Well, I thought it would be a good idea to start a new thread regarding the preparations for our little foray into the desert. We have had about a week to get used to the new shoes, and I have been talking to several folks about what to expect.
We recieved a brief breifing from BMW... It gave us a little teaser insight into where we were headed, and the dates to prepare for. Some things we have to submit to them are our bloodtype, and passport numbers. I'm getting mine typed on Monday. The schedule is to arrive in Milan on the 14th Oct. The 15th will see us on a Ferry to Tunis (it looks like Tunis from the map) and the challenges begin on the 16th.
We depart Tunisia on the 23rd, and leave Milan on the 25th.
This means that from right now, we have ... 37 days to departure.
We will be camping, primarily. There will be at least one challenge a day. So what I'm picturing is a Big GS ride, with some of the things we might encounter normally on a ride like this turned into olympic events.
Within a few days we will be quite far south in the country, and into the Sahara. Sahara actually means "desert" in Arabic, I think, so the Sahara Desert is actually the Desert Desert.
A lot of the whole ride will be in sandy conditions. :-/
Sand. Why did it have to be Sand? I am sure I will grow to love it with all my heart.
BMW also provided in the brief some wonderful Dept of Tourism photos of Tatooine, the desert planet. :-)
BMW is graciously supplying a suit, but we will supply our own helmets, boots, and the rest. I'm going to try to figure out how to incorporate a Leatt brace and some kind of chest protection... I'm not sure how to do that- what I've been doing doesnt really work for me. I need new boots, and a new helmet anyway, so this is as good an excuse as its going to get. I'm kinda wanting to get an Arai XD stormtrooper/alien looking helmet with the flip up visor. And I hear the SIDI's are good boots, not much break in time, which is going to be important.
The Germans and Japanese teams have had a lot more time to think about this stuff than us, but we have more time than the Italians and Spanish... I cant wait to meet these guys. Smity, I followed your links- they seem to merely be advertisements for the gig, being that those two teams havent been chosen yet.
I'm
I know how to say Hello and goodbye, please and thank you in all of my fellow's languages, (German, Italian, Spanish) with french actually being my strong language. Strong being a very relative word, in this case. Actually now thatI mention it, I know zero japanese. I'm going to have to lean a little.
Over in the other GS trophy thread I posted a webpage full of health advisories for travellers going to Tunisia. Often, I find they are quite a bit overstated, but its good to have in mind, It does however, say the very activity we'll be participating in is responsible for the greatest number of deaths in the country. Thats nice. I'll keep that in the very back of my mind.
Some people like Tom Fitzgerald, have been very generously forthcoming with info about similar types of experiences and events and its been quite enlightening.. I hope everyone can feel free to give us any intel at all... I'm soaking it up like a sponge.
training wise- Today, I gave it 7 miles of the Shawangunks Finest trails on a mountain bike in the pouring rain. Followed by some sprints on the old railroad bed, and a lap up to the top of Mountain Rd and back, so I could make sure I cracked 10 miles. I got a bunch of time in yesterday chasing a friend on his WR250... Ran around and pushed the PD hard for about 4 hours, in the back woods and at a local gravel quarry. Was going to head over to the sandpitswhen I thought I lost my phone, so bailed early. False alarm, but I need to spend a lot of time over at the sand pits. I'm so happy to be back on the airhead, I tell you. I took pics, but forgot the camera cord at work. Tomorrow morning I'll going to tow the kid around in the trailer on the mountain bike all morning. She's like a 40 pound medicine ball :lol
Jim- I'm going to take a day and come up to your place this weekend or next. The 14th I'm entering the PD in a motocross race over at Claverack. They have a dualsport class, if at least 6 of us show up. Ever seen 10 1150's on a motocross course? Its like watching a parade of elephants in tutu's :-D
I cant think of anything else right now.
Jstoddard said:
