rallye de tunisie - sand dunes!

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.