Rally Diary

The adventure has begun. I'm sitting in a small compartment on the auto train in Hamburg. I share the compartment with 2 Swedes and a German. It's cozy. 🙈 a bit intimate. I bought some extra beer, it went down well, especially with the Swedes, who are also on their way to the MC adventure.

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Today started with some information about the routes and the Roadbook. A technical review of the motorcycles was done and we set off on a Roadbook route. The route was the epilogue stage from last year's Dinaric Rally. It was a really cool route, where there was a bit of everything you will encounter here in Croatia on a rally. Stones, rocks and rocks. 🙈The route is a total of 93 km, we rode some of it together and some of it separately, at the end there was free play. There was a time limit until 1800. Everyone except one made it to the "finish" he was picked up when his gas pump wouldn't work.

At 2000 there was a briefing about the route tomorrow and if there were any questions about the Roadbook and the routes today. All in all a really great day with good challenges and good training, not least in using the Roadbook to navigate.

The route tomorrow is almost 400 km, there is a fixed time limit at 1200, where there is a mandatory break and a second time limit is at 1800, where everyone must drive off the track and directly back to the hotel. I'm looking forward to tomorrow. Now it's good night from here. 🏍️💨

Croatia keeps on giving! I am speechless. I think the pictures speak for themselves. The training is really good, it is really “value for money”

After my somewhat expensive experience yesterday, the navigation went much better today. Mega cool routes! I reached 130 km on the trail today before our mandatory lunch break. Due to the weather conditions, they shortened some of the route and we had to start a bit further along the trail. I rode the rest of the trail to the end and had an hour more than our time limit. It turned out to be 325 km. The last part was in pouring rain with lightning and thunder. Many of the others drove home, but the route had not been completed and there was still time so….

Right now I'm struggling to dry all my gear and get it ready for tomorrow. The plan tomorrow is that we drive to Bosnia (where it should rain less) and spend the night there and drive back again the day after tomorrow. It should also reportedly have some fantastic tracks and beautiful mountains, etc. I'm (or will be) super ready for tomorrow with another rally training day. Back to the dryer. 😊

So we are back in Croatia again. We usually start from the same place so it's a bit like being “home” again. Suki's resort and hotel is the place that is the center of training and when there is Dinaric Rally.

The track today was 283km. It offered stones, rocks, stones and a little more stones! It was a tough route with lots of challenges! A 28km descent with stones and rocks and hairpin turns from the Dinaric mountain. You could feel it a little in your body. Again, it was absolutely fantastic nature and views that cannot be described.

I also had some mechanical challenges today. It started with a puncture in the morning. Later I hit a large rock, which bent my brake pedal. A little later my support leg was about to fall off. Furthermore, I bent the brake pedal 3 more times and the bottom plate got a good push 🙈 so a bit of a tough day and I have to say. I used the tools I brought. Fred, a guy from Holland, had to be picked up by the service truck. His clutch cable snapped. I rode the whole route today. Many shortened it. I had 1.5 hours more than our time limit.

Maximus just needed a little care this evening. I patched and straightened it up a bit and tightened various screws. The equipment is really tough in this terrain. Everything is now folded and ready for a new adventure tomorrow. The route tomorrow is not that long, 193 km. I'm already looking forward to it 😊

It was a strange empty feeling this morning. Several had ridden yesterday and the rest were packing up and heading home. I also had Maximus transformed from Rally to Adventure and went on a trip. I started with TET. There are really cool tracks here in Croatia! It was a bit challenging at times with 70kg of extra luggage and tires on the bike, but it was going very well. After a rather steep and rocky climb, the front wheel punctured. Typically it has lasted for Rally training for a whole week, but maybe the extra weight made the outcome and I rode a bit Rally-like.

I headed towards Pag which is a Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, Pag is known for its unique lunar landscape and beaches. The island is famous for Pag cheese and salt production and is a popular tourist destination with many cultural events. A nice trip with great roads and good turns.

After a chicken burger on the tip of Pag I drove towards the ferry to the mainland (I drove over via a bridge). I had plenty of time and was going straight down to a beach to see the view. It was a bit of a challenge to get back up but it was fine.

