Australasian Dirt Bike – June 2019

I

twouldbeniceifyoucould

justrockupinSouth

AmericafortheDakarand

giveitared-hotgo,butit

doesn’tworklikethat.Ifthe

cross-countryrallybugbites,

youneedtogetinternational

experienceandtogetthatyouneed

tospendbig–physically,mentally

andfinancially.

Ihadheapsofracingexperience

butlittleinrallieswhenIcaughtthe

disease.BeforethisyearI’donly

donetheCondo 750 twice[fora16th

overalllastyear]beforemyfirst

attemptattheSunraysiaSafariRally

endedinamechanicalonthefirst

day.Thatwasn’tgoingtogivemea

startatDakarnextyearbutIreally

wantedtogo.

Myseriouseducationbeganwith

thefirstroundofthisyear’sFIM

EuropeToutTerrainRallyCupin

Valencia,Spain.TheHispania

Rally’sbivouacwasattheRicardo

Tormoroadracingtrack,with 15

nationalitiesnavigatingtheirway

fromthereintothehillswhererock

gardensandravinesmadeupsome

oftheaction.

Therewasupto500kmofriding

eachdaywithbreathtakingscenery

ineverydirectioninthemountains

andtheoccasionalwaypointinthe

doorwayofahistoriccathedral.

Thereweremanymomentsduring

thesixdayswhenIjustwantedto

stopandsoakupthesurroundings.

LONGDAYS

Eachdaythereweretwoorthree

SpecialTestsofaround80kmeach

withseveralwaypointsthatneeded

tobereachedalongtheway.I

averaged 10 hoursadayonthebike

butsomeriderswereoutthereforup

to16.Somedidn’tmakeitback

withoutassistance.

PhysicallyIfounditeasyasIhad

putinmonthsoftraining,butthere

werecompetitorspullingoutdueto

thedifficultyoftheterrain,witha

lotoflargerocks,steepinclinesand

trickytrails.Itwaslikeanextreme

endurowitharoadbook.Jetlagand

sleepdeprivationalsoplayedahand.

Ijoinedapay-to-rideoutfitcalled

NomadasAdventurewhorunavery

professionalshowwitharelaxed

atmosphereandIwasluckyenough

toshareacampervanwithRosa

Romero,wifeofDakarlegendNani

Roma.Rosa’shelpwithmarkingmy

roadbookintheeveningswas

invaluable,andshewasoneofthe

nicestpeopleIhavemet.

Payingtobeapartofateam

helpedenormously,withthebike,

tyres,mechanicalwork,foodand

sleepingaccommodationall

supplied,mostofthehardworkwas

done.Ijusthadtoorganisemy

Ready for action in Valencia, Spain TeammatesHoulihan(thirdfromleft)andBurgess MichaelhasbeeninvitedtotheBaja 100 aswell

http://www.adbmag.com.au JUNE 2019| 105