Note from Team RawHyde member Gale Browning - 12/30/11

A man held his fluffy white poodle in his arms as he stood in front of one of the support vehicles while his friend took a photo with a cell phone. A crowd was gathering to take their turn getting photographed with the sports ute covered with Dakar Rally and sponsor logos.

Double rows of steel fences lined both sides of the waterfront road in near the Dakar Rally podium and by 11pm a section of the main road was closed off to automobile traffic. A candied popcorn vender had set up her cart in the middle of the road. All sorts of people were out on the street. Skateboarders, roller bladers, moms and dads pushing strollers, grandma and grandpas, teenagers, groups of guys in team shirts. The Provincial Hotel was the central attraction where some of the teams were staying and the Dakar Press office was located.

I spent half the day at the press office trying to secure a daily press pass. A fellow named Fredrico allowed me to attend a press conference for the Monster Energy team, as a special exception until he could check out my creditencials. In the press conference, one of the reporters asked if the team members may try to take each other out like they did last year. The team owner looked at his team and said "I don't think that is going to happen again this year". He also welcomed the press to visit their bivouac as long as they notified one of the team members. He went on to say that the team was made up of over 100 people and he didn't want tools and other things to grow legs.

After the conference, the Monster Energy team was gathered in the main hall for a group photo and for individual interviews. Cyril Depres, last year's 2nd place finisher in the motorcycle division, walked in wearing a bright orange KTM shirt. Hard to miss.

The Dakar Village is located about 4 km from the Dakar podium, an easy walk from the center of town along a scenic water front with a mix of sandy beaches and rocky cliffs. People of all ages and body types were exercising. One shirtless man wearing a heart rate monitor was doing sets of stair jumping up several granite steps leaping with both legs at once. A co-ed gathering of people were doing sets of pull-ups, sit-ups and stretching on bars. Others were running, riding bicycles, skate boarding and roller skating.

Every so often a rally car, truck or motorcycle would roar by along with the regular traffic. The control area for the competitor vehicles was fenced off and guards were everywhere. A long line of people waited to purchase tickets to go into the village. Marc Coma dressed in his rally gear rode his motorcycle onto the center stage to be interviewed.

I walked along the outer fence to look at some of the cars, trucks, motorcycles and quads quarentined in the control area. Quite impressive.

It's now 2 o'clock in the morning and tomorrow is New Years Eve. Another big day ahead of me.

Dakar Rally Day 1 "on the road" for the 2012 Dakar.- 01/04/12

Well our ride started today with a 350 mile run from Cordoba City to a town called Chilecito. We finally connected with the race late this afternoon as we entered Chilecito and tomorrow we'll have a full day of Dakar related activities... but the angle of todays story is about redistributing tourist revenue in non traditional manners.

It turns out that between many of the "states" or provinces here in Argentina there are border checkpoints... and one of the more "notorius" checkpoints is the border between Cordoba Province and La Rioja Province where its well known that a $20 peso handshake will ease your crossing between the states. We experienced the nuances of the system today... Here's the story: The border is on a wide flat plain... and the temperature was hovering around 110 degrees. Not exactly an inspiring place to say the least. So here we come... a small caravan of motorcycles and a truck and trailer. The border guy probably rubbed his hands together in anticipation...