After the ferry I hit the Jadranska Magistrala or Adriatic Road, it runs along the coast of the Adriatic Sea. This road is known as one of the most beautiful coastal roads in Europe, it’s breathtaking views of the sea, cliffs and access to several coastal towns and beaches. The Jadranska Magistrala is a popular route for both locals and tourists looking to experience the scenic beauty and cultural richness of Croatia’s coastline.

I drove a part of it to a small town called Karlobag, where I got an apartment for 261kr per night. “Mutti” insisted that I have a schnapps.

Tomorrow I'll follow the Adriatic Road down to Split. Here Maximus will probably need to be washed again and then locked in a garage. Tomorrow night I'll hop on a plane home. I'm looking forward to getting home again. Even though I love adventure, home is the best. It must have been a bit of a Troels Kløvedal in it today. 😂 Sleep well.

The second part of the adventure is now underway. Rallyalbania here I come. I'm looking forward to getting down to Maximus (my MC) I'm sitting at the airport in Munich on my way to Split in Croatia, where my motorcycle is stored in a locked garage. I have a few days before the rally starts, the time will be spent on doing a little work on Maximus. Among other things, I need to have a tripmaster installed for accurate distance measurement, a new brake pedal, have some thread repairs, and many other small things. I was a little nervous about what they would say at the security check for all the spare parts etc. I have with me. But it went without any problems.

When I get to Croatia I also have a quick trip to Tirana. I think it will be along the coast. The shortest and most direct route is 500km. But who cares. The day before the start, I also have to have the new tires I brought with me on the motorcycle mounted. The plan is also to ride around the area around Tirana and up into the mountains, to get used to the temperature and see the surface a bit. Maybe ride a little TET.

I'm looking forward to seeing and experiencing the nature in Albania, it should be really beautiful. I've heard that the terrain and routes at Rallyalbania are rough and challenging. I'm looking forward to that. It's probably very good that I think a bit like Pippi. "I haven't tried that before, so I'm sure I can do it"

The weather forecast for the coming week looks good. A bit mixed but mostly sun and daytime temperatures of 30-35 degrees. I think I'll be really happy with my camelbak with water. (Backpack with water I can drink from while I'm riding)

I'm really looking forward to feeling and experiencing the atmosphere in the pits. There's a very special atmosphere and coziness and you help each other. Some people run around and are under maximum pressure, others take it easy. I've prepared a lot and I have some specific routines every day. All gear and equipment is and must be prepared before I go to bed at night. It gives a calmer morning and a good start to the day. This includes cleaning glasses and visors, filling the camelbak, making sure clothes are hung up to dry, clothes long until the next day, the chain on the motorcycle is lubricated, tire pressure checked, motorcycle inspected for damage and leaks, repairs on the motorcycle if necessary. But before all this, I usually take care of personal care. A big cold beer. Just one, and then a bath. That was the routine at the training in Croatia anyway and it worked very well. It's important to get even small wounds and cuts looked after so that they don't become inflamed. It would be a shame to skip such small things that could have been handled by taking care of all the basics. In this area, my Mentor Heine Sakskjær has again been a huge help. During training in Croatia, there was one evening when I was a bit tired and was about to “skip” the race, but I was told that it was not tomorrow. “Go and get your bike in order and you can sleep afterwards!” Thanks Heine, that meant that I didn’t have to get up in the morning and fumble with getting it done right before the start.

In the evening there is also another important task. The roadbook must be read through. Many drivers mark their roadbook with colors (mostly paper roadbooks) for example at turns and points of attention. I drive with a digital roadbook. It is a very long pdf file. I have a program on my Garmin where I can mark in the pdf, but I haven't really practiced it yet. I think it is more if the roadbook is in black and white that it makes sense. I don't know if it is with or without colors in Albania. But I always look through it and see if there is something I am in doubt about. They can be a bit cryptic sometimes.

