Today was another busy day!

The morning was taken up with a photo session down on Jumeirah Beach under the watchful eye of the Burj Al Arab. Alessia (one of our support team and our official photographer) was assisted by Sharon (the other member of our support team). 70 photos later and several changes of sponsor provided shirts and caps and the photos session was complete. A selection of photos can be viewed on the website.

We then regrouped in the afternoon at the UAE Desert Challenge Headquarters at the Dubai International Marine Club for final Scrutineering. Here it was necessary to pass the Official Noise Test and to have our Sentinel, GPS and Iritrack systems tested. All our Bike and Riding Gear Scrutineering had been completed at Gecko Motorcycles the previous day so this was supposed to be a walk in the park.

A number of the bigger more powerful bikes apparently failed the Official Noise Test and ‘modifications’ had to be made to enable them to achieve a noise level below the acceptable limit. Fortunately we were all just inside the limit and did not require any ‘modifications’. (It was surprising though as the noise made by a number of the cars appeared to be well above the maximum limit for the bikes – hopefully that makes them easier for us to hear when they come barreling up behind us. We also got our first up close and personal view of some of the trucks – which was motivation enough to stay ahead of them!)

Paul, Steve and Jonathan’s bikes passed the Sentinel, GPS and Iritrack system tests without problems and they subsequently received the coveted SAFE stickers for their bike and helmet that signal that they have passed all the requirements of Scrutineering and are now clear to compete in the 2008 UAE Desert Challenge.

We could see the light at the end of the tunnel, but that was when Murphy’s Law kicked in.

The testing of the GPS and Iritrack systems went fine on my bike, but the test of the Sentinel system failed. Checks confirmed that it was not getting any power. A number of checks were carried out but the route of the problem could not be determined. With the help of a fellow rider (Peter Rutter) we rewired the power supply for the Sentinel system from the head light supply to the GPS supply (direct off the battery). This fixed the problem to pass scrutineering but meant that the bike needed to go back to Gecko Motorcycles to clean up the wiring. Thanks very much to Peter for his assistance!

I finally completed the Scrutineering as the second last bike out of the tent. However, we were all just happy to have passed all the mandatory safety checks. This represents the final tick in the box before we officially start the race.

The bikes were then loaded back onto the trailers and driven away ready for the Prologue stage on Sunday at the Jebel Ali Race track. My bike was dropped off at Gecko motorcycles that evening so the wiring could be cleaned up in the morning in time for the Prologue in the afternoon.

Speak to you tomorrow!!