".....it was a beautiful spring morning in 2008. i was riding to work aboard my ktm 950s, when i decided it was time to pursue my dream, to compete in the paris-dakar on a motorbike!"
this blog is capturing my journey to dakar, allowing me to share my progress, challenges and stories, with all my friends, family and everybody who comes across this site.
let the journey unfold....
Saturday, 14 May 2011
world superbikes monza
a contrast to the tunis deserts, i spent 36 hours in como to go and see the world superbikes in monza last sunday.
lake como, a beautiful retreat, i'm certainly going back someday
meeting up with colin and few of his friends we rode down in bike convoy to monza to join the thousands of spectators, who were also on bikes!
the race track has been built in the middle of beautiful parkland on the edge of the city, a stunning setting for such a ferocious sport.
how low can you go???
a sense of the speed! these guys are riding past at over 200mph, it's incredible!!
a family event, children, babies, puppies and all joined in to enjoy the speed, noise, exhilaration and violence as riders past at over 200mph around a 4 mile circuit.
"sitting on a folding chair in the back of the van,
looking out onto the bivouac in the beautiful tunis desert.
bright crescent moon against the deep blue sky,
forming over the mountains silhouetted against the setting sun.
feel a million miles from life, settling into this nomadic existence.
simple pleasures.
i truly love desert racing."
it has been another awesome rally. although part of my training plan, it is very much an event in itself. throwing up new challenges, venturing to new countries, new cultures, meeting new people, it is an inspiring environment to be in.
but i could not have got here without the support of patsy and nick, huge thank you to you both.
2 x 63km laps With a 30min forced break to rest and refuel.
as before on the rallye du maroc, it was a mass start. flags came down and we were off, an 800m dash to the first dune, Jago shot to second and I faught my way to third before climbing the sand, over the top I maintained a short lead over 4th place and flew over a sand spit before climbing another steep dune around 15 feet high, seeing jago disappear over the top I hit it blindly, accelerating to the top with only one option to deal with whatever I was faced with when I was airborne - there was no question about it as I was traveling at least 60kmph as I crested the dune.
the setting for this race was next to mos eisley, the original star wars town on tatooine = )) it was created over 30 years ago!
with spectators snapping away at their cameras I knew this would be a great shot, shame I'll never see it!! flying through the air, I saw the ground fall away from me and rather than a gentle slope to land on there was a small rise. as i landed I thought I was a gonna, my chest smashing into the gps mounted on the handlebars and a my chin guard belting the roadbook, my bike bounced forward into the air..... I was still in the race!!
still in 3rd I tore on after jago and the leader. relying on the open classes tracks for nav we v soon realised we were slightly off track and then panic and confusion set in to all the enduro cup riders and rather than rtn to the last waypoint and start over, we became a benny hill sketch all riding around like lost sheep!!
while Jago and I eventually decided to retrace our route, the others found the track and were long gone. it was catch up time!! for the next 15km we absolutely gunned it, shooting past a pair of quads, and a pair of bikes soon after..... on the track there was little room to overtake, so it was a quick move past the first rider on the right and then a swift jump into the left track to take the rider on the right. traveling a over 120kmph offroad and overtaking was intense!
the start of the truck race
very quickly we arrived at cp1 and I took the lead from jago. the next 10km was a very bumpy and windy sand track, but I hit it as hard as I could so bounced and weaves crazily, certainly riding at over 95% of my ability so not always in control!! arms and legs pumping, I was working hard to navigate the roadbook and route ahead. passig another bike I knew there were only one or two riders ahead of me now. the race was on!!
short road section limited to 90kmph gave a little respite before the next 10km of winding gravel a sand track. drifting around some tight left and right handers I had to sit with one leg out, unable to stand as with the previous corners!
sprinting to the finish the marshals waving frantically towards the gate, I'd completed lap one in 59mins.
fuelled up, I was back on the start line. turns out jago had to stop as his gps mount had sheared again, so he'd lost about 10mins as a result, a real bummer!
lunch in the bedouin tents, next to mos eisley.....bizarre!
nick and patsy
kemal
a clear run now, just going on memory really I took off. slightly calmer over the dunes this time, otherwise I'd be risking a crash to gain only a few seconds. winding the bike up to 132kmph I tore ahead. in my element now, whole mind and body working really hard, controlling my breathing, flowing over the unforgiving desert...... this is racing at its best, this is the best feeling ever!!
jeff, patsy, jago, me, kemal
then it was over, final lap in 44 mins, that was an average of 84kmph. i came third! 2 mins behind the leader, the next rider was 9mins behind me!! pretty chuffed with that.
so, overall I came 5th in my class out of 12, 6 hours behind the winner (inc a 2 hr time penalty from day 1).
a proper stage today in terms of length and terrain; 300km special, plus 130km liaison. a real mix of fast tracks, open plains, sandy tracks and motocross-like sand spits, made the day a lot of fun!!
nav coming along now, not perfect, but certainly better with jago and I working well as a tag team.
my morning view
sunrise
had a race with a quad in the Open class, racing neck and neck, fighting for space on the track at 130kmph, although at one point I found myself off piste and confronted with a ditch at the bottom of a small undulation, so being unable to preload I had to jump on the anchors before floating the front wheel over..... I'd like to say safely, but this ain't no time for holding back!!
although I soon past the quad again, I missed a turn and lost the advantage, however, we were unable to reel him back in any case!!
