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.

Wednesday 29 June 2016

Rally Day 18

As Wellington said of the battle of Waterloo, it was a damned close run thing - but, for the first time ever we didn't break down today. Oh sure we could barely get Rhubarb and Custard out of Yekaterinburg this morning, she was on death's door at every junction with a strange flat spot in the revs exactly where you expected the clutch biting point to be. It meant taking off at super high revs with smoke and fire of the devil belching from the exhaust; but strangely all was sweetness and light for the next 250 km until she just died in the usual way and we rolled into a Gazprom petrol station without any power.

After a routine bout of free form swearing (see below) we were considering opening the bonnet but instead counted to 20 and switched fuel pumps. Hey presto the engine came to life and we continued without incident. Does anyone know what is wrong with our car - we are completely baffled.

In other news we are now driving through pine woods instead of silver birch and it is slightly hilly instead of completely flat. I am bored.

Roads here are good to excellent with occasional giant pot holes. For the benefit of our Russian readers the correct English phrases to use when a 'can be seen from space' pot hole appears in front of the car are, "F*ck, C*ck, Sh*t, Bugg*r me and holy f*cking cow"

I had a bag of mini Twix ready to give out to the kids who mob the car but today I couldn't find it. I think Richard may have had a hand in it.

1 comment:

  1. I want Rhubarb and Custard to keep going just so that I can read your entertaining posts

    ReplyDelete