News has filtered into the journeytorussia news room that the Paris Dakar has been cancelled. This is huge news, the rally involving trucks and cars as well as hundreds of motorbikes, has run un-interupted since 1979; although stages have been canceled in the past.

The guys who run the rally are not faint of heart, in fact they’re pretty damn brave most of the time with reports of locals taking pot shots at competitors quite common (not to mention the hundreds of injuries and the tragic deaths). But this year the organisers have announced that they are calling off the event because of, “direct threats against the race issued by terrorist groups”.

This has serious repercussions for the future of the race, it’s not clear yet what the financial issues will be, but I’m sure they’re not going to be able to sort this lot out in a month.

There’s still no official announcement on the Dakar site, but the ASO have said, “Following several consultations with the French government - in particular the ministry of foreign affairs - and taking into account its firm recommendations, the organisers of the Dakar have taken the decision to cancel the 2008 edition of the rally”.

Latest news direct from the rally camp via Rally RAIDio

I started to write a review for the EXPED Downmat… but discovered the best way to get my point across would be in a badly filmed and encoded video uploaded to YouTube.

And so it was done.

It may not be cheap, but £115 for total sleeping comfort is worth every penny. I love camping, there’s nothing I’d rather do that get way out into the countryside in the middle of no-where and sit staring at the stars. But when I crawl into my little tent I do actually want to sleep.

There’s a glut of cheap ’simple’ sleeping mats on the market - in fact there are also some pretty expensive ones - things like the thermarest - but does anyone else think that they’re just the biggest things ever!? I mean… who is going to pack one of those on the back of their bike?

Sure, the small one is tiny, but it’s so thin that even my little 10 month old kitten would find it uncomfortable. So enter the king of sleeping mats - the Exped 7 DLX!

The thing you have to understand of course is that this is no ordinary mat - oh no - it’s actually filled with down - and because down compresses so damn well it packs up really really tiny - much smaller in fact than the smallest thermarest. Having said all that when you inflate it - it’s wonderfully comfortable - even my large frame doesn’t touch the floor and it’s toasty warm on the coldest of nights.

It’s also quite clever - none of this just leave it inflate and then top up with your breath (which actually puts water into your mat and shortens it’s life) no! You use bag it comes in to inflate it! Amazing!

I’ve been lying low for a bit and the other two have been out and about on their bikes so all in all a busy period where not much has changed as far as my Africa Twin is concerned. I’ll say sorry in advance as this bike has turned into an obsession.

Well as you all know the Russian Bear will have to wait. I have a bike to rebuild once my body is rebuilt (thankfully unlike bikes there’ll never be bits left over when it’s fully back together) and to be honest I’m more or less there. With the trip on hold for a bit Matt and Stace are off on their travels leaving me with a garage full of bike bits…Thanks guys!

Stace is off to Cornwall and France for a bit of R&R he’s off soon and no doubt will have some breathtaking pictures upon his return. Having learnt much from the prep for this trip he found he didn’t have to worry about the Cornish leg and the Foreign Office assured him that Cornwall was indeed part of the UK and the terror threat was low(ish).

Matt seems to have drawn the short straw again though. As with Russia he seems to have engaged mouth before brain and a throw away remark now seems to be sending him somewhere warm and sandy. I suspect when he mentioned he wanted to go to Morocco to Mrs Cashmore and later to Stace and I he at least hoped for some worry over his plan…Not so!

Indeed ‘Ooooo great idea’ was one of Catherine’s comments and ‘How soon can you leave’ was mine… Joking aside this is a big trip for the Big Boyo. He’s taking on a monster run down through France and Spain and then dipping his toe in the sands of Africa (who needs to be a journo to write this stuff….) is a big undertaking - especially for the solo rider.

However it’s also a fantastic oppurtunity to test some of the bits we’re planning for Journey To Russia. So hats off to Matt and like us you can follow progress at journeytomorocco.com

Last Monday the JTR team huddled at our now infamous HQ at Borough Market. Small talk was made and sausages in a bap ordered as we politely sipped our tea and ignored the rather obvious reason for us being there.

As readers of this blog will know, we’ve all had some nasty offs over the last month or so, Patrick in particular is still in a pretty bad state - as he puts it;

“Thinking back to the accident one of the first things that hit me, other than the bike, was the notion that a September departure for Russia was slipping away from me.”

A truth that we’ve simply had to accept. Whilst JTR may have started out as one persons dream, it has never been about any one of us. JTR would not exist and does not exist without us being a team, unless all three of us can make this journey then it’s not Journey To Russia.

With that in mind we’ve decided to postpone our departure. We’ll now leave the UK July next year, with a fit team and bikes that are not in several parts in several garages.

This is a huge blow to us as a team, not least because it means losing a lot of momentum that we’d built up, and a lot of the work that has already gone in is now going to have to be re-done - but it’s the right decision - it’s the sensible decision.

We pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and head for Russia in 2008!

How arrogant is it for us to thing that we should be able to write to companies and ask them to give us money so that we can ride to Russia and back? It’s not like it’s a particularly special journey - it’s out of the ordinary certainly - it’s not something very many people do - but it’s not really HUGE.