sadly jago's gps mount sheared as mine had on day one, which although repaired lost us all the places we'd gained that day. still, it was a great days ride and the liaison on the road was very relaxing; we even stopped for a play on the chotte!*
*the main road was on a leve running right across a giant dry lake bed called a chotte. the salt crystal surface looked so smooth and inviting and was only a short jump away.....too tempting even after a long day, so we headed off road, doing donuts, drifing, just playing.....kids!!
we headed to tatouine by bike so although fast, it was not the same as the milenium falcon..... but we did try, squeezing out 132kmph out of the 400excs!!
we had a few good races with other enduro cup riders who'd obviously struggled with some of the navigation, and soon overhauled them to come in 3rd and 4th. unfortunately one of the pros had been air-vacuated crashing 10kms short of the finish, on the entry to the mountain tracks; when you've been riding flat out for 2-3hrs, adjusting to a new tempo and style to suit the tight, slippery mountain tracks is tricky. let we heard he'd regained consciousness, but suffered a broken ankle, broken shoulder bone and broken wrist, so not too bad considering. ironically, it helped the nav as the presence of the emergency services signalled we were on the right track!
the new bivouac was a complete contrast to the palmerie in the desert sands, a barren, rocky, mountainous plateau, with cool winds and patchy cloud; a little respite from the saharan heat!
enjoying a drink at the bivouac bar, deck chairs and all. kemal getting 40 winks and jago going native!
medical crew taking off
a visit from the national guard - we were only 200km from the libyan border at this point
it was a little cooler up in the mountains and with a strong wind, jumpers and trousers were the order of the day, at least for the softies ; )
woke up to a low rising sun, beautiful clear blue skies and cool, still air! up at 0500 we had plenty of time to pack up the tents, eat and get ready for 220km of sand dunes.
knowing that day one was testing, we anticipated an even harder day, but having now warmed up and tuned ourselves into the rally, nav, biking, we actually did a lot better than expected ie 5.5hrs so well within the extended 8hr time limit.
starting at 0635, we were racing across relatively easy tracks for 15km before hitting the first set of dunes. not as high as some experienced in morocco, the dunes were never the less endless, reaching out into the horizon. due to the high winds of the previous 24 hours meant we had some exceptional jumps and steps up and down the dune sets, brilliant fun but relentless, my poor shocks took a pounding.
as a result i increased the compression on the front forks by 3 clicks and wound up the rear shock to it's maximum for the remaining days - evidently i need a stronger shock!
pats had jago and i working on the bikes wherever and whenever possible which was great; removing and fitting shocks, air filters, wiring, cleaning, oiling etc.
woke up at 430 to a strong gust - not from me - but not having put the flysheet on and only having the mosi netting up, I was blissfully unaware that a fine layer of sand was steadily building up!
it was clear when jago and I went for breakfast that it was unlikely we were going to race as the wind had picked up significantly and sand was whipping through the air.
jago's tent almost flattened by the wind!
having changed the dune day for a track day as a rest of the sandstorm, the shortened route was soon cancelled as well, but not before all the bike bar jago's had already set off in what can only be described as a bad dream..... a blizzard of sand and hot air, darkened skies, 10m visibility and gusts if wind that had you riding at odd angles! having completed the 44km liaison, the bikers were congragated in a very basic, open air, roadside cafe before being escorted by the national guard back to the bivouac!
patsy had brought down a 690 for kemal merkit, another legend having finished dakar 7 times out of 8 (he made it to day 13 on his first attempt!) which is all the more impressive when you realise he rode mal moto which means he did this unsupported, truly incredible!! not to mention he is 'slightly' older than me, i've got no excuses now!!
patsy and vito(?) from the orlen racing team, replacing the fuel injection system with a carburetor! this was no simple task, it had not been successfully done before, it required a different fly-wheel, we were in the middle of the tunis desert and in a sandstorm!!!
the days route took us south east to a palmerie right on the edge of the sahara, ksar ghilane. 50kms of fast track took us straight into the dunettes (small dunes) which proved hard going on the first day.
we were on the edge of the sahara and had ridden across this section of dunes to get here, it really is an ocean of dunes.
day one is always tough, you've been traveling, all the adrenaline, acclimatising to the weather, the food, different hours etc, and then you've got to jump onto your bike and start reading a roadbook that you haven't seen before nor used for 6 months!!
still, i had problems within the first 10 mins, my roadbook bracket sheared again. zip ties did thr trick but it lost me both time and the use of my gps as the sharp metal edge severed the aerial cable! then to top it all my ico stopped working!
so having navigating with jago leading, our next challenge was lack of fuel. although there were regular fuel stops, the route was demanding on our little engines and we ran out 8km short of the next fuel stop. we were in the middle of the dunes, it was bloody hot and i was stuck in a depression that jago went past.
a beautiful, hot and sunny day, with only a slight breeze meant no need for a fly sheet....
a helicopter had landed about 100m from me to drop the medics off to deal with a tunisian quad rider suffering from exposure. i decided to head ovef on foot to see if i could borrow some fuel and found jago had done he same thing!
home for the week.
now repatriated we raced to the next check point for a proper fuel stop and then bashed through thr final leg to finish in 8 hours, sadly outside the 7 hour limit which resulted in a 2 hour penalty! kick you when you're down!! the fuel issue had cost us over an hour plus the penalty.....would be carrying spare fuel for our next dune day!
