It was not until leaving Kocknob after three horrible days that the source of Diana's soon to be fatal blow was realized. On a whim only a Kiwi can possess, Chris directed us to pull her onto a lift so we could remove the oil sump and check the pump intake. The grotesque spectacle that met us bombarded us with guilt and horror at what we had done to our car.

Read all about the rise and fall of a fiat here

New Photos of 2007 Mongol Rally up from Team Ironsides, CLICK HERE

Hayo! Team Ironsides is officially united for the first time in London. Alex and I joined JOya today who met us at the airport making things that much closer and that much more real. Alex and I flew from Burlington with little incident besides a couple of minor delays. The biggest hassle we sustained was in Logan in Boston due to our One Way flight status. Apparently thats a red flag or something. We arrived at 7:30 this morning and made it through immigration with no problems, except for a sideways glance at my answer for reason of entry. Having recently lost our accommodations to rather unfortunate but bizzare circumstances, Alex and I found ourselves homeless until a member from Team Micragolia stepped up in a big way and offered us accommodations for a night or two until we get settled. We'll be meeting her in a couple of hours and staying with her mum and her. What better way to experience London, right? being homeless, with two months worth of baggage over your shoulder. Big snaps to Nettie for stepping it up and really helping us out. (check out their website at http://www.micragolia.com and help them out with fundraising if you can) Otherwise we're settling in, Alex is passed out on a floor in a random apartment, and has been for some time. Apparently the inflight entertainment on Virgin Atlantic was too much to pass up so he didn't get much sleep (for the record though i kicked his ass twice in a game of interactive Battleship) Joya is also here with us, relaxing watching some BDs Grey's Anatomy. We are all well and excited about the week ahead and will keep everyone posted as things arise. please check back again soon...

Hey Everyone,It's certainly been a while. I have indeed survived my medical experiment with great ease, and although the scum bags have yet to pay me, I am excited for my impending flight with little more than a back pack and a handful of cash. I would love to say everything has come together like a well oiled machine, since the result is still a couple of weeks away, we can't yet be sure. currently we rest at the will of the system. The DVLA (Britain's DMV) holds in their hands the documents which will give us official ownership of our beloved fiat uno, so we wait on their decision. ALthough we leave Tomorrow, Alex's passport is still at the embassy of Kazakhstan in D.C. We have been assured it will be overnighted to us by tomorrow morning before our flight. but we will see. Luckily all of this is out of our hands so we forge ahead with packing and goodbyes becoming evermore anxious and excited for the next couple of weeks. I am confident that Ironsides will pull through flawlessly as we will not be dragged low by the weight of the empire. Alex and I are headed to London tomorrow afternoon at which point, Team Ironsides will convene for the first time ever to prepare for the rally. You will all be updated on notable and unnotable events, please keep checking back, things are about to get interesting...

Team Ironsides officially announces its participation in the 2007 Mongol Rally. This will mark the second involvement of a Bad Colonies team, and hopefully the start of something beautiful. After Wednesday's fiasco, we decided to attack the registration a little more systematically; with two supercomputers from either side of the GMT. (or a laptop and a dial-up connection from Columbo). After three minutes, JOya was able to get in, no problem. Pretty uneventful really, but exciting none the less, I have started breathing again, and my blood pressure has declined to a normal rate. Look for serious updates to follow, we will be setting up a team page on the Official Mongol Rally site so be sure to check it out. It feels good to be done and on our way. Forward Ironsides!

Although the Official Mongol Rally website is yet to show its face, the dates for registration have officially been released. With only 200 spots, competition will be fierce to procure a bid in this years rally. Having our team split across the GMT line initially looked like a registration blessing, but apparently both Joya and I are equidistant from the Great Colonizer. So since I'm assuming Joya will not be up for a 2am registration in Colombo, the task of registering Team Ironsides will fall on me. A big task, but probably the smallest compared to what we still have to get done in the next couple of months.

We will be sure to keep everyone posted on the outcome, wish us luck, pray for us, donate, and please God someone make sure I'm up before noon on March 7th.

i thought i would take the time to introduce myself...I'm tommy and I’m heading the current bad colonies Mongol Rally team for 2007. I'm going to be around the site periodically, hopefully updating people on our progress and our plans. we've adopted the name "ironsides" to represent us this summer in honor of another great american adventure vessel. In the named of stupidity for charity, i am currently incarcerated in the Middlebury College Library participating in the Library Challenge, a marathon sit-in for the week of finals to raise money for Page One Literacy, a local literacy program in Addison county. I am the only challenger still in the competition, i have not left the library in over 92 hours, the last competitor jumped ship at about 60 hours. I have a dedicated support staff providing me with meals and much needed visits, but the fluorescent lights and the sounds of keyboards are starting to get to me. overall I'm finding the library a fitting home and I've adapted nicely to the silence and general feelings of anxiety which are inevitable during finals week. a group of streakers on Wednesday night has been as exciting as its been, otherwise, its work, tea, and dry bagels. being without music has been rough, but I've discovered a streaming German Classical station, which has helped retain a sense of normalcy to my otherwise irregular existence. I've been sleeping on a hard floor under my desk, but generally I’ve kept up my productivity. My thesis is due at the end of all of this. anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself, I've still got a couple of days of no fresh air and showering in the bathroom sink, so if you're in Middlebury feel free to stop by. donations of food and/or money will be graciously accepted. enjoy the breeze for me.tommyp.