Amageza 2014 with a Jagsding

[Kamanya]

While I was doing all this, the quick guys were getting their nails buffed









Rock Stars





Nicklaus







More Rock Stars doing it Malle Moto – Albert



Kobie had a great day but has to learn not to speed



It was a huge, huge day. I finally got into the finish of the special with a few litres of fuel after being on or with the bike for more than 12 hours. It was a short hop to Springbok and into the bivouac by 5pm.

This was just after the steep decent down the mountain to the finish. The photographer asked me to turn around and do it again as he hadn't quite got the shot. My thoughts were, "hell, 12hrs! what's a few more minutes going to cost?"



Finally Springbok bound on the N7. I love this road and none more so than then.





Arriving





Beer! I need beer!





I was very surprised to hear that there were 22 guys still behind me? I thought I’d had a kak day... ok, I'd had a bit of kak but the rest of the day was awesome. Some of the stories about the places people has seen and how they had thought they were never going to find the finish were epic. People up ravines or meeting very strange folk who only see others once a year! I was fairly full of beans and easily slotted a cold bear that Justin had been chilling for just such an occasion.



Stage 3 was in the bag but the day was yet to finish by a long shot…. There was still the briefing, again super short. Supper – filling.... where Justin Albert and I shared a bottled of rubbish red. So much for a dry bivouac. Alhtough I did see John manfully resisting the urge to remind us that it was a rule that no alcohol be present. ((that rule is going to have to be seen to next year)Secretly I am sure he needed a good few glasses too!). That wasn’t all, there was still quite a bit to do on the bike.

I needed to change out the thin tube for a Ultra heavy duty, return a brand new spare to Willem, change front tire to spare as the Desert had some knobs damaged, do my road book, program the GPS waypoints in and sort out batteries for the camera. In between update my email followers and give the forum a few words.

Note; it's always a good idea to make sure that if you aren't sitting on the fridge then at least within arms length when working this hard...



And have a beer – these are taken after 11pm. The bivouac was still pumping.





Pull the old road book out and load the next one




Justin was really sweating and helping out many others from the Malle Moto who needed a spare hand. He'd also changed my tire but in the flurry of work only replaced the patched tube with a another thin normal tube. So the whole thing had to be dismounted again and the Ultra heavy stuck in.

Fortunately Edyy of had a tire stand that made things a whole lot easier. I have to thank Eddy from Eddy to race here. We were parked right next to his truck and huge purpose trailer. There was a steady stream of banter and tools the whole night. He even did a complete head rebuild for a Honda, valve seats and all!



I finally got to bed at just after 12. What a day. A fine adventure filled one with some highs and lows and lots of fun.

Rally is not for sissies.

Next up the days video

 

[Kamanya]

Video of the day.

The last 200k's were not in. I didn't expect 12 hours of riding.

[flash=700,500]https://www.youtube.com/v/_2Z5Up6XCG0[/flash]

 

[Kamanya]

I've not included positions for the last 3 Stages. Now you know how we felt on the race.

Special Stage times so far;

Stage 1

38th of 69 official finishers, 3hrs 55min, 40% slower than the fastest finisher.

2 minutes in penalties

Stage 2

34th of 66 official finishers, 4hrs 14min, 43% slower than the fastest finisher.

4 minutes in penalties

Stage 3

41st of 63 official finishers, 9hrs 23min, 45% slower than the fastest finisher.

3 minutes 20 seconds in penalties... Damn! That 60kph zone did get us!

Not really covering myself in glory here but at least keeping to an average of sorts.

 

[LoopSoosStroop]

Thanks Andrew, this is a very enjoyable read.

That third stage SS was epic, really the highlight of the race for me. It was unrelenting, in your face stuff.

 

[Wolzac]

I am enjoying this and you took some fantastic Pictures!

 

[Dwerg]

Awesome. I sure won't be neglecting my action camera in future. There's some awesome footage of stuff I'd forgotten about. Where did you get the individual stage results?

