Friday, 16th of March
Way to Spain
We started in Ratingen at 10 o'clock. First we had to pick up my companion Matthias with his BMW R100 GS in Dornburg near Limburg. They completed the crew, consisting of my father Knut, me and last, but not least my KTM Adventure R640. I think that both bikes had been very happy not to be forced to drive the way to Spain on their own tires, because we have been placed them on the follower and the 68 horsepower of our VW Bus has to give their best to bring us to spain. There had been 2300 km to Almeria.
Saturday, 17th of March
Still on the way to Spain
We just stopped for filling gas or for using the restroom and we decided to split our scope of duties: the driver is changing to the seat of the co-driver after appr. 3 hours (ready for a beer !), the co-driver is going to sleep and the guy from the back is going to drive the next 3 hours. We finally reached the camp near Almeria at the late afternoon where we meet the other participants of the rallye. During the time we will be in Africa the VW-bus and the follower will wait for us at this camping-place. Hopefully they will still be here when we come back...
Sunday, 18th of March
Port of Almeria
After our common breakfast our luggage was taken on the organisation vehicles
and the visas had been controlled. We had to hang out there at the port for the
rest of the day. It's always neccessary to be very patient to be allowed to get
to Afrika. You have to fill out thousands of papers. While we have been waiting
stickers with the start-numbers are sticked on the bikes (my number was 75),
lunch bags for tomorrow had been given to us and of course everybody was talking
and looking at all the different bikes. The vehicles of the opponents had to
sized up and the first car pools (bike pools?) had been founded.
Though you
have to guard your luggage the whole time, Bettina was a poor one, her passport
etc. had been stolen. She has made copies, but they are at home. So her 75 old
mum was sending everything per fax and so Bettina (she was the only female
participant) was lucky again.
During the night we had gone by ferry to Nador
/ Morocco.
Monday, 19th of March
Nador - Missor
Arrival in Nador in the morning. We got the roadbook for the first day. I was
excited. We had problems with the self-made roadbook. We had to cut and stick
the papers together (to bad that my scissors and my glue had been in the big box
on the truck ... but just to mention it was not the last time that I need
something that I had but I could not get it ...)
The route wanted us to drive
south, pass Guercif, following the foothills of the mountains of the medium
Atlas, over trails and through Queds to Missor (appr. 400 km at all) The special
event here leaded us mainly through dried rivers. The way was beautiful. Now
that we had been started I felt relaxed. Little misunderstandings between my
tripmaster and me had not been based on technical but on human error. The time
on this trip was limited. This meant that you had to be on a control point at a
given time. If you had been to early you had to wait until the given time, if
you had been to late you got the late time as punish time - but 10 minutes as
maximum. This meant that you may got on this day with 3 control points 30
minutes punish time as maximum. That was not much! This rule should hinder the
drivers to drive to fast, because of the way was not blocked of and we had to
pay attention to the traffic rules of morocco. Each offence against this "costs"
2 hours.
Inspite of this George had a bad fall with his motorbike. He
unconscious laid beside his 660-Rallye-KTM for several minutes. A little bit
later the rallye-doctors helped him and, fortunately, there was only one hand
broken. But sure, the rallye was over for him, and the rescue-team brought him
to the next hospital. Some days later the ADAC will bring him to home. For us
reason enough to drive more carefully the next days!!
You can't win the race if you did not drive the last
stage.
Tuesday 20th of March
Missor - Mersouga
This day offered us one of the highlights for driving and a special scenic
road. The route (appr. 400km) takes us through a narrow and steep pass to an
altitude of over 2000 meter in the mountains of atlas. We had to leave the pass
through a narrow and impressive canyon.
Again the time is limited. But we
have to manage a long distance this time, so we just have to ride.
On the
last part behind Erfoud I had a run of bad luck. Inspite of an urgent warning
inside the roadbook I drove the road to fast so I had no time for an evasive
action as there had been an big pothole. The fronttire is rude smashing into the
hole so that the inner tube was perforated between the rim and the tube. That is
a so called snacke bite. Sure I had, that is murphys law, a second inner tire
and the fitting lever not on my bike but on the truck ...
