The small, unglamorous preparation for the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge 2024 has begun.
Eighty per cent of the result is decided by the preparation.
As the saying goes — and we have been preparing for several years now. From here it becomes concrete preparation for covering 14,000 km in 37 days.
The route is set out in this post.
The start date we had been waiting for is announced!
The English organisers sent information about a tent service.
Crossing the borders on the itinerary above, there are nine places where we sleep outdoors under canvas.
Beyond those, each crew needs a tent in case trouble forces a night outdoors on this hard journey — and the tent the organisers offer to hire costs
700 euros. About ¥110,000.
Between the entry fee and the car preparation, this has already needed more than three times the money we expected, so to save whatever we can: Mercari, Japan’s second-hand marketplace.
It starts with research. It has to suit a desert, and it has to protect us across a temperature range from below zero to nearly 40 degrees.
I looked through all sorts of camping gear from abroad, and in the end held out for something Japanese.
What we settled on was Mont-bell, founded in Osaka.
Mont-bell, if you are reading — sponsorship, please.
What my research came to:
· Mont-bell Stellaridge 2 with rainfly
· Mont-bell Camp Pad 50 / 150
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And they arrived. Straight up it goes.
We need to test sleeping out somewhere, but it is far too cold for that just now.
On a long adventure of 37 days the weight has to be kept down, so clothing and equipment are all being worked out to fine margins.
When it warms up a little I will report on how the tent sleeps.