We made the Picture of the Week at PistonHeads!
Which got picked up at TheSamba!
Very cool.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Mongolia Pictures!
These pictures are very special to me. This is the family that entertained us while we were stuck in the desert for 9 hours waiting for a truck.
The kids were an absolute joy. As I said in the post, the girl is very bright (and a stunning beauty)! She picked up on using the camera in the iphone very quickly. The boys were having fun doing some martial arts bit from a movie. Does anyone recognize the moves?
I love the pictures towards the end. The little boy is ridiculously cute. The grandparents have stunning dramatic faces. I'll be looking at these pictures for the rest of my life.
The kids were an absolute joy. As I said in the post, the girl is very bright (and a stunning beauty)! She picked up on using the camera in the iphone very quickly. The boys were having fun doing some martial arts bit from a movie. Does anyone recognize the moves?
I love the pictures towards the end. The little boy is ridiculously cute. The grandparents have stunning dramatic faces. I'll be looking at these pictures for the rest of my life.
Iran pictures!
Unfortunately, I took very few pictures of the guys in Iran of the car club that helped us out.
That's Saeed in one of his dune buggies at his superkart track. The t-shirt was a gift from Robert and I to the club. In the group picture, Saeed is on the left in blue, Abbas is seated center in horizontal stripes, Mr. Ali is standing in the back, and Mohammad is on the right. And finally, Mr. Ali's 1956 beetle!
These guys really saved our butts. They get my enduring devotion.
That's Saeed in one of his dune buggies at his superkart track. The t-shirt was a gift from Robert and I to the club. In the group picture, Saeed is on the left in blue, Abbas is seated center in horizontal stripes, Mr. Ali is standing in the back, and Mohammad is on the right. And finally, Mr. Ali's 1956 beetle!
These guys really saved our butts. They get my enduring devotion.
Building Ladybird pictures
I've uploaded some pictures of Ladybird at various stages of production. We started in February 2010 and you can see that there wasn't much bolted to the car. It had wheels, doors, and not much else. I would drive down to my dad's on the weekends and bolt on parts that he had gathered during the week. Unfortunately, he also had to work on the car quite a bit because of the time crunch.
The car was mostly ready in time for Robert's first visit in July and the car shipped two weeks later.
The car was mostly ready in time for Robert's first visit in July and the car shipped two weeks later.
Famous in Instanbul!
Robert just found that we have pictures up on the site for the Volkswagen Club of Instabul! I'm really excited about this!
I've uploaded my own photos of that day to Flickr. The guy in the blue V-neck in the last photo is Herr Volkswagen! If you remember from here, he did some excellent work for us getting the engine running well. I really can't thank him enough.
I've uploaded my own photos of that day to Flickr. The guy in the blue V-neck in the last photo is Herr Volkswagen! If you remember from here, he did some excellent work for us getting the engine running well. I really can't thank him enough.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
France, Cheese, Chateau and Strike Update
Our trip so far has been an absolute pleasure. After a whirlwind few days in Paris consisting of too much food and not enough sleep, we headed out to the French countryside. Slowly making our way down the Loire Valley in the direction of the Atlantic coast, we have been sampling the excellent cheeses, wines and chateau of the Loire, picnic-ing for lunch and treating ourselves to an excellent dinner in the evenings. We have met some very cool people along the way - the guys at Slide Performance in Orleans who helped us get some repairs done on the bug, the couple who run the Bed and Breakfast at Domaine Beaufort who shared some of their bubbly wine with us and who showed us their 1925 wooden-body Citroen car that, along with the farm and vineyard, had been in their family for 3 generations.
We are currently just outside of Angers where our friends have put us up in our very own chateau! OK, it's not really a chateau, but it certainly feels like one. It's actually an old farmhouse, parts of which date back 200 or 300 years (no one is quite sure - nor are they terribly interested in finding out because in the French scheme of things, 200-300 years is not very old) The farmhouse, which comes with it's very own name - La Fontaine du Mont - has been added to, remodeled and updated during it's history and now encompasses 1 rehearsal studio, 2 staircases, 2 living rooms, a dormitory for visiting bands, 2 offices for music producers and promoters and at least 20 other rooms. The main jewel of La Fontaine is the kitchen which is located in the oldest part of the house. It sports a stone floor, exposed beam ceiling (with enormous, smoke darkened timbers) modern appliances and a fireplace in the center of the room. It was here that, on our first night - seated on one side of the massive fireplace with our friend Chimene and her son, Goya - four-and-a-half year-old Aloise presented her spectale du danse from the other side of the rectangular fireplace, using the the frame as her "stage".
The strike, which continues with no end in sight, has made it difficult to find gasoline. It's a little disconcerting to drive past station after station and see that every one is closed...especially when you're down to 1/4 of a tank. No one here seems to be freaking out about it, so we're remaining calm as well. The gas station closure has led to a couple of funny goose-chases: We hear from someone that a station "just down the road" has gas, but invariably get lost trying to find it. If and/or when we find the station, they have run out of gas and we end up hanging out in the station parking lot, chatting with other drivers who had heard the same rumor and arrived to find that there was no gas. The strange thing is that no one is upset. Everyone seems to support, or at least understand the strike and everyone is sure that the government will figure things out very soon and that things will go back to normal. I'm sure things will go back to normal, but I am equally sure that it won't happen until after we leave the country.
We are currently just outside of Angers where our friends have put us up in our very own chateau! OK, it's not really a chateau, but it certainly feels like one. It's actually an old farmhouse, parts of which date back 200 or 300 years (no one is quite sure - nor are they terribly interested in finding out because in the French scheme of things, 200-300 years is not very old) The farmhouse, which comes with it's very own name - La Fontaine du Mont - has been added to, remodeled and updated during it's history and now encompasses 1 rehearsal studio, 2 staircases, 2 living rooms, a dormitory for visiting bands, 2 offices for music producers and promoters and at least 20 other rooms. The main jewel of La Fontaine is the kitchen which is located in the oldest part of the house. It sports a stone floor, exposed beam ceiling (with enormous, smoke darkened timbers) modern appliances and a fireplace in the center of the room. It was here that, on our first night - seated on one side of the massive fireplace with our friend Chimene and her son, Goya - four-and-a-half year-old Aloise presented her spectale du danse from the other side of the rectangular fireplace, using the the frame as her "stage".
The strike, which continues with no end in sight, has made it difficult to find gasoline. It's a little disconcerting to drive past station after station and see that every one is closed...especially when you're down to 1/4 of a tank. No one here seems to be freaking out about it, so we're remaining calm as well. The gas station closure has led to a couple of funny goose-chases: We hear from someone that a station "just down the road" has gas, but invariably get lost trying to find it. If and/or when we find the station, they have run out of gas and we end up hanging out in the station parking lot, chatting with other drivers who had heard the same rumor and arrived to find that there was no gas. The strange thing is that no one is upset. Everyone seems to support, or at least understand the strike and everyone is sure that the government will figure things out very soon and that things will go back to normal. I'm sure things will go back to normal, but I am equally sure that it won't happen until after we leave the country.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
We made it!!
I'm a tad late in posting, but Robert and I made it to Paris! It was the most difficult undertaking of my life and I'm so glad I did it. I found new depths of fatigue and heights endurance. I'm quite sure this will change my outlook for a lifetime. My life will forever be divided into pre-rally years and post-rally years.
I was so happy to see Michelle, Dave, Jessica, and Natalie at the finish line. It was a whirlwind of pictures, congratulations, and introductions, but with no time to spare, we had to rush off to prepare for the big gala! I jumped out of my dirty rally clothes and into my tuxedo, Michelle slipped into her fancy dress, and we set off to the award ceremony. The rally peeps had put together a slide show and video to accompany the five-star meal.
Mostly in St. Germain dés Pres, we spent the next few days doing our best to empty the city of saucisson, fromage, and pain chocolat. Dave, who has visited and lived in Paris several times, played host in his adopted city. I met his friends, Val and Vincent, and I met Michelle's friends Kenji and Anaïs. We drank wine, sipped café, and explored the streets. As I relaxed and got used to living without a schedule, I started to feel the tug of the road again. I was oddly anxious to get back to driving and seeing more of the country.
Wednesday, Michelle and I packed up the car and set off for the Loire valley. The countryside is beautiful and I am having very little difficulty converting to vacation mode.
Today I wanted to do a bit of car work, mostly just to tighten up some oil leaks and make the car more comfortable. We found a great VW shop called Slide Performance in Orléans. These guys are a full-featured VW performance shop building engines, doing body work, suspension work; they do the whole works. The guys were extremely helpful and let me use a space behind the shop to work on the bug, also offering their tools and assistance. I changed 3 pushrod tubes, re-sealed the valve covers, replaced the air cleaner with a quieter street assembly, and patched 2 leaky tires. Thanks to David at www.slideperformance.com who provided invaluable assistance and had an uncanny, almost magical ability to come outside and see how we were doing just as I had a question or needed a special tool for a job.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Leaving for France in a Matter of Hours!
