Driving a 1954 Austin-Healey 100/4 from Peking to Paris in the June 2019 ERA Rally.

Saturday 31 August 2019

0132 Russia 2 Days 19 - 26

0132   Russia 2.   Days 19 - 26
June 20-27,  2019
Some 3700 kms in 5 days of driving !!

Preparing to leave Bannoe Lake
So here we are back in Russia again, and this is to be L-O-N-G haul across some very open country.  We do have two Rest Days in there, however, although with the clutch issue plus another couple of issues yet to manifest themselves, we are going to need both of them.  Having entered Russia yesterday from Kazakhstan, the previous post left us on the shores of the picturesque Bannoe Lake, enjoying an excellent dinner by the shore, before wandering back through the woods to our accomodation in the resort.  Today was to see us heading west to Ufa for a well earned Rest Day - Or rather "Work on the Car Day" !!

Heading out of Bannoe Lake
Day 20.   Bannoe Lake to Ufa.  455 kms.   Today was our 3rd day running with no clutch, and to limit wear and tear as much
as possible, we even got the Time Control guys to run along beside us and give us a rolling start on a couple of occasions !  Interesting !  Heading out from Bannoe Lake, we were warned of Police presence on the road, and duly got pulled up, along with many others. They told us to turn around, and it was somewhat unclear as to quite what they meant - Were we being arrested, or, because other rally cars who had
Car sculpture at T-Ring
completed the next test at the T-Ring were heading back, did they think they were helping us to go in the correct direction ?  We will never know, because while the Volvo in front of us did as he was told and turned around (thus missing the test and incurring a 20 minute penalty), Ashton waved politely and drove on !!  Despite a "running start", we completed the test at the T-Ring in 2.07 mins, which wasn't too bad, and then, after nearly forgetting our time card, headed out past a row of car "statues" buried nose down in the ground, and back on to the main road - By which time the Police block was gone !!

Villages along the way
The drive through the Ural mountains was beautiful, passing through many villages with their wooden houses, often with brightly
coloured roofs - Maybe bright blue or green paint is cheaper than the more normal subdued colours ?!   Ufa is a big city, so coming into town with no clutch was obviously hard on Ashton, especially since we were split into 2 hotels in Ufa, and came past the wrong hotel first, so after stopping we then had to start again to get to the correct hotel.

Once we were at the hotel, it was confirmed that our clutch parts had arrived safely, and once their delivery had been "arranged", Ashton set off with a guide to find a mechanics shop so he could start work early in the morning.

Searching for a horn in Ufa
Day 21.  Rest day in Ufa.      My task in the mornng was to seach for other parts we needed, such as engine oil (for an oil change), gearbox and diff oil, and a horn, to replace our ex Mercedes unit that seemed to have suffered after swallowing too much water and mud !  Having found out where possible parts stores were located, I eventually got all the "stuff", and headed off in a taxi to find Ashton in the workshop.  By the time I got there they had the gearbox out and had found the clutch problem - the plate wasn't too bad but the throw out mechanism was totally destroyed - Very likely caused by the very abrasive mud stage we completed a few days ago, once it dried just became extremely abrasive.  A number of other cars also had similar problems.

It was a tough day for Ashton, made worse by the fact that on the way back to the hotel, Gidget suddenly developed an electrical fault that left him stranded.  He suspected the cut out switch so by-passed it, after which she ran.  We presumed that had fixed the problem, but as we found out later, that was not the case..........

Once back at the hotel, we found the new horn was not working properly - it was on when it was
Very Blue house beside the road
supposed to be off, and vice versa.  So Ashton went out for dinner while I set about trying to resolve the horn issue.  There were a lot of people crowding in to watch me as I fiddled with wires and connections, which didn't make life easy.  One guy seemed to know what he was doing, despite a total lack of English which made communication difficult, but when he disappeared, I
Salavat Yulaev statue in Ufa
thought he had given up.  I was about to give up too, when he returned with a plastic bracket - It turned out that the horn body needed to be isolated from the car body, and then it would work properly !  It didn't look very pretty, but eventually we had it hooked up and working properly.  I also took the opportunity to fit back all the bits that had been removed when they removed the transmission tunnel to get the gearbox out, and make sure that all the charging cables were working properly for our instruments - We had a few issues in the past few days - Once again, like everything else, probably caused by all that abrasive Mongolian dust !

