Hero? Legend? Fool?
 

Hi everyone...

As some of you may be aware, last year I bought a brand new Yamaha XT660Z Tenere, shipped it to the US, and spent six months riding more than 23,000 miles all over - from Badwater Basin to Pikes Peak, the Mohave Desert to the Florida Keys - coast to coast, then back again, including the Trans-Am Trail, the high peaks in Colorado, the slickrock in Moab, the forests in Oregon and the deserts in Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico...

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...9/DSCF2447.jpg

Hell, I even had a go at the Rubicon Trail - on my own, in November, with luggage...

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...8/DSC09891.jpg

Suffice to say, both I and the bike survived, and on my return to the UK I have taken this perfectly good (if slightly used) adventure bike, and built it into what I now hope will be a competitive and reliable rally machine:

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/IMG_2046.jpg

The reason for this is I am entered on the 2009 edition of the Heroes-Legend Paris-Dakar rally, which leaves Paris later this month (the 22nd October!), and arrives in Dakar two weeks and 6500 kms later... hopefully with me and the bike still in one piece!

Of course I'm certainly not the first British Woman to race from Paris to Dakar, but I am still a rarity in what is a very male dominated sport. As such, I would hope that what I am about to undertake is of particular interest, and feel there is an opportunity to do a lot of good out of what is essentially a selfish personal indulgence!

I have two close friends who’s families have been terribly affected by Bowel Cancer, and continue to be so. Likewise, my own family history is not without tragedy in that regard, so I feel particularly strongly that this is a cause I would like to support in whatever way I can.

My friend Ruth Turner has set up a JustGiving page as part of her London Marathon Campaign for 2010, and has asked me to join her in raising funds for Bowel Cancer UK.

Of course I am more than happy to answer any questions about the bike and the build here in this thread, but I'd also really appreciate it if you could take a minute and consider the following link to the fundraising page Ruth has set up...

Ruth Turner is fundraising for Bowel Cancer UK - JustGiving

Many thanks for taking the time to read this far, I look forward to answering any questions you may have,

Jenny Mo xxx

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...ogo_Medium.jpg

Donate Here

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...pix/HLlogo.jpg

Who's the crazy woman!
 

You're certainly getting about Jenny,


It's just occoured to me, where is Piglet ? Not seen a single photo all the way through the build ???

You should have used that bit you cut off the seat to make a tiny new one... :scooter:

Here, there, and everywhere!
 

Hee hee - don't worry, he's still around, he just doesn't like to get his paws oily... He'll be coming to Dakar with me - although probably in my backpack rather than my jacket... (don't give him any idea's about a pillion seat for goodness sake!)

xxx

What is your race number in the Heroes Legends?

Hi Dave - my race number should be 041 (according to the communication so far from the organisation), and you will be able to track the progress of competitors via the Etrack satellite on the website once the event is underway:

HEROESLEGEND - Home

xxx

Go Jenny! We will be pulling for you.:clap::clap::clap:

Hi Jen
When is the route announced? The H/L website does not really tell me alot :confused1:

Hi Dave - the page you want is here:

HEROESLEGEND - Itinerary – The dates

Which outlines the route - however, it is slightly out of date as there has been a change to the schedule which is now (currently) as follows:

Thursday October 22nd - Depart Paris from Eiffel Tower.

Friday October 23rd - Scrutineering at Ales-Monteils.

Saturday October 24th - Prologue stage/s at Ales-Monteils, then start liasion to Almeria, Spain. (Previously the sailing was to be from Sete, in France).

Sunday October 25th (pm) -Arrive at Almeria, then overnight boat to Nador, Morocco.

Monday October 26th - African stages start.

November 7th - Hopefully arrive in Dakar!

I am now in the process of putting together the final prep on the bike after a successful couple of days testing off-road, albeit in the rain - it is England in October after all!

We were fortunate to have one good day of sunshine, and took the opportunity to get a few photos before the off - the 1988 Tenere belongs to a friend of mine - I hope the new bike will be every bit as successful as it's predecessors en route to Dakar!

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...x/IMG_6459.jpg

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...x/IMG_6470.jpg

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...x/IMG_6486.jpg

xxx

All the very best in the rally and don't forget to keep us updated as and when.
The H/L site is 'down' at the moment, but will look out for any updates.
Take care xxx

Many thanks Dave, and to everyone who has wished me well or donated on-line via Ruth's web-page - we are very close to our target of £3000 now, which is utterly fantastic!

I really hope this project and my participation in this event has been at the very least entertaining, if not also inspirational... and will do my best to bring back both myself and the bike in one piece (although not actually fused together - that would be ghastly!)...

This will probably be my last post on the forum before I leave, as tomorrow I am heading to London, have to pick up my visa-stamped Passport on Tuesday (nothing like last minute eh?), then get the train to Paris on Wednesday...

The official start is at midday on Thursday 22nd under the Eiffel Tower - hopefully the Heroes-Legend website will have sorted it's glitches by then...

