Africa eco race

Good vid from Lyndon and his lot :


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I do like the videos they put out

Well shot just arty party enough to be nice

just the right length to keep attention with some behind the scenes in the Bivvi footage,rider chat / banter, some good race footage not boring hours and hours of desert, then some dialogue on how the day went nav stuff etc

all good stuff IMO
 
Looks like Lyndon has just won stage 9

Belay that the live timing is letting me down

currently Poskit stands in 2nd place for the stage but that could change further

no sign of Roger or Gary as yet
 
Actually it looks like Roger didn't start the stage ??

GAry is holding his overall position i think

I’m guessing Rog and about a dozen others either had a ride on a truck today after a bad day yesterday or perhaps took an easier route on a track, his tracker showed him on a different path to the majority of other competitors. He was at the finish line some time ago, Gary is still in the thick of it.
 
Just watched a short video about this chap. No 128 in the Rally
Paralysed below his waist he has 2 outriders to assist and put him back on.
I am truly gobsmacked at the effort by him and his mates.
Just goes to show yer haven't got to be 7 foot tall to be a giant of a man :clap:clap
 

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Just watched a short video about this chap. No 128 in the Rally
Paralysed below his waist he has 2 outriders to assist and put him back on.
I am truly gobsmacked at the effort by him and his mates.
Just goes to show yer haven't got to be 7 foot tall to be a giant of a man :clap:clap

He was on the Team Races 2 Places Episode 11,probably wher you saw it.
Much respect !
 
so where is roger in the race ?

55th ?
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Rog got this message out Yesterday, Patsy’s crew got it fixed and off he went yesterday only to breakdown again with sand in the injection system. Both he and Gary look to be doing ok today.
For anyone who might want one day to enter a major rally, it’s worth bearing in mind that if you have a problem and time out on this Africa rally you will be able to re join the next stage if you are able to resolve the issue. On the “Dakar” rally you would be out.
 
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I’m not certain but I think this is Gary doing Hard Time !

It looks like they are both still out, presumably with problems.
 
I have following Gaz for last 4 hrs. He has some balls - following his tracklog he has certainly gone the pretty way today and has 10mile left 2315 at mo
It still shows Roger moving = Fookin heros and a half. I think they started before dawn :clap:clap. Gary clocked at bivouac 0001hrs
 
If I am reading it right Roger and Chris Hamer seem to have been out all night and have tagged up with anotherrider 190 = Looks like they are continuing to finish off yesterdays stage - maybe they will just add it on to todays = just to make it a bit harder. :bowI cant think of a description that's good enough to give um:clap
 
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Unfortunately Rogers race is run, he had an off yesterday morning resulting in in rib and wrist damage. He’s been patched up and will shortly be on his way home. Gary has safely completed today’s stage improving his overall standing up to 42 nd.
 
sorry to here about roger the dream is over for this year . well done for getting this far .
 
Brother Rog is on his way home, in between flights he has posted his rally report, slightly tongue in cheek, his dry sense of humour may appeal to some.


Africa Eco Race

Day 1

My new riding buddy Rich said at the start of the short 20km special stage "nothing to prove here Rog just bank a steady but accurate stage result, long way to Dakar"

Both Rich and I knew this was complete Bollocks, we would both go for it, but this chit chat helps to pass the anxious minutes till our start time

At the start line we both lit the afterburners and both got lost within 3.5km.

For me though it was a personal best to only travel 35km in a 20km stage, partial success I felt, though it was not reflected in the stage results.
I cheered myself with a McFluury when I accidentally found the end of the stage. Located on the first Morrocan Retail Park I have ever seen. (the whole world will look the same in 20 years)

Well nourished, Just 500km on Tarmac to go then we can set up camp tonight,

Day 2

It's a chilly night in my tent and we wake at 5:30 am thankfully Patsy insisted that at my age I sleep in my new Parka coat within my sleeping bag , the coat Wifey bought me for Christmas from a C&A fire sale.

The Goodwill towards me from Patsy and all the Desert Rose mechanics seems boundless, I'm thankful that we have put past mishaps on my part behind us.

We race a timed stage of probably around 500km I'm riding tracks pretty fast but it soon becomes apparent that pretty fast ain't going to cut it in this race, the speed I need to guarantee a mid field result at the end of the race is in direct conflict with my life strategy, which is to be alive at the finish.

Wifey commented before departure that since my entry in the Africa Eco Race was confirmed, she has already had two proposals of marriage from Nigerian princes In case of my demise.