Bus boys hauling rally tyres
Someone catching up on sleep
Bus boys pushing trolleys stacked with rally car tyres is not a sight you often see
at Hilton Hotels, but around the Ufa Hilton today was a frequent sight.  And a 109 year old steam car having a full engine rebuild is also something not often seen in a Hilton car park !  Meanwhile, some people who shall remain nameless apparently had a good night on the town, and on their return were consequently unable to locate their hotel room - So they caught up on the sleep in the lobby !

Older houses around Ufa
Walking around Ufa while I searched for spare parts (along with several others on a similar mission !), it was interest to see many older wooden houses along the streets, and all of them, however shabby or unkempt, had intricately carved window frames.  This was true right across the region - Everywhere we went we noticed the lovely old window surrounds.  And visible from the windows of the hotel restaurant is the statue of  Salavat Yulaev, a folk hero of the Peasant Uprising of the 1770's.  In the evenings it is highlighted against the night sky, whereas in the day time it almost disappears amongst the surrounding trees.

There were some long days ahead in order to reach Finland, but at least we now had a clutch !!

Day 22.  Ufa to Kazan.   611 kms.   We checked out of the Time Control and headed out of own, happy to have a clutch once again - Even if it did need a slight adjustment to stop it slipping. But only a few kms down the road, Gidget just died - The same issue Ashton had yesterday that he thought was fixed, but evidently wasn't.  We were on a busy freeway, but fortunately were able to find a slip road that enabled us to get at least a little way out of the traffic.  We tried all sorts of things - But unfortunately we couldn't find the electrics bag which contained our little multimeter so we could check everything. Several other rally cars whisked past, but then Doug and Mike McWilliams in their S1 Bentley kindly pulled over, and, despite this delay causing them further penalties, came to lend a hand.  And they lent us both their little continuity tester as well as a multimeter, and we eventually determined that it was actually the keyed ignition switch that was the problem - seemingly due to Mongolian dust again !  Once that was shortcircuited, Gidget fired up, and after we had put all the wiring back together we were on our way - With many grateful thanks to Mike and Doug.

Heading across Russia
We were now a bit behind time-wise, and it didn't help when I then compounded it by making perhaps the stupidest mistake of the month - We took the first turn onto a freeway instead of the second one just 30 metres further on, and this put us heading east instead of west.  After about 30 kms I was looking at the online maps and wondered why we were heading east !!  Disaster.  Ashton was understandably upset, but fortunately the Russian freeways have frequent spots where you can do U turns, and we were able to reverse our direction fairly quickly.  But this put us even further behind time-wise !

Next item was a cross country timed stage, but as we were so late, no marshals were there, but we followed the route anyway - Quite a fun little course - Shame we missed it.  It was only later that we found out that that first timed section had actually been cancelled - We never needed to do it !   Do we get bonus points for being the only ones to complete it ?  I think not !

Donkey pumps in Oil country
During the day, we drove through an oil rich region, with many nodding donkey pumps working away pumping oil, and at one stage even saw an oil rig drilling away off to the side of the road.  Quite took me back to my 35 years in the business !!  And a
Diesel tanker truck rollover
consquence of the industry - Despite the sharp corner being clearly marked as "Dangerous", a tanker truck and trailer had rolled, and its full load of diesel seemd to be flowing down across the cambered corner, which we had to then drive through !  The smell and diesel residue was to stay with us for several days !!    Also lots of interesting wooden churches and other brightly coloured buildings, many with "onion domes" on the top. 

Kazan Ring
By the end of the day, when we had to go to the Kazan-Ring, we were back within our time allowance, and had a couple of laps of a great little track. As was to become frequent on these track tests, due to Ashton's skill behind the wheel, we were up there behind just the several Porsches, 240Z's, and Ferrari, and always able to give any spectators a laugh with Gidget's sideways antics due to off road 4WD tyres !   It will be interesting to one day put more suitable tyres on her and see how she performs.