So we approach the border... our luggage truck leading the way and a gaggle of GS's bringing up the rear. (Let me mention that BMW GS's are not common down here at all, due to tarifs imposed by the Argentine government they cost twice what they do in the US. Average price of a GS in Argentina is about $35,000 - and most folks ride little Korean or Chinese 125 cc bikes. So anyway our Argentine partners are in the truck and they explain to the guards how we are on a tour... and they are the support team .... and we are in a hurry see the end of the race in Chilecito etc etc. So - the border guard begins to establish his position ... mentioning the amount of time its going to take to properly inspect all the bikes, check licenses, make sure we are in compliance with guided tour regulations etc. And then he came out with his sales pitch... Perhaps he could overlook the necessary inspections etc if we bought a tourist map - the revenue gained from this sale would support the local tourist council etc. when we asked to see the map, he produced a really bad 4 or 5 page map of the area that looked like it had been photocopied a dozen times. This map could be ours for a paltry 20 pesos... ( 5 Bucks) ... and so the deal was done... another international conflict averted ... and a local cop 5 dollars richer... Now... figure that he pulls that gig 10 or 15 times a day... thats another $75 bucks a day added to his $300 per month salary ( we found thats the average cop salaray last year) and this guys got a nice gig.... probably worth standing in the sweltering heat for 10 hours a day. (Hmmn perhaps I sound a bit cynical?)

I forgot to mention that I watched what he did with the money... thinking that it would of course go into an envelope titled "tourist council donations"... or something... Nope - folded in half... and inserted straight into his trousers.

The picture to the side is the border crossing... and you can just barely see the two officers heading back in the building. I did not want to be too obvious of taking the picture so we rode some distance off before stopping. Funny... there was nothing uncomfortable about the "deal"... it was all done with smiles and handshakes... but the implication was clear... we can make your border crossing take a long long time... It was interesting... its our first time in this area... and the first time in 3 years that we've had to pay such a fee. I wouldn't say its "standard procedure" down here... but we heard in advance about this particular checkpoint.

going forward most of our stories will pertain to the Dakar - but sometimes the interesting stuff is what happens on your way to the race.

All the best, Jim Hyde

Dakar - enjoying that "Rock Star feeling" - 01/07/12

Its impossible to explain the feeling of having thousands of people screaming in adoration as you ride along the highways and narrow streets of towns with names like Chilecito, Fiambala, Copiopo etc. The people of these South American countries love the Dakar in a way thats hard for us to imagine because our laws would never allow an event like the Dakar in the US. They also love the Dakar because it brings color and excitement to their lives in ways they have never experienced before. The rally route runs through the most rural and therefore poorest parts of Argentina and Chile and while both countries are not exactly "third world" they have some very poor towns and cities. So the folks that live there have never seen anything like the Dakar... When the average wage is only a few dollars a day - a million dollar race vehicle is an amazing sight to these folks and they get very excited with all the activitiy.

As the race passes through some of these small towns you see homes along the roadside with no windows- only square holes in the walls with a piece of fabric for a curtain- many homes don't have doors, only a cloth hanging from a rod conceals the dirt floors within. Many times people bring their living room furniture out to the roadside because the concept of a "lawn chair" doesn't exist in their minds. You see an example of this in this picture.

So we ride along with the race during the "liasons". A liason is sort of a connection between the competitive sections of the event where the race vehicles must use regular roads to get to the next "stage". And its on these liasons that people line up to watch us go by... in some cases along hundreds of miles of roadways. To say that there are hordes of people would be an understatement... there are thousands and thousands of them.... cheering, waving flags and blowing kisses. We ride the liasons because thats the only way to follow the race... and yet during these times we get treated just like the racers. Yea - I know we are not "competitors", yet we are "participants" in the circus of Dakar and thats all the matters to the folks along the way. Our big BMW's seem as exotic to these folks as the race cars... and we in our special riding suits must look very much like the race guys to these folks... so they scream, clap, take pictures and cheer us on.

For example the race went from Chilecito to Fiambala a couple of days ago... the two pictures inserted here demonstrate the excitement of the locals. Every time we stop for gas the folks come asking if they can take our pictures... I don't speak spanish well enough to explain that I am not actually in the race, and it probably wouldn't matter anyway... so we let them take our pictures and let them climb on our bikes so their friends can take pictures of them ... and we just sit back and enjoy the attention.