In just a few short hours, I'll be jumping on a plane and meeting Garrick in Paris. My co-wokers are all jealous. The Ladybird will have to hold it together for 3 more weeks after this cruel rally schedule so we can meander around France and England. My suitcase is packed (mostly with clothes for Garrick - a tux AND a suit! Sheesh!) and I'm so far behind on sleep I really shouldn't be allowed to drive to the airport... but you just try and stop me.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Day 31 - Through Instanbul
It was another day of happy miracles in Asia!
We left Abant Lake this morning for a 4 hour drive to Instanbul to meet the local VW Club. We were hopeful to find some help with our leaky and cranky engine. What we found was a whole VW car show! They had about 8 buses, 20 beetles, and 2 411's. We were greeted like rock stars! Everyone attending surrounded us, took pictures, asked about the rally, and gave me a t-shirt. Even if we didn't find help, I was glad we had stopped to see the local VW culture.
We met with some of the master VW mechanics. The first two weren't willing to work on Sunday, but the third said he would be happy to replace the rear main seal for 100 Euros. He didn't speak a lick of English, so lots of mime were involved with the negotiations. We followed him back to his garage. It was a simple working garage for engine assembly and body work. He didn't waste time and the engine was on the floor in about 30 minutes. With his ever-present cigarette, he gave us the bad news. The main bearings were shot and that if we continued, the crankshaft was sure to break. "Grank go boom! Kaput!" It would require a full engine rebuild. Lots of miming later, we learned that it could take up to 4 days and that another engine was not immediately available.
Not for lack of skill, but if he had a full machine shop on the premises, I might have considered letting him crack open the crankcase and hope he finishes in a day. But since he obviously didn't have a stack of new bearings on hand or the tooling required to grind them, I was pretty sure that we would just be left behind by the rally.
He protested in a very loud, but friendly way. Imagine a boisterious Turk babbling away incomprehensibly about, I believe, being stranded in the mountains of Greece with a broken "grank" because I didn't listen to the warnings of this loud Turk. Over one of our several rounds of Nescafe, I asked, pointing at the engine, "1000 keelo-meeter? 2000 keelo-meeter? When go boom? Parish?" He just laughed.
I actually really like this guy. He had a lot of personality. Jokes don't generally translate well, but we were laughing a lot. He is undoubtably the life of any party.
Anyways, back to the engine...
To his credit, he was able to tighten up the rear bearings which took out most of the end-play in the crankshaft. I'm very pleased to have a tighter engine. The new rear main seal was installed. I installed new spark plugs.
All parts, including the clutch, were throughly cleaned with fuel in an air sprayer (!!!). The air was full of atomized fuel. Even though he managed to not smoke for a few minutes, I still left the building during the cleaning procedure. I couldn't help but imagine the whole building blowing up.
With the engine back in the car, it started up right away and immediately sounded better. He adjusted the spark advance and the thing nearly purred. While we didn't get the engine "fixed", we did a significant improvement. I am very pleased with our encounter with the VW Club of Instanbul.
We left Abant Lake this morning for a 4 hour drive to Instanbul to meet the local VW Club. We were hopeful to find some help with our leaky and cranky engine. What we found was a whole VW car show! They had about 8 buses, 20 beetles, and 2 411's. We were greeted like rock stars! Everyone attending surrounded us, took pictures, asked about the rally, and gave me a t-shirt. Even if we didn't find help, I was glad we had stopped to see the local VW culture.
We met with some of the master VW mechanics. The first two weren't willing to work on Sunday, but the third said he would be happy to replace the rear main seal for 100 Euros. He didn't speak a lick of English, so lots of mime were involved with the negotiations. We followed him back to his garage. It was a simple working garage for engine assembly and body work. He didn't waste time and the engine was on the floor in about 30 minutes. With his ever-present cigarette, he gave us the bad news. The main bearings were shot and that if we continued, the crankshaft was sure to break. "Grank go boom! Kaput!" It would require a full engine rebuild. Lots of miming later, we learned that it could take up to 4 days and that another engine was not immediately available.
Not for lack of skill, but if he had a full machine shop on the premises, I might have considered letting him crack open the crankcase and hope he finishes in a day. But since he obviously didn't have a stack of new bearings on hand or the tooling required to grind them, I was pretty sure that we would just be left behind by the rally.
He protested in a very loud, but friendly way. Imagine a boisterious Turk babbling away incomprehensibly about, I believe, being stranded in the mountains of Greece with a broken "grank" because I didn't listen to the warnings of this loud Turk. Over one of our several rounds of Nescafe, I asked, pointing at the engine, "1000 keelo-meeter? 2000 keelo-meeter? When go boom? Parish?" He just laughed.
I actually really like this guy. He had a lot of personality. Jokes don't generally translate well, but we were laughing a lot. He is undoubtably the life of any party.
Anyways, back to the engine...
To his credit, he was able to tighten up the rear bearings which took out most of the end-play in the crankshaft. I'm very pleased to have a tighter engine. The new rear main seal was installed. I installed new spark plugs.
All parts, including the clutch, were throughly cleaned with fuel in an air sprayer (!!!). The air was full of atomized fuel. Even though he managed to not smoke for a few minutes, I still left the building during the cleaning procedure. I couldn't help but imagine the whole building blowing up.
With the engine back in the car, it started up right away and immediately sounded better. He adjusted the spark advance and the thing nearly purred. While we didn't get the engine "fixed", we did a significant improvement. I am very pleased with our encounter with the VW Club of Instanbul.
Day 30 - Detour to Yozgat
Yesterday we decided that our gimped car wasn't up to the day's
course of dirt roads and mountain climbs in the middle of this
awful storm. We set off on our own in a different direction on the
main highway to stay the night in a city called Yozgat. This detour
would cut out about 200km and a liter of oil.
Robert called his sister, Gillian, to find us a hotel. "nothing
fancy but secure parking would be nice" is what I said. She booked a
room at the Galati Cimli with an address of Cimli Milli Parki Yogu.
Miraculously we found signs and drove straight to it, in the dark,
in the rain.
We found ourselves in a wooded forest road that wound up a mountain
immediately south of Yozgat. When we pulled into the parking lot we
were stunned to find a dozen rally cars were already parked!
Apparently we weren't the only ones that wanted to avoid the awful
roads.
Inside the lobby, we found everyone relaxing, lubricated, and
discussing the day's events. It turns out that they came as a group,
arranged a group rate and a group dinner. We were basically crashing
their party. We thought that we were striking out on our own, but we
just crashed into the rally again!
The next morning, we rejoined the rally in Silvas, and again decided
to avoid the wet dirt roads by staying on the main highway. We had a
lovely scenic drive through the Turkish country side. As we drove
along, the weather turned colder and the car got happier.
Fortunately, this time we got to the rally destination hotel on Lake
Abant. The hotel received their first snow fall of the year today!
We are just above the snow line and it is sticking well. I expect a
layer of snow on the car in the morning.
Tomorrow we drive to Istanbul and we are meeting with the local VW
club. Maybe they can pull the engine and replace the oil seal. Maybe
they can't. I dunno. The language barrier is a real problem when
trying to make arrangements by phone. At least in person one can
mime and scribble numbers in the dirt.
course of dirt roads and mountain climbs in the middle of this
awful storm. We set off on our own in a different direction on the
main highway to stay the night in a city called Yozgat. This detour
would cut out about 200km and a liter of oil.
Robert called his sister, Gillian, to find us a hotel. "nothing
fancy but secure parking would be nice" is what I said. She booked a
room at the Galati Cimli with an address of Cimli Milli Parki Yogu.
Miraculously we found signs and drove straight to it, in the dark,
in the rain.
We found ourselves in a wooded forest road that wound up a mountain
immediately south of Yozgat. When we pulled into the parking lot we
were stunned to find a dozen rally cars were already parked!
Apparently we weren't the only ones that wanted to avoid the awful
roads.
Inside the lobby, we found everyone relaxing, lubricated, and
discussing the day's events. It turns out that they came as a group,
arranged a group rate and a group dinner. We were basically crashing
their party. We thought that we were striking out on our own, but we
just crashed into the rally again!
The next morning, we rejoined the rally in Silvas, and again decided
to avoid the wet dirt roads by staying on the main highway. We had a
lovely scenic drive through the Turkish country side. As we drove
along, the weather turned colder and the car got happier.