As you can see, I have a bit of a long transit time here in Munich. Now I'm going to go to the gate. Have a great day everyone. 😊

TET Albania is absolutely fantastic! I did a little fun ride today of about 200km. I drove along small mountain roads down to Elbasan and rode the TET track south from there. It was awesome! I might have gotten a little excited at a time when things were going really well. Maybe a little too excited about sticks and stones! I thought with the new UHD tube, it just needs a little “beating up”. It resulted in a “pinch”, i.e. puncture. The tube had two small holes, which occur when a stone or similar presses the tire completely together and hits the rim. Practice!

I had brought the punctured spare tube with me to have it patched by a local tire shop on the road. (There are many of them around) but I hadn't quite gotten it done. So now I was standing there, with two tubes with holes in them! Well, I had to "dig" the patching kit out. It's well hidden under the luggage rack. Since it's only to be used in extreme emergencies. Started patching. I really put in the effort. Sanded thoroughly, applied glue, waited for it to dry, put patches on and waited again for a good while. The view of the work was absolutely fantastic and I didn't have anything to do. I have to say that I was actually quite proud of the result.

20 km later it was flat again!!! For f……. then! I happened to be in a small town with a gas station, a small kiosk and a small shed, where there was apparently a tire repairman. Phew, that was lucky. Then he was allowed to patch both tubes. The “shed” was closed.

There were some men sitting outside. They invited me to sit with them. I had removed the hose and had them both in my hand. They called the tire man. He'll be here in 5 minutes. Perfect. I picked up a Monster from the kiosk and sat down. It probably took almost an hour, but it was now very cozy. One of them knew a little English.

Finally he came, the first thing he did was look at my patch. One patch had leaked in the glue. He said a lot in Albanian, I think it meant something along the lines of: fucked up amateur patches and bad glue. In any case, both patches were pulled off and he quickly patched the two tubes and I could continue on my adventure.

Most of the day was spent changing hoses and I took a lot of pictures.

Back in Tirana, people are slowly starting to come to the square. It will be interesting to see how many have come when I get back from my trip tomorrow.

It's been a long day today. I got everything sorted out yesterday so I "just" had to wait for the opening ceremony tonight. There were quite a few people and it was in full swing. The mayor sent us off. It was a bit chaotic and quite disorganized but we got off on the prologue. A small route of 20 km. I drove the wrong way after about 3 km. Oops. It wasn't even because I was following anyone, but there were quite a few people following me. The special stage (the one whose timing counts the most) was very short. I almost didn't have time to really get going before it was over. But I got starting position no. 99 tomorrow. It said that I'll start at 06:28:30 tomorrow morning. The first one starts at 05:30:00. We had a briefing here at 22:00 and the starting order was sent at 23:00. I've looked through the Roadbook and prepared everything for tomorrow. It's going to be a tough day! 416 km. with 3 special stages with a total of over 260km. Now I want to hurry up and get a lot of sleep before the alarm clock rings tomorrow morning. Sleep well.

Stage 2 was a nice little round in the mountains with a lot of ups and downs. About 40km in total. It went really well. The gravel was very “slippery” so I had to take the hairpin bends slowly. Some of the route was TET track. (An official off-road track) so I overtook 4 adventurers and 2 came on the other side. But it went perfectly fine. Now it’s time to relax by the beach and take some care of Maximus and myself. It’s really nice here in Albania. It could well be a holiday destination in the future.

The legs are a bit sore but otherwise everything is actually ok. Maximus got some extra “Battle scares” yesterday but only cosmetically. I just need to fix some plastic as the right fan is going against it. And it is needed down here.

Despite the fact that I had looked through the roadbook several times yesterday and noticed a water crossing that I shouldn't go through, but keep to the right. That's the 4th sign. I managed to drive the wrong way. When I see the water crossing I rush straight through, just as I turn down towards it it hits me. NO I wasn't supposed to go through the water. I quickly turned around and drove the rest of the trip flawlessly. There are actually surprisingly many who drive the wrong way. But I must also admit that it is sometimes difficult, in demanding terrain, to have to keep an eye on the distance and "roll" the roadbook and preferably keep a high speed.

Now I want to rest a bit and recharge for tomorrow.