At times like this... you can't help but feel like a Rock Star. Its pretty cool! All the best from Copiopm, Chile - Jim Hyde :-)

Update #3 - Running with the bulls... and the first ever Snow at Dakar! - 01/08/12

Good Morning from Copiopo, Chile everyone. this was written yesterday - Sunday the 8th which was the official Dakar"rest day" and the entire entourage was enjoying a day off. The competitors have ridden a couple thousand miles by now and they certainly NEED a day off and we're just happy to take a break. Todays note will cover the last two days of our journey which has been both eventful and fascinating.

Two days ago we witnessed a Dakar Rally "first". Possible cancelation of a day because of snow !! Never in the history of the Dakar has snow been a reality, but two days ago a freak storm passed over the Andes near Fiambala and dumped more rain in one evening than they usually get in a year. Nearly 3 inches of rain in a couple of hours... and three feet of snow high in the Andes. This happened the day before the Dakar was scheduled to "liason" over the infamous Paso de San Francisco. And so the story begins here because Paso D S never fails to provide a good adventure....

Paso de San Francisco is the highest place in the Andes that the Dakar passes .... and its one of the highest passes in Chile also. This is our third year to go over the pass, and at nearly 16,000 feet the altitude alone becomes part of the adventure... and thus we got our annual delivery of coca leaves. A nice looking gal in a toyota made the "drop" which looks like a classic "drug deal"... She pulled up in front of our house - our "fixer" named Nacho... who looks a lot like Che Guevarra went out to get the coca... a quick transaction done curbside produced a small "brick" wrapped in green cellophane and the deal was done. The girl sped off to make her next delivery. The Dakar puts quite a strain on the local coca distribution... as nearly 6000 people are going over the Andes in a single day.

We all agreed that a 5 AM start would be a good idea so just before getting on the bikes we grabbed some coca and - just like red man chewing tobacco... a pinch between cheek and gum ... and we were off toward Paso de San Francisco. You don't really feel much effect from the coca... you get a tiny bit "loopy" (best phrase I can find) ... you sort of feel like everything is OK with the world... but the fringe benefit is that chewing coca reduces the likelihood of altitude sickness significantly. Coca has been used for hundreds of years to fight the effects of altitude and its also now a tradition for Team RawHyde to get some coca before going over the andes - it usually works... we've only had altitude sickness hit us once out of three times over the pass.

Its roughly 180 kilometers from the small gritty town of Fiambala to the top of Paso SF and about 40 K out of town there was a police roadblock... which was holding traffic because a determination had not yet been made as to whether the pass was open for the Dakar procession. We waited there for an hour or so until reports came in from the Chilean side that the road was clear and the Dakar could continue on. Whew... we were relieved... and happy that our plans could carry on. As we proceeded up the mountain we were treated to a view the likes of which I have never seen before... The sky is amazingly blue at 16,000 feet... and the mountains still tower above ... all of them beautifully snowcapped. Here are two pictures that give you an idea of what it looked like up on the pass.

The second part of the Paso de San Francisco adventure is the fact that its a single lane dirt road that must be shared with literally thousands of vehicles... its insane... I titled this email "running with the bulls" because just like in Pamplona Spain... we on our bikes are very much vulnerable to the whim of the big trucks that thunder by. The photos below explain what I mean... I never feel unsafe, but it cool and un-nerving at the same time because the big support trucks and race trucks too are in a big hurry to get down off the mountain and to the bivouac.... we have to keep a sharp eye in the mirrow and get out of their way as they approach. Then the dust cloud they leave behind leaves you choking for a few seconds and hoping that there are no big pot holes in front of you to drop into. Its crazy... Its chaotic... and if you enjoy motorsports - then you're in heaven as you travel in the convoy, with incredibly cool cars, trucks and bikes all around you.