Fortunately, this time we got to the rally destination hotel on Lake
Abant. The hotel received their first snow fall of the year today!
We are just above the snow line and it is sticking well. I expect a
layer of snow on the car in the morning.
Tomorrow we drive to Istanbul and we are meeting with the local VW
club. Maybe they can pull the engine and replace the oil seal. Maybe
they can't. I dunno. The language barrier is a real problem when
trying to make arrangements by phone. At least in person one can
mime and scribble numbers in the dirt.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Day 28 - Entering Turkey
Day 28 of my imprisonment in P2P.
As Michelle said, there are a lot of highs and lows in this rally. Last night I went to bed in the mostly comfortable Hotel Pars in Tagriz, Iran while Ladybird was on the back of a truck moving somewhere north of Tehran. It was scheduled to arrive at the hotel around 3am and we would unload it in the morning. I awoke with the sun at 6am and could see the truck from my window. After a quick shower, I walked down to meet the driver to unload Ladybird.
As usual, an english-speaking young man from the local car club immediately materialised (in his 1972 Camaro) to assist with the deliberations. Iranians have a firm belief that westerners cannot function for a moment without local assistance (which is not far from the truth) and somehow appear to be omnipresent.
The car was unloaded without incident around 7am and I was feeling pretty good. Robert and I rejoined the rally with huge smiles on our faces. We started the 200 mile leg to Iran-Turkey border, kept it slow, and arrived 8 minutes ahead of pace. The fact that the engine had lower oil pressure didn't spoil our good mood.
Then the low arrived right on schedule: a huge puddle of oil formed under the engine as we waited in line to exit Iran. The dipstick showed that we had lost a half quart of oil! Checking: Was it just a loose fitting somewhere? Was it the rear main oil seal? Was the oil sump loose? Was the oil cooler gasket bad? The giant skid plate blocked the view. All we could see was that the valve covers and pushrod tubes were dry. The leak came from somewhere in the middle.
At least the border crossing was quite easy. Exiting Iran was just a quick stamp, and entering Turkey just required $20 for a visa. All told, it was our quickest crossing so far at 45 minutes. On the road, immediately north of the border, Mount Ararat (home of Noah's Arc) is on the right. This was the first biblical location that I have ever seen and I was impressed. It is a dramatic site. The road is at 6000ft and the mountain juts up, nearly by itself, another 10,000ft next to the road. It is no wonder that this mountain has such a rich mythological history.
We pushed on, struggled up the meandering hills. At the Passage Control in Agri, we found that we were down another half quart. No bother. Topped it up. The car was running well and we pushed on, discussing our options. The skid plate had to come off tonight to find the source of the leak. The skid plate is a pain in the ass and I was tired. I was making excuses to not bother.
We got to our hotel in Erzurum shortly after sunset and found that we lost a full quart! After dinner I went outside to start working on Ladybird and to my surprise I found that Peter, one of the fantastic rally mechanics, had already pulled off the skid plate. We had talked to him about the problem back in Agri and he mentioned taking off the skid plate; but I never expected that he would actually do it unsolicited! He was under the car looking around and non-chalantly asked me to start the engine. After a few minutes the worst case scenerio was confirmed. The rear main seal (actually in the front, but VW engines are backwards) was badly leaking. It was also obvious that the crankshaft is moving a bit. This would require, at least, the engine to be pulled. It might require the crankcase to be opened.
Oh bother. There is nothing we can do but press on through Turkey and keep adding oil. We will leave a trail of oil on the way to Instanbul. It will be a short day passing through Instanbul and maybe we can find time to replace it.
As Michelle said, there are a lot of highs and lows in this rally. Last night I went to bed in the mostly comfortable Hotel Pars in Tagriz, Iran while Ladybird was on the back of a truck moving somewhere north of Tehran. It was scheduled to arrive at the hotel around 3am and we would unload it in the morning. I awoke with the sun at 6am and could see the truck from my window. After a quick shower, I walked down to meet the driver to unload Ladybird.
As usual, an english-speaking young man from the local car club immediately materialised (in his 1972 Camaro) to assist with the deliberations. Iranians have a firm belief that westerners cannot function for a moment without local assistance (which is not far from the truth) and somehow appear to be omnipresent.
The car was unloaded without incident around 7am and I was feeling pretty good. Robert and I rejoined the rally with huge smiles on our faces. We started the 200 mile leg to Iran-Turkey border, kept it slow, and arrived 8 minutes ahead of pace. The fact that the engine had lower oil pressure didn't spoil our good mood.
Then the low arrived right on schedule: a huge puddle of oil formed under the engine as we waited in line to exit Iran. The dipstick showed that we had lost a half quart of oil! Checking: Was it just a loose fitting somewhere? Was it the rear main oil seal? Was the oil sump loose? Was the oil cooler gasket bad? The giant skid plate blocked the view. All we could see was that the valve covers and pushrod tubes were dry. The leak came from somewhere in the middle.
At least the border crossing was quite easy. Exiting Iran was just a quick stamp, and entering Turkey just required $20 for a visa. All told, it was our quickest crossing so far at 45 minutes. On the road, immediately north of the border, Mount Ararat (home of Noah's Arc) is on the right. This was the first biblical location that I have ever seen and I was impressed. It is a dramatic site. The road is at 6000ft and the mountain juts up, nearly by itself, another 10,000ft next to the road. It is no wonder that this mountain has such a rich mythological history.
We pushed on, struggled up the meandering hills. At the Passage Control in Agri, we found that we were down another half quart. No bother. Topped it up. The car was running well and we pushed on, discussing our options. The skid plate had to come off tonight to find the source of the leak. The skid plate is a pain in the ass and I was tired. I was making excuses to not bother.
We got to our hotel in Erzurum shortly after sunset and found that we lost a full quart! After dinner I went outside to start working on Ladybird and to my surprise I found that Peter, one of the fantastic rally mechanics, had already pulled off the skid plate. We had talked to him about the problem back in Agri and he mentioned taking off the skid plate; but I never expected that he would actually do it unsolicited! He was under the car looking around and non-chalantly asked me to start the engine. After a few minutes the worst case scenerio was confirmed. The rear main seal (actually in the front, but VW engines are backwards) was badly leaking. It was also obvious that the crankshaft is moving a bit. This would require, at least, the engine to be pulled. It might require the crankcase to be opened.
Oh bother. There is nothing we can do but press on through Turkey and keep adding oil. We will leave a trail of oil on the way to Instanbul. It will be a short day passing through Instanbul and maybe we can find time to replace it.
Will the Drama Never Stop?
This morning at 2am I got the following text:
"New engine has low pressure and dribbling oil. Sigh. Thrust bearing and front bearing may be bad. There are a lot of highs and lows on this trip."
Then this afternoon, the following message:
"Hi. We're now in Turkey. It's much nicer than Iran. The engine is leaking 1 1/2 liters of oil a day. It doesn't have much power. The oil pressure is low and we're just limping along."
"New engine has low pressure and dribbling oil. Sigh. Thrust bearing and front bearing may be bad. There are a lot of highs and lows on this trip."
Then this afternoon, the following message:
"Hi. We're now in Turkey. It's much nicer than Iran. The engine is leaking 1 1/2 liters of oil a day. It doesn't have much power. The oil pressure is low and we're just limping along."
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Chuck and lloyd
I virtual high five to a couple of my new friends Chuck and Lloyd. I've had a lot of fun hanging out with these guys. Their personalities are as large as their car!
And since they have a satellite data connection, Chuck is doing a great blog:
http://cschwager.wordpress.com/
And since they have a satellite data connection, Chuck is doing a great blog:
http://cschwager.wordpress.com/
Posts
My apologies for not being able to do any posts since China. Internet access has been nearly non-existent and my time sparse. I just read everything that Michelle had posted from the few conversations we've had over the satellite phone and she has been doing a fantastic job.
Her post regarding Iran conveys my feelings better than I could have written it.
Thanks Love!
Her post regarding Iran conveys my feelings better than I could have written it.
Thanks Love!
Back in Action!
I am now in Tabriz, Iran with my first net access since Beijing. I am exhausted so please my grammar and spelling below. I can honestly barely type.
This has been unbelievable. 4 days ago we broke the crankshaft or lost the
thrust bearing allowing the crankshaft to move. We were in Uzbekistan about 60
miles from the Turkmenistan border. A rally sweeper truck towed us through the
border and to the hotel. In the morning, the car was loaded on a truck and
taken to the next city in Turkmenistan. We couldn't do any repairs because
parts are unavailable and shipping into Turkmenistan would be impossible.
Keeping up with the rally is a huge concern because the days are very long and
catching up even 1 day is nearly impossible. Our only option was to keep moving
forward with the rally.
