ola amigos

 

The Dakar 2024 race is over. I followed all the summaries of each stage on youtube, and the ‘behind the scene’ episodes of Benji Melot and Charlie Hertz. They were both amazing and inspiring and have prompted me to set my goal on completing this race. I am eager to start this project. Despite many uncertainties, I can’t keep delaying it or it will never happen. But as I begin this journey, I am filled with worries and doubts. What is my motivation, who do I want to impress, wouldn’t it be better to keep riding for fun on the weekend, do I really want to go through the discipline, and most importantly, can I handle such toughness at my age?

 

I have given myself three years to get ready for the race. I would prefer to do it sooner, but I must be realistic. My riding skills are not very good, I have minimum mechanical knowledge, I don’t know how to navigate, I don’t have a rally bike, I don’t have the money, I have never participated in a rally race, and on top of that, even though I finished an Ironman 70.3 two years ago, today, at 54 years old, I am unfit and overweight.     

Where to start?

A few days after the race ended, Benji Melot did a live session on social media where he answered questions and said he wanted to try something new in his Dakar career. I thought of a good project: coaching Dakar rookies. I sent him an email telling him about my project and asking him if he would be my mentor. The idea is that I would go to his garage and learn some mechanics and navigation and that he would help a rookie like me get ready for the race. He hasn't replied yet, but I hope he will.

I also looked for any navigation training near where I live. I searched online and found "Rally Training Centre" in Dubai. 

They responded quickly to my request. We exchanged emails and we just need to decide on the dates for 3 days of individual navigation training. And the best part is, they will give me a KTM 450 rally replica bike with all the equipment for the training.

I have been busy learning more about various topics such as navigation, electronic tablets, safety gears etc... and watching more documentaries on other rallies and how rookies set up their project. It's amazing how many people dream of doing the Dakar. It will be hard to get in, and rumors in the paddock indicates that it will become even harder to get in as the years go by.

Considering the Dakar is ultimately a race then why not start with a race with the objectives of the bivouac atmosphere, my riding skill level compared to other riders, and my physical strength.   So, I registered in Abu Dhabi Baja Challenge, 

a 2-hours race in the desert, where the winner is the one who travels the farthest. The race has a 30ish km loop without navigation. It is a good way to evaluate my level with some of the riders who will compete in Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge next week.   

In preparation for Baja, I started to work on my fitness.  30 min of muscle strengthening for my upper and lower body and 45 min of indoor cycling daily isn’t the greatest effort, but I must start somewhere.  Ideally, I need to create a training program that I haven't figured out yet.

 

15-29 Fevrier

I have just returned from AbuDhabi Baja, and I realized that the road to Dakar will be long, very long, very very long, and I am already starting to doubt myself.

I had woken up at 3h30 and reached Tilal Swaihan by 5h30 to experience the environment and the mood. 

Many riders and their friends and family had stayed overnight at the "bivouac" with their tents and caravans, and I could still smell the fire remains. 

I registered 

and felt suddenly more comfortable when I saw Jorge A. from GOT whom I knew from Dubai and another guy I had met at Motozone who had just returned from Qatar Baja. He had ridden all night to make the final round of the series. Then Oran Okelly joined us and shared some stories from his Dakar.

Then I went back to Joel's pickup, unloaded my bike, put the mat and refuelling jerrican in the pit lane, got ready and went to the riders briefing. 

I felt a lot of nervousness and butterflies in my stomach. The baja challenge is a race that lasts approximately 2hr and the goal is to complete 3 or 4 laps of the 32km course through the dunes.  In fact, it’s like a prologue where everyone gives it all over 100 or so kilometres.   There is no navigation, just cones placed along the course that riders must follow. Then, it was time to get on the bike and line up at the start line. As a beginner and a veteran, I started last. 

 

Then it was time open the throttle.  The first part of the course was hilly and wide, not very difficult and lots of speed. I caught up and passed 3 riders and felt good.   Then came the technical section with lot of riding at low speed and lots of sudden drops.  

I fell stupidly when another rider crashed in front of me and ultimately lost sight of the riders that were ahead of me.  The gap between me and them became wider and then I lost my rhythm.  With no one ahead of me and to open the line, I became even slower.   All competing bikes had 11-12 litre tank compared to my 6,5-litre tank on my CRF which meant that I would have had to stop at every lap for refuelling and lose considerable time.   Like the first lap, had great first 15km on the second lap and then another fall in the technical section this one nastier than the first which injured my left wrist and made handling the bike much harder causing me to quit at the end of the 2nd fuel stop.  But that was enough to achieve the objectives set for this race. 

In summary, it was a great first experience, I liked the atmosphere and the camaraderie. However, it was a wake-up call with regards to my level of riding, and my level of fitness. I quickly understood that I need to seriously work on my riding ability and improve my skills to be the one controlling the bike rather than the opposite.  Had I finished the race, I would have probably taken 3^rd before last.  And I clearly need to work on my physical strength and endurance to cope with the intensity of racing.   The road will be long….

Two days gone since the race closed and whilst my wrist injury seems to fade away, I am feeling muscle soreness throughout my upper body.   My shoulders, trapeze and lower back are completely null, and my legs are shaking every time I walk up the stairs.  

Mentally, I am navigating from: “I will never be able to make it” to “this is going to be too hard to achieve”, to: “you can do it”.   Let’s take it one day at the time.

On the T7 front, yesterday was a day of joy.  I have finally received the parcel ordered for my Tenere’s upgrade, consisting of hight front fender kit, enduro mirror, steel luggage / protection rack, new decal, and mount for the front indicator.