markdiver
Race Dog
I know - why am I only now posting our ride report of our brilliant adventure in South America following the Dakar in 2010? Well 3 things.
1. I am a new dog, so never had the opportunity to post. - boring I know.
2. As you will find out soon, we have 4 South Africans taking part in the 2012 Dakar, 2 of which are common knowledge, Darryl & Chris (actually Chris is a Kiwi, but in my book lives in SA now, brilliant guy and races for our legend Alfie - so honorary SA boytjie or what!!)
3. Hopefully this will encourage more of you dogs to get over there and support our boys in the race.
SO HERE GOES.
FOLLOWING THE DAKAR RALLY 2010
RIDERS: Lianie Johnsen (Bokkie) BMW F650 GS
Mark Campbell BMW R 1200 GS Adventure
Phillip Hanbury SUZUKI DLR 650
Neil Scott-Williams KTM 660 Rallye
Greg Raaf KTM 690 Enduro
Morgan Castle KTM 950 Adventure
THE IDEA
Mid October 2009 - We are going skiing and that’s it, decision made, looking forward to showing off to my fairly new girlfriend (Bokkie) how to ski in the slopes of Austria. I think she was even more eager to get onto the slopes than I was, not so much to ski, but that I would shut up about it already. I had been going on about it for the last year and by now assured her that she had nothing to worry about, as I was a well experienced, almost ready to enter the next winter Olympics skier, albeit I had only been skiing three times. You know how it is, new girlfriend, must impress etc etc. So, plans were made to ski somewhere in Austria, all that had to be done was book flights and accommodation. GREAT, we are going SKIING.
Next Day – Call my good friend Neil in Durban, (my old long time num nuts buddy). Mark - “so how are you and what can you tell me?” Neil – “Hey Schnaar, what do you want? Hahahaha, I am doing fine and how are you?” Mark – “Great, what you up to?” Neil – “Actually thinking of going over to South America to follow the Dakar, was just going to call you” Mark – “Wow, that sounds fantastic, when is it?” Neil – “Starts 1st January next year, ……pause….., so why don’t we do this?” Mark – “Ok I am in, but must just run it by the Boss, hahaha”. We chatted another 5 minutes and hung up.
Same Day, just a little later – The boss (Bokkie) arrives home.
I am of course well prepared with a very convincing offer for an alternative holiday destination, thinking that I am once again going to upset the apple cart, and had gone over and over with it in my mind. Mark -“Hello my Babes, hope you had a lekker day”. Bokkie – “Hello Babes,….pause…., what’s going on?” How is it that they know when something is up? Mark- “OK, spoke to my friend Neil today, and has suggested that I go with him to follow the Dakar in January and……” Lianie – “Hold on, is that not when you are taking me skiing”? Mark – “Yes, but what I meant to say was you and I, to go with”. Lianie - ….pause…..pause….., “Ok let’s do it”. And that is how we came to deciding on travelling to Argentina & Chile to watch and follow the Dakar.
PRE ARRIVAL IN BUENOS AIRES – SOUTH AMERICA
A combined effort for the shipping of all our bikes was made. Lianie & I would ride our bikes to Durban, deliver them to Neil, which in turn delivered them to the container. Between Phillip, Morgan & Greg, the 6 bikes were loaded, secured and sealed in the 20’ container at the Kuhn & Nagel shipping yard. They were loaded 3 weeks prior to our arrival in Buenos Aires. All that was required was the Carnet (bike passport, a must have – easy to get from the AA) for each bike which cost a refundable R20 000, and the shipping cost which split 6 ways cost us each R 17 000. We then flew back to Joburg and then waited and gnawed away at the time for our departure to Buenos Aires. We were all very anxious and extremely excited for this once in a lifetime adventure to begin. Our idea for this trip was to arrive and let it take us where it will. The only prior efforts to the trip that were made were for a Carnet, which is a requirement for entry of your bike/vehicle into South America, and the hotel accommodation for the 1st 4 nights in BA. So with that in hand, each person was responsible for his own gear & equipment. We would make our first plan upon arrival in BA at the hotel, before our departure on the 1st Jan 2010 (start of the race). Bokkie & I would leave on Xmas day, as we wanted to explore BA for a few extra days. The rest of the crowd would arrive on the 30th. We are ready to roll!!
