| Author | Message | ||
     Captpete |
Man, this Dakar site is confusing. Yesterday, they had 'em racing from Lisbon to Malaga. Today, they've got 'em racing from Portimao to Malaga, and say that yesterday they actually only went to Portimao. If the racers are getting the same info as on the website, no wonder the navigation is so tricky. Where did you find the results for day 1, Tripper? The standings link doesn't work for me? And did Pete finish 2nd in his class? According to the tracking site, he cleared the special a couple of klicks ahead of #3, but 11 behind #1 (in his class - if I've got the class #'s right. Or are there classes at all?) And what's the deal on the connection legs? I know they have to obey speed limits going through towns, but is it a race out on the open road? I'm a very uninformed spectator! | ||
| Captpete |
Well, this is getting worse and worse. I've deduced that the only thing you can learn from the tracking site is where Pete is at the moment. I don't think there are any classes, other than moto, and I don't think they all start at once. Pete's at 180k and some others are already in town with the special winner announced. And the ranking link doesn't do anything. (I've met some people like that, too.) But there must be a hot dog stand at the 180 mark, 'cause the tracker shows a whole bunch of 'em in the same spot. I hope they don't run out of mustard before Pete gets his. I'm goin' to bed, and hope some one will help me out here while I'm sleeping. At least it looks like Pete's still in the fray. | ||
| Blake |
Capt., Dakar does use staggered starts. It's all on aggregate time. | ||
| Tripper |
CaptPete: I got the placement info from Mrs. Moltmann at Peters Website I'm guessing that they change from street tires to knobbies to street tires at the beginning and end of the Special Stages. The rest is on public roads. Is that correct? If you replay the stage all the competitors seem to stall at these points. I never paid attention to DAKAR before this. Somebody give us a primer. The DAKAR website has placements and pictures today. | ||
| Chainsaw |
I was trying to figure out the tracking today too. Pete's moto and helmet icon are red, some others are green. I hope this isn't a bad thing. I did read a blurb about some truck overturning and blocking the path for everyone behind him. I don't know if this has affected our Man from Amsterdam! | ||
| Tripper |
Pete seems to be stuck at the end of the special stage, or his transponder fell off. No update on his site yet. The tracking seems to work well once you figure it out. Petes picture comes up with the proper sequence of clicks, don't ask me to repeat it. | ||
| Dbird29 |
The red icon is just to mark the 1st of 4 competitors, the others are green, yellow and blue. | ||
| Firemanjim |
I watched the OLN coverage today hoping to see Pete.No luck ,but did see the VROD sidehack rig.Too many damn ads!! | ||
| Tripper |
From tracking.dakar.com ======================== 9:03:57 ► 2h17'50'': official time granted to all the remaining competitors The stage has been almost blocked by Oliveras'truck which had capsized at kilometer 45,7. Then Tomecek also capsized at kilometer 47,530 and definetly blocked the way. As a result, only the first eight competitors have been classified according to their real time. The officials have decided to grant the time of 2h17'50'' clocked by Giacomo Vismara who eight on the stage to all the remaining. =========================== Don't know what that means logistically. Are all the competitors now at the end of stage 2 and ready for day 3? Pete's tracking icon is still at the end of todays special. Perhaps that is where he was when they turned it off and put his bike in a truck? This is frustrating!? | ||
| Firemanjim |
Hey,my friend Liam ,who was in Portugal for the start of the race and posted some pics of meeting Pete.Look here-- http://www.bayarearidersforum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=a2e6ce413faf9b5fc0fcc7 76c56b0e98&threadid=142624&perpage=15&pagenumber=33 | ||
| Buellfighter |
Cool pix, thanks for posting! | ||
| Chainsaw |
Rank 176 • Number 119 MOLTMANN (AUS) KTM 05:19:08 01:57:57 Looks like Pete is currently about 2 hours behind the leader. Go Pete Go! | ||
| Davegess |
He is also 65th in his class. Tonight is the first real Dakar experience sleeping in the camp out in the desert. | ||
| Hans |
Peter`s rank for today`s etappe: 176 General ranking: 157 Participants: 250 bikers At the start: 246 Left over now: 223 participants. (Look at "Classements" on the French version of Dakar.com for the rankings.) Hans | ||
| Hans |
Peter has just finished the 4 stage: Has to go now 150 kms to the bivack (s?). Pictures: http://www.maindruphoto.com/maindruweb/2048/index_flash.asp (Choose event and then race number 119) Hans | ||
| Tripper |
Only 11 more stages! That's gotta hurt... | ||
| Davegess |
Hans, that is cool. I will have to order one and then make a donation for Peter's autograph! | ||
| Firemanjim |
Damn,looks like Pete is out.Back too sore to go on.RATS!!! | ||
| Tripper |