But within a few
minutes and with the help of Ralf, Matthias and especially Dirk who had a
substitute inner tire for me, I was able to change the inner tube - and we went
on riding! Carefully I was following the 3 others, but that was a fault, because
we lost our way. The sun already went down, we saw the dunes, but roadbook and
road didn't fit together. We had been wrong. After a while we stopped a
mofadriver, who passes the trail. We asked him for the way to Mersouga, and,
what a luck, he wanted to drive the same direction. I think that was a realy
funny sight: one old moped followed by 3 rallyebikes! But it was a quick one, he
drove his moped with 45 km/h though the small paths in the desert and he was not
unsteady for a second!
Late in the evening we finally reached the hotel.
There had not be enough time to work a lot at the machine so I only mended the
inner tire to have a substitute and I cleaned the air filter. But nevertheless I
monted the fitting lever and a breakdown-spray with a cabel on my machine. And
of course, there was time left for a beer....
The desert is a place of truth.
A place were all nice worth ended and no
words are true.
Wednesday, 21st of March
Round the Erg Chebi
This day remains as the day of desaster in my mind! It should have been a
nice introduction to the following days in the dunes. A round trip through sandy
streets and dunes back to the basis camp Mersouga. But already the big first
dune shows up my physical limits. Again and again I had to dig my motorbike out
of the sand, as I didn't do a good job driving over the dunes.
As long as you
don't know how it looks like after the top of the dune you have to make sure to
stand rigth on the top.
You also have to make sure that the front wheel shows
downhill, otherwise you will just go down on your side and not on the other
side. The problem now is not to go to fast over the top of the dune (as you
don't know what's expecting you on the other side, it could be about 5 m
straight to the ground) and not to become to slow that you don't reach to top.
That then means digging, digging and digging.
As I didn't have that special
feeling I decided not to fly over the dunes but to dig. But that means to dug
the machine, got it up with the frontwheel way back, got up the bike with the
190 kg (too bad, the tank was filled!), high speed in the second gear, a new try
and go.....I did my very best, but I failed.My heart was beating to the beat of
the revolution counter. Suddenly I was choking and I was glad to take off the
helmet just in time ...
For 5 km it took me 70 minutes. But most of the
others had been worse than me, I was the second from the amateurs at the DK1. I
was so exhausted that I was not able to go ahead after a 30 min rest and I had
to drink much much water. But this time I made a mistake reading the roadbook
and according to that I rode the wrong direction. Again across the dunes.
Finally I reached the deep sandy track, but I can't find the DK. So I rode appr.
15 km in the wrong direction.I already could see DK 3 and I realized that I
missed DK 2 .I turned back, a mistake as missing a DK means only 2 hours penal.
My search for DK 2 took much more time and at one point somebody told me to
return. I did it and it was a good idea according to my limited water.
Some
guys had the same story but many gave the control cards back right after the
start. They got additional to their real driving time (30 min.) 10 hours penal
for not reaching the DKs. I got 8 hours penal (I reached one DK !) additional to
my driving t time of 3:18 hours. That means a total penal of 12:18 hours. So
added to my absolute exhausted feeling I feel cheated by the rules of the
rallye. At 6 a.m. I was lying in bed and not even dinner could interrupt my
sleep.
My only desire was drinking. 6 liters at least I drank today and
everything went away only through my skin.
People who went into the desert and came back will be changed into another
person.
Thursday, 22nd of March
Crossing of Erg Chebi
It was announced to the best day of the rallye. And it went better than
yesterday. Again we had to pass the dunes but I was lucky this time; only one
time I had to dig. Today I was driving with Christian so that we could help each
other. After the dunes we found all DKs without problems. We had been very
happy. We were just looking for one missing DK, though nothing was written in
the roadbook. According to this we missed about 20 min. but after all we reached
our finishing line after 2:24 hours. I was sitting and relaxing and had a nice
discussion with the other guys. Today the professionals had to ride much more
than we had to, they finished around 4 p.m..
The desert is the garden of allah.
In it he removed all insignificants to
walk in silence.
Friday, 23rd, of March
Hillclimbing
The eight-dunes-event was a real challange. The highest dunes of the Erg
Chebis have to be climbed up. On the peaks there had been control points. For my
shame I have to say that I reached the last control point on the last peak per
pedes. According to the motto: a bad walk is better than a good dig... But on my
way to the finishing line I had a great feeling, it was as easy as ABC, I can do
it !