With 0 options in the police state of Turkmenistan, our mood darkening, we
eagerly awaited getting into Iran. Our plan was to consult with the Iranian Car
Club regarding repairs in Iran (is it possible?) or keep trucking to Istanbul
($$$!). After a 6 hour wait getting across the border (I've been fingerprinted
for the first time!), we finally made contact with the car club and they were
enthusiastic about helping and absolutely positive they could fix it. The
problem was that the rally was moving north-west to Gorgon and their facilities
were 3 hours south in Mashood. If they fixed it in 1 day, I would still be 2
days behind and in the wrong direction. Anyways, we decided to trust them.
After a harrowing 65km tow through the mountains and then another truck ride,
we arrived in Mashood at about 10pm.
As we were unloading the car from the truck, the local VW expert, Mr. Ali,
shows up in his show-condition 1956 Sealing Wax Red beetle! We were absolutely
stunned to find a near match for our car after despairing for days. We took the
car to their shop, stood back as Ali got an immediate start, and some of the
guys took us out to dinner. Our emotional state was
fairly fragile at this point but Saeed and Abbas took good care of us.
It is difficult to convey the chaos we felt around us. The numerous car club
members were a blur of activity and cellphones. I got the sense of a vast
network of behind-the-scenes support. Towards our own disorientation, we heard
constant reassurances of "Don't worry, no problem" and then we would be whisked
off to some other unknown destination. We were tired, depressed, unable to
communicate with our friends, doubting ourselves for trusting these people, and
feeling like strangers in a strange land.
Anyways, after a wonderful traditional Iranian dinner of kebab and rice with
Abbas and Saeed, another member, Mohammad, gave us his apartment for a night's
rest while he stayed at his sister's. In the morning, he served us breakfast
and drove us back to the car. Ali and Saeed had worked through the night and
they were nearly finished! While Ali finished, Saeed gave us rides in his dune
buggy! We traded a few gifts of t-shirts, hats, pictures, and some minor
speeches about cars transcending politics and all of us being an extended
family. A lawyer in the ranks of the club gave us an official government letter
that we were to present to police if we were stopped that explains why we were
driving a day behind the rally.
But our elation was quickly squelched when the engine failed to deliver
adequate oil pressure and began emitting sounds like a bad crank bearing. Robert
and I just went quiet as we handed over the keys again. I had gone from
literally tears of joy for these people's help in our time of helplessness to
being sick to my stomach with despair.
Ali didn't speak a lick of English so we were always unclear about what he was
doing. The other guys would generally wick us away for some food or other
distraction while Ali worked. I think Ali had requested that we be kept away so
that he wasn't distracted. I wish I had a nickle every time we heard "don't
worry, no problem." Anyways, after a very long and quiet afternoon, Ali
declared the car fixed after doing something with the oil pickup.
The only problem now was that we were fully 2 days behind the rally with little
hope of catching up by following the prescribed route. If we took a short-cut
from the prescribed route, Abbas warned us that we would be regularly stopped
by the police and delayed for hours each time. The Chaos was unleashed and a
truck materialized to take the car to Tagriz. We were given plain tickets and
would arrive in Tagriz in time for lunch a few hours before the rally arrived!
With the car trucked and away, we had a few hours to kill before our flight.
Mohammad wanted to take us to dinner and suggested pizza. We drove clear across
town to his favorite "delicious pizza for me." You can imagine our surprise
when we arrived at an Iranian clone of McDonald's called McMan! OMFG we drove
an hour across town to eat pizza at McDonald's! My attempts to suppress laughter
largely failed.
As I write this, I am sitting in comfort at a lovely hotel, the first rally
people are trickling in, and our car will be here tonight. The last few days
have been full of emotional ups and downs. We would have been completely lost
without the guys from the car club and we are forever in their debt.
Edit: The URL I was given for the car club is http://www.khorasan-mafiri.ir but it doesn't seem to be working. I think they are a local division of a larger MAFIRI group at http://mafiri.ir/
This has been unbelievable. 4 days ago we broke the crankshaft or lost the
thrust bearing allowing the crankshaft to move. We were in Uzbekistan about 60
miles from the Turkmenistan border. A rally sweeper truck towed us through the
border and to the hotel. In the morning, the car was loaded on a truck and
taken to the next city in Turkmenistan. We couldn't do any repairs because
parts are unavailable and shipping into Turkmenistan would be impossible.
Keeping up with the rally is a huge concern because the days are very long and
catching up even 1 day is nearly impossible. Our only option was to keep moving
forward with the rally.
With 0 options in the police state of Turkmenistan, our mood darkening, we
eagerly awaited getting into Iran. Our plan was to consult with the Iranian Car
Club regarding repairs in Iran (is it possible?) or keep trucking to Istanbul
($$$!). After a 6 hour wait getting across the border (I've been fingerprinted
for the first time!), we finally made contact with the car club and they were
enthusiastic about helping and absolutely positive they could fix it. The
problem was that the rally was moving north-west to Gorgon and their facilities
were 3 hours south in Mashood. If they fixed it in 1 day, I would still be 2
days behind and in the wrong direction. Anyways, we decided to trust them.
After a harrowing 65km tow through the mountains and then another truck ride,
we arrived in Mashood at about 10pm.
As we were unloading the car from the truck, the local VW expert, Mr. Ali,
shows up in his show-condition 1956 Sealing Wax Red beetle! We were absolutely
stunned to find a near match for our car after despairing for days. We took the
car to their shop, stood back as Ali got an immediate start, and some of the
guys took us out to dinner. Our emotional state was
fairly fragile at this point but Saeed and Abbas took good care of us.
It is difficult to convey the chaos we felt around us. The numerous car club
members were a blur of activity and cellphones. I got the sense of a vast
network of behind-the-scenes support. Towards our own disorientation, we heard
constant reassurances of "Don't worry, no problem" and then we would be whisked
off to some other unknown destination. We were tired, depressed, unable to
communicate with our friends, doubting ourselves for trusting these people, and
feeling like strangers in a strange land.
Anyways, after a wonderful traditional Iranian dinner of kebab and rice with
Abbas and Saeed, another member, Mohammad, gave us his apartment for a night's
rest while he stayed at his sister's. In the morning, he served us breakfast
and drove us back to the car. Ali and Saeed had worked through the night and
they were nearly finished! While Ali finished, Saeed gave us rides in his dune
buggy! We traded a few gifts of t-shirts, hats, pictures, and some minor
speeches about cars transcending politics and all of us being an extended
family. A lawyer in the ranks of the club gave us an official government letter
that we were to present to police if we were stopped that explains why we were
driving a day behind the rally.
But our elation was quickly squelched when the engine failed to deliver
adequate oil pressure and began emitting sounds like a bad crank bearing. Robert
and I just went quiet as we handed over the keys again. I had gone from
literally tears of joy for these people's help in our time of helplessness to
being sick to my stomach with despair.
Ali didn't speak a lick of English so we were always unclear about what he was
doing. The other guys would generally wick us away for some food or other
distraction while Ali worked. I think Ali had requested that we be kept away so
that he wasn't distracted. I wish I had a nickle every time we heard "don't
worry, no problem." Anyways, after a very long and quiet afternoon, Ali
declared the car fixed after doing something with the oil pickup.
The only problem now was that we were fully 2 days behind the rally with little
hope of catching up by following the prescribed route. If we took a short-cut
from the prescribed route, Abbas warned us that we would be regularly stopped
by the police and delayed for hours each time. The Chaos was unleashed and a
truck materialized to take the car to Tagriz. We were given plain tickets and
would arrive in Tagriz in time for lunch a few hours before the rally arrived!
With the car trucked and away, we had a few hours to kill before our flight.
Mohammad wanted to take us to dinner and suggested pizza. We drove clear across
town to his favorite "delicious pizza for me." You can imagine our surprise
when we arrived at an Iranian clone of McDonald's called McMan! OMFG we drove
an hour across town to eat pizza at McDonald's! My attempts to suppress laughter
largely failed.
As I write this, I am sitting in comfort at a lovely hotel, the first rally
people are trickling in, and our car will be here tonight. The last few days
have been full of emotional ups and downs. We would have been completely lost
without the guys from the car club and we are forever in their debt.
Edit: The URL I was given for the car club is http://www.khorasan-mafiri.ir but it doesn't seem to be working. I think they are a local division of a larger MAFIRI group at http://mafiri.ir/
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Stop the Presses!!!!! News from Iran!
Just when it seemed that the boys were out of the running, when all hope was lost and the towel was thrown in...
A new development!
OK, so Turkmenistan sucks, we figured that much out.
The fallen 'Ladybird' had to be towed across the country because the police state of Turkmenistan would not allow them to depart from the rally group.