Snipped from Pete's website... =========================== sms 21.20 dutch time I tried but my back was too sore. Am out of the race but healthy. Am on my way home but no details yet as am in the sweeptruck. Will let you know more as I know. Love you X January 4, 2006 | Registered CommenterIngrid ============================================ By the tracking website it looks like he was able to ride to a checkpoint, and we know he is in the organizers care. Good sign. Check in Peter! | ||
| Rocketman |
I've been plagued with a mysterious back problem for several months. Most times recently I can't walk for very far before I need to sit, even though I don't really feel any pain. Pete must know how he feels, and this really does suck for him. I can't second guess what's happened to Pete but this surely must be a testament to how fit you need to be and then some to do the Dakar on two wheels. And man wasn't Pete looking well up for it. Rocket | ||
| Reepicheep |
I am dissapointed to here Peter is out of the race, but the man has my eternal respect for running headlong towards a very cool dream. Pete, if you are ever in Ohio, the beer's on me! Congratulations on capturing a dream! | ||
| Road_thing |
Pete: It was a great try, thanks for letting us all ride along with you! What Reep said, your money's no good at my watering holes, either... rt | ||
| Davegess |
Pete, great try! Many others have not gotten this far so good on you. And I join the beer parade. Hope the back gets better, I have had mine go out that is a tough thing to deal with. | ||
| Blake |
Bummer. Will be anxious to hear his stories though.  | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Hell of a ride any way you look at it! Congrats to you Pete and very sorry you couldn't complete your ride. Please, give us all the details of your adventure! Brad | ||
| Captpete |
Dagnabbit! Just when I finally got that crazy Dakar website figured out! But I’ll be ready next year.  Hope you will too, Pete | ||
| Bomber |
Wow -- what an adventure -- thanks for letting us ride along, Pete -- heal up, now, hear? | ||
| Court |
I agree. . . WHAT AN ADVENTURE ! Peter, THANK YOU for one of the most exciting efforts we've all been associated with. If you recall the years we've done Bonneville, looking back, the wonder was in the "DOING", not just the records. The world is made up of those who "think about it" and those who "do it". We vicariously joined you in DOING IT and I, for one, couldn't be prouder of you. Court | ||
| Peter |
Thank you all for the kind words. I really appreciate the support you have given me. Please excuse me if you see this posted on other boards as well. I don't want to have to rewrite it each time...  I arrived back home last night, still a bit in zombie mode, and had a long sleep. I'm feeling more human now, so I guess you're wondering what it was like to be in the Dakar, and why did I stop...? So, from memory.... We leave around midday on the 26th in the Limo from ENF. We are four. Frans and Vivian from ENF, Marcel the Dakar nut, that has been helping me a lot over the last few months, and of course, yours truly. The bike and gear are in the trailer behind us. We go through Paris, and for me that was the real start of the Dakar as I had gone there in 2000 to watch the start of the the race near the Eiffel Tower, and I could see the tower as we went past. I start to get excited. Things go smoothly until we ran out of fuel. It is cold waiting for the French breakdown service, but still gives a feeling of adventure. We stay in Tours that night. Next day a smooth run until it begins to snow in Spain. We decide to push on past our original stopping point in case we get caught in it overnight. When it clears we stop in a small town. As Frans is parking the car, a tyre gets caught on a piece of steel and rips a hole in it. Damn. Change that and then go to bed. Next day and on to Lisbon. We arrive around midday and go to the unloading area. I pick up my trunk from the organisers and try to make everything fit in it. After working out what I can leave behind, I take the trunk and my two spare wheels to the organisers and hand them over to be transported to Portimao. My scrutineering time is 19:00, but by 17:00 I am like a cat on hot coals, so figure I might as well ride over there and wait. I see the organisers and let them know I am early. No problem I was told, go straight in. As I walk over to my bike, the V-Rod sidecar turns up. I'd been talking to these guys on the internet for months so go up and said hello. It's fun when you meet other crazies.... and the sidecar is a weapon. First part of scrutineering is the administration side. Imagine you are at a bike exposition. Heaps of stalls with people showing their things for sale. Admin is a bit like that, except you have to see them all. First stop, an imprint of my credit card for the GPS/Iritrack/Sentinel/Emergency-beacon deposit. Then my registration papers for the bike. Then my licence, FIM Super Licence, permission from the Dutch motor sports governing body to race etc etc. Then the GPS stand. Then the..... Then the.... You get the