The picture to the left shows what its like to ride with one of the big trucks... Its hard to give you a proper feel for whats going on there... but if you look at the dust coming off the truck tires vs the bikes... here's whats happening. The truck is going 60 or 70 mph and we're doing 30 or so due to the rough road... The truck roars by maybe 4 feet from your elbow and if you have not seen it coming in the mirror and aren't expecting the noise and such it startles the hell out of you... Then you hear the roar of the thousand horsepower engine through the dust and you think... wow - thats cool.

So our day over Paso de San Franciso took 14 hours... nearly 800 kilometers... temperature varied from -5 degrees celsius to about 10 degrees... the liason almost did not happen because of snow... we got a chance to ride side by side with Como and Depres (momentarily) until they thundered on ahead... It was a very cool day on the Dakar Rally circuit.

As I mentioned in an earlier email one member of Team RawHyde is a journalist named Gale Browning... and she's starting to put together some You Tube videos of the Dakar as seen through her eyes... below you can see what it was like to be in Mar la Plata the day before the race began... I know its a bit late...



We are going to try and get one last note posted before we hit the road tomorrow for Antofagasta and our longest day of riding yet.

Yesterday afternoon we had a chance to get out on the race course and catch some incredible action... we hope to post another you tube video of the action as seen on a high speed section of the course... with the camera rolling just 6 feet from the point where the cars come by.

All the best for now... Jim Hyde

Dakar update #4 - Trackside... Big Time Action. - 01/09/12

Sunday we had a chance to "hang out" by the race course all afternoon as the Dakar made a big loop out from Copiopo early in the morning and returned after nearly 400 kilometers of hard off roading. I'll make this a very short note because my only goal with this email is to prompt you to click on the link below. The thing I love about the Dakar is how close you can get to the action. Its rare to be able to stand inches away from the course of a professional level event - and the video footage we shot yesterday should give you a great taste of what its like to be here at the edge of the action. This video covers several of the top riders and drivers going "flat out" This video was shot at nearly the end of the stage after 375 K of action.

You'll see bikes, the lead automobiles which are Mini Coopers and Hummers ... and or course one of the big trucks... all thundering by inches from our noses. The content for this video was shot by two of us and the location is about 500 meters from a paved road on the approach to a checkpoint about 25 K north of Copiopo The riders and drivers are going full out, both to make "time" and to of course provide a show for the hundreds of cheering onlookers. (us included) ... Its super exciting to be so close to the action... you can feel your pulse speed up as the fast cars approach. Its really cool ! There is also an element of risk being so close but I guess its a calculated risk, which you can mitigate by choosing a good spot from which to observe and film. You'll see video shot from two vantage points... the first is about 500 yards from the checkpoint and also at the check point itself. The cool thing is that Gale and I some how shot the same vehicles so you get some neat perspectives.

The truck shown in the picture to the right must weigh 5 tons.. and it's hitting that jump at like 60 mph... it takes a lot to heft that amount of weight up into the air... the video also shows Robbie Gordon and his team mate hitting the same bump at 80+ and bouncing as much as four feet in the air. I gotta tell ya its cool to see that kind of action up close.

I managed to capture one neat thing that you probably don't hear much about & that is the "proximity sensor in action"! With this video the proximity sensor on a motorcycle being activated by an approaching car closing quickly from behind. For those of you who don't know about a proximity alarm... its a safety feature. The Dakar promoter takes safety very seriously... and every vehicle has a device attached that sounds an alarm when another vehicle closes in from behind. One reason would be for guys on bikes that are concentrating so hard on keeping their balance and reading the terrain that they can't spend much time looking behind them to make sure they aren't about to get flattened... so the proximity alarm is a real life saver. It makes a loud repetitive beep as a vehicle approaches from behind as well as a red light on the dashboard. In the video you'll hear me mention that I can hear the device... and you'll see what happens.

Well... thats all from Copiopo... The Dakar moves on to Antofagasta tomorrow. I hope you enjoy the video...



best regards from Chile;
Jim

Dakar update #5 - RawHyde & Dakar day off... with a visit to the mine where 33 miners were trapped a half mile underground.

