The Ultimate Endurance Sport – Dakar on a bike.

At the top of this update is a piece of the road book that is provided to each competitor as their only instructions on how to navigate the stage – this was “liberated” from a checkpoint where the riders were changing their maps.

There is no GPS satnav to help; just old fashioned time and distance and information on where to turn and what to avoid. This strip is then loaded onto a device like a Rizla cigarette roller and off they go. It is inconceivable to me how they all deal with both the physical demands of this race and the mental load of navigation and survival – the cars and trucks at least have a second person just dealing with navigation. For most of the stages they are trying to find their way in open terrain and not on existing roads.

Stage9 that is shown here and in the video below is 566 Km with most of that in the dunes – that’s 350 miles. Imagine racing from San Francisco to Los Angeles – on the beach – every day for two weeks.

These are really superb athletes. It is amazing that about half of the starters actually made it to Lima though mechanical, physical, medical, and mental reasons all contributed to the attrition. The finishers medal is a real badge of courage and determination.

Take a look at the video from the Dakar organisation – just three minutes – www.dakar.com/dakar/2012/us/stage-9/videos-galery.html