Poster in Kazan hotel lift

Other poster in lift !


The Korston Hotel in Kazan was "interesting", with the night club, and the Men's Club with
 "private rooms" well advertised even in the elevator, where the ad was placed right next to the local McDonald's sign !  Only in Russia !




Crossing pontoon bridge
Day 23.  Kazan to Nizhny Novgorod.  487 kms.   No timed sections to day, all transit, so slightly less frenetic.   We crossed two metal pontoon bridges across rivers today, which were interesting - Does this mean they have big floods or that the rivers freeze over in the winter ?  We also travelled on some excellent roads, but these were interspersed with sections with terrible pot holes in them, which required full attention and good steering in order to avoid them and any potential suspension damage.  In many places in rural Russia which are covered in snow for much of the long winter, they see no reason to fill potholes during the summer months because "they will soon be filled by the snow anyway" !!

Ice creams in NN car park
Volga River views
On arrival in NN, we had to find our way up a confusingly signed hill to an almost
formal Civic Reception, where, after passing
through the customary blow-up finish arch, we had our end of day MTC manned by Jim Smith, and then parked amongst the familiar crowds of inquisitive supporters. This spot was better than most, with excellent views down over the Volga River.  A small stall was selling excellent ice creams, and most people enjoyed these while relaxing after the long day.

Lenin Statue in hotel car park
We then dropped down off the hill and had a short drive to our Hotel, the Marins Park Hotel, easily distinguishable by the large statue of Lenin in the middle of the car park !  In addition to the now usual crowds, there was also a DJ set up right at Lenin's feet, playing some very loud music that not only made it difficult to
With Lenin......
hear anything, but was even loud enough to make concentration difficult !  Occasionally the DJ would stop the music, and come down with his microphone and interview P2P competitors - On of whom was Ashton.   Not sure how much the mainly Russian spectators understood of Ashton's English, but it was all part of the event and was great fun.

Ashton being interviewed
The hotel itself was "interesting", to say the least.   It must be difficult to find accomodation for some 220 competitors plus 30 or more ERA officials, but it seems this hotel had thrown extra beds into already tiny rooms, in order to fit us in.  As a result it was almost impossible to get into the room and move around - You either stayed out of the room, or went to bed.  Fortunately it was 2 single beds and not one double !! And the instructions in the elevator which explained how to use it were just a little on the detailed side !! Evidently elevators are not too common in these parts, so users need some help !


Having fun at the N Ring
Day 24.  Nizhny Novgorod to Zavidovo.  595kms.    While the 8 am start sounded reasonable, it turned out that the MTC
was to be located some 40 kms away from the hotel, at the N-Ring race track.  No, not the Nurburgring, but the Nizhny Ring !   So we left Mr Lenin in the square outside the hotel, and wound our way out and up out of town, through the traffic towards the track.  On the way we passed the P76 that had suffered a small coming together with a local at an on ramp - Not a good situation when they are leading the rally, and they MUST be at the MTC on time if they are to keep that lead.  We all gathered in the car park at the 'Ring, and got the opportunity to sit in the stands and watch some of the earlier-starting competitors.  On a "normal" day, we only ever get to see the cars that start a few minutes either side of us, so it was a treat to watch some of the vintagent cars out on the track.  Just a few minutes before the P76 was due at the MTC, they arrived in the car park, together with a slightly scarred front fender. But they had made it in time, so maintaining their lead, much to Matt & Gerry's relief.

The laps on the track were a great way to start the day, and once again, due to Ashton's track skills, we were only bested by the usual gaggle of Porsches, 240z's, and the Ferrari and the P76.   I even got to stand on the podium - but that was prior to our time on track !!

Old disused warehouses
After the N-Ring, it was still a long 550 kms to Zavidovo, which is north of Moscow, which we avoided by going round one of the outer ring roads.  We were supposed to do a couple of dirt tests at the end of the day, but apparently the Government had some other plans for the area that day, and they were therefore cancelled.