Stage 4, 3 SS and a total of 228 km. The first SS was super fun. It was wildly technical in a forest with hard-packed soil. There were huge washouts that were up to 80cm deep. Ups and Downhills and very technical. But there was good grip on the surface. Trial was mentioned in the Roadbook. I started the routine with a small navigation error from the morning. There was a hill that I was obviously going up. I quickly discovered the error and turned around. Unfortunately, this resulted in 3 other riders who had come right in front of me. The position doesn't matter as such, but the front of the three really struggled with a technical uphill. He fell over several times and his partner was there to help him. It was also a difficult passage. I got off Maximus and walked next to him just in the worst 5 m. I got a few pictures while I waited. The second SS also went really well and after that there was time for a little break and some food. The last SS proved to be a bit of a problem. There was a 4 km uphill section and the grip was really bad. There were big sharp rocks or debris and Maximus couldn't grip at all! I struggled with the 4 km for over an hour. At one point it had completely stalled and Maximus had fallen over again. An SSV (a small car) came along and the navigator got out and came to help me. We managed to back Maximus over to one side where there seemed to be a bit more grip. I got him to push me and we managed to get all the way up. At the top both Maximus and I needed a little breather. The rest of the last SS was at a leisurely pace and I completed the entire stage. Good night from here. It's going to be a long day tomorrow (over 400km)

Stage 6 of 315km with 3 SS of a total of 200km. I think the roadbook today was a bit sloppy. There were several small mistakes and many people drove quite incorrectly today.

One thing I've learned here at the rally is that it's NEVER the driver's fault. It can be anything else, but never the driver's fault.

On SS1 today I'm riding with a guy from Australia. We follow the roadbook and ride up a very steep and narrow uphill. Suddenly 10-15 motorcycles come towards us. I stop and look at the roadbook for a bit. The other rider is about to turn around, but I insist that we've driven correctly. We drive further ahead and I can see that something is not quite right. There are 4 possible routes but only 2 on the roadbook. The roadbook shows take the road to the left and downhill. It fits very well so I drive that way. It's a very difficult route and it turns out that it ends blindly. It was even harder to get back up. So I try another option and only after 3 attempts did I succeed. But I was right and you have to be careful not to follow others. Later we talked to the guy from Poland (whom I helped with a tube) and he said well there were a lot of people who turned around. But it's enough that you do it.

SS2 I rode alone. I actually prefer to ride alone in my own flow, no one in front or behind. It was nice to get help on SS1 when I had problems on an uphill. SS2 rode reasonably well, there was a bit more “fast” gravel and some cool tracks. On SS3 I have navigation difficulties, it doesn’t really work and it annoys me. Now it went just as well. I have to ride 8 km back on the same (wrong) road to find the last known position. Practice. But I manage to find my way back on the right road.

10 km before the finish line the bracket I had welded yesterday breaks. And the whole front comes loose again! I tighten it up with a strap tensioner and think I can take the last km to the finish. But it is a lot of offroad with big rocks and driving in a river so I decided to drive directly to the bivouac. I arrive at about 21:30 so it was a long day. I find a team that drives a 4x4 car and they have a welder and someone who can operate it. It looks more real this time and it is his own equipment, unlike him yesterday. The neighboring team, some Dutch people, were also really nice and helped a lot. They had bought pizza sun they shared with me and I got beer and soda. It is my birthday so I also got a birthday song.

All in all, a great birthday with a few challenges. 😊

I said goodbye or met up with new friends and acquaintances in Tirana and the journey home has begun. I have promised to come back next year. So I better live it up.

The plan was to take the trip home almost the same way as down here, along the coast northwards. But Garmin was very persistent and definitely thought that we should drive northwards to Kosovo and beyond. Yes, why not, I thought, and drove northwards. It was a really nice road in the Albanian highway with huge bends and great views, but I wound my way northwards. Nice winding roads all the way. At the border with Kosovo I had to take out “insurance” on Maximus. You can buy a minimum of 15 days and it cost 10 euros, so never mind.

