escallating hotel prices, he bought his own digs - an understated little number - a 200 foot motorised floating palace. When I first saw it, I thought a cruise ship had arrived !

On Monday, Patricia's Dad (her mechanic for the Rally), her bike and the ensemble of people in her Rally posse all arrived safely, although the bike and van had been held at the border for 5 hours. It was late by the time headcount was confirmed and stories recounted (much tut-tutting) of "russian driving skills" observed on the way to St Petersburg. The irony of this seemed somewhat lost on the Rally participants, who were about to drive like lunatics for 10,000km across an entire continent, at speeds and on terrain that is, shall we say, just "not sensible" !! Most of them were bigger than me, and I was out-numbered 500 to 1, so I kept my mouth shut at this point.

We then spent 2 days unpacking the van, emptying boxes, filling boxes, repacking the van, unpacking the van, emptying boxes, filling boxes, repacking the van..... and so on. It can only be a matter of time before Pickfords form a rally team - as their core business competence is well suited to this stage of a rally.

Two days passed in no time. At one point the rebacking frequency was making me dizzy, so Ed and I shot off to the Hermitage Museum - for 2 hours of cultural input - Monets, Gaugins, Reynolds, Picassos, Prehistoric, Pre-Modern, Modern, Asian, African, European, paintings, sculpures, statues, jewellery, 117 staircases, 1700 doors, 5 million works of art. I know how Father Christmas feels on Christmas Eve now - so much to do, so little time.

Last night - everything was ready and all the bikes, cars and trucks for the Rally went to the centre of the City for a "parade" and lots of razzmatazz. Fireworks, music, TV cameras, roaring engines, dancing girls, excited commentators - suddenly the pace quickened and the excitement grew - Transoriental 2008 really was about to happen.

Back to the hotel, quick eats and grab some sleep.......

Pre-Rally - Germany

Updates from David on Patricia's Rally progress

Patricia in her new red suit and with the prepared bike, in Germany - before it shipped to Russia.

I will try to issue an update each evening, with as much info as I can glean from various sources.

You can watch Motors TV on Sky each evening/morning, for a 30 minute news programme on the Rally - which seems to feature Patricia strongly as the only female rider - at least it did tonight....

The Rally website is www.transorientale.com which may start providing status reports on progress during the day. I was travelling back today, so did not see the website in action and therefore cannot yet say how accurate or useful it actually is.