I advised Wifey not to progress either opportunity without running it by Lynn Folds Wood from the BBC's Watchdog program first.

I return to the Bivouac a bit concerned at the fast race pace required and decide to put on hold Project World Rally Domination for the next fourteen days.

My bike is returned with me in one piece to the Bivouac and I inform Harry my top race mechanic that just an air filter needs changing. Which is available in my spares box.

Day 3

I awake at 5:30am again a 500km special stage today.

Are you beginning to see a pattern?

Harry looks a bit tired, I ask what doth trouble him? The Iran issue? UK debt per capita? No he says your bearings on your rear shock tripple swing arm thingy are knackered, we've been up to 3am replacing them, with new parts from your spares box.

I appologise profusely for the additional work incurred, assure him the rest of the bike is 100% and seek his assurance we can move on from this low point in the day which is only 3 minutes and forty seconds old.

I mount my bike and give the support team a cheery wave as I head for the start line. I think the support guys were distracted as no wave was returned...... strange.

I'm not sure my teammates got the memo but they seem to be overtaking me all day long which frankly I find quite frustrating as I've got enough on my plate with being overtaken by all the other competitors in this race.

I decide it's time to get going but due to Graham Jung not being here. I don't have a Scooby Doo how much fuel I need to put in my bike to complete each race section of the day. Grrr!

Well I hope your happy Graham as I ran out of fuel 500meters from the start line FFS.

.

Thankfully there is a Go Fund Me team in the race with 5 riders entered, a very nice South African guy, stops and shares some fuel with me, he is a top guy and now I consider him my number one friend in the whole world, he tells me about how he overcame crippling injuries to eventually compete in the Dakar Rally, he wrote a great book after called Para to Dakar it's an inspiring read please consider buying it.

The rest of the day is playing catch up on lost time... a pointless day in all honesty... In fact I've erased the day from my memory

But what intrigues me more is his team is part funded by people who are partially sensible so don't want to ride rally's but want to see great videos of Rally Life which this team makes.

Now as you know I'm on a fixed income myself and am very grateful for our winter fuel allowance and the numourous other benefits such as free dentures any UK pensioner is entitled to.

But if I could get some funders to really buy in to my World Rally Domination project via Go Fund Me then it would free up much needed Euros for Wifeys annual holiday at her favorite Spa, the Betty Floyd Clinic.

I ask at Race Control about how many competitors in this race are self funded, and I'm shocked to hear I'm the last!

They advise at the bare minimum I should be committing minor VAT fraud and putting all Rally Invoices though a sham business.

But they finish up by saying that Go Fund Me is the future, make sure you don't miss the train, but be sure to get some stickers and T Shirts printed to offer supporters.

I depart to ruminate on the information garnished in my one man tent where sleep is fitful due to the fucking din those Desert Rose Mechanics are making, 3:30 am FFS.

They must get some buzz out of it vying with each other who can work on a bike the longest.

I take it up with Patsy first thing but she plays her Ace card saying they've been working on that pile of crap you ride, rebuilt the front forks last night till 4:00am!

They are not happy with you😠

I'm frustrated I can't think of a quick retort so meekly retreat back in to the darkness of the pre dawn being sure not to bump into any mechanics on the way. For my own safety.

Day 5

Forget day 4 nothing exciting, average result .. tracks require minimal riding ability, The winner is the guy who is prepared to ride on the throttle stop the longest. And can Navigate well which rules me out.

Day 5

I Mark up my Roadbook and note that it is a 484km stage with one left turn at 434.85km which I miss by 500 meters, but I do correct by turning to the new cap heading.

At speed my bike has the same turning circle as the Amaco Cadiz and coincidently leaks the same amount of Oil.

I complete the day in 10th position and think how proud Dakar Dave would be of me....

Rest Day

It's been from what I can gather a well deserved rest day for the mechanics, although they no longer speak to me directly. Patsy says despite the odd extra bit of work I've created she wouldn't have it any other way 🍻

I've been helping out where possible and focusing on keeping team morale high.

I've asked Patsy to fit a padlock to my spares box when I go to sleep at night's from now on to try to cure the mechanics insatiable appetite to fit parts to my bike, At 300 euros of parts being fitted a night on average it would be cheaper if they injected crack cocaine than continue with there addiction for for fitting my new shiny Husqvarna 701 parts.

