Race to Dakar: Preparation

The finished article.

I remember preparing for my first offroad TET trip in 2018, it consumed an inordinate amount of time, but it pales into insignificance compared to preparing for this two week rally.   At the time of writing the 2019 bike is almost finished, as is the updated 2019 bike blog page here

...its a long time ago since this... 

For a Rally, the bike is just one part of the puzzle, the Logistics and support, equipment boxes, camping equipment, vaccinations, insurance, green cards / visas, competitor requirements and your own fitness level all need attention.

Over the past 5 months and in no particular order, I've been busy sorting the following...

International Drivers license. 

Not everywhere recognises the UK License and you have to get an international extension for the vehicle, It's a bit of joke to be honest.   You take a photo and your current license to the post office where they issue a cardboard, 1950's style, bi-fold license that they just stamp and then glue your photo onto. 

Vaccination

To enter Mauritania you must carry a Yellow fever vaccination card (above). In addition to that, the doctor scared me with horror stories, so I've also had a tetanus booster, Hepatitis A and B, Rabies and a flu jab. (Pin cushion)

First Aid Kit

Every competitor is required to carry a first aid kit.

Mine contains the following:

Anti inflammatory pain killers (brufen) and Temperature moderating pain killers (paracetamol)

Sterile gauze, bandages + Gloves

Various plasters, sterile cleansers and wipes.

Antiseptic cream and anti inflammatory local pain gel

Insect bite cream and a replant spray

Imodium and Dioralyte rehydration sachets (hope i dont need these)

Antihistamine

Sterile burn fluid

Lipbalm

Emergency foil blankets.

Malaria tablets.  (the doctor actually recounted a story about a rally team that had to bury one rider in the desert when he died of Malaria. You cant carry a corpse on a rally bike he said, thanks Doc!)

Rally Box

Your Rally box is akin to a first aid kit for the bike, you'll use it every day.  In all honesty its taken months to assemble mine and it contains most of the parts and tools i'm likely to need to maintain the bike each evening.  I've also considered, and stocked, the components most likely to break if i take a tumble.

Im not going into every detail,  but it contains the oil and filters, spare chain and sprockets, fork seals and oil, bulbs, fuses, and myriad other fluids and electrical components. I've even rigged a small torch for illumination. 

Documents

Health Insurance for each country that covers competitive sports.

Bike ownership document.

International and UK License (as above)

Green card and Visa for the rider and bike

Vaccination cards

Passport

40x Fiche of your details in french

Entry and Declaration form.

Declaration of vehicle loan (so the support drive may tow your bike around)

Document inspection pass form 

Technical inspection pass form

Backpack

...or in some cases strapped to the bike.

3 Liters of water

Required documents for that country

First aid kit

Head torch

Leatherman Wave

Suncream

Waterproof top

Tow strap

Small tool kit

Zip Ties.

GPS

Its mandatory to have two GPS systems, one for the rider and one for the Rally Org to understand your location (for emergencies) and ensure / check that you have followed and reached correct way points.  I've installed a new wiring loom to accommodate the requirement.

Support and Logistics 

All of this wouldn't be possible if one guy, Barrie, the RaidAssit Team Manager hadn't decided to try his hand at being a Support Driver. He is, without doubt, the most important part of the team.  Barrie has bought a brand new support vehicle, this fabulous 4x4, had a custom made trailer built to tow the bikes, given endless amounts of advice, planned  logistics for getting the team there, around, and back.  This is a person that has invested serious time, effort and money to make something special happen, though i have never met him, i trust him completely.

Fitness.
To prepare for the Rally I've been exercising 4 - 5 time per week and have split the training between cardio, weights, and cross-fit.  I'm the fittest i've ever been (probably not saying much ;0) ) and i just  hope that its good enough for the amount of strain i'm about to go through.  Despite the Gym sessions, i noticed arm pump and other muscle ache last weekend whilst practicing on my old 500exc in the woods. I managed to sweat through three layers of clothes, right through my hoodie!   No substitute for bike fit it would appear!!

Race to Dakar - The movie??

On this occasion i wont be documenting the events on this blog, rather, i intend to create a film upon my return.  The reasons for this are twofold; 14 days of racing wont leave enough time for the documenting required, and secondly, of all the trips i've undertaken i think this one would lend itself to moving footage.  I've watched every vlog and film that i could find of this rally and others and have an idea of where i'd like to take it.  I'm quietly confident i can do better than some of the boring 'footage from the bike' YouTube videos you see.