After deciding to crack a good day off, we set off at some stupid time like 5am hoping to get into the high 300 kms in before dark.
An uneventful day sat on the motorway UNTIL mid afternoon steady eddie hemingway noticed a distinct lack of power (its 7hp for gods sake!!) and decided our mighty steed needed a rest.
After much chunterring and fiddlng with his bits, and his compact girly mirror was used a lot he proudly announced that we (matt n mike) had “ragged” the machine to death and the piston had a hole in it.
After Mike and Matt shrugged their shoulders and denied all responsibility, they secretly laughed and compared top speeds that day, Mike wins with a 72kmph.
Whilst steady eddie continued to mutter, they both wandered off to find a local native they could harrass. Finding some 90 odd year old bloke we decided to ask if we could practise carrying water vails on our head.
One very dented vial later and two very soaked team members accepted defeat and were very quickly ejected from the land after we had knacked the only pot in the house. A quick palming of 500 rupees soon fixed that though.
Setting off again, it was decided and accepted 2 to 1that we should continue on the road, when steady eddie simply turned around and went to a local mechanic regardless of the decision made. This turned out pointless as nothing was fixed but we had a bloody good laugh with the locals who bought coke’s all round – Hurrar!
On the road again (eventually) we hurtled off with eddie behind the wheel at a blistering 40 kmph. This was interspersed with frequent mutterings about somebody “ragging” the tuc tuc, carburettor fiddling stops and much sidetracking by tractor watching.
Not long after been waved through yet another toll booth a highway patrol van, complete with blue flashing lights and four blokes waving and jumping from lane to lane, complete with official looking red flag pulled our speeding steed down. Shitting bricks we pulled over and dismounted trigger. What was in store we could not imagine. You guessed it from the title….. they wanted a photo!
Our photo shoot over we continued on our way again desperately short of time. Matt was happily been sick overboard a result of drinking some of the water he spilt when not managing to balance the vail on his head.
Moaning and graoning like a big girls blouse we took the mickie and carried on as he went ever greener. Our sport was however about to be abruptley stopped due to an unexpected transport check point.
Paperwork in hand the ginger love ferret went off to meet the official and his doom! Unwittingly he was about to meet the regional transport enforcement officer, an unassuming nice guy who informed him that – Trigger was only to be driven 60km from its point of registration (about 1000km away!) – he needed to pay tax for each of the ‘counties’ we had driven through (around 2k sterling!) and the other little matter of breacking the law that the penalty was 2 years imprisonment with a $50,000 fine – COOL! Think a first for this trip.
After a nice cup of tea and a phone call to the organisors we were allowed to go.
IN THE MEAN TIME.
The other team members had been left to fend for themselves amongst the trucks outside. Matt was now proper milking the attention laid down in the middle of the road and fained his very poorly illness. The very poorly little Mattie was nearly part of a truck tyre tread pattern lying down in the middle of the road. Strangely the illness cleared up as we left!
Many piccies of Mattie-boy in pain will follow when we get teh other camera hooked up ‘injin style to a PC
So much time had been lost the team were forced to drive 100km in the dark against bikes, pedestrians, trucks and cows with no tail lights. Driving is wild during the day but try it with your eyes shut!.