Thanks Desert Rose you know you are the best. cheers Harry 👍💪

Day 6

Finally I have my rightful start position in this adventure holiday 10th hooray! I head off from the start and at about 20km find to my amazement that there are no tracks of previous bikes on the ground ahead of me. Initially I think shit I'm off route but the road book tallys with the track I'm riding, which is a very unusual experience. I start formulating my winners speech in my mind you know thanking all the people that made this possible but at all times keeping the focus on myself......

I'm thinking this success is going to do my Go Fund Me project, Which I have given a working title of " You earn it, I burn it" no harm at all.

20km later the tracks of the 9 riders ahead of me frustratingly join from my left back on to the correct route ahead of me, FFS how do they do that !!

Day 7

We head in to the dunes of Mauritania, now my bike has been using a bit of fuel which we haven't really resolved up to now and my great teammates have really bought in to the idea of getting all the Desert Rose Riders to Dakar thankfully so I am very grateful to all my teammates who lent me some fuel or helped out any other Desert Rose Riders, you are all champions to me.

So I get through the dunes but can't find the track out the other side that we need to take, so I burn fuel that I don't have in abundance then when totally lost I press a blue button that incurs me a penalty but you can ask race control the Cap heading to ride to find the track.

I hear the race controller say to his colleague " Les imbecile numero 137 is lost, do we assist the Roast Bifs?"

While they deliberate I see a race truck in the distance so now I dont need a reply from Race Control , so when they call back i ignore the call and hopefully save the penalty.

Back on track life is looking pretty good 100km to the end of the day and enough fuel to get 20km ..... oh

Have you ever slept a night in the Mauritanian desert ? No me neither I was quite looking forward to it. I imagined it to be a lot like a normal night but I would skip the 45 minutes of browsing Netflix Categories for the perfect film to watch before settling on nothing and falling asleep.

But then rolls round the corner a very helpful teammate who has had an eventful day in the dunes with crashes and shit going on so he is quite rightly hyper. Now I don't normally do hyper people but it's understandable we are in a war here.

So Robin kindly offers to tow me 80km to the Bivouac which I gratefully accept but he has enough fuel to get his bike to the Bivouac but not while towing my bike so we run out of fuel 16km from the end and now Robin and I are both going to camp the night in the Desert.

Sorry Robin I say as I cringe internally.

Now I don't know how she does this but Patsy has cat like instincts and knows when something is wrong with one of her riders. And I am not sure if I imagined this but as I looked up at the moon I swear I saw an image of a woman with 10 litres of unleaded in a Jerry can strapped to her back riding a broomstick!

I think bloody hell Rog, get a grip, got to get off this cannabis flavoured vape fluid. Despite its low cost per mg

And that's why you need Desert Rose Racing supporting you in a big race, she is an amazing woman!

I thank Patsy profusely as she distributes the fuel, while she simultaneously swears at me in a caring way and questioning why she accepts my race entry year after year.

Day 8 ( could be 9)

Big dune day but I get in to dunes the bikes engine overheat light comes on, FFS ride back to start and advise Race Control, they give me a GPS route via tarmac to the next Bivouac. I'm not sure of the rules of this race but as it moves 500 to 600km a day South as long as you turn up the next day at the start you are still in the race which is a great idea as a lot of riders are very keen to finish. And of course have there own shit going on.

Day 9

With Radiator leak fixed I ride the first 100km of the timed stage then fuel filter in petrol tank blocks ( I should of changed it pre race) , down on power I ride 100km back to the start of the stage. Tell my great mechanic Harry who soon sorts it, but if you know me well it's almost imperceptible to tell when I'm pissed off apart from my stony silence.

So I have to tell Harry that if my bike breaks down tomorrow im out of here, word immediately gets back to Patsy who sends me to Coventry and I'm sure she thinks why do i bother with the stubborn b**tard. I've already sent Patsy to Coventry so have no issue with her sending me to Coventry, which makes for a shit night but Rallys are mostly fun but even a reasonable well balanced person like myself doesn't laugh 24/7

I go speak with race control in the Bivouac who advise that I am 1000km taxi ride from anywhere so might be best to go get your riding gear ready to take the race start in the morning. Well that put an end to my strop.

Day 10

600km

I'm advised that today will require a lot of fuel my bike holds 23 litres, things I learnt in this race are , buy a KTM450RR they hold 32 litres of fuel and you will need it all some days. That's about all I learnt if I'm honest.

So option 1 is to ride the special around 500km at a moderate pace ensuring fuel will be sufficient to reach the finish.

