I wasn't anticipating much of a report from Clive today because I knew that it was going to be a really long day. But, according to the official site, the day was even longer than everyone feared. Not only were there interminable delays at the border, but an extra 120 kms was added to the route by the local authorities.
Car No 72 was not mentioned in the official despatch, so we can only assume that they had no mechanical mishaps. All the same, I suspect that words were few and far between inside the car as exhaustion started to make a comback. But at least they can look forward to the comforts of a Russian resort hotel and especially to that wonderful herbal decoction.
ring, ring ... ring, ring ... gotta go ... it might be Clive of the Orient
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Yes it was Clive. It was just coming up for 1:00am in his part of Russia ... and he was sitting on the side of the bed ... waiting to get into it (the bed that is).
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As anticipated above, today was a bit of a nightmare from an organisational point of view. Clive was quite cross that the organisers had scheduled over 500 km on the same day as a border crossing. Everybody knows that border crossings in this part of the world are a nightmare, so the organisers should not schedule lots and lots of driving as well.
As it was, Clive arrived at the hotel after midnight but fortunately the hotel chefs had kept a buffet warm for the participants so that they could get a quick bite to eat before shuteye. Getting a beer was a different problem because Clive had spent his meagre supply of roubles on fuel, and the hotel wouldn't allow him to charge a beer to his room. So he had to organise a one-man rouble whip-around among his competitors for the price of a beer or, more accurately, for the price of several beers.
But I've gotten ahead of myself. Let's roll back to Mongolia. First wake up was at 3:00am ... to put on the longjohns and anything else he could find in the tent. Their campsite was at 2,600 metres (that's about 8,000 feet for those of you still in imperial times) and the temperature was -10C (only the Americans won't understand Centigrade and Celsius so they'll have to look up the conversion themselves). After the customary de-icing of the cars, and of the bodies in the outdoor shower, they drove the 18 km to the Mongolian-Russian border. Where they waited ... and waited ... and waited ... for 4 hours. Eventually, they fired up the cars and moved the short distance across no-mans land to the Russian side. Where the wait was almost as long ... only 3 hours ... but more good-humoured.
By now much of the day had already passed and they still had some 700 km to cover ... meaning that many many kilometres had to be driven in darkness. And did I mention without brakes? Yes, there's a problem with the brakes, which Clive intends to sort out during the 2-day break in Almaty, whenever that it (eh, Clive, that'd be on Sunday and Monday ... Peter). Meanwhile, the footbrake delivers about 5-10% of what it should, so Ces is helping out by using the handbrake whenever Clive shouts loudly enough.
Oh, and the headlights are still set for UK roads, so they're not doing a good job of picking out the cows that seem to be everywhere. But they do light up the cows that are in the middle of the road ... in which case Clive shouts loudly ... and Ces uses both hands to yank up the handbrake.
The gear selection is still proving to be a little of a nuisance ... double de-clutching is required most of the time ... and the throttle is sticking somewhat. Well, not so much sticking as becoming very non-linear. This is thought to be a consequence of the conversion from US LHD to South African RHD (where the car itself was sourced). Apparently everything goes from the pedals through to the engine bay on the RHS, and is then hooked across to the LHS by a series of rods and pulleys, from where it resumes its course as if it were a LHD car. (I wish I had a picture of this ... a Willy-Wonka-built Chevy ... Peter).
Despite the litany of woes, Clive is clearly getting the hang of the car because he reported that he's getting the arse out much more often, and with considerable confidence in the consequences. He's also lifted the speed considerably. For the first time in days, he's been able to get proper petrol and the impact of the higher octane is spectacular. 130 kph is the order of the day where just over 100 kph was the best hope in Mongolia.
They're also continuing to climb their way up the leadership board but the climb is getting tougher. After his problems at the beginning of the rally, he was seeded down with some very slow drivers, so he wasted a lot of time overtaking the fuddy-duddies. How he's among drivers of a similar calibre, in equally quick cars, so while there's less overtaking to be done, each overtake is that much harder.
With lots of days still to go, and the occasional overtake along the way, Clive is confident that they can continue clawing their way back up the board, at least as far as the position they had before their problems started.
I can't give you their overall positions yet because they're not available, and I suspect that the officials have already gone to bed (it's now about 2:00am their time).
I hope they sleep well, because I suspect that tomorrow will be another late finish. Officially the distance is 548 kms ... but there also another border crossing ... this time from Russia to Kazakhstan.
For and on behalf of
CD and Ces
PS: Clive said that he has sprouted a considerable beard, so I demanded a photograph. Actually I'd like lots of photos, but one should be of the growth.
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