Roof of Africa 2009

The race from mah bruddah Igor and some pics from mah udder bruddah Nic...

(The bikes: 250 EXC two-smoke and the good 'ol 450 four-poke as backup)

(setting up base camp at the foot of the Lesotho Mountains)

"Looking at the official results they are not entirely accurate cos they are based on the time we got into the first DSP, not the second.

By the time we made it into the second the time bar was already in effect so the time keepers pack up their shit and leave."

(Pre-race focus...)

"Just looking at results there are a shed load of riders that came in after me at second DSP but were in front of me at the first., at a guess im prob around the 30th mark out of the 60 odd."

(Start line for 'Round the Houses')

(Finish of 'Round the Houses')

"The brider who held me up on Belakomo pass Manfred Hoerburger from Austria on a Husaberg 450 is listed as comming in befor me but in reality i got past him half way up the pass and i think i was sucking down ales long befor he got through. I asked him how Ertsburg compaired to the roof, he said "Ertsberg is not hard like dis""

(This gives a novice punter like me some hope for Erzberg in June next year...)

(Bringing it home on Day 1 Time Trial)

"I hooked up with about 6 other riders about 3/4 of the way up Belakomo and we all helped each other and when we got to the top i left them behind and made a run for the DSP, getting in there first and according to Nic a whole hour and a half after the rider infront of me, however results show that all the other 6 riders i was with got in befor me."

(Maintenance... the 250 two-smoke burst a fork seal on Day 1)

(...forks were swapped for the backup bike's)

"Nic s got a pic of myself and Frank Cogan the Aussie bullet at the second DSP, he was one of the guys i was with up the pass, tough old goat."

(Igor and Frank Cogan)

"Day two took me 9 hours to do 55 km, they were expecting the leader to get to the finish at 12:00, he only got in to the Last DSP at 16:30 which was 60 km short of the finish, they recon if the day wasnt shortned he would have got to the finish at around 20:00 at night after 14 hours of riding...nice and thats the leader, when did they expect us to get through....next week!!"

(The competitors fuel collection point - the fuel is collected and then carted across the mountains on a track to the DSP in a pickup truck. How many 'Approved' containers can you spot? Imagine this in the UK... The Brit authorities (ACU) would be shitting themselves!)

"But anyway the general consensus is that the whole event was a cock up beacause of the degree of dificulty, course changes etc etc. They recon 22 riders sleped in the mountains on friday night, some only getting back at 15:00 on Sat on horse back."

(Start of Day 2)

"And we had perfect weather, it would have been a complete fiasco if it rained.

Personaly i dont recon i will enter next year, cant justify the expence and effort, its just a race for the top 20 or 30 riders in the world."

(Day 2 - impossibly tough)

"Doing the event wouldnt have been possible without the help of Nic, who was invaluable as the man in charge of the general running around to DSPs, fuel, and of corse food."

(Nic was as invaluable at this year's Manx GP too!)

(Only 1 rider got up this pass unassisted - not quite an event for a motorbike!)

"An outstanding effort on his part, especialy the hours of waiting arround in the mountains for me. Thanks Chief !"

"As for the rest of my crew, ya... nuff said..."

(This is Africa)