That all changed when the rally entered Iran:
At the border, there was a group of young, Iranian men with their classic cars. They had gathered there to welcome the rally to Iran and to cheer them on. Garrick had heard of the club before and went up to introduce himself. He explained the situation of the 'Ladybird' and asked if the Iranian car club could help. The young men were exuberant and offered Garrick and Robert their help. The men explained that they had a shop and all the parts that were needed to repair the car and anything else that Garrick and Robert required to get back into the race...but there was a catch.
The shop was located about 250 km off of the rally route.
What to do?
Stay with the rally and get towed along, losing precious time, until a good mechanic shop could be found?
OR, leave the route and the safety and comfort of the rally association and go off to who-knows-where with a group of complete strangers (albeit, friendly and excited strangers) who claimed they could help repair the car and get 'Team Ladybird' back in the race? It was a difficult decision, but in the end, Garrick and Robert decided to take a chance with their new friends and leave the route.
It turned out to be a great decision.
The men from the car club tied the 'Ladybird' to the back of a Camero and towed it about 50 km, then hired a flatbed truck to haul the 'Ladybird' the remaining 200 km to the shop. At the shop, the guys immediately got to work for repairs. They worked through the night to get the boys back on the road as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, Garrick and Robert have been housed and fed and entertained and taken care of far beyond their expectations. Garrick made it clear that both he and Robert have offered, numerous times, to contribute economically to the undertakings, but have been roundly refused every time.
Conclusion:
The Iranian Classic Car Club in Mooshad is awesome.
Click here for a very short (and only, as far as I can find) article about the club
Iranian Classic Car Club
Hooray for the Iranian Car Club and middle eastern hospitality!
A new development!
OK, so Turkmenistan sucks, we figured that much out.
The fallen 'Ladybird' had to be towed across the country because the police state of Turkmenistan would not allow them to depart from the rally group.
That all changed when the rally entered Iran:
At the border, there was a group of young, Iranian men with their classic cars. They had gathered there to welcome the rally to Iran and to cheer them on. Garrick had heard of the club before and went up to introduce himself. He explained the situation of the 'Ladybird' and asked if the Iranian car club could help. The young men were exuberant and offered Garrick and Robert their help. The men explained that they had a shop and all the parts that were needed to repair the car and anything else that Garrick and Robert required to get back into the race...but there was a catch.
The shop was located about 250 km off of the rally route.
What to do?
Stay with the rally and get towed along, losing precious time, until a good mechanic shop could be found?
OR, leave the route and the safety and comfort of the rally association and go off to who-knows-where with a group of complete strangers (albeit, friendly and excited strangers) who claimed they could help repair the car and get 'Team Ladybird' back in the race? It was a difficult decision, but in the end, Garrick and Robert decided to take a chance with their new friends and leave the route.
It turned out to be a great decision.
The men from the car club tied the 'Ladybird' to the back of a Camero and towed it about 50 km, then hired a flatbed truck to haul the 'Ladybird' the remaining 200 km to the shop. At the shop, the guys immediately got to work for repairs. They worked through the night to get the boys back on the road as quickly as possible.
In the meantime, Garrick and Robert have been housed and fed and entertained and taken care of far beyond their expectations. Garrick made it clear that both he and Robert have offered, numerous times, to contribute economically to the undertakings, but have been roundly refused every time.
Conclusion:
The Iranian Classic Car Club in Mooshad is awesome.
Click here for a very short (and only, as far as I can find) article about the club
Iranian Classic Car Club
Hooray for the Iranian Car Club and middle eastern hospitality!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Oh, the Horror!!!
I received the sad news from Team Ladybird this weekend.
They're effectively out of the race.
In the end, it wasn't the rabid yaks, or the washed out roads of Mongolia that did them in. It wasn't a bad bowl of mutton stew, malaria or migraines.
It was a little bearing, deep within the engine which ground the car to a screeching halt.
They broke down in Uzbekistan, just outside of Turkmenistan, and ended up towing the car across the border. Turns out Turkmenistan is run like a Police State and the boys weren't allowed to veer from the course to get the car to a mechanic, nor were they allowed to go ahead of the rally or stay behind to fix the car. There was nothing they could do but tow the car along for the entire two days, being forced to stay with the group.
They have been told that there may be greater possibilities for repair in Iran and that in Turkey, there are a number of ace VW mechanics, but that's many days away and might be so expensive as to not be worth it.
As much as Garrick sounded disappointed, he also sounded a little relieved to be done with the rally. He said the schedule was grueling and the few days off they have had so far, were spent fixing the car, or making adjustments or doing preventative maintenance.
All that aside, he said it has also been an incredible experience: That everyone they have met has been excited to see them, friendly and welcoming; That when passing through small towns, the populations gather along the sides of the road to wave at them; That they have been made to feel like rock stars.
Garrick didn't know what the next steps would be, but he promised to keep us posted. Stay tuned for further developments.
They're effectively out of the race.
In the end, it wasn't the rabid yaks, or the washed out roads of Mongolia that did them in. It wasn't a bad bowl of mutton stew, malaria or migraines.
It was a little bearing, deep within the engine which ground the car to a screeching halt.
They broke down in Uzbekistan, just outside of Turkmenistan, and ended up towing the car across the border. Turns out Turkmenistan is run like a Police State and the boys weren't allowed to veer from the course to get the car to a mechanic, nor were they allowed to go ahead of the rally or stay behind to fix the car. There was nothing they could do but tow the car along for the entire two days, being forced to stay with the group.
They have been told that there may be greater possibilities for repair in Iran and that in Turkey, there are a number of ace VW mechanics, but that's many days away and might be so expensive as to not be worth it.
As much as Garrick sounded disappointed, he also sounded a little relieved to be done with the rally. He said the schedule was grueling and the few days off they have had so far, were spent fixing the car, or making adjustments or doing preventative maintenance.
All that aside, he said it has also been an incredible experience: That everyone they have met has been excited to see them, friendly and welcoming; That when passing through small towns, the populations gather along the sides of the road to wave at them; That they have been made to feel like rock stars.
Garrick didn't know what the next steps would be, but he promised to keep us posted. Stay tuned for further developments.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Holding Strong in 9th Place.
The boys are holding strong in spot number nine. With 144:00:23 hours of road time under their belts (and an entire day lost to a breakdown) they are a mere 11 hours and 53 minutes behind the leader - a Holden EH.
They are still ahead of Garrick's father - Car #97 in a Volkswagen Beetle - by 5 minutes and 35 seconds, a tentative lead at best.
With only 16 days left in the race, anything could happen. Stay tuned for further updates!
Click Here to See the Official Results
They are still ahead of Garrick's father - Car #97 in a Volkswagen Beetle - by 5 minutes and 35 seconds, a tentative lead at best.
With only 16 days left in the race, anything could happen. Stay tuned for further updates!
Click Here to See the Official Results
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Country Number 5!
As of today, the rally has now entered country number 5. Uzbekistan.
That should make for an interesting passport stamp. I know very few people who even know where Uzbekistan IS, let alone have a stamp in their passport from such an exotic locale.
There hasn't been any direct news from car 106, so all I know is the location of the little red dots as per SkyTag - the satellite tracking system that has been installed in many of the cars (click on the link just below the photo above to see for yourself).
Car 106 does not have SkyTag installed, so for all we know, Garrick and Robert have succumbed to a yak attack (highly unlikely as there are no yaks in Kazakhstan OR Uzbekistan).
What I CAN offer is some information on Uzbekistan - thanks to Wikipedia...
Uzbekistan is classified as a constituent republic
It's a dry, landlocked country; one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world i.e., a country completely surrounded by landlocked countries – the other being Liechtenstein.
Partially conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BC
Completely conquered by Genghis Khan during the 13th century
Conquered by Russia early in the 20th century
Declared independance in 1991
Ostensibly, a democratic republic
Approximately 90% Islamic
Noodle and mutton-based dishes characterize the majority of Uzbek Cuisine
45% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day
I bet they have really cool passport stamps.
That should make for an interesting passport stamp. I know very few people who even know where Uzbekistan IS, let alone have a stamp in their passport from such an exotic locale.
There hasn't been any direct news from car 106, so all I know is the location of the little red dots as per SkyTag - the satellite tracking system that has been installed in many of the cars (click on the link just below the photo above to see for yourself).
Car 106 does not have SkyTag installed, so for all we know, Garrick and Robert have succumbed to a yak attack (highly unlikely as there are no yaks in Kazakhstan OR Uzbekistan).
What I CAN offer is some information on Uzbekistan - thanks to Wikipedia...
Uzbekistan is classified as a constituent republic
It's a dry, landlocked country; one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world i.e., a country completely surrounded by landlocked countries – the other being Liechtenstein.