I continued north towards Serbia. I was not allowed to cross the border. Apparently you have to have an ID Card which you can get at an office in Pristina and not at the border. So I drove south again. I crossed the border into Montenegro. It was over a mountain pass at Novo Selo. The roads were really cool and super beautiful. The plan was to drive around Serbia. Over to Sarajevo. But they were small roads and it takes a really long time. I am close to the border with Serbia again from Montenegro and the fastest route is up to Belgrade in Serbia. I think I will try again. This time it was no problem and I got to Serbia. I ended up spending the night a little west of Belgrade.

I ended up driving over 900km mostly on small roads. But I didn't get 900km closer to Munich. I'm taking the auto train from Munich on 17/6 at 10pm. I now have 875 km to Munich. It was a long day but fantastic roads and nature, mountains and rivers. It was super cool. Really good Monday.

I woke up this morning not far from Munich in a train compartment on the auto train from Hamburg. A great way to get some miles on without wearing out the knobs completely on the way to Croatia, to participate in the Dinaric Bootcamp Rally Training. The trip down through Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia went really well. It's a fantastic landscape and scenery with the mountains in the background. Especially the last part here in Croatia is really beautiful and the Dinaric mountains portend good challenges in the coming days. It turned out to be about 850km with mainly motorway. It was nice to meet the other participants in the training, it's a mixed crowd with three who have previously participated in the Dinaric rally and others who are going for the first time like me. Tomorrow there will be a technical review of the motorcycles, we will look at the routes a bit and install a GPS tracker. If there is time, we will go out and get a little taste of what Croatia has to offer in terms of offroad experiences.

What a day! Hold on, it's been a fantastic day. I could get used to "rally life". It's been both the most beautiful, wildest and most technical offroad I've ridden to date. I rode about 380 km today, of which 280 km were on track. I had some problems finding my way around at times because of the trip meter, I simply couldn't get my roadbook to work. My conclusion is that I need to get a tripmaster or a mechanical odometer on my bike before the rally in Albania. I don't think the GPS measurement is accurate enough, especially on certain mountain sides it poses challenges. It also meant that I had some extra challenges today, where I ended up on a Greek slope, where it was a bit of work to turn the bike around and get back on track. Luckily, I got a handful of licorice pipes from my good friend Heine. After half a pipe, the solution was clear. All in all, the experience account has been well filled today and I think I have some extra hair on my chest. Now all the equipment is prepared for tomorrow, everything is folded and ready for a new and exciting day. The track tomorrow is about the same length and there is again a mandatory break for dinner so it will be difficult to cover the entire track in the given time but the most important thing for me is also to learn something to become better at using the roadbook as navigation and to try my hand at the challenging terrain down here south. I think the terrain in Albania is a bit reminiscent of what is here in Croatia in the Dinaric Mountains. Thanks for always good support Heine. 👍Good night from here.

Bosnia, yes please! This is too wild. The coolest offroad and beautiful mountains. Goat paths and open grasslands. Stop now. All my expectations have long since been fulfilled and I am soaking up the experiences. I force myself to take the time to take a few pictures.

I almost want to stop all the time, but I also have to “eat” some km. We started early this morning and drove to Bosnia, here we started on the track and I finished at 15:30. It turned out to be 300km. I was actually a little surprised that my roadbook was no longer there 🙈 Mentally I had prepared myself to have to drive until 18:00.

We are staying here in Bosnia in Kupres. Tomorrow the trip goes back to Croatia, where the route is supposed to be even more beautiful. I find it hard to believe. It is difficult to get it in pictures, it is something completely different to be in the middle of it. As I said, I spend some time stopping and taking a picture or two, when I have to rally in Albania there will be no time to enjoy the view and take some pictures. There are tight time frames that must be met, so as not to get too many penalty points.

The ride today has been fantastic again. From mud, flat grass, river crossings and to mountain sides and uphills that are technically demanding. It's really good training and a huge experience at the same time. Both Maximus (that's my MC's name) and I are riding well, all the hours that have been put into the preparation have been well spent! The route tomorrow is very demanding and we have to cross two mountains and finally a tough 28km descent from the Dinaric mountain. The highest in Croatia. So I'm going to finish now and crawl under the covers. 😊

It was the last day of training. The ride today went really well. It was a really nice and cool route. The distance of 193km meant that a little more gas could be put in. We had a time limit of 6 hours. I rode the route in 280 minutes. There was a pretty long stretch of asphalt. There I “got to” overtake all the others 🙈 my big tongue MC has an advantage with the 1000 ccm. Most others ride on 450 ccm which is a huge advantage in the demanding terrain.