Passing golden domed churches
Unfortunately the starter motor decided it had had enough today, so the format was now to either park on a downhill slope, or to find enough spectators to give us a quick push !  Apart from this, the car itself is still running well, and she swallowed up the long kms today with ease.  When overtaking, our normal "system" is for Ashton to poke Gidget's nose out just a little so I can see what is coming, and then I call the overtakes as I see fit in the traffic.  This
system works very well.  However on one occasion today when he
Houses beside the road
poked the nose out for a look, there was a VERY large truck RIGHT THERE, which necessitated some very extreme action by Ashton who, despite a slide onto a rough grass bank beside the road, managed to get Gidget under control before we encountered anything too solid, although I think we were airborne a couple of times !   There was silence in the cockpit for a minute or two, until we both started laughing, more in relief, I think, as we both realised how close that one had been !!

Zavidovo hotel entrance
The long day on the road had a sting in the tail, as the traffic near the end was atrocious, which a number of people had to take extreme measures in order to get to the MTC before time ran out.  This was not an enjoyable end to the day, and a number of entrants felt that to have to take such extreme measures was outside the format of the event.  Whatever, we made it, and we
"Beach" outside Zavidovo hotel
finally reached Zavidovo and our Radisson Hotel. This hotel is apparently a favourite of Russian Presidents past and present.  It is certainly very extensive, and has a "beach" complete with multiple sun beds and sun shades, laid out along the edge of a lake.  Looks very interesting.............  But a nice facility, a good bar, and some good food, as usual.  And big spacious rooms, which was a change after last night !!

Bridges & freeways of St Pete
Day 25.  Zavidovo to St Petersburg. 664 kms - Our longest day. To be honest I don't remember a lot about this day, apart from the funny little track at the end of the day - The St Petersburg Autodrome.  As usual, we were right behind all the usual competitors, and flying the flag high for the Austin Healey brand.

The main thing I do remember is the hectic traffic and complicated route to our hotel through the busy freeways of the outskirts of St Petersburg.  We nailed it, and arrived eventually arrived at the extensive Baltic Star hotel, located some kms west of the centre of St Petersburg, but there were many cars who took wrong turnings, arriving at the hotel very disgruntled.  That evening, a number of people went into St Pete to check it out.  Ashton set up an appointment at a mechanics shop to try to sort out the starter motor problem.

Peterhof Palace & fountains
Hydrofoil into St Pete
Day 26. St Petersburg.  Rest 
Day.   Ashton took Gidget off to the work shop on a rainy morning, and there wasn't a lot I could do to help, so I had a true "rest day" and went into St Petersburg with Marian Crichton.  Instead of just catching a taxi into the centre, I found out about the Peterhof Palace located just a few kms in
Hermitage Museum
the opposite direction, from where there was apparently a ferry that went right into St Petersburg centre, in fact right outside the famous Hermitage Museum.  So we saw the very impressive Peterhof Palace Gardens, and then caught a fast hydrfoil into the city.  From there we explored on foot, viewing the seemingly endless queues of tourists trying to get into the Hermitage, the Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood (built on the site of the fatal wounding of Alexander II in 1981), and on around the city.  It really is an amazing city, the capital of Russia for 200 years, and founded in 1703 by Peter the Great.  Its architecture is based on the great architecture of Europe at that time, and today it houses the breathtaking remains of past glories.  Personally I was surprised by the extent of the canal
Shipbuilding on riverside
St Pete canals
system - I had never realised that the city had such extensive canals.  I will not try to write more, but will post just a few of the photos, with the rest available via the usual link below.  St
Petersburg needs much more than one day to see, especially if you want to get into the museums, but we had to be satisfied with just a cursory look.   In the afternoon, after a delicious coffee and cake in a little cafe, we caught the hydrofoil back to the Peterhof Palace, where, much to our delight, the amazing fountains we now operating fully.  When you see what the state of the Palace was in in 1944 after it was largely destroyed, it is wonderful to see it restored to its former glory again.
After getting back to the hotel, found Ashton had had a successful day and we now had a starter motor, and fresh oil in the diff - We were ready to head to Europe !

