A bit of egg on my face.... update.

I am going to have to change my rally date to 2012.
This WILL happen, just not this year.
Updates soon!!!

T-Shirt

Here is the latest "concept" of my fundraiser shirt. This will happen with the help of a couple of talented friends.
Don Karle Photography http://www.karlephoto.com/ for taking a great photo.
Duke Sheppard owner of Fat Tees Printing. www.fattees-printing.com for printing the shirts.

The action image in the shirt design started from a great photograph from Don Karle. He was able to make a hack like me look fast.

Gear: Bike

Bike: '09 KTM 530 EXC. I am in love with this bike. All the power I will ever need, perfect suspension, light weight, excellent handling.

Rally Modifications:

- 6 gallon tank. Organizers say a 3.2 gallon tank can do it (pictured above), but it will be necessary to stop at a town and get gas. I do not want to be in a situation and "have" to stop. If I am feeling good, I want to be able to keep rolling.

- F2R (Free 2 Ride) road book. Love it. All rubber drive belts. No gears to get jammed up with sand.

- ICO Electronic Trip Computer. Highly accurate with the ability to bump up or down the distance with a thumb switch. I currently have one, however need to purchase another that supports kilometers.

- Lights - qty.1 Baja Designs 6"Pre Runner, It is very disappointing they still do not offer a guard for this model. They offer replacement lenses.. go figure. I will be fabricating my own guard.

qty1. 10w LED. Surprisingly bright, very small. More for use on roads so not to blind oncoming traffic.

- Trail-Tech stator. Needed to fire up the HID. HID ballasts need a lot of wattage to fire up. Once on, the 6" only uses about 35W.
 
- Bib Mousse. This is a puncture proof inner tube replacement. I have been running one in front since December. Love it!! Expensive, but worth every bit.

- Custom rally frame to hold it all together. In the photo below you can see the steel one I made last year. It is good, but I want a frame mounted design. Having this much weight on the triple clamp is noticeably slowing my steering down. Getting my roadbook further forward is a must as well.

 More details later.

Fitness Goals

First on the list is my fitness. I feel I could fall under an "average fitness" category at this point in my life. This needs to improve in the next few months. I will need to be fit enough it will not be a concern in my head during the Rally. There is this vision I have as a bad day in the dunes. Having to pick up a bike 6 or more times, arm pump, loaded down with 6 gallons of fuel, & another 200km to go. This vision as a bad day in the sand will keep me focused on a regular cross training regiment.

Current plan:
1. Cycling
Stepping up my mountain biking. I love biking and raced cross county (in the midwest) for a solid 10 years. I feel this is my best bang for the buck. Shooting for 2 times a week at least.
2. Trail Running
Today was my first trail run... ever. Not as hard as I expected.4.1 miles and actually ran a solid 3. I am happy with that result.
3. Strength Training
I am in need to work on upper body strength. Making a custom setup that will help with forearm pump. It a metal or wood bar the same diameter as a handlebar and almost the same width. Fasten a rope to the bar, then the other end is tied to a weight. Lastly slap some moto grips on it. For the resistance, twist up and down the weight. Feel the burn! Add in some pull ups and push ups to round out the upper body workout.
4. Riding the bike!
Ride, ride, more riding, them some more. As much as I can afford to spend in time and gas. Throw in some local enduros to test if my forearm work out is taking.

Here we go!

Next up... GEAR mmmm gear.

Introduction

Hello, My name is Chris Vestal. I am racing in the 2011 Rally Mongolia in August.
Official Website

On this blog I will be posting my preparation, race progress and post summary. Thank you for following.