On the trip today I focused on practicing navigation. It still gives me a little trouble and I drive way too many wrong turns. But it's a really cool way to navigate with the roadbook. So there were no breaks for pictures.

When I got back to the hotel there was plenty of time so I washed and checked Maximus a bit. I have to admit I'm quite impressed with what it can do. 😊 After the time limit we all meet for a beer and a debriefing. We all got a certificate and some feedback along the way. Later we went down to a lake where someone jumped in the water. That was no thanks from here 🙈😊

I have now left or to meet Maximus again. It will certainly be missed. A faithful companion who has saved me many times in the last few days. It is in a locked garage, with one of the assistants from UNTAMED rally training. So I am completely safe with it.

There is a very special community and team spirit among rally people. Everyone helps each other out on the track too. Everyone stops and offers their help if you are in trouble. There is a super cool atmosphere, also in the “pit” if you need something you share what you have and help each other. For example, I borrowed some special super glue from one of the others to patch up a bit on Maximus.

The trip down the Adrianerhavsvejen today was absolutely fantastic. So if you like good asphalt roads with curves and fantastic scenery, this trip is highly recommended. Otherwise, I sorted through the bits and pieces and took out the laundry and made a list of things I need to bring back. Such as the brake pedal, front wheel hose, plastic clips, rain gear and a lot of other things.

In Split I drove a little wrong and saw a small oasis of a beach. I drove down there and had lunch. Delicious place. I'm now sitting in the airports and ready to come home. The next few weeks until I leave again will be spent at work and hard training. It makes a huge difference to be in good physical shape. The mental "shape" is at least as important, but it seems to be the way it is. You have to be able to shut everything else out when you're going to rally. You need full focus. A second of inattention and you're lying in a bush or worse. I speak from experience 😂😂 I don't know if there will be enough time for a diary during the rally in June, but I'll make sure of that. I'm flying back to Split on 4/6-2024.

It was a happy reunion with Maximus last night. Everything was as I left it. It was at a rally guy's place. He had gotten me a few different things to fix the motorcycle and took good care of it. I had the tripmaster and a few other little things installed. The tripmaster works great and it makes me feel more confident navigating with it. The distance is spot on. I wanted to give Frane some money for the things he had gotten me and for renting the garage. But that couldn't be the case! I just had to promise to help someone else on a motorcycle at some point.

I continued my trip down the coast on the Adriatic Sea Road (highway 8) through Croatia, Montenegro and down to Albania. The original plan was to fool around a bit in the days leading up to the rally, but I changed my mind and drove all the way down to Tirana, where the race starts on Friday. I was lucky enough to get a room at the same hotel I'll be staying at on Friday and Saturday. This means that tomorrow I can get ready for the Maximus rally and go out and train a bit in the area. It seems to be the nice part of town I've ended up in. The trip here at least showed something other than luxury.

The route today was absolutely fantastic. Lots of turns and huge mountains and a view of the water on the right. There was a lot of traffic, especially at the end, and you need to have plenty of time for the trip. It goes through many nice towns, etc. It was about 500km today and it took almost 10 hours. Including breaks, refueling and a flat tire (again). Maximus reached 70,000km today on its 4th season. We celebrated by scraping some footrests in some cool turns.

I had brought a UHD tube with me, which I had installed when I had a flat tire. It was supposed to be a very strong and durable tube. The tread just before the mousse. It is with 4mm thick rubber. I will have to see if it holds up better. It is certainly big and heavy!

Tirana, the capital of Albania, is pretty cool. At least the tiny part I've seen. I went for a little walk this evening because I think I deserved a pizza. Maximus also got some octane 98 petrol (it's hard to find down here), and the chain is lubricated. It's probably in a parking garage for the hotel. Right across from the hotel is the space where Bivouac 1 is. Unfortunately, they're renovating something at the hotel so the picture is through a net. But it'll be fun to see when the space fills up. Now I'm going to bed.