Fancy villa entrance hall
For some reason (!), married couples had been allocated to separate villas in the grounds of the hotel, while unmarried entrants remained in the main hotel building itself.  John and Marian Crichton had invited a number of us over to their villa for drinks - However it took us over an hour to obtain the required passes in order to get through security to the villas !!  Apparently, due to Presidents and other high ranking Russian officials often staying in these villas, we were required to have special clearance passes, carry our passports, and then go through a security check
Living room in villas
in a guard house before we could enter the fenced off area containing the villas !  We needed the drink by the time we got there !  And the villas were pretty amazing, with massive rooms and hgh ceilings, chandeliers, and sweeping staircases. We then moved on to another villa where a number of other couples were staying, and had a most pleasant evening with everyone over a meal.  Great way to finish off Russia ! Fortunately getting back to the main hotel through the guard house wasn't so difficult !


Scenic road towards Finland
Day 27.  St Petersburg Russia to Hyviinka Finland.   488 kms.  Today saw us open our 3rd and final routebook - With the last page being Paris !!  We made our way out of St Petersburg, again struggling to find our way on the complicated and busy freeways.  This time we did make a small mistake, only to find Jo and Heather Worth had made the same mistake in their Volvo !   A surreptitious illegal U turn saw us get back onto an on-ramp back to the freeway, and no harm done !
Queuing at the last border

We were due to have a last timed stage just before the border, but apparently once again the Government had decided there was too much risk near the border, and the stage had to be cancelled.  So we continued on in the sunshine, through forests that started to look very like Finland.  We were beside rivers, and had to wait at raised bridges while small tourist boats passed through.  It was only about 2 hours before we reached the border, and started our last border queue before hitting Europe !

Resy of the pics can be found here :-  https://photos.app.goo.gl/WjJ419V6FNMzxg8r5






0130 Kazakhstan. Days 15-18

0130  Kazakhstan  Days 15-18
June 16-19 2019
Rain, mud, clutch repairs, horsemen, and more big crowds !

Clouds and rain ahead
Day 15.  Novosibirsk to Pavlodar Kazakhstan.  630 kms.    Distance wise, today was the longest of the rally, with a border crossing thrown in for good measure.  But at least, being a Sunday morning, the city roads were pretty empty and we found our way out of town no problem.  But before long, the temperature started dropping and the black clouds rolled in - Time to put the roof on !  And it was a good job we did because it was going to get wetter, colder, and even muddier, as the day progressed.

Friday 23 August 2019

0129 - Russia 1, Days 11-15

0129 - Russia 1, Days 10-15
June 11th - 16th June
Surely this is too scenic to be Russia ?

The Russian border
Day 10.   Achit Lake to Kochevnik Camp  6.  371 kms.      Having battled our way through the Mongolian side of the Russian border crossing, we drove 10 kms through no mans land to the Russian border.   A large sign as we drove up said RUSSIA, so we knew we were in the right place, and then the tall guard, wearing his typically oversized military hat, came over and said, in perfect English, "Good afternoon.  Welcome to Russia.  Where are you from?"   you could have knocked us over with a feather - After the almost rude abruptmess on the Mongolian side, here was this young officially being pleasant, smiling, and speaking English !   After a quick show of our passports, we were off and away - The clock on my photos
Confirming we have crossed the border
shows me it took a total of 3 minutes to get through the border !  Brilliant.   A big sign confirmed that we had now crossed the border into Russia, and we were off and away.  It was about 160 kms more to Kochevnik Camp #6.  The first part of the road was good, and, weaving on through the Altai mountains, very scenic.  Compared with the Russia I knew up in Siberia when I worked there, this was so different - Good quality roads (ie very few potholes !), picturesque, clean ?   Could this really be Russia ? I was stunned.

Thursday 22 August 2019

0128 - Mongolia, Days 3-10

0128 Mongolia Days 3 -10
4th - 10th June 2019
Camping, incredible scenery, and some of the ROUGHEST roads you have ever seen !

