Day 19 - Yekaterinburg to Perm

Another short run of 378kms from Yekaterinburg to Perm..

By the end of today, all entrants that have checked into Perm would have completed 6613km… just over half of the 2007 Peking to Paris Rally!

Wow!! What an effort for all the entrants whom are still driving in the rally since Beijing (Peking)! Regardless of whether they still classify in the rally or not, it is still a feat to have come so far! They have all proven that they are not quitters!!! They could all adapt, change and make do with what they have got! The entrants are quite resourceful!!!

Let wish them all the best of the remaining 6408km between Perm and Paris! May they all enjoy themselves and the remainder of their adventures!

Back to our favourite team… The Mykytowychs and the Blue Roo… despite facing the unknown world of Mainland China… the heavily corrugated desert tracks and sandstorms of Mongolia… the cold and wet Russia with long daylight hours… and along with various minor problem with Blue Roo… the team is forging on with excitement and determination!

Be it a different culture… sandstorms… hailstorms... roads or no roads… for the last 19 days… it appears that nothing would stop the Mykytowychs and the Blue Roo from reaching their destination.. Paris!

I am proud for their achievements and proud of being able to create this blog for them… to share with the world some of the titbits of their adventures!

Now that we are over the halfway mark… there is a total of 110 cars that has clocked in at Perm as oppose to the 128 cars that left Beijing… The rally organisers found various problems and many of which could have been minimised should the entrants take heed to the book “How to Prepare a Successful Rallycar” published by the rally organisers… To a degree… some of the entrants have no one but themselves to blame! Remember it’s an endurance rally… its not a beauty contest!

As the day comes to an end.. the Mykytowychs is still holding onto their position on the board… for those whom has forgotten… they currently hold… an overall position of 8 and a class position of 6! They are still holding onto their Gold Medal!!!

Keep up the good work!

Oh!!! Almost forgot!!! The link to the webpage and the blog for the Mykytowychs is officially on the 2007 Peking to Paris Website maintained by the Rally Organisers!!!

YAY!!! I have finally made it! Now it’s a call for celebration!!! Haha =D

It is another rainy day today… and a chance to test out the newly installed yet modified windscreen wipers.. the wipers worked really well so there no worries! Andrew has checked the internet to source for a set of shock absorbers… he emailed the distributor in St. Petersburg asking for help and will check out any possible retailer in Moscow.

Andrew target to fix the shock absorbers prior to leaving Russia and entering Estonia… so that Blue Roo is better prepared for the pending time trials!

Andrew’s review of the roads so far... he says to a certain degree… despite the erosion and corrugations in Mongolia... since there is no road/track you could drive anywhere you want, and make your own judgement on which way is the best… However, back on the tarmac in Russian… one have no choice but stay on it and be bombarded by the pot holes and other road damages due to poor maintenance…

Andrew has a chance to visit the Kungur Ice Caves in today’s journey! The general temperature inside the cave do not exceed 5°C.. there are various forms of fine ice formations and the ice crystals are all very fragile. Some are even columns that reach from the floor of the cave to the roof! However, Andrew say they are not as good as the caves we visited around the South West of Western Australia!