idea. That takes a few hours and when I came out I am too late for the technical scrutineering, so am given a time of 7:30 the next day. I tell the lady at the start of technical I am at 7:30. She said make it around 9:00 as they weren't coming in that early.... Marcel and I go to a pizza place for dinner, then to the hotel for a last beer before bed. We are back at 7:30 to be sure, but the lady was right. Nobody really surfaces for at least another hour, so I end up being the first vehicle in. That was nice as everyone is fresh, friendly and enthusiastic, so scrutineering for me is a piece of cake. The only sticky point is when they couldn't find the key to open the office for about half an hour where the race numbers are put on the clothing. I practice my French. They practice their English. They win. Eventually scrutineering is done and I ride the bike outside to the Parc Ferme. Damn. It seems I've become a celebrity! People taking pictures, wanting to stand next to me and/or the bike for photos, autographs etc. Actually kinda cool for just a yobbo on a bike.... <grin> I park the bike and head out to find a cab back to the hotel. The rest of the day is spent cruising around the place, popping in and out of scrutineering, and just being one of the thousands and thousands of people there. It really is a huge event. That evening the four of us go to a Portuguese restaurant and enjoy a nice dinner. Next day is my last day as a tourist, but my nerves are starting to work. I've had to use the bathroom more times than I remember being normal.... so it goes in a bit of a blur. I get all my stuff ready and then go to sleep much later than I'd planned. I don't sleep too well. Early awake and down to the Parc Ferme. They tell me that bananas have lots of Vitamin B in them, which is good for stress. I eat five bananas for breakfast. Each competitor is allowed in to their bike half an hour before their start time. Fit the GPS, put in the roadbook for the day and settle the nerves. I ride around to wait to be called up on the start podium. Shortly it's my turn and I ride up with another bloke, determined not to do anything silly like fall off. Somebody says something I don't understand to me, and puts a microphone in my face. I tell him I can only speak English. He gives me a sad smile and goes to the other competitor. Marcel tells me later that he said "How's it going, mate?" The bananas are struggling. We are waved off and ride out to the street, being cheered like celebrities. I'm glad to be finally in my own space and start to look at the roadbook. About here I should make a little confession. I've never used a roadbook before. Or a GPS. Yesterday I took a battery pack, and the GPS, into the bathroom, and started a steep learning curve on it's workings while I sorted out my nerves, but the rest I'll need to learn on the fly. It'll be ok.... The guy I'm riding with goes through an orange light and I stop for the red. People are pointing to the up ramp for the highway, so I head up there. After a few minutes of looking at the roadbook and looking at the street signs, I realise I've been had. They've sent me in the wrong direction. All my nerves etc reach boiling point and I go utterly ballistic in my helmet at myself for not paying attention. It's a good lesson and a safe one. 15 extra kms sees me back on track and determined not to follow anyone else's directions again. Cruising down the highway with lots of other bikes and the sun comes up. Life is good again. I'm a Dakar competitor. Then I smell hot oil. Looking down around the forks, I see everything covered in the stuff, so I pull over to check. Fairing off, wipe it clean and run the bike. No leaks that I can see. I realise when I changed the oil before I left home, I've put a bit too much in and it's puked out the breather. They are known for that. I wish I'd brought more bananas. Ride for a while then stop for a coffee. That helps a lot as I'm a European coffee addict. I ride on to the start of the special, unsure of what happens next. When I arrive, a bloke sees my number and sends me straight down to the start line. The extra time I spent being lost, oil problem and the coffee, means I start two minutes after I get there. Another important lesson. Don't mess around on the transport sections. It's my turn and I'm paired up with the bloke from the podium again. We are waived off and finally for me, we are on dirt and being competitive. I settle in to a rhythm and everything is going well. Soon I catch Pieter Stijkel, another Dutch competitor who has tried the Dakar a couple of times already, so I decide to settle in behind him and learn. He has a comfortable pace for me to ride at. Not slow, but not fast enough to be out of control. About 70%. We eventually catch bike #116 who's riding a fraction slower, but stay with her for a while. Her? Patricia Watson-Miller is doing her 5th Dakar. Eventually she and Pieter get caught up in a corner and I decide to pass them off the track and wind up the pace a bit. Things are going well for a while and I forget the advice that so many people