Partially conquered by Alexander the Great in 327 BC
Completely conquered by Genghis Khan during the 13th century
Conquered by Russia early in the 20th century
Declared independance in 1991
Ostensibly, a democratic republic
Approximately 90% Islamic
Noodle and mutton-based dishes characterize the majority of Uzbek Cuisine
45% of the population live on less than US$1.25 per day
I bet they have really cool passport stamps.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Day 10 - Breakdown in Mongolia
I'm rewinding a bit because the story in Mongolia hasn't been told...
The first day in the dirt was in Mongolia. Since we were still new to the timing procedure, we screwed up and came in 14 minutes late for no good reason. We were just futzing around in the desert taking pictures and stopping with other cars. We had a minor fuel filter problem but it wasn't a big deal.
The next few days brought the first test stages where we get to race through the desert as fast as we can and get a chance to reduce our time. We were doing very well for a few days with a time that would have been first place if not for our 14 minute penalty.
Robert and I were high with confidence and feeling competitive. I was having the time of my life exploring the car's limits and moving quickly very day over the what passes for roads in Mongolia. The camaraderie with the other competitors was strong as we all spend the evenings with beer and story shivering in the cold Mongolia nights.
Then tragedy struck when the right rear wheel nearly fell off the car. I had just accelerated slightly in a smooth area (by Mongolian standards) to pass a few pioneer cars when I felt the back end drop. When we coasted to a stop, we found the trailing right arm had just broken in half and pulled out the CV joint. It had simply fatigued from the hundreds of miles of Mongolian washboard. I knew our time at the top of competition was over and I felt responsible. I had driven the car too hard and too fast. I had let excitement overrule good judgment and I broke the car.
Alone in the desert we found ourselves at the base of a hill on top of which was a family's ger (a ger is a smaller, more mobile yurt). The four kids appeared first. Bright eyes and wind-burned cheeks they explored us from a distance for a few minutes. Once they decided we were friendly, we could hardly get rid of them. The grandmother eyed us as she was walked past us to fetch water from the river further down.
Making truck arrangements with nothing but a satellite phone is a frustrating experience. After a few hours wait, we learned that our truck had picked up another car and that they had run out of trucks. More time passes and the sun is moving steadily across the sky. We had stopped early in the day and the next town, Khovd, was 500km ahead of us. Going backwards is never an option. We learn that a truck has been dispatched from Hovd and will take 5 hours to arrive.
While Robert stressed away his time, I was having fun with the kids. The eldest, of about 12years, was a beautiful girl that was flirtively shy and smily. The two boys were typical boys. We ran around the hillside doing kungfu moves and wrestling. The youngest, a toddler, just around all of us.
They had a sweet dog that quickly learned we were friendly, vulnerable, and required protection. He started barking at passing cars to keep them away from us.
I pulled out my Iphone to show them a picture of my dog, Linus, but they were stunned at the sight of swiping through pictures on the phone's touch display. I'll never forget these kids' excitement at being able to finger swipe through pictures. Maybe this was their first exposure to a computing device?
Of course, eventually I started taking pictures of them which was a concept that they understood. But their excitement doubled when I showed them their own pictures!
The girl understood how to use the camera features first. The boys were too excited and eager to pay attention, but she was really bright. Our play fully reenergized by the addition of a camera, we ran off into the fields and hillsides again.
As the sun was getting low in the sky, two guys in an SUV come by and, understanding our position, pour us some vodka and give us beers!
With our mood adequately lubricated, our truck arrives. If you are imaging a AAA tow truck, get that image out of your head. It resembles closer to an agricultural truck to carry sheep. Having a flatbed truck is nice, but how do you put a car into it? Tow the car to the top of steepest local hill, dig a hole large enough to swallow the back the truck, back the truck into the hole, and roll the car onto the truck!
The car is now on the truck, the sun is setting, and we have a 5 hour drive over Mongolian washboard ahead, and there are 3 people in the cab of the truck. Where do I Robert and I sit for this journey. In our car of course! The trip was long, slow, and bouncy.
I played with 4 kids for 9 hours in the Mongolian desert and am glad it happened. I will always remember those kids.
The first day in the dirt was in Mongolia. Since we were still new to the timing procedure, we screwed up and came in 14 minutes late for no good reason. We were just futzing around in the desert taking pictures and stopping with other cars. We had a minor fuel filter problem but it wasn't a big deal.
The next few days brought the first test stages where we get to race through the desert as fast as we can and get a chance to reduce our time. We were doing very well for a few days with a time that would have been first place if not for our 14 minute penalty.
Robert and I were high with confidence and feeling competitive. I was having the time of my life exploring the car's limits and moving quickly very day over the what passes for roads in Mongolia. The camaraderie with the other competitors was strong as we all spend the evenings with beer and story shivering in the cold Mongolia nights.
Then tragedy struck when the right rear wheel nearly fell off the car. I had just accelerated slightly in a smooth area (by Mongolian standards) to pass a few pioneer cars when I felt the back end drop. When we coasted to a stop, we found the trailing right arm had just broken in half and pulled out the CV joint. It had simply fatigued from the hundreds of miles of Mongolian washboard. I knew our time at the top of competition was over and I felt responsible. I had driven the car too hard and too fast. I had let excitement overrule good judgment and I broke the car.
Alone in the desert we found ourselves at the base of a hill on top of which was a family's ger (a ger is a smaller, more mobile yurt). The four kids appeared first. Bright eyes and wind-burned cheeks they explored us from a distance for a few minutes. Once they decided we were friendly, we could hardly get rid of them. The grandmother eyed us as she was walked past us to fetch water from the river further down.
Making truck arrangements with nothing but a satellite phone is a frustrating experience. After a few hours wait, we learned that our truck had picked up another car and that they had run out of trucks. More time passes and the sun is moving steadily across the sky. We had stopped early in the day and the next town, Khovd, was 500km ahead of us. Going backwards is never an option. We learn that a truck has been dispatched from Hovd and will take 5 hours to arrive.
While Robert stressed away his time, I was having fun with the kids. The eldest, of about 12years, was a beautiful girl that was flirtively shy and smily. The two boys were typical boys. We ran around the hillside doing kungfu moves and wrestling. The youngest, a toddler, just around all of us.
They had a sweet dog that quickly learned we were friendly, vulnerable, and required protection. He started barking at passing cars to keep them away from us.
I pulled out my Iphone to show them a picture of my dog, Linus, but they were stunned at the sight of swiping through pictures on the phone's touch display. I'll never forget these kids' excitement at being able to finger swipe through pictures. Maybe this was their first exposure to a computing device?
Of course, eventually I started taking pictures of them which was a concept that they understood. But their excitement doubled when I showed them their own pictures!
The girl understood how to use the camera features first. The boys were too excited and eager to pay attention, but she was really bright. Our play fully reenergized by the addition of a camera, we ran off into the fields and hillsides again.
As the sun was getting low in the sky, two guys in an SUV come by and, understanding our position, pour us some vodka and give us beers!
With our mood adequately lubricated, our truck arrives. If you are imaging a AAA tow truck, get that image out of your head. It resembles closer to an agricultural truck to carry sheep. Having a flatbed truck is nice, but how do you put a car into it? Tow the car to the top of steepest local hill, dig a hole large enough to swallow the back the truck, back the truck into the hole, and roll the car onto the truck!
The car is now on the truck, the sun is setting, and we have a 5 hour drive over Mongolian washboard ahead, and there are 3 people in the cab of the truck. Where do I Robert and I sit for this journey. In our car of course! The trip was long, slow, and bouncy.
I played with 4 kids for 9 hours in the Mongolian desert and am glad it happened. I will always remember those kids.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Boys Are Back !n the Race!
I just checked today's race results and the boys are back on the road. They've even moved up already - from 10th to 9th place. Their performance today wasn't earth-shattering, but certainly a lot better than the broken-down-on-the-side-of-the-road speed they were attaining on Monday. They've gone from 10 seconds behind the first-place car to 10 hours behind the first-place car...but they still have another 25 days of rally racing to go. Will the boys pull out from under the pack? Will there be more breakdowns to come? Tune in next time for another episode of "One-Third of the Way Around the Globe With An Old Car and Some Duct Tape!"
Monday, September 20, 2010
Day 11 - fixed in Khovd
In the morning, we were faced with finding a welder and figuring out what to do with my CV joint. The CV had been torn apart dropping ball bearings in the desert.
Ladybird was still on the truck from last night. The driver took us over to the garage in charge of helping rally cars. Unfortunately it was already swamped with cars owned by people smart enough to get there early. The driver took us to "the best welder in town" who was, not surprisingly, his cousin.
