The time has come... Neduro DID Dakar!

if I'd started yesterday I might have been able to make it to todays count, or not. I got in my wee bit of exercise anyways thanks

I'm nowhere near his level and no more running for me either, old man grungy knees

Just finished "Against Gravity" yesterday (thanks Geode) and those excerpts from Ickx were great. Quite the story, now I'll have to find anther interested soul to hand it off to

It is very early to define a leader, but all of us know who went to the race to win, and who went for the joy of the experience.

Lets hope that everyone gets to Lima at last!

Thinking of you Ned...and of the other riders. Good vibes your way.

Ned calls in after a monster transit (nearly 700km in total) following his first competitive Dakar stage. Ever cerebral, he listened to a book on tape and watched other riders squirm while his Renazco saddle cushioned his tush in comfort. Hopefully Ned is getting his beauty sleep tonight, and keeping the "snowball small", as Charlie would say. Fun fun.

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Direct Download: http://traffic.libsyn.com/rallyraidio/12D04.mp3

Thanks for the audio feed! Great to hear Ned while he's living his dream! So happy for ya Ned. I am anxiously awaiting to hear more!

Indeed..

BTW, my wife tells me the goodie package with maps, tee, hoodie has arrived at the house...can't wait to go see all the "stuff" I got

Hey Eakins - what maps do we get - are the Back Country ones included??

Since I already bought a lot of them I'll have to pass on the duplicates (the old ones of course - if they want new ones they can buy them LOL)

Can't wait to see more photos of Ned on-course!!

"My goal is...simply to cross that Finish Line, and to have faced the challenge that is Dakar, and prevail."

-- Ned Suesse

Sweet Dreams! Hope you actually get some rest tonight are ready to go for the next one

This is entirely possible, too. And, it might have been a fuel consumption experiment as well, for a "best case scenario" reference point. With the cut D908's we ran in dune training, we were both averaging ~22-25mpg in raw sand on an aggressive albeit navigational pace. If I was to be highly critical of Ned with respect to this factor, I would say that:

A. Ned tends to try to optimise things that should be left alone and IMO should spend the mental energy in riding and not worrying about trying to adjust things to control the uncontrollable and

B. In our dune lesson sessions, the way I rode my 450 was off of his scale of acceptability with respect to sustained revving and WOT. James Embro and I had to explain that oftentimes it is better for the engine to be run WFO on the mainjet as it moves more air through itand sustains a heavy airflow through the engine to keep temps stable as well as move mater through the cooling system in mass quantity to manage the heat that way as well.

I commented that he was often willing to rev an LC8 950 motor relentlessly, and asked why he felt the 450 was different? His retort was that he felt like the 950 was "built to take it" and I quickly pointed out that the 450 is literally half of a 950 motor in bore x stroke dimension proportions, and also that the XC4 engine family(400, 450, 530) has a roller bearing big-end of the rod and significantly larger piston skirts, and relatively larger cooling provisions...after that he seemed more willing to just scream the thing. He will certainly be forced to rape the little 450 mill harder that he feels is prudent on what I see will je on the routes so far.

Again, not putting him down; he WILL get through it all, he just might have to expand a couple of paradigms with regards to mechanical sympathy and limits in the process...

riding skill, pacing, fitness, navigating, mech sympathy, fatigue managemernt, "knowing" your bike, bush mechanix, logisitics, planning etc... rallying. its the whole package that makes it special.
go ned.

Great post!


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hi Flanny

Heeelloooooooo


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Better Ned is overanalizing then under so... His instincts will serve him well in the long run. It's the sand that will most likely separate the best of them. SS2 should be a good barometer for things to come.

And from what I saw on that special where they scouted the route, there's supposed to be more sand than they've seen in 3 years!!!

Go Ned!