Just to remind you, my race number is 041, and you should be able to track my progress each day via the link below:


http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...ogo_Medium.jpg

Donate Here

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...pix/HLlogo.jpg

Follow Me Here

Finally, here it was on the trailer before I delivered it to my assistance crew last week... one thing is for sure, it won't look this shiny ever again!

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r...t/DSCF3384.jpg

Jenny xx

Godspeed Jenny

all the best hope the blue beast serves you well in the Raylle :scooter:

look foward to the post race report

There is an error in the link http://”http://www.heroeslegend.com/page-1-1-en.html”

This should work HEROESLEGEND - Home

I think I'm having a blonde momment....

I can't find any update information on what's happening, didn't Jenny leave Paris yesterday ???

:helpsmilie:

Hi, yes I presume she left ok, the H/L website is a bit sparse on info at the moment, hopefully it won't be too long before we get news, I don't think we will get much till the rallys moves into Africa.

Have you been on this page?HEROESLEGEND - Competitors’s area

I got a text from a friend of Jennys, she got away from Paris Ok in the rain, and it is believed things are going well.
:thumbup1:

The main page has been updated, but still no tracking information, or any other news!

Come on, you'd thing that three days in they'd have something ! Especially as there's already been one SS.

:mchappy:

I dont think it get's going properly till the 24th.:thumbup1:

Can anybody figure out the tracking system on the H/L web page? If this is how they intend to operate the tracking I might as well not bother. :(


Hopefully over the next day or so things will improve.

Pictures from the front....
 

OK, I robbed the link from another forum, but she's looking OK, at the begining anyway.....




http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2449/...e6439765_b.jpg



http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2672/...e79689e6f2.jpg

To follow Jenifer (sic) go here FollowMap.

I ticked the following boxes - In Display Mode: Teams, Courses and Checkpoints, and in Classes: Moto (in the drop down menu) and 10 Jenifer Morgan.

It seems to take a while to load up, but after a bit a small grey ball appeared representing Jen and a blue line representing their course.

Hope that works.

Hi Guys, what site did those pictures come from? Nice pic of Jenny with Patsy Quicks Husband Clive Dredge (No12)
Hopefully the H/L site will be ok now. :thumbup1:

They came from . : XT660.com The #1 xt660 resource : . | The #1 xt660X, xt660R and xt660Z Tenere resource, a member for France put them up, the links are to his flickr account.

There is a whole thread, very similar to this one here: .: XT660.com - The #1 XT660 Resource :.

The photos are on page 31, but it's the whole bike build from start to finish, along with some rather nice Alu-porn :mchappy:

I think Patsy is running the support for Jenny, but I could be wrong.

From what I can make out from the H/L website is that Jenny came 4th, perhaps Jen will post to give an account of the rally as I found the official site to have been of a very poor standard.
Anyway, Well done Jen x

Hi Dave/everyone!

Yes, I have returned in one piece after all!

Based on individual rider classifications/scores, I finished 7th in the bike class, but due to the strange way the organisation like to do things (most of us never fully understood the penalty scoring system for example!), based on the overall team classifications, it meant as a solo rider, I finished 4th overall, which, if you'd asked me on that second day in Morocco... I could never possibly have imagined!

There are so many stories to tell, and I will be writing a feature for TBM magazine together with the few photos I managed to get, having lost my main camera somewhere in the dunes near Merzouga on that fateful '2nd day' in Morocco - suffice to say it was not a good day for the Brits, or the Desert Rose Racing team as a whole to be honest!

During the event I was able to phone in some reports to Rally Raidio, and there are links on the Heroes-Legend threads I started on ADVrider and on XT660.com:

Hero? Legend? Fool? - Page 4 - ADVrider

.: XT660.com - The #1 XT660 Resource :.

Check out those links for info in the meantime! I really need to catch up on some sleep now!

Jenny xxx

After TBM have paid you for your write-ups, :thumbup1:
would you then post them on here for the benefit of people that don't have access to TBM or don't like the magazine in general! Come on Jen, share your experince with ALL of us! x

Don't worry, I'll be at Ripley with a slide show next year x

Together with my personal shots, at considerable expense I've bought a CD of photos from the official photographers - don't want to give too much away too soon, but here are a few to whet your appetites!

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r..._leg09_423.jpg

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r..._leg06_129.jpg

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r..._leg04_057.jpg

http://i492.photobucket.com/albums/r..._leg13_112.jpg

xxx

Nice pictures:thumbup1:

Quote: Don't worry, I'll be at Ripley with a slide show next year x Quote:

Chris Will be pleased !! :smiliex:

Good for you, glad you came back OK.:palm:

As I read on the H/L site you came in 1st in the girl's category.:mchappy:

Excellent, all my best!!:thumbup1: :clap:

Thanks Serge... although in the interests of fairness, I should point out that was rather by default - there are still very few women involved in long-distance rallying...

Still, it meant I won 3 nights in a fantastic Austrian 5-star hotel - result!

xxx