DEPARTURE & ARRIVAL
Bokkie & I arrived in BA on the 26th Dec and made our way directly to the hotel, offloaded and then we headed straight into the city. Buenos Aires is a great city, with much to see and explore. People in BA are extremely friendly and super enthusiastic about motorsport. The only difficulty is the language, as I would say only 25% of people can communicate in English. But as you do, one eventually finds a way to communicate. They are always very eager to assist you and if they cannot understand, they will ask around if anyone can help these “Englese toeristie”? Our Spanish was non-existent, but very quickly learned the essentials, from menus in restaurants, street signs, etc.
The rest of the party arrived on the 29th. Once they had settled in at the hotel, we all then headed off to a restaurant downtown. It was a fantastic feeling to have finally arrived, and in a Continent that most of us apart from Phillip, have never set foot on. All we could talk about was getting our bikes from the Shipping carrier and going for a cruise. Again, not much was planned apart from meeting up with the agents in the morning and hopefully be in the saddle by that afternoon. The following morning came with the news that we would not be able to receive our bikes, as there was delay with the container at customs. This immediately had us ALL very worried, as the agent assured us that we would receive our bikes by lunch time. But in his friendly manner he assured us that we would definitely have our bikes in the morning. So all we could do was to shut it out of our minds, and it was decided then that we head off to the DAKAR festival across town. The Dakar road show is simply incredible, from the organisation, the enthusiasts and the competitors, all in this world renowned motor sporting orgy. Our only actual objective chasing behind the Dakar train, would be to fly our flag for our boys taking part in the Dakar – Alfie, Geniel & Ralph. We had all met Alfie Cox before our departure in Durban, and it was decided then that we would as much as is possible tag along with him. As a privateer, it was easier to tag him, than the other two boys in the factory teams. We wangled our way into the competitor’s Red Bull tent and met with most of the drivers, which was a real treat and also gave us an inside view of how they interact with one another. The Dakar “brotherhood” is competitive but also extremely friendly. They all know each other and in some cases, even discuss their tactics for the race. I would have to say, talking amongst them, that their attitudes towards the race is, firstly being safe and secondly, finishing. A great attitude if you ask me, knowing that your competitors around you are as interested in getting to the finish, but getting there safely!
30th Dec – Finally we have our bikes out of the containers, checks are done, batteries connected, keys in, fire them up and we are out of here, enroute back to the hotel. Greg pops a wheelie for the Kuhn & Nagel staff, they cheer and we are out the gate. Neil, who is leading the pack forgets what Phillip has just said about driving on right side of road and NOT THE LEFT!!, and nearly has a head on with a minivan just out of the gate, whew close, gets back onto the right side and continues on a little shaken I am sure. Bike is feeling great, and I tear off down the road with Bokkie in hot pursuit. One minute later it is a torrential downpour, so we slow the pace and limp into our BA hotel. Soaked, but ecstatic to finally be doing this, we all cheer delightfully in the hotel garage. We celebrate that evening with a dinner show (Latino Tango Dancing – something you must do if in BA) and few too many goblets of wine, but it feels good.
So the day arrives (1st Jan 2010) – We are up early, bikes are loaded and prepped from yesterday, and we all very eager to hit the road. We heard from the hotel staff the previous evening that they are expecting about 1 million people to flood into BA to watch the traditional start downtown. We decide against it, as it is not the actual racing start, but actually takes place 100km out of town. We are on the highway in no time, flags flying, RIGHT side of the road this time, GPS’s are set and everyone I am sure has a huge grin on their face. About the GPS in South America – before we left SA, we were led to believe that they do not have a usable GPS system and if they do, it would be very expensive. It turns out, not only do they have a brilliant comprehensive system, but also dirt cheap. We took our units to a supplier (anywhere on Florida Road) and simply had them load the maps onto our units. Cost – R250.00 for all of South America.