Essentially we’re getting quite a lot of coverage - in fact in the last few days we’ve secured a series of articles on the BBC. Which it has to be said is pretty cool - we’ve also go other stuff which is coming up, so from a sponsors point of view there’s a lot of readers or viewers that would see their brand. I guess what I’m getting at is that there’s something in it for everyone.

Our major sponsor - trustedplaces.com - have been amazing, they really have, and as we move forward over the next year we hope they’ll see a real return for the trust they’ve placed in us. But the interesting thing is how many people have sent us essentially the same letter… it goes something like this.

“Thank you very much for your letter concerning Journey To Russia we regret to inform you that we wont be able to help you with your trip.

As you can imagine we get many requests for help each year and we have decided that we are concentrating on just one charity this year.

We do a lot of charity work… etc etc etc…”

But then we got a letter from Blacks that appeared to be from an actual person rather than automatically generated (some of which were not even signed), that was a nice enough change that it made us feel quite good - but on top of that they also sent us three 10% off vouchers - a really nice touch as we genuinly felt that when they wished us luck for our trip that they meant it.

So as a thank you to Blacks we’re going to add a little advert to our site and buy as much of our kit as we can from their stores - and you should do the same!

Went to the hospital for another check-up and the cast is off. I am officially ‘partially weight bearing’ with the target of full weight bearing in 6 weeks. I’m in a leg support but it’s a million miles away from a fibre glass cast.

Foot looked pretty grim when it came out of plaster. A bath and a rub with a towel removed some of the horror but the shreds of skin still take a bit of getting used to but it will be fine in no time I’m sure.

I’ve already seen my physio and have some exercises to do. I do feel like a new born lamb though - it’s quite tender to walk on so I need to do the exercises and be positive. Doctors are being cagey about the likihood of making the trip date - I still have along way to go.

I’ve been looking for spares since my accident. Some are harder to find than others and let’s be honest as this is a Honda new ones aren’t cheap so ‘previously enjoyed’ spares are the order of the day.

One part that’s been particulary vexing for me has been the front fairing spur - without being to technical it holds the front fairing and the intruments to the front of the bike and a new honda one is about £200.

Afterweeks of looking on Ebay (UK and Germany) I bit the bullet and ordered a ‘discounted’ one from a well known Honda parts specialist.

 Now I know you know where this is going but not two days after placing my order (non returnable & money upfront) I was tralwing on ebay.de and low and behold not one but TWO of the dam things are listed and both shipping to the UK.

I hate the internet.

I feel as if we’ve taken a blow, and we’re winded. There seems to be no other way to describe it. Patrick had his massive off, Stace had his and then I got sent down the road by an idiot car driver.

Since then we’ve done nothing, we’ve not looked at visa applications, vaccinations, entry points, route details, nothing at all.

We’re starting to surface again now though, work, personal issues and the crashes are starting to fade a little allowing us to see the mammoth task that still lies ahead for us.

And collectively we’ve said. “Oh Shit.”

Crisis meeting Monday night, are we up for this? Or have we bitten off more than we can chew?

It’s been a few weeks since my accident so I thought it would be nice to give a little update of how I’m healing. I’m still in plaster and my next appointment is 28th June and until then I’m non-weight bearing. It seems a long time but I suppose they are keen for the plate and screws to bed in as best they can and for the ligaments to begin healing on my ankle.

The garage is a hive of activity (photos to follow) I have a little fold up chair to sit on and I’m removing bits off the bike. It’s a slow process as I’m keen to keep everything together so I don’t lose any bolts. The front is quite badly beaten up - still gives me the shivers looking at how twisted it all is.

Removing the front fairing spar is proving difficult - the multitude of wires to the instruments and trip computer doesn’t help - but I’m marking these as a I go so hopefully it will be a breeze when it comes to putting it back together again (famous last words…).

There is a pile of broken parts on one side of the garage and in time this will include the forks, the afore mentioned spar, instruments, fairing panels, front mudguard and a mirror. In addition and depending upon whether I can bend things back into shape it may also include the headlights, footpeg, pillion footpegs and pannier racks and possibly the yokes. The fuel tank is a bit bent out of shape too and looking at it in detail was very nearly holed by the brush guards being forced into it when I crashed.

It’s not all doom and gloom though as I have been very fortunate in being able to secure some parts. Previous ebay adventures mean I have most of the fairings I need and 2 (yes I know…) fuel tanks so those pointless just in case purchases were in fact a great buy in the end and don’t tell me you’ve never done it!

A very good friend of mine on www.XRV.org.uk let me have a set of fork legs for nothing and I sourced a spare set of Yokes just in case. I had to buy the faring spar but used a discount supplier and saved about £40 off the Honda price.

The front wheel has gone off to be put back into shape so fingers crossed it can be done with the existing components. If it needs a rebuild I’m not sure I could resist the temptation to have both hubs and rims annodised and rebuilt with stainless steel spokes - at times the lure of fitting cheap or gawdy tat to my bike worries me. Colour coded bolts on a say a gixxer makes me sick but it seems anything goes when it comes to my AT.

So fingers crossed.