Bash-plate battle for Pavey - 19 June 2008
Stage number: 8
Stage date: 19/06/2008
Start and arrival city: BOTAKARA to AYAGUZ
Special: Karbushevka to Madeniet
Total distance (special): 729km (446km)
Result on stage: 29th
Position overall: 11th (TBC)
Good evening. I'm absolutely buzzing with energy. I've just arrived at the bivouac after the longest special that we ride on the rally. And what a day. I had just two hours sleep after riding 900km yesterday. So when I set off this morning at daybreak to ride the 200km to the special I was fighting to stay awake to start with.
I wasn't feeling groggy for too long and the adrenaline kicked in and sorted me out. About 30 klicks from the start, the front mounts on my sump guard sheered. I hit a little bump and the guard must have twisted backwards and hit the back wheel. It's like jamming your centre stand down at 60mph. The bike, with me on it, just catapulted into the air. I managed to land okay, slow it all down and come to a stop but I couldn't touch the ground as the plate had locked in the rear wheel. It was really funny trying to struggle off the bike. I didn't drop it though.
I lost a hell of a lot of time sorting the sump guard out though. I unjammed it from the back wheel and did my best to straighten it out by jumping up and down on it on a rock. I bashed it back into shape as best I could and then put a big strap from the tank round under the bash plate and back up to hold the guard on. With the strap and a load of zip ties I managed to get it to stay on. By the time I got underway I was last person of the whole rally. The zip ties held on for a bit but would break every now and again so the plate would flap around. I had to stop four times today to complete running repairs on it. Hey, but that's rallying.
I'm not too worried though as I'm enjoying the riding so much. I was having a chat with a couple of the other riders today and we all agree that the special stages on this rally have got to be some of the best in the world. They are very well sign posted with danger markers and the road books are extremely accurate so navigation is good. It means you can concentrate, enjoy the amazing scenery and your riding. It's just beautiful, twisty, technical stuff over mountains and I enjoy it so much, it's just awesome. It really does make the 450k's fly by.
The pace on the rally is relentless. I've completed over 1,600km in two days with only two hours sleep, but I have to say I feel in really good shape. I'm very pleased with my fitness and my riding pace. It's just a shame I've had a couple of problems that have put me down the leader board.
Anyway, tomorrow's another day, another country and another time zone. We cross the Chinese border tomorrow and lose two hours sleep!
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