Road to Cordoba, La Rioja & Fiambala’
We had all decided to ride directly to Cordoba and stay ahead of the racers. Roads in Argentina are fantastic, excellent condition (you would have to search hard to find a pot hole). Tolls are cheap, the one’s we paid for at least, as we were for the most part allowed to route past the gates on the side with the competitors support vehicles. The people line the streets and highways like you have never seen before. Both the Argentinean’s and Chilean’s are motorsport mad, so it seems from the turn out of the crowds. People will camp for an entire week-end alongside the road to watch the Dakar train roll through. Even though we were not competitors, spectators saw us either as competitors or support crew, either way they cheered and greeted us like race stars. When refuelling we would be swallowed up in a frenzy of autograph requests, photo sessions and general questions. The more we tried to explain, that we were merely spectators like themselves, the more they cheered us. More courteous and humble people you will not meet. Before any photograph is taken of you, they will first approach and ask your permission. Then there was the “Babies”. Every Mother who had a baby would ask if you to hold her child so that she could take a picture of her little one and you. Signing requests were for posters, magazines, T-shirts, scraps of paper and my all time favourite, a boob . Yes you read right, a Breast. Hmmm I will quickly sign this one while the missus is in the road stop shop.........”Uhmmmmmm, excuse me, I am standing right behind you” came this voice that I seemed to be familiar with. Ooops, I guess she was not in the shop after all. So refuelling was always a very interesting affair. Arrived in Cordoba and watched the arrival of the competitors first day racing, some with smiles, some not. But our boys were all still in, so on we go.
We had prepared our bikes & equipment really well, from servicing to equipment check lists, you name it, and we had it. 2000 km’s into our ride I discover that my front brake pads were onto the metal. How did this happen? Oh yes, now that I think about, I was told by the service agent that they needed to be changed, but thinking I could save a penny, I decided against them doing it, and I will do it myself. Well the rest is as they say, history. We ride into a small town looking for any parts dealer who can supply me with brake pads. It’s Sunday and everything is closed, NOOOOOOO!! Sitting in the saddle alongside the road, with just about the whole Dakar train just about having passed me now, Bokkie says to me why did you not flag down a service truck? Again, NOOOOOOO!!! I was losing it. And then the crowds arrived again, oooh no, more photos & autographs, must get out of here quickly. Too late, a young girl wants her picture of her and “if you don’t mind can I be sitting on the bike with you”. “Sure, of course, hop on” Eish!! And in my broken Spanish & hand gesturing I ask her if she does not possibly know of ANYONE who could help me with “machanico problemo” “Sure she says, wait here. 2 minutes later, my hero in the picture below arrives. He does not speak any English. He hops on, gestures for me to do a u-turn on the “one-way street” and go. I hesitantly do this and ride up the road for about 200m, dart left between the buildings to a back alley and arrive at a dust bowl in what turns out to be his workshop. (Probably as big a half single garage) Before I can stop, he is already off, quick look at my pads, into his work shop, 2 minutes later he is out, with spanners and a small box. In another 4 minutes he has my pads off and is installing the new pads, from the small box (WHICH FIT!!!!! YEAH). Old lady arrives with ice cold water and gives to Bokkie and myself. She says drink quickly, don’t know why. My hero turns around after 6 minutes and says, “Ok, you go”. Then I got it, he thought, as well as Old Lady, that I was a competitor. I try and explain and that I want to also pay for his time and the parts. He does not want any, “just go quickly, aplease” Finally I manage to slow things down and make sense of this all. These poor people were only too eager to help and offer for free their time & equipment, so that I the foreigner may continue on with my journey. Do I need say more about the people in Argentina & Chile? I was only too happy to pay him handsomely, which he finally and bit reluctantly accepted.