In this guy's backyard, we had both beetles and Hayden with his Porsche. The right rear corner of Ladybird was quickly stripped and a cacophony of mongols set about prying and hammering the wheel back into position. While the welder did a good job, we ended with a wheel with a bit too much camber and toe-in.
Now we turn our attention to the CV joint. While we were waiting in the desert, we were able to recover 5 of the 6 balls. Someone went to a local used auto parts shop to look for another CV and ended up finding a matching ball in a random bucket of random bearings!
These stories are always a series of emotional highs and lows. At this point in the story, we are at a high. We reassembled the CV, with much difficulty as the cage was bent, and bolted the car back together.
Now the low... the CV wouldn't articulate! It was apparently too badly bruised to work anymore.
Having run out of day, we trucked back to camp. Hayden brought up the idea that the CV had been incorrectly assembled with the inner dog out of phase with the outer race.
me: "but that is impossible because the balls can't be inserted if it isn't in phase, right?" Hayden: "well, with a hammer, you can get them in."
me: "Oh shit, those guys used a fucking hammer."
Hayden: ...
me: ...
And I ran back to the truck to pull off the half-axle again. Once I got to the CV it was pretty obvious that they had done it wrong! This is where our moods go high again. I quickly repacked the CV and Ladybird was back in action!
While I didn't have any problems with the CV over the next few days, we couldn't ignore the fact that the CV was badly bruised and I had to keep the speed down.
Ladybird was still on the truck from last night. The driver took us over to the garage in charge of helping rally cars. Unfortunately it was already swamped with cars owned by people smart enough to get there early. The driver took us to "the best welder in town" who was, not surprisingly, his cousin.
In this guy's backyard, we had both beetles and Hayden with his Porsche. The right rear corner of Ladybird was quickly stripped and a cacophony of mongols set about prying and hammering the wheel back into position. While the welder did a good job, we ended with a wheel with a bit too much camber and toe-in.
Now we turn our attention to the CV joint. While we were waiting in the desert, we were able to recover 5 of the 6 balls. Someone went to a local used auto parts shop to look for another CV and ended up finding a matching ball in a random bucket of random bearings!
These stories are always a series of emotional highs and lows. At this point in the story, we are at a high. We reassembled the CV, with much difficulty as the cage was bent, and bolted the car back together.
Now the low... the CV wouldn't articulate! It was apparently too badly bruised to work anymore.
Having run out of day, we trucked back to camp. Hayden brought up the idea that the CV had been incorrectly assembled with the inner dog out of phase with the outer race.
me: "but that is impossible because the balls can't be inserted if it isn't in phase, right?" Hayden: "well, with a hammer, you can get them in."
me: "Oh shit, those guys used a fucking hammer."
Hayden: ...
me: ...
And I ran back to the truck to pull off the half-axle again. Once I got to the CV it was pretty obvious that they had done it wrong! This is where our moods go high again. I quickly repacked the CV and Ladybird was back in action!
While I didn't have any problems with the CV over the next few days, we couldn't ignore the fact that the CV was badly bruised and I had to keep the speed down.
Day 17 - Almaty
I spent the entire day inside of a Nissan dealer in a rented work bay replacing my bruised CV with a brand new chinese CV and repacking the other CVs.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Update From Mongolia
This morning at 12:29am I received the following text:
"I'm broken down in Mongolia!
Rear axle broke. It took out the lower cv joint. This sucks."
Then at 4:41pm another text arrived:
"9 hours waiting in the desert. Waiting in the desert with a lovely Mongol family. On a truck now to Kovd"
And at 6:37pm this post:
"On my way to the welder!"
It's a shame, because this incident has dropped "team ladybug" from a very respectable 2nd place down to 10th place in the rally. With the roads so bad, we can only hope that the remaining 40 percent of cars who haven't yet experienced mechanical difficulties, will also have a breakdown at some point so as to even out the playing field and allow "team ladybug" to catch up again in the overall total time.
"I'm broken down in Mongolia!
Rear axle broke. It took out the lower cv joint. This sucks."
Then at 4:41pm another text arrived:
"9 hours waiting in the desert. Waiting in the desert with a lovely Mongol family. On a truck now to Kovd"
And at 6:37pm this post:
"On my way to the welder!"
It's a shame, because this incident has dropped "team ladybug" from a very respectable 2nd place down to 10th place in the rally. With the roads so bad, we can only hope that the remaining 40 percent of cars who haven't yet experienced mechanical difficulties, will also have a breakdown at some point so as to even out the playing field and allow "team ladybug" to catch up again in the overall total time.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Rally Update And News From the Front (Of the Pack, That Is)
At 2:30 am, my phone rang. I must have been fast asleep because I wouldn't normally answer a phone at 2:30 in the am, but suddenly, the phone was in my hand and I was groggily rasping a "hello" into the receiver.
It was Garrick! Hooray!
Through a choppy satellite connection, he was able to give me some news of his exploits in Outer Mongolia.
He says it's cold. Crazy cold. And the yurts and tents they have been camping in have done little to keep the cold out.
He also says the roads are horrible. Worse than anyone had ever imagined. So bad in fact, that the rally association had to create a day off today since over half the entrants had broken down in the last 2 days. The support team is spread out over 100 miles of road in an effort to get everyone to the staging area in one piece and not lose any motorists (remember what happened to cars 088 and 062?). Garrick's father's car was one of those that broke down yesterday and part of the reason for Garrick's call was to recruit my services in obtaining replacement parts.
Aside from all this, he says he's having the time of his life and claims that he has no intention to do this ever again (he emphasized EVER)
He and Robert are currently in second place and a mere 10 seconds behind the winning vehicle.
Go team ladybug!
It was Garrick! Hooray!
Through a choppy satellite connection, he was able to give me some news of his exploits in Outer Mongolia.
He says it's cold. Crazy cold. And the yurts and tents they have been camping in have done little to keep the cold out.
He also says the roads are horrible. Worse than anyone had ever imagined. So bad in fact, that the rally association had to create a day off today since over half the entrants had broken down in the last 2 days. The support team is spread out over 100 miles of road in an effort to get everyone to the staging area in one piece and not lose any motorists (remember what happened to cars 088 and 062?). Garrick's father's car was one of those that broke down yesterday and part of the reason for Garrick's call was to recruit my services in obtaining replacement parts.
Aside from all this, he says he's having the time of his life and claims that he has no intention to do this ever again (he emphasized EVER)
He and Robert are currently in second place and a mere 10 seconds behind the winning vehicle.
Go team ladybug!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
The Little Red Dots Are On the Move!
The cars are now well within Mongolia. Although they have stopped for the evening, you can see the red dots of the cars with the "Sky Tag" system clustered near a town - the spelling of which closely resembles "YakAttaque". Click the link just below the photo at the top of the page and see for yourself (be patient as the 'Sky Tag' system seems to be running on hamster-power. You may need to try a few times). Cars 008 and 066 are well behind the bunch and it appears they either have mechanical troubles or are terribly lost. Let's hope they remembered to bring their yak spray and some extra water.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Day 0 - Scrutineering and Orientation
Today was a bit slow with getting the whole group of 100 cars through all of the initial checks and necessary approvals. Our mandatory equipment like the first-aid kit and fire extinguisher was verified. The car's necessary controls and FIVA status was verified. Our GPS was verified and loaded with the waypoints and maps. Our health insurance was verified. It seemed endless.
Then a long briefing with the route overview, hotel guidance, time card instruction, emergency procedures, etc.
Ultimately we spent far too much energy running around trying to gather all of the necessary documents and equipment. I think we were expecting more bureaucracy when the procedures turned out rather reasonable.
Tomorrow is the first day and I am excited to get started. We leave Beijing at 6am to drive 60 miles where the rally will officially start at the Great Wall. The appointed time is 7:30am, but the first car will leave at 8am and we won't leave till around 9am. We will get there early to wait the longest.
Then a long briefing with the route overview, hotel guidance, time card instruction, emergency procedures, etc.
Ultimately we spent far too much energy running around trying to gather all of the necessary documents and equipment. I think we were expecting more bureaucracy when the procedures turned out rather reasonable.
Tomorrow is the first day and I am excited to get started. We leave Beijing at 6am to drive 60 miles where the rally will officially start at the Great Wall. The appointed time is 7:30am, but the first car will leave at 8am and we won't leave till around 9am. We will get there early to wait the longest.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Day -1
I landed in Beijing at 4:50 this morning, waited forever in immigration, and hopped on the express train out of the airport. Most people immediately get a taxi, but Rui instructed me to get the train because it was cheaper and for the "experience". The local Chinese looked rather surprised to find a "round eye" on the train and gave me rather long looks; otherwise, it was a perfectly normal light-rail train. The taxi from the train station to the hotel was uneventful, but long in the morning traffic.
