Tales From The Bivouac, Dakar 2012

Only if you have mustache and carry a spare tire with ya

Didn't you take part in "Movember"?

I am going as a spectator for my first time to follow the Dakar race, anyone the can give me some tips: best way to go around, how to enter the bivouac etc...?

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=701181&highlight=chasing+dakar+2012

and/or

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=687808&highlight=DAKAR

Sorry to hijack this thread. But what channel is the Dakar Rally going to be on and what times? I got rid of my cable last year and had to resort to watching clips online. Worst timing ever? I think so.:huh.

To make up for this interuption, Heres a busty ginger on a Rokon!

Unless you're a racer, a crew member in one of the official assistance vehicles, a registered press person, or otherwise an offical part of the event, you're unlikely to get into any bivouac. Unfortunatley, without getting into the bivouac, you'll miss the best part. And no matter how you chase the race, you won't see much actual racing because you'll be spending most of your time on the road trying to keep up. Even so, if you can hook up with someone who knows what's going on it can be a fantastic experience. I chased it in 2009 on a street bikes with a couple of other guys, and we had a GREAT time, though we had strong inside connections and scored bivouac arm bands half way through the race.

A few tips:
- Reserve hotel rooms ahead of time.
- Good luck finding places to eat on the road. No such thing as a Denny's! Think Baja, but somewhat worse.
- Research how you're going to get a rental car/bike from Argentina into Peru or even into Chile.
- Accept now that you won't have much time except to be driving from one bivouac town to the next, or skip some bivouac towns.

Ted,
Here's an old video to introduce you to the origins of the team you'll ride with this year. Of the featured competitors, Mikey was the only one to finish the 2006 Dakar, I think. We added Jonah to our team a few months after that video was shot. http://www.rallypanam.com/news/newsyoutubevideo11.html

fun fun
Charlie

Love that video, "What could possibly go wrong..."
Did the guy with the most technologically advanced buggy ever finish a dakar?

No, he never made it. But on a liaison he did go down the freeway in Portugal at nearly 100 mph, 3 ft off the ground, up side down. Our fellow inmate Kevin was in the car with him, enjoying the unique view!

I wonder what kind of fine that got him. In '07 I was stationed just in front of an overpass before the exit to the assistance area after stage 2. The Portuguese highway patrol had a fit when they found out there was no problem with my rental car and I was just parked on the side of the road. I had to reposition to on top of the overpass (a surface street/country road) and when Jonah came by he didn't see me holding my Pan Am shirt and pointing toward the exit (the big ole football stadium outside Portomao). Anyway, he lost about 15 minutes but it all worked out.
Lots of other riders/drivers ended up on the same overpass with me, taking the wrong exit. Some of the few locals who came to watch the racers pass had more fun with the navigation screw ups than with the folks who went the right way.

That stadium was a service area, not technically a bivouac, and the roadbook directions to it were shit. I remember it well, we were the first team at the stadium and thoroughly confused because nobody else was there. Thought for sure we had the wrong place and would miss everyone.

Thanks for the vid Charlie, I'm down on a beach in Mexico. I figure this is support team training at its best, learning a wee bit of spanish and working on the tan. Long days at the swim up bar, etc

Charlie,

Cool video, looks like it was intended as a promo for a full series on people preparing for the Dakar. Did that ever get made? Is it online someplace?

Unfortunately only that trailer got made, nothing more.

That video reminds me what a source of anguish it still is to many that Hog Wild and his Harley hack were knocked out of the Dakar in such bitterly disappointing circumstances.
And maybe more so, that he hasn't been able to go back.

Yet!

Great pitch video. It probably was too expensive to fully produce and a logistical nightmare for a prod. co. They should shop it around around again but maybe with just one team.

Still great compelling story

How did Hog Wild get knocked out? I don't remember reading this.