Option 2 is to take a packed lunch head torch, warm clothing ride like the wind then sleep the night in the desert awaiting the sweeper truck for recovery.

It was a no brainer really, I collected my packed lunch and charged my head torch.

What sort of Sick person enters a race with number one priority being average fuel consumption, I explained this concern to Yala...... sorry I have not introduced Yala.

Yala was presented by Patsy as an esteemed race mechanic from somewhere like Gdansk, Yala was race mechanic for the top rider in previous editions of the Africa Eco Race the riders name is Pal but I spent 10 days purposely miss pronouncing Pals name to see if Yala would show a flicker of irritation at my inability to pronounce his good friends Pals name.

Unfortunately Pal has moved on to greater things and discarded Yala, Pal now has a younger more brilliant race mechanic, Yala pretends this is not the case despite me advising him at every oppertunity it is indeed the case though of course I have no facts to base this assumption on.

Yala insists that he was booked by Desert Rose prior to Pal entering for Africa Eco Race. But I could tell he has taken the situation badly spending most of his time In his tent I presume crying.

I of course tried to lift Yala's spirits at every opportunity and would be sure to tell him at the end of each day the fantastic nature I had seen on my days travels through Mauritania, the different shades of sand I had seen and Wow! The rocks... some big ....some small.

Yala has a great sense of humour and his company along with all the Desert Rose Mechanics and teammates is what makes the rally life so special.

So I take the start Day 10, I ride 155km quite well but the extra fuel I have strapped in to Ben's ruck sack thingy that he kindly lent me and is strapped to my rear mudgaurd is sort of self destructing with every bump in the track which is a bit concerning as this is additional fuel and part of my cunning plan to get me to the finish.

Now at km 155.1 there is a guy standing in a bush... I'll be sure to mention the bush to Yala tonight as this is indeed a highlight of the Mauritanian landscape. So I'm thinking what the fuck is he doing I have seen nothing in the last 155km to sustain human life, no crops, livestock, water but here is this guy happy to spend his Friday morning in a bush.

When what I should of been thinking was, I should focus on the ground ahead as I hit some rock , not to big but a nice shade of stone and the bike and me parted company. I hit the ground hard with a lot of pain, this is familiar I think.

I could big it up a bit more but you've got the idea I'm sure. I try to ride on a km but it's really very hurty so I call for rescue, my GPS is smashed and i have many km to ride to today's finish. It's not going to happen.

The medics are fab and load me in the helicopter , the rescue helicopter doubles up as photographer transport when there are no injured competitors, so I'm not that popular as I've probably ruined the transport for the photographers to film and shoot images along the races course.

There is very strong winds so visability is very poor with a dust storm, so the helicopter pilot has to use all his skills to keep us from hitting the ground by flying low enough to the ground to be able to transit across the near white out landscape.

He is indeed a skilled pilot as he managed fly the death trap while snapping a selfie picture on his i phone of himself smiling with a thumbs up and sat behind him his injured passenger with a thumbs down, not smiling. Then posting it to his instagram account. FFS

By the time I get to the Bivouac the pain killers have kicked in big time and I question if I should of bailed out of the race, But now they have worn off. I feel a bit crippled to say the least.

The final indignity of this event is the following.

Number one on my bucket list has always been to never visit the Canaries Isles yet here I am. Sat in a hotel foyer in Gran Canaria . I presume this afternoon while I await my flight to London, inevitably I will go to Linekars bar, watch the match, drink too much, then head butt the Gaudia Civil then tell the Gaudia Civil I love them, buy a sombrero, vomit in it then be arrested and miss my flight.

To all my teammates who will make the finish you are hero's! It was a brutal event and too tough for me but I loved almost every day. And enjoyed your company. You all had a great Stratergy.

Thanks Desert Rose and especially to Harry and Patsy, it was as always a great adventure and some fab memories. And to Steve mend well and fast 👍💪

#gofundrog
#minimumdonation€1000
or
#dontbother
😉
 
Brilliant report from Roger

A shame it ended as it did for him but it takes some big balls to enter and some skill to get as far as he did

Poskitt seems to have come 3rd so a little Victory for UK riders and Yorkshire
 
3rd, I heard he had been placed 4th, then complained about the rider in 3rd, stating he was on the wrong tyres:confused: then Poskitt was given 3rd. Oh well:thumb
 
Oh how I’ve missed Rogers ramblings. A good effort though for sure. A tough game the Rallye lark.
 


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