The riding was a mixture of beautiful tar and sand roads. When we could we would be off into the bush in search of the Dakar racers. It was not easy finding points where the competitors would come through, as this is not exactly made public, for safety reasons I guess. But the exploring and finding roads to ride and the utter freedom of not knowing what lies ahead, turned it into a real adventure. We were getting what we came for, “A once in a lifetime adventure”. As it turns out I want there to be a 2nd, 3rd, 4th....................
Watching the riders & drivers was awesome, and the sights and sounds of all that machinery can only be explained as simply, “eye candy of a motoring orgy” All you petrol heads will know what I am talking about.
Km’s travelled – 1500km – no issues with any of the bikes, still going strong.
Taking on THE ANDES - TBC
1. I am a new dog, so never had the opportunity to post. - boring I know.
2. As you will find out soon, we have 4 South Africans taking part in the 2012 Dakar, 2 of which are common knowledge, Darryl & Chris (actually Chris is a Kiwi, but in my book lives in SA now, brilliant guy and races for our legend Alfie - so honorary SA boytjie or what!!)
3. Hopefully this will encourage more of you dogs to get over there and support our boys in the race.
SO HERE GOES.
FOLLOWING THE DAKAR RALLY 2010
RIDERS: Lianie Johnsen (Bokkie) BMW F650 GS
Mark Campbell BMW R 1200 GS Adventure
Phillip Hanbury SUZUKI DLR 650
Neil Scott-Williams KTM 660 Rallye
Greg Raaf KTM 690 Enduro
Morgan Castle KTM 950 Adventure
THE IDEA
Mid October 2009 - We are going skiing and that’s it, decision made, looking forward to showing off to my fairly new girlfriend (Bokkie) how to ski in the slopes of Austria. I think she was even more eager to get onto the slopes than I was, not so much to ski, but that I would shut up about it already. I had been going on about it for the last year and by now assured her that she had nothing to worry about, as I was a well experienced, almost ready to enter the next winter Olympics skier, albeit I had only been skiing three times. You know how it is, new girlfriend, must impress etc etc. So, plans were made to ski somewhere in Austria, all that had to be done was book flights and accommodation. GREAT, we are going SKIING.
Next Day – Call my good friend Neil in Durban, (my old long time num nuts buddy). Mark - “so how are you and what can you tell me?” Neil – “Hey Schnaar, what do you want? Hahahaha, I am doing fine and how are you?” Mark – “Great, what you up to?” Neil – “Actually thinking of going over to South America to follow the Dakar, was just going to call you” Mark – “Wow, that sounds fantastic, when is it?” Neil – “Starts 1st January next year, ……pause….., so why don’t we do this?” Mark – “Ok I am in, but must just run it by the Boss, hahaha”. We chatted another 5 minutes and hung up.
Same Day, just a little later – The boss (Bokkie) arrives home.
I am of course well prepared with a very convincing offer for an alternative holiday destination, thinking that I am once again going to upset the apple cart, and had gone over and over with it in my mind. Mark -“Hello my Babes, hope you had a lekker day”. Bokkie – “Hello Babes,….pause…., what’s going on?” How is it that they know when something is up? Mark- “OK, spoke to my friend Neil today, and has suggested that I go with him to follow the Dakar in January and……” Lianie – “Hold on, is that not when you are taking me skiing”? Mark – “Yes, but what I meant to say was you and I, to go with”. Lianie - ….pause…..pause….., “Ok let’s do it”. And that is how we came to deciding on travelling to Argentina & Chile to watch and follow the Dakar.