Copiapo, Chile - Dakar Day 8 field trip.

18 months ago the world held its breath while a drama unfolded in the desert only about 3 miles from where the Dakar Rally race course ran this year near Copiapo,Chile. Buried alive a half mile underground 33 miners waited in the total darkness caused by the collapse of the copper / gold mine they worked in... waiting and expecting to die... then a miracle happened - the head of an exploration drill broke through the roof of the chamber they were in.

The company they worked for knew more or less where the men might be if they were alive and the Chilean government was making every effort to find them. Expertise from several countries had been called upon and a drilling rig had been set up to drill exploratory holes into the chambers and shafts of the mine to try and locate the miners. One of those drills entered the chamber that the men were trapped in. They attached a note to the bottom of the drill bit saying that there were 33 of them... and that they were alive. And so began a rescure operation that brought the town of Copiapo into the world view.

The Dakar rally has run through Copiopo each year that its been here in South America and this year was no exception; the thing that made our visit to the mine possible was that the rally took its only "day off" in Copiopo leaving us with some idle time to explore the area a bit so we decided to see if we could find the mine and get a sense of the place.

We found it... located about 20 miles from town; deep in the sand dunes that make that make this area so appealing for the Dakar. But it is also a forbidding landscape - and its hard for me to imagine "working" everyday in that environment. The mine is closed now... and they are building a monument to the rescue near the entrance. There is a security guard who keeps an eye on the place but he had no problem with our request to go check out the site where the miners were extracted so we went exploring...

There is nothing left now at the scene of the rescue operation except for a concrete "plug" where the bore hole was but you can still see where the "encampment" was where the families held their vigil. Other than that theres nothing left to remind us or the world of the monumental effort that had been expended in this god forsaken place. Its a grim environment with the only splash of color coming from a small flower box on the security shack at the main gate. The pictures will give you a glimpse of the locale. The picture you see to the right is the actual entrance to the mine..

This note comes several days after the fact.. because as I write this the Dakar is officially over, but the combination of long riding days, hard to find internet availability etc made this an "after the fact" story... nonetheless I hope you enjoy the perspective.

All the best, Jim Hyde

Below...our little group sitting on the "plug" that filled the hole that enabled the rescue and a photo of the same spot during the frenzy of the rescue attempt.

Dakar update #6 - Dakar is done and Peru is a great addition to the rally.... Wow...

Hello from Ariquipe, Nasca and Chincha, and Lima Peru. This note comes to you after several days of trying to muster the energy necessary to put my thoughts together regarding the progress of Dakar 2012. and now.... The Dakar Rally is done for 2012 - Our group rode about 4500 Kilometers in the last 12 days from Cordoba, Argentina to Lima, Peru. We saw every aspect of the race during that period of time... we saw the starts, the finishes and lots of action in between. I've been able to send out a few notes explaining things we've seen along the way, but In the last few days its been hard to focus on writing because we've had a series of 12 hour riding days. The Dakar had some of its longest days as we entered Peru ... and - Wow... Peru is such a change from Chile and Argentina and a wonderful addition to the Dakar circuit.

I have never been here... Its a land of extremes in so many ways and this is not only my first visit but its a first for Dakar as well. For the last 4 years Dakar has only visited Argentina and Chile. Peru now joins the circus by offering its coastal desert to the tapestry of landscapes that makes up the Dakar. And just for perspective... we have ridden for 5 full days from Copiapo, Chile to Lima and never left the desert... over a thousand miles of desolation. That might sound boring.... but I guarantee its not !