Found them on the amageza site

 

[Crossed-up]

Great vid, Andrew.
It takes a cool head to deal with navigational mistakes. You were really out the back and beyond.

BTW You read my expression at dinner very well!  :imaposer:

 

[SteveD]

Alhtough I did see John manfully resisting the urge to remind us that it was a rule that no alcohol be present. ((that rule is going to have to be seen to next year)Secretly I am sure he needed a good few glasses too!).

This will be kak news, but the no alcohol thing is MSAs rule, not Amagezas.

 

[Kamanya]

Yes, but.... I doth protest!

Those rules were written for circuit or short course events and not with rallies in mind. The sense of the rule is to prevent drunk people riding, driving or protesting under the influence. The sprit of the rules were not to forbid competitors once they'd finished for the day from having a beer.

I fail to see how a glass of wine or a beer after having got off the bike, (and not intending to lodge a protest) does not still comply with the spirit of the rules.

For all intents and purposes, a rally is a series of events, each day a race of its own.

(Bugger, maybe this should be chopped out and put into the Racing Section?)

 

[Crossed-up]

As our event was under MSA scrutiny we were trying to stick to the "letter of the law". If I'd been a poes we'd have ended the rally with about 3 competitors.

All I asked was that you didn't drink openly in the bivvy. It didn't help that 2 of the bivvys were licensed premises.

As an MSA official I had to look like I was doing my job no matter how myopic I was at times.

You have no idea how thirsty I was!  :drif:

 

[SteveD]

Yes, but.... I doth protest!
Those rules were written for circuit or short course events and not with rallies in mind. The sense of the rule is to prevent drunk people riding, driving or protesting under the influence. The sprit of the rules were not to forbid competitors once they'd finished for the day from having a beer.
I fail to see how a glass of wine or a beer after having got off the bike, (and not intending to lodge a protest) does not still comply with the spirit of the rules.
For all intents and purposes, a rally is a series of events, each day a race of its own.
(Bugger, maybe this should be chopped out and put into the Racing Section?)

At Dakar, the riders are given one beer per day, by the organisation nogal  eepwall:

 

[Stichhom]

This is a great read and race report. Respect to you and others.

 

[Cracker]

Fantastic  video - what a day that was  :thumleft: :thumleft:

Magnetic trees? had me laughing  :imaposer:

 

[N[]vA]

those rocks at 8:30 +- looked gnarly!

 

[BlueBull2007]

Really marvelous stuff Andrew. Not only are the report content and photos amazing, but the videos are simply fantastic too. :hello2: :hello2:

What camera is that? It certainly seems to do a much better job than the GoPros. The point of view is also nicer, you feel like you are riding along with the helmet in picture, rather than just a floating camera. Im also curious about the mount and whether the cable is a bother to you or not.

I wonder if that place in the river crossing is the same place where Kobus got stuck and passed by Albert?

Really enjoyed your description of the navigation- hate that feeling when one starts to second guess one´s own decisions...its when you know Alexander is screwing with your mind. ;D

I´d like to recommend this RR go in the Role of Honour section. :thumleft:

 

[Gee eS]

A really great report Andrew.
I would have loved to do something like the Amageza but with my lack of sand riding skills I doubt whether I would have finished day one never mind the whole race.

I second this report for the Roll on Honour section :thumleft:

PS. Andrew do you give sand riding lessons? :biggrin:

 

[Gee eS]

Those bits with the two track running right next to the fence looks very scary and intimidating.

 

[Kamanya]

PS. Andrew do you give sand riding lessons? :biggrin:

I have, not for a while though.

But have a read through this that I wrote, it may be of some help;

Sand riding, it's not about the sand (so much)

 

[Kamanya]

Is that the original set  of hand-guards you have on there A?

Yep, circa 2005 OEM KTM

 

[Mooch]

I am really enjoying this report!  :thumleft:
Very interesting and entertaining and to some things I can relate. Very well written and a good laugh at times.  ;D
The best I have read in a long time.  :thumleft: :thumleft: