Reilly Traveling Circus

May 15 is the day we pick up the cars from the warehouse. Both teams were slated in the second group. Downstairs to pick up insurance papers, permit to drive in central Beijing (green permit), temporary Chinese license plate to be displayed in the windshield, microSD card for the Garmin, ID badges and lanyards for the participants, ‘complimentary’ mechanics coveralls with the P to P logo, speed tables, route books and a copy of the regulations. Then it was off to the warehouse. After weeks of anticipation, immediate letdown to find that our batteries were completely flat despite the fact that the car had been started recently. Took advantage of the charging posts installed in the passenger footwell and after an interval, got the car started. Keith and Harry were apparently out of fuel and got underway a few minutes after we did.

We followed the route to the gas station and were successful at using Alipay to fill our tank (95 octane) and then ran the calibration route for our rally computers. Ours were quite accurate and so we were off back to Beijing. Traffic was very heavy. We had some confusing moments when we followed the directions in the route book and the Garmin showed us off the plotted route. We were on and off the Ring Road (#4) a few times but did find our way back to the hotel. We joined an impressive array of automobiles in the hotel car park. Both at the warehouse and in the car park, we received a lot of positive feedback about our 911. We mounted our rounders (#72 on your scorecard) and Peking to Paris decals. Tonight is a welcome cocktail party, followed by a briefing and then dinner. It’s exciting to have the cars and be close to starting. We are about 36 hours away.