Month: April 2008

There be bigger bodges on the horizon

Tools and equipment needed for a miriad of quick fix car bodges:

  • As many cable ties as one can carry
  • Gaffer tape
  • A selection of the highest amp cartridge fuses available
  • A vat of WD40
  • Dirty great self tapping screws
  • Insulation tape
  • A lump hammer
  • A crowbar
  • Vasoline
  • Rubber gloves
  • Cuddly toys (to strap to the front grille)

uh-oh! now there’s two!

I’ll try not to forget the mighty B.com but, if things are looking quiet here …you might be find me ranting on >>HERE<<.

http://www.roadtoriga.blogspot.com will follow our progress from Oxford to Riga in Ralph – the banger.

Posted from: www.bearder.com

Preperation: The three steps to bodging an electric window.


1. Cut the broken ‘live’ wire and replace it with a long blue wire.


2. Feed the long blue wire through the door and attach it to your cigarette lighter.


3. Enjoy your newly working, slightly bodged electric window.

Eddy.

PS, I hope you all noticed the smooth, somewhat pacifying, faux wood interior.

Write the theme tune, sing the theme tune


Everything needs a backing track and this tune is top on my list. Fitting for quite a few reasons.

  • It’s from Supergrass’ album Road to Rouen, which is pretty similar to our title of Road to Riga
  • Edd/Ian and I played the album almost non-stop on our first long distance trip to Slovenia. the first track is genius by the way, I’m listening to it as I type.
  • The album cover is pretty cool too and very fitting, that could well be a Rover 214 flashing by
  • The track St Petersburg as well as being superb is appropriate because St Petersburg is one of our primary places to visit. The song also really sets the scene nicely, for the build up over the next few months. “in a few months we’ll be out of here, and not a day to soon”.
  • Supergrass are from Oxford too

What more can I say but enjoy

Last Time I Did Something Like This……

This seems like an appropriate time to show you what I ended up driving last time I did something like this.

That little Ford Fiesta was amazing, the Rover really does have a lot to live up to.

My First Blog

Seemingly the time has come for me to write in my very own blog. I’ve resisted temptation to get involved in the web 2.0 over the past couple of years, mainly due to the fact that I honestly didn’t think anyone would really want to read my inane rantings.

Well we’ve got a plan, we’ve got a car, we’ve got the time off and hopefully the rest will fall in to place. The biggest challenge over the next few weeks looks like the Russian visa application, the process is a little bit confusing to say the least.

I’m really enjoying the build up to June 27th, just this afternoon I bought a snazzy set of racing stripes for the Rover, we are going to have fun fitting those I can tell you.

Anyway catch you later,
Pete

Route V1.jpg

Oxford to Riga. The long, blonde, Russian way round.

I know it didn’t take long to come up with another plan but this time it’s no thanks to a picture of a bunker or a twenty pound bet – it’s due to the persistent (and somewhat intrepid) desire of a man called Peter Addison. The desire to drive a banger (colloquial English for an old and cheap or ‘shit’ car) as far as possible to a foreign land. His first trip was a ridiculous 5000 miles to Uzbekistan on the London-Tashkent rally and the next (on which I’d bravely offered to join him) was due to take us to Timbuktu in December.

However, a few weeks ago, whilst Sarah (Pete’s long suffering wife, previous co-pilot and fine chef) cooked a wonderful curry, Pete and myself put many facts, figures, hopes, plans and stupid ideas into a big trip-calculator and cooked up this:

Oxford to Riga via Russia, through the middle of Scandinavia, in a banger and for almost nothing.


Behold Route V1.jpg

Who?: Me and Pete
When?: The first two weeks of July
Where?: See the map
Why?: There are many reason but, for brevity ‘Why not?’
What?: I’m asking myself the same question.
How?: Well, the details are yet to come (it’s only v1 of the .jpg for Christ’s sake) but the ‘for next to nothing’ bit requires the help and hospitality of the fine and friendly members of www.hospitalityclub.org.

Expect further news as we dream it up.

I don’t drink. I’m tea turtle.

Woohoo, the DIY is over, the paint has dried, the paper is still on the wlls (just) and the house is ready to sell. Given the news this week selling it may be the hardest part.

With the house done, I junped at the chance to visit an old Slovene amigo in one of the few cornes of Europe I haven’t been to – Northern Ireland. Rightly or wrongly (and I’ve been challenged on this many times) I didn’t include NI as a European country as, strictly speaking it’s part of the UK. However, free from the constraints of my previous bet, the offer of a free bed and a home-made lasagne was too much to resist and last weekend I hoped accross the channel to Belfast.

Arriving in Belfast was weird. I’m old enough to know better and i’m fully aware that the situation in Belfast is nothing like it was a few years ago but I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. The sort of feeling I’ve had sitting on a bus or train on route to somewhere your friends, hosts and newspapers say you shouldn’t be going. I suppose it’s understandable given that the only images I’ve ever seen of NI are the marches, the military patrols, the militia painted houses and the bomb blasts of the long running war with us, the British. However, I’m happy to report that, just like each previous journey – the nerves had no reason to get excited. Belfast was a friendly, relaxed, pretty and fun place to spend the weekend. Obviously, there’s a history here but Belfast today is not the Belfast I know from the telly.