Down in Chile its the infamous Atacama desert... well known as the driest desert in the world and very monochromatic.. Then we entered southern Peru which also has an amazing desert... but its much more colorful than the Atacama and covered with "geo-gliphs" of which the most famous are the Nasca lines... ( geometric patterns made from lining up dark stones on the light desert sands and visible only from high altitude). Perhaps you remember a book called "Chariots of the Gods" where the story line hint's that these geo-gliphs were created to show extra terrestrials the way to where the "humans" lived?? (or to simply show aliens that there was intelligent life on the planet) anyway We passed many very old geo gliphs as we have ridden through Peru. They are everywhere and you can see an interesting geo gliph at the bottom of this email This one is a bit larger than a football field at the side of the road as we entered Ariquipe a few days ago.

Anyway, back to Dakar... we were treated to a nice arial view of the Bivouac as we rode over the mountain pass just outside of Arequipa. (picture on right) I think the bivouac is fascinating..

It's a portable city which sets up and tears down daily as the race moves along its course. Only a major military operation would have more moving parts than the Dakar bivouac. The bivouac is home to over 2000 people, something like 700 teams of vehicles, and it contains a hospital with a staff of 25 including surgery, x-ray and all the other things you'd expect. A full service kitchen provides several thousand dinners and breakfasts each day ... a telecommunications center offers satellite feeds world wide, there's a video production and editing center comprised of several trucks and trailers, landing pads for the helicopters and so much more... its incredible.

Another thing I find amazing is that the Dakar is watched in over 190 countries on TV... and the Dakar news group makes special "country specific" news feeds for each country represented among the competitors, This allows every nationality to cheer for their hometown heroes- its pretty cool.

Every day, the helicopters shoot footage of riders or drivers from most of the countries represented... then they edit the video... and package the data for broadcast in each country represented; I know that there is very little info available in the US but if you are interested you can catch up on all the footage from the helicopters at www.dakar.com

By the way... for those of you who are interested there is also an iphone app that allows you to stream video and see what happened on the final days. Just go to the app store and search for "Dakar".

So here's an interesting bit of trivia... when we crossed the border from Chile to Peru a few days ago we gained two hours by simply crossing the border. This happened as we went "north" Normally time only changes when you move east to west or vice bersa.. its weird to have it change moving north.

Another interesting thing... they eat Guinea Pigs here (traditional food left over from Incan times) normal method is to grill them or fry them... but its just a little weird eating something with the paws still attached... its not bad though... just another meat that tastes a bit like chicken. :-)

I mentioned above that Peru is a land of extremes... in both good and not so good ways. Extremes of climate - the desert is an extenstion of the Atacama the dryest place on earth... ... elevation - you'll note a volcano behind the bivouac pictured above... That Volcano is known as Chachani... over 18,000 feet high... much higher than anything in the continental US. Peru has incredible diversity in landscape from desert, to beaches to rainforest and Jungle... But -

I noticed today that there are some pretty extreme differences in society. the poor folks of Peru are seriously poor. the picture below shows some dwellings made of bamboo strips... about 10 feet square... there are thousands of these small shelters scattered across the desert... some have an old car parked in front, but a bicycle if anything is more likely. None of these little shantys have running water or sanitation. They seem to get water from trucks that travel around filling small cisterns that sit beside many of these little huts and the toilet is a hole out back. Its a pretty desparate life for many folks down here. Many of these are simply wind breaks... they don't even have a roof.

I have been fortunate to have traveled quite a bit in my life, but mostly to Europe and a bit in Asia and Russia. I have never seen poverty at this level before and it disturbed me. I have seen children I would guess to be 5 or 6 years old begging in the streets... or playing little drums or homemade guitars trying to gather a few pennies from the tourists. I've never seen anything like it before..

I guess thats a valuable perspective to go home with... We are so very lucky to live in the USA and to have all the opportunities and services that we surely take for granted.

Well... Thats it for Dakar 2012 - Hopefully you all enjoyed the stories and if you find yourself intriqued by the idea of following the Dakar we will be doing it again next year and we have a whole new plan based on the route for Dakar next year which looks like it will go from Lima, Peru to Santiago, Chile. Call or email if you'd like to get on the list for information regarding next years trip.

All the best, Jim Hyde