Dirt and Trail July 2018 issue 2

Day 3 and 4, marathon stage. No bivvy you camp out
in the desert and work on your own bike. No support.
“Day 3 was a complete different mindset. I rode slower
and paid more attention to the road book – and as a result
I went faster. No result on that day, they were calculated
after day 4 – but it felt good and I managed to gain a few
positions. The marathon stages were generally much
faster than the previous days – still lots of rocks with some
fairly gnarly rocky hill climbs. An absolutely amazing place
to ride your motorcycle.”
“The overnight was great fun you get to mingle a bit
and there is serious bench racing and banter on the go.
But it was an early night – everyone has the end in sight…
The tents are set up – first come first served and you
share with a fellow racer. Camp fires, chit chat - such a
great vibe.”
Glamping, the Bivvy
Day 4 – starts at 6am,
“I kicked off at 6h34, beautiful morning, nice and cool –
perfect time to ride a motorcycle. The top five leave in 3
minute intervals, the next 5 two minutes, and then one
minute intervals between the riders. I was still buzzing
from day 3 – it was very dusty with rocky, stony roads like
tennis balls. I found myself catching the group in front of
me and we all hooked up to the refuel point about 90km
in. The terrain started getting sandy with dunes – spread
the group out quite a bit. I found myself in the zone
following one of the Yammie factory riders, so I thought I
was on the right track.
At kilometer 155 (I remember it clearly), I made a small
error and tried to catch him – in the process – eyes off
the roadbook , more haste less speed, I hit a step in the
riverbed and went flying over the bars… Fortunately, the
bike took the brunt of the hit – I walked away with a small
scratch on my leg – and my Mojo was wrecked… most
people end up in hospital after a crash like this.”
“I couldn’t believe it, got up, picked up all the exploded
bike bits… re-tied the exhaust with my tow rope – and
tried to reassemble the nav tower with cable ties. But the
tower was beyond repair, I had to follow tracks and wait
for racers to overtake me so that I could follow them. The
bike was, luckily still OK. Husky’s are tough. I felt very
sorry for myself. That Yamaha guy finished 12th for the
day – and I was ahead of him on corrected time. Fek!”
“Bart from Bas racing met me at the bivouac.
Inspected the bike, shook his head and mumbled about
angels… I thought it was over, but I owe him the race – he
gave me a pep talk and told me in no uncertain terms that
the bike would be repaired and that I’d be racing the next
day. I was still running surprisingly, 25th overall.”
Top: Repairs in progress... A somewhat modified pipe after the riverbed crash...
Broken triple clamp... One slightly panelbeaten tower...
Left: Happiness after fixing the bike.
DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE JULY 2018 37