So now it's happened: we've broken down by the roadside: the P254 from Novosibirsk to Omsk to be precise. It all happened so quickly and unpredictably: one minute we're cruising along at 100 kph with almost 500 of the 600 kilometres on the clock. With any luck we'd have been in the hotel in under 2 hours. Then a loud rattle starts in the engine and we're stopping as soon as we can. We know we need help.
The diagnosis is relatively quick. It's not big end but it's deep in the engine. It's the sort of thing that often requires extensive workshop time so it may be fatal to our involvement in the Peking to Paris rally. On the other hand, the Alvis sump has an inspection hatch and so the problems may be treatable with relatively less effort than for a more modern car. It's all too early say. Today's task is to get it from the breakdown scene to Omsk. The sweeper teams of mechanics all stop stop to sympathise. Their words are comforting but their faces say - "trouble". Fixing is for tomorrow (or perhaps even later tonight) but certainly not now, it's about collecting the car, not curing it.
And connecting is in the hands of the Russian back-up team - Arkady and Nicolay. They have to arrange the truck to pick us up. Will it be a problem on a Sunday night? We have been assured that they are resourceful and dependable. They will text to let us know once the collection truck is within an hour. But the head mechanic has said contact them from time to time to remind them. That doesn't sound so good: shouldn't they be remembering us without nudging? So after a compromise wait of 45 minutes I telephone and am told that the procedure is clear and I should be patient.
So here I sit. It's not a surprise to be waiting at the side of the road and so I'm mentally prepared. I knew it would happen some time - or I thought it would happen sometime and now is as good a time as any. It's a pleasant evening. The ERA know we're here. Arrangements are in hand.
And yet the uncertainties are great. And it's disconcerting to be exposed to the possibility - still remote at the moment - that no-one will turn up and we'll be out all night. The flies are buzzing eagerly despite several coatings of Deet.
As to the future, if we can fix the car, then we'll be trying to catch up the column that is already travelling fast. So we'll be pushing a newly mended car without any easy back up: a challenge. And I've come for an adventure so here it is - but it feels like hard work rather than imbued with novelty and interest.
If we can't fix the car...well that's for another day too.
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