And so it begins ……

Right, he’s finally away …… and so for the next 11 days you’re all mine !!

Seriously though (and this will probably be the last time for a while) I feel very honoured that Robert has asked me to do this again.  It was surprising the first time he asked me to keep his blog for him during the 2013 IBR as I had only known Robert for a couple of years,  but since then our friendship has continued to grow and so it’s a real privilege to be back here “in the hot seat” again.  This blossoming of our friendship is all rather surprising to me as (1) he’s German (well, okay Bavarian) and (2), the biggest crime of all, he rides a H*nda.  Of course, this didn’t stop a Polish hotel receptionist asking last year if we were “partners” (in “that” kind of way) – but that’s another story  ……..

There’s not much to tell at the moment as Robert has only been on the road 4 hours or so, but I did have a long “fatherly” (well I am just about “biologically” old enough) conversation with him yesterday about making sure he finishes.  I know that Robert wrote about this yesterday, but no-one should necessarily expect Robert to be up there near the top places.  He’s right – until you’ve ridden in the IBR (and I bloody well have so there !!) you cannot begin to imagine what it’s like.  Robert has the additional pressure of already having one IBR DNF behind him, so it is really important that he gets a finish and his “3-digit” IBA membership number.  To anyone that doesn’t know about this, the first 999 IBA membership numbers are reserved for riders who have finished an IBR.  After 17 rallies, they are still only up to about number 500 or so – it’s a rather “exclusive” club !!

Anyway, he’s now off on leg one which will take him to Texas.  He’s chosen a relatively safe route for this first leg, allowing himself plenty of time for rest breaks.  If he wants to risk things, leg 3 is the time to do it and not on the first leg.

For those of you that have access to his private Spot link, don’t be alarmed if you see him going in circles, it is part of his leg 1 plan.

Cincinnati is his next planned rest break – but that’s a good 36 hours away at the moment

That’s all for now ……