The Mission


The Peking to Paris Rally is a recreation of the 1907 challenge issued by Le Matin, "Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?"
The 2016 version will follow a route of 13,695 Km (8,510 miles) and take 35 days. We are travelling in Rhubarb and Custard, a 1936 Buick. We know nothing about cars or rallying.

Thursday 16 April 2015

Flying Scotsman


We are now in Leeds at the start of the Flying Scotsman Rally, which takes three days to get to Gleneagles just outside Edinburgh.  It's doubtful whether any of the countryside is preparation for Mongolia but the disciplines of map reading and driving skills should help us in the future.

There's an enormous amount of information about the rally and how it works.  More than we can properly take in. On the five mile practice route we took the wrong turn twice and arrived a massive two minutes late (not because of taking the wrong turn but because of traffic problems).  It looks set to be a series of massive cock ups tomorrow when the race starts.

The sight of over 100 beautiful cars is quite wonderful and what's more so is the noise they all make - sublime.  Some of the cars here are worth hundreds of thousands of pounds and are immaculate.  CLM 570 looks positively scruffy next to them.  On the other hand there's no point in taking an immaculate car across MongolIia




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2 comments:

  1. Ronald Wild17 April 2015 at 04:43

    .... faster Brownbear, faster, FASTER!!! You won't win at that speed. Good luck, Have a great run today. I look forward to the day 1 progress report.

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  2. Ronald Wild17 April 2015 at 23:24

    Faster Brownbear, faster, FASTER ...... you won't win travelling at that speed. 59th out of over 100 & 15th in class. very respectable indeed! I hope you enjoyed your first day's rallying (especially the historic motorsport venues, Harewood & Croft) & look forward to reading all about it. Good luck for day 2 & I hope you find some inspiration at the Jim Clark room.

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