Garmin Tread was allowed to make a route today. A little offroad fun trip. It turned out to be somewhat more demanding terrain than TET. I had to turn around a couple of times and then challenged myself and Maximus a bit, but it went well. At one point I came to a small lake at almost 1000m altitude. I really wanted to jump in. It was over 30 degrees so I sweated a little from the hardship. It was really beautiful up on the mountain.

The bivouac is now full of rally people. Big teams and small teams. It's really cool. There are some really cool 4x4s in between. The atmosphere is really good and people are having a good time! It's a bit like a meeting. Checking various documents started here tonight. So now I have my start number and a tracker has been mounted on Maximus. #101 is my start number. Tomorrow Maximus will go through technical control and tomorrow evening there will be a start ceremony and we will run the prologue. It is a route before stage 1 to set the starting order. The prologue tomorrow is 20km. It was a bit of a long day with a lot of waiting time and I walked a lot of km around the site. Now I will end for today. Have a good weekend.

It was a bit of a long day at the “office” today. I started at 6:28:30 and finished at 10:30 PM.

It has been the wildest day! With the hardest and most demanding offroad I have ridden to date. SS1 (special stage) went incredibly well. I had good flow and made no navigation errors. This meant that I overtook 10-15 other drivers without really putting in any effort because I wanted to last the whole day and all 416km. After SS1 there was a transport section where I kept the times to the minute and was fully ready for SS2!

I stand ready at the start and am waved forward. We are sent off one at a time with some time in between. My heart rate rises and the adrenaline rushes through my body. GO! I set off and it just goes. The first 20 km go really well, but then I make a navigation error. I miss a turn. I notice it after about 1500m and have to turn around. Unfortunately, this means that some of the people I had overtaken in SS1 are now ahead of me again. It was really dusty so I thought I would slow down a bit and then overtake them at a later time.

After a while I come to a really technical and difficult climb. I think it's 5 km. It's the hardest 5 km of my life! It took hours and ALL my energy. There were big loose rocks and I couldn't get any grip at all. Maximus was down a few times but nothing serious happened. I was considering giving up on that section and calling for assistance. It "costs" 24 hours in penalty time. After several licorice pipes and a long break where I helped someone change a tube. Yes, that's soon going to be my top skill. I decided to give it a try and get all the way up. I succeeded and it turned out that I had done the hardest part. I finished SS2. There were climbs that were both steeper and more technical but there was grip so it wasn't a big problem. The biggest problem was that I didn't have any more water with me. It's 30-35 degrees so you get thirsty quickly.

When I finished SS2 I was faced with a bit of a dilemma. I was missing SS3 at 85km and an offroad transport section of 115km. So I was a little over halfway and it was around 7pm at that time. It was a difficult decision but I chose to drive on asphalt roads to the Bivouac. It was about the same distance but it was much faster and easier. And despite that it still got quite late. I was really happy with my decision when it got dark! So I can actually be sensible. Now I want to take a shower and go to bed. Maximus and the equipment are fixed!

Stage 3 a king stage with very demanding and very technical tracks, steep uphills and downhills. The route today was 260km of which there were 3 SS. It was super cool and the length was appropriate. I completed the entire stage and only made 2 small navigation errors.

On one of the SS's (special stages) there was a stretch of asphalt. Very small winding roads for a few km. There was a bit of road racing going on there. I overtook 3 of the small machines. Right afterwards there was a REALLY steep downhill. Actually a really cool one without a lot of rocks and debris. But suddenly my rear brake didn't work. I must have overheated it. It's not so smart on a steep downhill, I have to say! Luckily I have a parking brake that works on the rear wheel. Not very powerful, but I could drive down with it together with the front brake. It's only because my motorcycle has an automatic transmission that it has this little P brake. The riders I had just overtaken must have thought their own thing when they saw me snaking down that downhill. After that SS there was some time for a break and then the brakes worked again. I fixed a bit on the Maximus and prioritized getting some fluid. This meant that I was 2 minutes late for SS6 (the second SS today). It gives a little penalty point but never mind.