Its a wide open land !
Until one drives across Mongolia,  one doesn't appreciate the sheer vastness and nothingness of the open plains - it just goes on and on.  And the two day drive from the border up to the capital city of Ulaan Baatar was right across the Gobi Desert - The home of the Bactrian (two humped) camel, the largest dinosaur fossil reservoir in the world, the largest Asian desert and 5th largest in the world, the home of the world's largest temperature extremes, and of course the home of the Great Mongolian Empire of Genghis and Kublai Khan.  The Mongols once had the largest contiguous empire in history.  This really is one hell of a place to visit - And we get to drive through it all, camping out in the middle of it - How good is that ?

Wednesday 21 August 2019

0127 - China, Days 0 - 2

0127 China, Days 0-2
Scrutineering, Great Wall, on to Erenhot.
Route - Beijing, Hohhot, Erenhot.

Mung, our Beijing friend

I had already been in China for 3 weeks by the time the P2P started, and had spent time looking for WD 40 and other items that people needed.  Once Ashton arrived, we found all sorts of places, and met people like Mung at RPM Tuning who had helped us considerably. The other competitors arrived on June 30th, and on the 31st it was straight into paperwork and scrutineering.





Tuesday 20 August 2019

0126 Many photos and more blog

21 August 2019
Giles plays catch-up !!

Finding Gidget in Beijing
It has now been well over a month since Ashton and I arrived in Paris, and I have posted nothing !  But I kind of have an excuse - Exhaustion !   I have to admit that for the first two weeks after we arrived in Paris, I slept most of the time, and when I wasn't sleeping, I was lazing around.  I then spent the following two weeks in a kind of zombie-like state, not too keen to do anything.  I have never felt so "detached" from life before, and whether it was age related or just being plain travel weary, I don't know.  Having spent the time since Paris with family and friends in the UK, we just arrived back in Australia 3 days ago, and I am just now starting to feel "normal" for the first time in a while.
From a blog posting point of view, I only took an iPad mini on the P2P, and I found that extensive
Start at Great Wall
writing on that is almost impossible - I need a proper keyboard.  Additionally, I used a new Olympus camera on the P2P, and for the first 3-4 weeks it worked really well.  However, after that, the lens seems to have got scratched and I had to revert to using my iPhone for pics, which is not so easy, especially since I was also using it for maps and directions (which were rather more important !)  Finally, and much to my surprise, the P2P event was so full on that after only a few days, I was never in the mood to write a blog - If we weren't sleeping or eating, we were in the car and there was literally no will power left at the end of the day to start scribbling.  As a result of all that, there has been silence from my side !

As for the photos, I have hundreds - Mine was more a photographic blog, with less content of results or other vehicles, but more focus on the places and scenery we were travelling through.   However not only do I have camera photos, but I also have iPhone photos, as well as photos acquired from others on the event, and since iPads do not seem to have a "sort by date" function (that I can find), especially for photos from different sources,  I have just spent the past 3 days trying on my lap top to get the pics all sorted to a stage where they are approximately in order.
Arriving in Place Vendome
Ashton has been posting his daily account, so I have left 5 spots for his last 5 days, and will start afresh here, mostly so that everything from the even is on one blog in order to make it easier to refer to. I will do my best not to repeat (or contradict !!) anything he has written !

I will divide the event up into countries rather than days , in order to keep it (slightly) briefer.   My aim is to get all the photos up both in the blog and linked to Google photos so everyone can se them all, and download them if and as they wish.  So here we go.........

0125 - Day 36 - Ypres to Paris - THE FINISH! 07/07/19

Day 36. Ypres to Place Vendome. We made it! What can I say? It certainly felt good (actually, great, fantastic, amazing!) to drive into Paris, even if the traffic was terrible. Thank you to everyone who has been following us - it has provided the extra impetus to complete this amazing adventure. We drove every kilometre of the rally, Gidget only stopped three times, all electrical and all solved, we drove some places that cars really aren’t meant to go, crossed 12 countries, covered 14,000 kilometres and shared it all with some wonderful people who have become close friends - thank you all!
Biggest thanks of course go to Giles, without whom none of this would have happened, and for his friendship, companionship and navigation throughout this amazing adventure. Thank you my friend.
Photos from various sources including my wonderful brother and sister, Marcus and Jessica, and Mark and Annette who came all the way to Paris to meet us - thank you!