Many moons ago, in 2005, I sent two of my best friends an email. It read as follows, "Any plans for next summer? www.mongolrally.com". It was a shot in the dark, I never expected anyone to respond.

I had heard about the Rally through snowboarding sources and had become completely enthralled in the idea of the epic journey, a road trip void of any competitive influences and ripe with adventure. The Mongol Rally was born from the idle hands of some adventurous British college students. At the close of a semester in Prague, they reckoned the craziest thing they could do was drive to Mongolia. They were unsuccessful in reaching Ulan Bator but triumphed in the search for adventure. Their tale quickly turned into a successful trek with friends from London to Mongolia and soon thereafter an "organized" charity rally open to the public.

Unexpectedly, both friends responded with a resounding "I am in". Since this was an unanticipated outcome, I had to quickly spin this "Rally" idea into a career move to sell my lovely wife on the expense and sweat that would surely be required. Amazingly, she agreed and within the days the "bad colonies motoring cooperative" was founded with the expressed goal of participating in the 2006 Mongol Rally.

It was a bumpy ride to Ulan Bator, both on the roads and in life. Not everyone made it, some were forced off the road by the realities of adult life, some were smuggled off borders in the wrong direction. But when the desert sand settled, I rode into Ulan Bator with my teammates Dominic and Vaughn nestled into our trusty Ford Fiesta "Fiestavus".

It was an experience and an accomplishment that cannot be put into words. We left Ulan Bator with no trophy, no accolades, and a lot less coin. We did not leave completely empty handed for the spirit of real adventure was deeply embedded in our hearts, for better or worse.

Bad Colonies continued on, largely under my continuous vigil. Friends of ours ran the 2007 Mongol Rally under the flag of Bad Colonies and mates from Britain set out on vast world exploration submitting continuous streams of content. Now we are ready to resurrect the spirit of the Mongol Rally and apply it to the Fiesta Movement, complete with new skills and new bells and whistles.