Almost every single km on the SS is demanding off-road. Every time you have time to think: yes, a “normal” gravel road where I can speed up a bit or just relax or drink a little. Are there huge rocks and debris or washouts or deep tracks from previous mud? You have to be constantly concentrated and it is necessary to stand up a lot or constantly be ready to shift your weight down to your legs and drive very actively with your body. It is starting to be felt in my knees and thighs but everything is good. It is the coolest experience. Now I want to go out and find some food. It is difficult to get enough fluids and food in relation to how much you burn. So I just need to fill up. Good evening everyone.

Stage 5 today was a long stage of over 400km. I was super ready and everything went smoothly from the morning. At the start of the SS there was a bit of panic, people arrived late and couldn't really find their things. Fumbled with rain gear etc etc. It was raining a little bit. I just stood ready and waited. I could tell them that there were 2 minutes until my start time, I was sent off a little early because the guy before me hadn't arrived.

SS1 started really well today. There was some very technical dirt roads with huge ruts and washouts. It was quite fun and the surface had good grip until it got wet. It got a bit exciting, but it went fine. When I was about 1/3 (40km) short of SS1 the bracket for the entire front of the motorcycle broke, the bracket that holds the instrumentation and the light and everything. I tried to fix it with big strips and strap tensioners, but it didn't work. I had to pull out of the rally today and drive straight to the bivouac. There were about 200km and it wasn't that easy to get off the track and down to a regular road, but I managed without Maximus falling apart completely.

Tonight we managed to find a welder and get Maximus ready for tomorrow. Sleep well.

Epilogue and last day. There were 2 short SS today. Someone said they had saved the best for last. They were some really cool stages with a bit of everything. Fortunately, there was ok grip on the surface so no serious challenges. My tires are pretty bad now so when it came to grip I had to lean Maximus to one of the sides where the tire tread is less worn. Next time I will have 2 sets of tires.

There were a few “traps” or tricky navigation, but I was pretty lucky and hit the mark almost every time. Many people fought really hard and several overtook me several times. So they must have been driving wrong.

It's a bit of a strange feeling that the adventure is coming to an end. I'm really starting to have the routines in place and know how it all works. I could just take a few more days with Rally. But it will also be good to get home to the family. It's not quite over yet either, I've just driven almost 3,000km home, which is also part of the adventure.

Maximus has been washed and rebuilt into an Adventure again and the bits are ready so I can leave tomorrow when I'm fresh. Now I want to go out and have something good to eat and a few beers.

Back in the Autotoget. I am now sitting again in the small compartment where the whole adventure began. It has been a fantastic adventure with countless experiences and impressions that need to be processed. Little memories keep popping up from the last many weeks. It has been really intense, especially here during the Rally. Stop it, it was a blast!

Rallyalbania is said to be the toughest offroad rally in Europe. Several of those I have spoken to during the rally have asked why I started with the hardest one, when it is my first rally and my offroad experience is very limited. I actually can't really explain that. I don't think I was fully aware of it when I signed up. It said it was for amateurs and it didn't require a license and it was also for big motorcycles and it looked cool. But I haven't regretted it for a second. It has been the wildest experience and I will do it again.

Today I drove from Belgrade to Zagreb, Ljubljana, Villach, Salzburg and Munich. It was a bit of a long and boring trip on the motorway most of the way. 875km. There were a few mountains to look at. It was beautiful up through Austria, past the ski resorts. But there was a lot of roadwork on that stretch, on the tunnels, so it took a long time. I drove a lot of zigzag between cars. Not everyone likes it. I can't understand that at all. But it's really beautiful on that route too!

On this adventure I have been through 9 countries including Denmark, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Serbia.

I think I'll have to see if it's possible to participate in another rally this year! There's simply too much time until next year. Thank you for your positive comments and likes. I don't think there will be anything more to write about from tomorrow's ride, Hamburg - Aulum, but if something exciting happens I'll write, otherwise that's the end for this time. See you out there!