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TEST DRIVE: Odyssey For A Good Cause Published on Jul 5, 2004 Seven Americans are resting in Bangkok half way through an epic journey around the world in four Land Rover Discoveries raising money to fight Parkinson’s disease Around the world in 80 days? Well, maybe a little longer. Last week I was fortunate enough to meet a team making a trip around the world to raise funds to help fight Parkinson’s disease. The team consists Nick Baggarly, executive director and expedition leader; Justin Mounts, assistant director, PR director, navigator and medic; Chanda Baggarly, director of country research and webmaster; Nancy Olson, director of field communications; Todd Borgie, expedition educator; Colin McAuliffe, documentary director of photography; Adam Burgess, documentary producer; and Neil Dana, Expedition Photographer. All members of the team are from the United States, and all are related to people who suffer from Parkinson’s disease. So how do they get around? Well to the envy of many of you off-road fans, they drive in four Land Rover Discovery vehicles provided by Land Rover for the fund raising. Accessories include a snorkel, special ARB shocks, Old Man Emu suspension, BF Goodrich M/T tyres … the list goes on. All the accessories are provided by the sponsors. The team started their journey in San Francisco on November 1 last year. They drove through South America, then on to Australia, and up through Singapore, Malaysia and now Thailand. Future destinations include Burma, India, Nepal, Tibet, China, Russia, Canada and finally back in the US. Now lets pick a question out of the heads of you off-road nuts out there. What’s the best off-road track they have encounter so far on their journey? Well it’s the Gun Barrel Highway in northwestern Australian desert. This is a four- day trip through the wilderness and it’s off-road all the way. The team counted 56 abandoned vehicles along the highway. It is a trip for which you have to plan way ahead. Signs that say “817 kilometres to next unleaded fuel station” should not bother you. “That gave us a lot to think about considering that the Discoveries run on unleaded fuel”, said PR director Mounts. The team had to consider alternate forms of fuel and at the same time make sure that they were not damaging the engine by doing so. So they used unleaded petrol with 91 octane rating mixed with aviation fuel (100 low lead octane). Fuel was carried on a tank inside and another on top of the vehicles. Before making the trip the team consulted experts at Land Rover. “Most of us have been off-roading before but know that help is just a phone call away. On the Gun Barrel Highway you’re on your own. The psychological strain is immense. If you’re stuck here, well, we try not to think of that”, says McAuliffe with a laugh. Another one of the sponsors of the team is Mobil 1. The team had been asked to make the whole trip with no oil nor oil filter change. More engine oil can be added but nothing can be taken out. “Sometimes we have to oversee the oil adding at service stations because the attendants did not understand when we told them to add more but not to remove the old oil.” Said Borgie. One more off-road track, the Austral Highway in Chile, is gravel all the way. The team says that this road can be quite a tricky one, straight for long periods and just when your foot gets heavy, the road turns, which can easily cause rollovers. Other problems include loose parts like the exhaust studs. “There were times when we had to check for loose connections about twice in a day. All the bumps cause a lot of loose parts and losing a piece is not something you want to do when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Finding a replacement has to be an act of God,” says Chanda Baggarly. “Most of the off-roading we do is not exactly hard-core, but rather long stretches of off-road that tend to make you careless. When driving for hours and you see a puddle of water, you’re just too lazy to step out of the car and see how deep the water is, so you drive through it. And that’s when you realise that the puddle of water is a hole deep enough to sink half the Land Rover.” says Olson. Olsen was a participant in the G4 challenge, an off-road competition held by Land Rover. The foreign number plates that are on the vehicles, and with all the sponsor stickers and monster look the vehicle gives, they certainly draw lots of attention. “We mainly have problems at borders, many of the border police are used to getting bribed when it comes to people passing the border and considering we are a non- profit group, we cannot spend money on bribes.” says Burgess. The team is staying at the Marriot Riverside in Bangkok, which is sponsoring their stay. Team members have been in Bangkok foror three weeks. There next destination is Burma, which is sure to test their mettle. To learn about the progress of the “Drive Around the World Team”, head to http://www.drivearoundtheworld.com Vijo Varghese - The Nation SOURCE: The Nation - Bangkok's Independent Newspaper http://tinyurl.com/6wrx7 Reference: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. If you haven't donated already why not help us drive toward a cure? Donate a fraction of a penny per driven kilometer at https://www.parkinsonsinstitute.org/support/drivearoundtheworld Expedition Pressroom http://www.drivearoundtheworld.com/login.htm To request pledge brochures, press kits, media exposure lists, events, or team interviews via satellite phone, send mail to, [log in to unmask] * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn