To backtrack briefly: Leaving the school for the ceremonial start.
Check out the KTM poser
Standing up on the right :mwink: :deal:
ot:
Don't worry we still love you, Darksider :thumleft:
This was where I reckon the one guy bought the farm and broke his collarbone. Was it a dog? :dontknow:
Whoever it was: - Hope you are healing up nicely by now and that it was not too serious. :thumleft:
Arriving, AlanB on the Left, MadMike999 on the right, not sure who that is in the middle, sorry.
Now after I had been told that my bike was pissing fuel I had to sort that out. Further inspection quickly revealed my carburetor was overflowing on idle. The problem of course stopped when I shutdown the engine, but that was going to be a fat help. A problem with the needle being worn or some dirt caught in there. It was serious, and instantly my relaxed state of mind changed: Even with a full load 32l of fuel on board I may not be able to finish the 1st day. I started flapping until eventually Kamanya looked and me and said take it apart and fix it. His look kind of said HTFU. I tried, really I did. ;D I nodded numbly and supposed I would have some work to do that night.
Shrugging off the problem temporarily I ambled about and chatting in an animated fashion with MadMike999, Bring it On and few others. It was pretty cool to be there.
Whitedelight looking decidedly nervous..
A few photos of the group
And some spectators
I tried not to think about the problem I had but I fretted and worried until eventually I prayed about it. The strong petrol smell was a constant reminder. After what seemed like an age we were called up one by one for a photo and send off. I was totally distracted nodded seriously at the cameraman and rode straight to the fuel station.
Kamanya had a smile on his face the whole weekend.
We all stood together for a group photo which you can find on the
main Amageza RR thread somewhere.
Pulling away for the one-on-one shots and ceremonial start. You can see the worry in my eye. :biggrin:
Someone told me to rev the crap out of it or give the bike a couple of hits or perhaps even tap the carb with a screwdriver to dislodge the dirt inside. I was not convinced because I had the carb cleaned the day before, but I did give it plenty of gas. Arriving at the petrol station, the problem seemed solved. I was relieved but not convinced, so I filled the bike up it full 32l anyway, even though I would only need 17 liters for the next days stage.
The total weight of around 150-160kg plus rider at 95kg would put me at a big disadvantage against the likes of lightweight jocky's like Tau and Darryl, but I rationalized rather have too much fuel and be slower than run out somewhere on the days stage. I philosophized that a number of other guys probably had their own problems that would hamper them too, and anyway there were big bikes out there - Mine would just behave more like one of those thanks to the full load of fuel.
That evening it turned out the bikes did not have to be locked up in any park ferme, it was apparent the organization were having a much more relaxed approach to the rules than had been originally let on. I was not complaining. We all congregated in the hostel dining hall for the dinner and briefing, and while we were waiting the conversation that seemed to dominate was all about the poor guy who had been lost out on the qualifier and had still not yet been found by the organizer. :-\ Someone said they saw a bike riding onto some other nearby town, and that maybe it was him. A few others were very concerned about him and contingency plans with farmers were being drawn up for a last ditch search before the police and possibly mountain rescue club were called. It was pretty cold once the sun went down and we figured this might be a hypothermia case before too long. Good thing everyone had first aid kits on them!
Then Alex came out for the much awaited briefing. It started very seriously with him explaining the situation about the lost rider and how they were making plans to recheck the route for him one last time. Then he got even more serious about the riding the next day. He said he was sure some would not be able to finish the special stage and that it was very technical, something between the roof and the Dakar. He warned us to take note of the cautions in the road book and made reference that we would have to ride through a "Bowl from hell twice" from two different directions.
The silence in the room at the end of his talk was so loud that I had to smile. People looked afraid, very afraid. We all were. It sounded like we would be going to war and we looked at each other the same way troops do just before they have to go over the top. All well, nothing else to do but to try right? All the bravado that had been built up over dinner had disappeared, and then after a moment of stillness, the room rapidly erupted into a chaotic queue for the road books. Many just took their road books scrolls and marched off to the campsite. Others swamped Darryl and I, who were the only ones used to marking road books at all. Lots people people were asking about what the codes meant, and how best to mark the road books. We conducted two separate informal tutorials simultaneously. Clearly many had not bothered to study the rule book beforehand.
"What does RLT mean?"
"What does DZ mean?" etc.
A group of us sat down together and marked the road books for a while and it was interesting to see the different styles developing as we got along.
g1 requested that I go for an interview on camera and I caught the tail end of Rynet's interview as well. She is a remarkable woman who radiated with confidence about the challenges yet so modest at the same time, impressive to watch.
I did my interview in about 3 minutes. It was a take-no-prisoners bar-no-holds interview. Not.
It was fine, really.
After that I made my way back to check on the bikes and eventually decided I might as well ride back the house we were staying in and park my bike there. That way it wouldn't have to stand out in the cold. Great racing bikes these Yamahas.. :deal:
The fuel leaking problem had disappeared, so I slept well, glad not to have to worry about stripping down the bike.
Stage 1
The next morning started bright and early to the sound of ACDC Thunderstruck being blasted out on some large speakers over at the school. We could hear it on the other side of town so I guess everyone in Sutherland woke up around 04h15 am. Dodo, OrangeSwifty & I forced down some breakfast and got our bikes going. Swifty's bike did not like the cold and had to be jump started. Hondsekierie specially got up to wish us well and help out Swifty.
I rode off ahead of the others and met with Gideon, 2StrokeDan and their group to wish them all well. We then proceeded to the main school gate at about 5h45 am to wait to be sent off. There was no seeding so it was first come, first serve. Guys were jostling for position. Kamanya was so keen he rode into me. :biggrin: I could smell petrol again strongly so I shutoff to save on fuel. Lots of guys were really concerned because they did not have emergency lights with them and they were unable to read the road books in the dark. As it turned out we started to leave before it got light on the starting liaison.
The air was full of excitement, and we were finally on our way. I pulled in behind Darryl and a guy from Country trax called Roger. We were waved away and I followed them closely as I noticed my headlight was set too low down.
Although it was freezing cold it was great to be riding and I was set for a good day of racing. I was unfit, and knew it but I also knew that I was in the unique situation of competing in a field of mostly rookies, so the navigation would slow a lot of people down.
After about 30km of fairly easy dirt we got to the start of the special, where we all waiting for the sun to come up. It was spectacular and I got the opportunity to interview (You can see that on Page 1 of this ride report) a few people before they set off on their first rally.
This really was something special for many.
Finally we were waved away, one at a time at 30s intervals. We were racing!
Here are two videos (I had to split the original as it was too big) of the first stage special for your enjoyment. I hope you enjoy the ride, my thoughts and falls with me. Please I hope no-one take offence at some of my comments, I was just capturing some of my thoughts in the heat of the moment. Some of it is obviously speeded up, but most of it is not. As you shall see it quickly became apparent to me the very high level of skill of most of the riders on this rally.
Please click on the pictures below to activate the video.
Please be patient and pause it for some time to allow the video feed to cache/download. If anyone would like the high quality version via ftp please email me at
[email protected] :thumleft:
Video Stage 1a
Video Stage 1b