Late in the afternoon there had been the last special event. The highest
dune with a realy steep wall out of sand had to be climb up to. We drove man
against man and only the winner reached the next round. And the winner was the
driver of the higher climbed bike. I won the first race, but I had to dig some
minutes to get back to the start. In the second round it was better so I tried
to drive downhill before being stopped of the sand. But that was not the best
idea because I hindered my opponent so I was disqualified.
On the way back
to the hotel I finaly had the feeling for the dunes. With less patrol, less
pressurisation of 0.6 bar and with the experience of the last days it was now
funny to surf thru the dunes. And last, but not least, the broken exhaust (a
part was falling down while I climbed up the hill) offers a brilliant sound so I
was really unhappy to know that we have to leave the Erg Chebbi the next
day.
When you go home you will be rich and lonely.
Rich with all your
experiences and poor of people who will understand you.
Saturday, 24th of March
Mersouga - Missor
This stage leaded us thru the mountain range of the High Atlas to our camp in
Missor. A fast to drive mountain-road full of bends changed with very difficult
sections in a small mountain river.
After a long trip onroad where we hardly
could following the road because of the stormy wind, we reached the Gorges du
Ziz with a lovely oasis on a river. After the second control point in Midelt
there was the next highlight, the Gorges du Jaffar. First we had to reach the
highest point of the rallye, that was the pass in 2300 m altitude. Then the
gravel-road leaded us to the Cirque de Jaffar. In this valley we saw the biggest
peaks of the High Atlas with 3000 and 4000 meters.
Today I drove together
with Christian and Bernhard. We wanted to win the stage. And we are realy the
first who reached the camp, the Hotel Baroudi in Missor. But in our drunkenness
of speed we missed the last control point. It was not marked in the roadbook,
but yesterday the organisation talked about it on the driver meeting.
2 hour
penalty time. We are the big losers of this day! I was annoyed and frustrated,
but of what? After the usual work on the machine I went to bed early in the
evening.
Sunday, 25th of March
Around Missor
The countryside with canyons and rivers round Missor was the locale of the
last stage. Now it had been time to safe the reached place.
We had to drive
a distance of appr. 70km with a 35km long gravel-road in 3 hours. That was no
problem and had the reason to become used with this stage.
In the afternoon
we did it again, but now it was against the stopwatch. Each driver started with
a space of 1 minute. I thought to be very fast, but Marco with his GS1100 GS
behind me gathered mw after a while. Should I had been to slow?
Yes, may be,
because of my time had been 30 minutes, and Peter, the later winner, reached the
end of the stage in 22 minutes!
In the evening there was the winner party with champagne and folklore music in the hotel. Peter Staudigl with his KTM 520 EXC was the winner. By the way, he was the only one who reached the peak of the hillclimbing dune at every attempt! I reached the 8th place of seventeen in the class of the amateurs. That was more than I anticipated, but less that had been possible ...
The die is cast.
Monday, 26th of March
Missor - Nador
This day we could find recovery on the last stage along the mountains of
atlas to Nador at the coast. Now we had again a foretaste of the biggest
european problem: it rained! It had been only a short intermezzo, but it had
been enough to change the road into a slippy, dangerous one. Rest of oil, the
rubdown of the tires, the soot of the cars and trucks and the hard offroad tires
let us get an push of adrenal. Some of us had been sliped of, but fortunately
there had not been much damage.
At the port at 4 p.m. again: waiting,
waiting, waiting. We had been on the ferry to Spain around 11 p.m.
Only the one who went home is able to leave again.
Tuesday, 27th of March to Thursday 29th of
March
Departure
Arrival in Almeria early in the morning. After a common breakfast the rallye
ended. We brought a participant to the airport of Almeria and then we started
our way home. Somewhere at the coast we were looking for a camp to get some sun
before we finally start our long exhausting way.
In Barcelona we stopped
again to say "Hi" to a friend of us and then the weather had become "normal": It
was raining. So we had no problem to decide to go straight home.
Arrival in Germany (Ratingen) at the 29th of March at 4 p.m.
Appr. 5000 km by car and appr. 1800 km by motorbike behind us. It was great
!