Butterflies and high nerves were dancing and tingling as we approached the starting gate.  What the hell are we thinking!  Im 37 and Davinder is 50.  This is the first rally I have ever entered.  What if I don’t navigate correctly, what if I get stuck,  What if……Go!  and we were off.  We barely made it a km to the first turn off and we didn’t know which way to go.  the road forked in 5 directions. Points are deducted for every hundred meters off course you go.  So we took a few seconds to get our bearings.  4 other groups came past us all screaming off in the wrong directions.  This gave me solace that I was not the only idiot.  We chose our path and it was correct.  Many of the corners were confusing and there was no marked track.  We would get passed by better riders but they would then take a wrong turn and we would be back in the lead.  By my on the fly figuring we were only 3 or 4 places back from first and we were 2 and a half hours in.  And although those guys were in front of us, I was pretty sure they were loosing points from wrong turns.

We zipped through the fire roads and took our time on the single track.  BUT!!!! But the single track was exhausting!  Coming through a particularly difficult section where both Davinder and I had dropped the bikes several times I realized I had lost the Go pro I had borrowed from Beau.  I was bummed but hat to hop a rather large log.  I came in a little hot, glanced of  a tree and narrowly escaped disaster.  Davinder was a few hundred meters behind me and I knew his bigger bike and smaller tires would have a hard time.  I was jumping off my bike to help when he came in to the log just that little bit faster than me.  His tire slipped out and he had a head on collision with the tree and his front fairing, completely mashing it!  His bike computer was crushed, his mirrors gone and windshield disintegrated.  I was tired already but Davinder was completely gassed!  His bike was over 100lbs heavier than mine, his front tire 2 inches smaller meaning it took more energy to get it over things.  We both realized that this was not the big he should be using for this.  We got passed by a couple of guys we had passed twice before.  We made it out to a fire road and decided that due to the condition of his bike, it was too dangerous to continue riding the single track route.  So with heavy hearts we headed back to the starting line via fire roads.

We pulled in to camp and thank goodness Beau and Eric were tending the beer cooler for us :)  They sprung into action pulling off what they could from Davinder bike while I raced up to KTM mission command to beg that they let us race in the R  (road version).  I found out that up until our incident we are in first place!  Damn it!  I was also told that we were over one hour behind the last team already but ok we could ride the R course.  We programmed our GPS’s, I haywire Davinder’s fenders together with 2x4 lumber, wire and zip ties and we took off at breakneck speed.  We had over 300km of tough backroads to cover and only 4 hours.

At our first fuel stop a fellow said the last guys were only 30 min ahead of us!  Holy crap I said to Davinder, we might actually finish this!  we rode on and were making great time!  I was run off the road by a shop truck in a mountain pass but managed to keep the bike upright and popped back onto the road.  We were closing in on the last placers when we ended up stuck behind a logging truck.  the truck would not let us pass!  I mangled to squeeze by but then the road narrowed and for almost an hour Davinder was stuck doing 50km an hour where we needed to be doing 80-100 if we were to catch up!  The road was so dusty we couldn’t breath, the weather had gotten to 26 or 27degrees C and we were fading.  We had already raced half of the true off road course to come back and take on the dirt road course.  We finally passed the Logging truck and then there was road works on a small section of paved road we had to cross.  Are you F*%*ING kidding me!!!!  I spoke to the woman flagging and plead our story and she immediately let us through the road block.  Time was running late and at our last fuel stop the KTM marshals informed us that we were 20 min too late (likely due to the logging truck) and we were told to take the highway back to camp.  Our race was over for the day.  We were completely shattered!!! We begged to let us ride the course anyway but due to safety and insurance, we were not allowed.  We rode back past Big white Ski resort through Kelowna   and up the highway through Vernon a couple tired and dirty puppies!

We did not pump the corners coming up the mountain to our camp.  We rode in confident we had given it our all and due to circumstance other than our own grit, we were unable to complete the course.  No one could believe the path we took or the determination we had up to this point.  As we pulled in, I hollered to Beau and Eric to get the tools out!  we were going to fix Davinder bike tonight!  Better grab some cold beers Too!

We stripped down all that was broken, things did not look good!  The damage was worse than we thought and Davinder decided since we still had to ride home after everything that he would not race the next day. We decided to head up to the hall for the KTM dinner and discovered that this was the toughest day but tomorrow would not be easy by any stretch either.  Good call on Davinder!  He would head to town and see if he could get parts before we had to head home.  I however wanter to see if I could ride the next day.

I asked the race organizers if I could continue without my partner.  The would not allow it due to safety and insurance.  I was shattered.  I headed back to our camp for a pint to drown my sorrows.  Beau and Eric were hard at work on Davinder bike (and the beer cooler).

The team that was camped next to us had a member break his leg that day.  They were a team of three and only needed 2 people to continue but through some begging I convinced them to let me join.  They were out of running for any prizes as they had not completed the days stage either.  Beau and Eric committed to helping the wife of the guy with a broken leg get his bike and gear loaded up the next day on a trailer so that I could ride and race with them and they didn’t have to worry.  It s great having amazing friends!

We had a riders meeting and a few beers!  I was in bed by 11 and asleep by 11:01 it had been an exhausting day!