The buildings are proud, people are talkative, there’s a little big wheel and most unbelievebly – the weather was good! Even Henry Hippo’s made a return …whoever he is. Something like the NatWest piggy I think.

It was only two days but, we managed to squeeze in a whole day exploring Belfast and (thanks to a £5 all day train ticket) a trip to Antrim and Lough Neagh (pronounced Lock Ney). I’m not sure what’s going on with Lough Neagh though – sailing a boat on it appears to be a big ‘no no’. We even had a go on the telescope but couldn’t find a single one. Maybe there’s a local custom that forbits paddling on Sundays.

Naturally, I also squeezed in an Irish Stew, a few pints of Guiness and an hour or two watching sport in a pub. I also put Mini-Mojca (my camera) to good use and in good ‘touron’ tradition – photographed almost everything I saw. As well as being Slovene in a previous life, I’m also starting to think I might be 23% Japanese. Marica (who I met in Lj 3 years ago) isn’t such a fan of Belfast but, she looked after me and we had a fun weekend. She didn’t join me in the Guiness drinking though as apparently she’s ‘tea turtle’.

Pictures of the Irish Adventure are here

In Europe.
I’m unsure how this book escaped my attention until now but, Marica introduced me to a book called ‘In Europe’. I only had to read the back page to know that I needed to read this book so I grabbed a copy whilst I was there and, although I’ve only read the first chapter I’m already hooked. I’m a embarressed to admit this but, for various reasons the prologue almost (I said almost) had me in tears. I think it just reminded me of too many people and places.

While we’ve both made a similar journey through Europe, Geert Mak clearly had a much bigger agenda, a far keener eye, and a knowlege of history that I could only dream of. However, many of the characters he describes are so familiar.

I especially like the following which describes an evening in a cafe in a small Hungarian village. The wise man puts Michael Palin to shame.

In the cafe they asked my friend what it means, this ‘new Europe’.
After the Gypsy on the shrieking accordion had been silenced, he explained that, in the course of history, this part of Europe had become invreasingly poor, that everyone looked up to wealthy and powerful Western Europe, and that it was only natural that they should now want to be a part of it.

But first, my wise friend told them, you will have to go through a deep valley of even greater poverty, so that in the ten years that follow you may perhaps be able to climb up to the subsistence level of the West. ‘And what’s more, you’re going to loose some very precious things: friendship, the ability to get by without a lot of money, the skills to repair things that are broken, the freedom to rasie your own pigs and slaughter them as you see fit, the freedom to burn as much timber as you like… any number of other things’.

‘What?’ they asked him. ‘No more slaughtering our own pigs? No more burning wood?’ They looked at him in disbelief. At the time they did not know that, before long they wouldn’t be allowed to smoke in the cafe either.

The Dog
I got a late night text message from co-driver Pete on Sunday explaining that he’d found us a car. An old Rover with 12 months MOT for £200. Despite my initial objections and reluctance to make plans/commit to anything, Pete twisted my arm and I waved him off £200 later in our new (ok old) Rover 214 banger. Complete with electric windows, sunroof, airbag, abs breaks, damaged rear door and stunning fake wood interior – ‘the dog’ is now responsible for getting us 2000 miles to St Petersburg.

Silvio
Finally, I promised Silvia I would “say something very bad … about our “new” PM..and about us, stupid or poor italians”. Yes, the Italians have voted media mogul Silvio Berlusconi back into power. However, I think I’ll leave Mr B to say the bad things: 1, 2, 3… I can only sympathise with Silvia et al who are going to have to put up with it for the next five years. The BBC’s man in europe, Mark Mardell takes a look at the political playground in Italy here.

Posted from: www.bearder.com

Russia. The long, blonde and cheap way round.

I’ve just returned from Mr Dentist (who kindly replaced the filling a Slovene sandwich took from me last year) and, as I can’t talk or eat I think it’s a good time to sit and type and let the world know that – I have a plan.

I know it didn’t take long but this time it’s no thanks to a picture of a bunker or a twenty pound bet – it’s due to the persistent (and somewhat intrepid) desire of a man called Peter Addison. The desire to drive a banger (colloquial English for an old and cheap or ‘shit’ car) as far as possible to a foreign land. His first trip was a ridiculous 5000 miles to Uzbekistan on the London-Tashkent rally and the next (on which I’d bravely offered to join him) was due to take us to Timbuktu in December.

However, last Wednesday, whilst Pete’s long suffering wife, previous co-pilot and fine chef Sarah cooked a wonderful curry, Pete and myself put all the factors, figures, hopes, plans and stupid ideas into a big trip-calculator and cooked up this:

Oxford to Moscow, through the middle of Scandinavia, in a banger and for almost nothing.


Behold Route V1.jpg

Who?: Me and Pete
When?: The first two weeks of July
Where?: See the map
Why?: There are many reason but, for brevity ‘Why not?’
What?: I’m asking myself the same question.
How?: Well, the details are yet to come (it’s only v1 of the .jpg for Christ’s sake) but the ‘for next to nothing’ bit requires the help and hospitality of the fine and friendly members of www.hospitalityclub.org.

Expect further news as we dream it up.

Eddy

Posted from: www.bearder.com

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