The Shangri-La hotel is a legit 5-star hotel that is beautiful. It serves as the home base for the rally for the first few days before we get started. I was directed to the big ballroom where breakfast was being served where I found my dad's navigator, Gernald. After an hour, my navigator, Robert, came in, shortly followed by my dad. We mingled with the other participants before moving off and dealing with hotel rooms. We were all discovering neat little tidbits of China like how google.com and blogspot.com were censored!
At noon, all of the participants met in a different ballroom for a briefing by a traffic officer regarding driving in China. It was a fluff piece that pushed the ideals of "harmonious traffic flow". Then we got our Chinese driver's licenses and were herded on to buses to go pick up our cars. Of course, the bus driver got lost but a bus-load of navigators armed with GPS devices set him in the correct direction. We were taken down to some warehouses and found our cars packed in like sardines. Once reunited with our beloved cars, smiles were shared by all around. My car started up instantly and we started our first test of navigation: getting back to the hotel. But first we had to fill up the gas tank. It was a hilarious mob scene at the first gas station as countless vintage cars jammed up the place. The local attendants worked furiously to service everyone as fast as possible.
Dad and Gernald followed us as Robert navigated our way back to the hotel without incident. As we drove through the streets, the locals were watching in awe; often with cameras. All of the cars were directed into numbered parking spaces and everyone began inspecting their cars. Most everyone seemed pleased and an easy camaraderie spread among the participants. I checked the tire pressure, oil blow-by filter, oil level, and everything was correct. Everyone was milling about for a time enjoying the tell of their cars' stories. This was when people started having fun.
After a few drinks, dad suggested we find some taxis and get genuine Peking Duck at a fine restaurant across town. I was very excited to have real duck in Beijing and I was not disappointed. This stuff was legit. In China, duck is important enough that each duck carries a unique serial number that is delivered to the customer in the form of a Commemoration Card". This serial number can be used to trace the life of that particular duck. The skin was incredibly light and slightly crispy. The meat was eaten mushu style. I stuffed myself silly along with some veggies and Chinese beer.
Tomorrow is the all-important "scrutineering" where our cars are inspected against the regulations. Any infractions must be corrected or the car will not be allowed to run.
The Shangri-La hotel is a legit 5-star hotel that is beautiful. It serves as the home base for the rally for the first few days before we get started. I was directed to the big ballroom where breakfast was being served where I found my dad's navigator, Gernald. After an hour, my navigator, Robert, came in, shortly followed by my dad. We mingled with the other participants before moving off and dealing with hotel rooms. We were all discovering neat little tidbits of China like how google.com and blogspot.com were censored!
At noon, all of the participants met in a different ballroom for a briefing by a traffic officer regarding driving in China. It was a fluff piece that pushed the ideals of "harmonious traffic flow". Then we got our Chinese driver's licenses and were herded on to buses to go pick up our cars. Of course, the bus driver got lost but a bus-load of navigators armed with GPS devices set him in the correct direction. We were taken down to some warehouses and found our cars packed in like sardines. Once reunited with our beloved cars, smiles were shared by all around. My car started up instantly and we started our first test of navigation: getting back to the hotel. But first we had to fill up the gas tank. It was a hilarious mob scene at the first gas station as countless vintage cars jammed up the place. The local attendants worked furiously to service everyone as fast as possible.
Dad and Gernald followed us as Robert navigated our way back to the hotel without incident. As we drove through the streets, the locals were watching in awe; often with cameras. All of the cars were directed into numbered parking spaces and everyone began inspecting their cars. Most everyone seemed pleased and an easy camaraderie spread among the participants. I checked the tire pressure, oil blow-by filter, oil level, and everything was correct. Everyone was milling about for a time enjoying the tell of their cars' stories. This was when people started having fun.
After a few drinks, dad suggested we find some taxis and get genuine Peking Duck at a fine restaurant across town. I was very excited to have real duck in Beijing and I was not disappointed. This stuff was legit. In China, duck is important enough that each duck carries a unique serial number that is delivered to the customer in the form of a Commemoration Card". This serial number can be used to trace the life of that particular duck. The skin was incredibly light and slightly crispy. The meat was eaten mushu style. I stuffed myself silly along with some veggies and Chinese beer.
Tomorrow is the all-important "scrutineering" where our cars are inspected against the regulations. Any infractions must be corrected or the car will not be allowed to run.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Phase One Complete
I dropped Garrick off at LAX last night and everything went according to plan...except that the newly opened, LAX branch of the World Famous Pink's restaurant was closed, so the sendoff was a little less greasy, bacon-y, chili-cheese-dog-y than we had originally intended. Can you find bacon chili cheese dogs in Mongolia?...probably not. So with the wise words of, "Don't run into any yaks...but if you see one, for God's sake, man, take a photo!" I left him in the hands of China Airlines. One backpack and a relatively small duffel bag just doesn't seem like enough gear for weeks on the road in the middle of nowhere, but that's what he's got. That, and a full helping of wits, gumption, mechanical aptitude and what the old-timers would call "horse sense".
He'll be fine.
He'll be fine.
Monday, September 6, 2010
About to leave...
It is 9:15pm in Los Angeles as I write this. I am leaving for LAX in a few minutes. Soon I will be starting the biggest adventure that I will have, and will likely to ever have, in my life.
I would like to thank my dad for making all of this possible. I think we are going to have a blast racing out in the deserts of the eastern world.
Also big thanks for Michelle for her support. I am a bundle of nerves and she is helping a great deal.
I would like to thank my dad for making all of this possible. I think we are going to have a blast racing out in the deserts of the eastern world.
Also big thanks for Michelle for her support. I am a bundle of nerves and she is helping a great deal.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
almost ready
It is now just a few days before I get on the plane to Beijing. I leave LAX late Monday night. The car should be waiting for me. I have finalized my travel bag. Insurance. Currency. Visas. Endless Paperwork. I have buttoned up everything at work. I have left behind access to endless dog food, rent money, and paid all of the bills. This weekend I will buy a few last minute items, change the oil in the bike, get Michelle's bike running well, and then say goodbye to everyone.
Did I plan and execute everything correctly? I don't know. I'm nervous.
Did I plan and execute everything correctly? I don't know. I'm nervous.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Introduction
Hello Internetanauts, Gearheads, and Rallyphiles,
My name is Garrick L. Staples (US), and along with Robert McClements (UK), we will be driving a 1959 VW Cabriolet from Beijing, China all the way to Paris, France. I know it sounds crazy, but we are not the first to do it and we won't be the last.
In 1907, 5 cars set off from what was then called 'Peking' to challenge themselves and prove that automobiles had become a viable alternative to the horse. The most famous competitors were the well-funded Prince Borghese and a pauper named Charles Goddard. For the most part, they had no roads, no route, no rules, no support, rudimentary vehicles, and no passports! These were men made of stronger stuff than I.
In 1997, the Endurance Rally Association did a re-enactment as a 90th anniversary celebration. 87 cars made it to the finish line at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
In 2007, the ERA staged the 100th anniversary rally and my father, Garrick D. Staples, participated in a 1959 VW Cabriolet. He spent years hunting down the perfect parts for a complete top-down restoration of a rusted-out shell of a car. He ended up building a wonderful, mostly-stock, lean mean off-road racing machine. He had an amazing time and hasn't stopped talking about it since! Afterwards, of course, he immediately started work on his second Beetle, this time a 1969 sedan.
Around October 2009, my dad approached me to do the 2010 rally with him, but with me driving the earlier 1959 Cabriolet. After about 3 seconds of thought, I readily agreed. We had been mostly separated for years and this was to be our way of re-connecting and re-establishing our father-son relationship. I admit to being hesitant about putting our relationship to the test with such a stressful endeavor, but he assured me that the difficulty was a terrific reason to do it; we had to sink or swim. The second problem was that I needed a navigator. I had to find someone that could pay his half of the fees, take ~6 weeks off of work, and had the related skills; but I'll get to Robert later. The 3rd problem was that the car was far from being road-worthy and we only had about 6 months to get the car ready! The state of the car was a pretty rolling body with a fresh coat of paint. The car had been languishing in a Long Beach body shop for years and most of the original parts had "walked away". My dad's perfect car needed to be rebuilt from scratch.
Serious work on re-building the Cabriolet started in January 2010. We had until July 15th when the car would be loaded into a container and shipped to China. Work was to be done in his garage with me coming down on the weekends. Because working on the weekends wouldn't be enough time, my dad had to put in a lot of extra solo mechanic time during the week. The work was long and hard, but it has paid off. The car is now 99% completed and running like a champ. The engine is strong and powerful. The body beautiful. The suspension perfect. And the ride is exhilarating!
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