have given me. If it's going well, and you are comfortable with your riding, then BACK OFF NOW! I don't and crash in some mud with heaps of locals to witness it. My pride is injured and I see Patricia and Pieter closing in again as I pick up the bike. I stay in front of them but slow down and arrive at the checkpoint in front by a minute or so. From there it's a highway transport down to Portimao. Frans catches me in the Limo as they have been watching part of the special on the way, and we arrive together at the bivouac. I find my trunk, do some adjustments on the bike while Frans and Vivian go to find the hotel, then take the bike around to the Parc Ferme. On the way out I speak to a couple of blokes from RTL7 about the De Rooy and Bekx teams not getting their DAFs past scrutineering. There's a lot of theories kicking about, but it's still a shame that they had problems. The names 'Paris-Dakar' and 'Jan de Rooy' are almost one and the same. I still remember an interview with Jackie Ickx when he was driving a Porsche. He turned to his co-driver while they were blasting through the desert and said that they must have a problem with the car as he could hear a strange noise and feel a new vibration in it. A few moments later Jan de Rooy passed them in his truck.... He's one of the legends. Frans and Vivian come back and we have a nice meal in a restaurant served by a Dutch bloke. Those Dutch are everywhere. On to the hotel. I said hotel? I walk into the room. There's a bedroom with a bathroom off it. Then a hallway. Another bigger bedroom with another bigger bathroom. Around that corner and there's a living room with sofa. Around another corner and we find a kitchen. It cost less than the box we had in Lisbon, so I'm well impressed. A nice sleep, but next morning it's an early rise again as we have to get back into Portimao for the start. The start and transit are pretty uneventful until I realise that I have passed the last fuel station in my roadbook without filling up. I get the feeling that I'm going to make every stupid mistake possible on this attempt. I turn off at a small town and check my tanks. I'm pretty sure I still have enough in there so continue on to the special. Waiting in line, I see Patricia and we check our start times. We have the same, so are paired up. I ask her if I can follow her and learn, but she says she gets a bit nervous with someone always behind her, so I head into the corner first. I think I'm riding at a sensible pace, but after a few kms turn to check if she is still there. She's not, and I hope she's ok. I continue at this pace, enjoying life. The track is similar to what I used to ride in the mountains around home in Australia and the only thing missing is the surprise kangaroo, which I don't really miss at all. After a while I realise I'm getting faster and still in control, so I back off. Then a Dutch competitor passes me. I bump it up again to stay with him, but he's riding above my safe level. I back off again. A while later I come up behind Jaap van de Kooy. He's another Dutch competitor and is on his 13th Dakar. I blast past and give a wave. Two corners later I come in way too fast and have to lie the bike down. Jaap passes laughing. I feel stupid, but lucky. When I pick the bike up I see two other bikes over the ravine with their riders taking the broken parts off, so it could have been worse. I back right off and ride like an old woman. Some time later, Patricia passes me again. I'm slowly learning and pick up the pace to match her, but stay back far enough that she doesn't get bugged. A few kms before the end we go into a long muddy section, and my bike dies from a lack of fuel. I've been riding on the rear tanks only and swear and curse as I switch to the front tanks. It had been on my mind for the last twenty minutes, but I had ignored it. Stupid. I wick it up and try to catch Patricia again. I'm really pushing it now and come over a hill to find a LOT of spectators. I realise that this is a very bad place to crash, but think that catching Patricia and being able to ride with her at the start of Africa is too much of an advantage to pass up, so I keep it pegged. I have luck on my side now and don't crash, finishing only 100m or so behind her. She turns and looks in surprise and says she thought I was way in front. I reply sheepishly that I had crashed again and she had passed without realising. I ask her to hit me over the head the next time my testosterone level gets out of control. We laugh and life is pretty good. The two specials in Europe under my belt and everything still intact. I'm happy. I ride out and look for Frans. This is the one piece where we are allowed to transport the bikes through Spain to the port in Malaga. I don't see them, and the phone system is busy so I look for food. There's an animal on a spit being carved and I settle for that. The others arrive and also dig in. It's been a good day. We head for Malaga. | ||
| Jima4media |
Great to hear the live account of the Dakar Pete. Keep it up! Charlie Rauseo dropped out today. Charlie Boorman is out as well. |
