12 days and counting....

heading back from the wolds last night i dropped the bike off with martin wittering up in hitchin. he's a dakar mechanic and carries out bespoke work from home, another brilliant guy introduced by jago. he's going to be re-oiling and sealing the forks, setting up the rear suspension, oil change, valve clearance, air filter cleaning and sorting out the throttle cable that i replaced. he will also be changing the tyres and fitting mooses too - these are semi-solid sponge rings that sit inside the tyre that provide about 1bar of pressure, enough to ride on, but prevent punctures, in fact due to the low pressure it allows the tyre to spread further and therefore provide better grip. although i know how to do this work, i don't yet have all the tools and the space to do it. furthermore, i would not want to be working at this level on the bike i racing on! i hope to spend some time with martin to improve my basic mechanic skills further on down the line.

having ridden the dakar three times zippy recommended changing the tyres from the maxxis to a michelin comp iv on the front and a mitas (not sure on the spec yet, could be the ef05)on the rear, this way i have a the best grip on the front and a hard wearing but grippy rear....tyre!! zippy has access to the tyres and will be sending them up to martin, although i found out martin also has the tyres in stock, either way i should end up with the right tyres!! zippy also works with patsy's desert rose riding academy and support team and they are preparing to support a team of riders on the toureg rally which jago and i hope to ride this time next year.

last week my physio sam introduced me to leah dunthorne, a performance coach at pure sports. she has agreed to help me physically prepare for the dakar, which is fantastic! so on friday i had my first assessment; how heavy and un-supple i am, my muscle to fat ratio and some basic strength tests and this will be followed up next wednesday with more tests. we will then be able to create an effective training schedule to prepare for each of my races and events right up until jan 2012. she has a very impressive cv, so i think i'm in good hands!

in addition, i have booked in to see a nutritionist, henrietta bailey, also at pure sports, to improve my health and energy levels for all my training and preparation over the next 20 months. i guess this might seem like the clive woodward approach to the dakar privateer!

by the way i've added 2 new pages to the blog, 'the plan' and a live 'calendar' of training and events between jago and i. i've also added a dakar group on facebook to help keep you in the know.

finally, check out these photographs of the 2010 dakar, guy sent me the link, they are awesome, inspirational!! (thanks a million guy!).

12 days to go until race 1