PRE ARRIVAL IN BUENOS AIRES – SOUTH AMERICA
A combined effort for the shipping of all our bikes was made. Lianie & I would ride our bikes to Durban, deliver them to Neil, which in turn delivered them to the container. Between Phillip, Morgan & Greg, the 6 bikes were loaded, secured and sealed in the 20’ container at the Kuhn & Nagel shipping yard. They were loaded 3 weeks prior to our arrival in Buenos Aires. All that was required was the Carnet (bike passport, a must have – easy to get from the AA) for each bike which cost a refundable R20 000, and the shipping cost which split 6 ways cost us each R 17 000. We then flew back to Joburg and then waited and gnawed away at the time for our departure to Buenos Aires. We were all very anxious and extremely excited for this once in a lifetime adventure to begin. Our idea for this trip was to arrive and let it take us where it will. The only prior efforts to the trip that were made were for a Carnet, which is a requirement for entry of your bike/vehicle into South America, and the hotel accommodation for the 1st 4 nights in BA. So with that in hand, each person was responsible for his own gear & equipment. We would make our first plan upon arrival in BA at the hotel, before our departure on the 1st Jan 2010 (start of the race). Bokkie & I would leave on Xmas day, as we wanted to explore BA for a few extra days. The rest of the crowd would arrive on the 30th. We are ready to roll!!
DEPARTURE & ARRIVAL
Bokkie & I arrived in BA on the 26th Dec and made our way directly to the hotel, offloaded and then we headed straight into the city. Buenos Aires is a great city, with much to see and explore. People in BA are extremely friendly and super enthusiastic about motorsport. The only difficulty is the language, as I would say only 25% of people can communicate in English. But as you do, one eventually finds a way to communicate. They are always very eager to assist you and if they cannot understand, they will ask around if anyone can help these “Englese toeristie”? Our Spanish was non-existent, but very quickly learned the essentials, from menus in restaurants, street signs, etc.
The rest of the party arrived on the 29th. Once they had settled in at the hotel, we all then headed off to a restaurant downtown. It was a fantastic feeling to have finally arrived, and in a Continent that most of us apart from Phillip, have never set foot on. All we could talk about was getting our bikes from the Shipping carrier and going for a cruise. Again, not much was planned apart from meeting up with the agents in the morning and hopefully be in the saddle by that afternoon. The following morning came with the news that we would not be able to receive our bikes, as there was delay with the container at customs. This immediately had us ALL very worried, as the agent assured us that we would receive our bikes by lunch time. But in his friendly manner he assured us that we would definitely have our bikes in the morning. So all we could do was to shut it out of our minds, and it was decided then that we head off to the DAKAR festival across town. The Dakar road show is simply incredible, from the organisation, the enthusiasts and the competitors, all in this world renowned motor sporting orgy. Our only actual objective chasing behind the Dakar train, would be to fly our flag for our boys taking part in the Dakar – Alfie, Geniel & Ralph. We had all met Alfie Cox before our departure in Durban, and it was decided then that we would as much as is possible tag along with him. As a privateer, it was easier to tag him, than the other two boys in the factory teams. We wangled our way into the competitor’s Red Bull tent and met with most of the drivers, which was a real treat and also gave us an inside view of how they interact with one another. The Dakar “brotherhood” is competitive but also extremely friendly. They all know each other and in some cases, even discuss their tactics for the race. I would have to say, talking amongst them, that their attitudes towards the race is, firstly being safe and secondly, finishing. A great attitude if you ask me, knowing that your competitors around you are as interested in getting to the finish, but getting there safely!
30th Dec – Finally we have our bikes out of the containers, checks are done, batteries connected, keys in, fire them up and we are out of here, enroute back to the hotel. Greg pops a wheelie for the Kuhn & Nagel staff, they cheer and we are out the gate. Neil, who is leading the pack forgets what Phillip has just said about driving on right side of road and NOT THE LEFT!!, and nearly has a head on with a minivan just out of the gate, whew close, gets back onto the right side and continues on a little shaken I am sure. Bike is feeling great, and I tear off down the road with Bokkie in hot pursuit. One minute later it is a torrential downpour, so we slow the pace and limp into our BA hotel. Soaked, but ecstatic to finally be doing this, we all cheer delightfully in the hotel garage. We celebrate that evening with a dinner show (Latino Tango Dancing – something you must do if in BA) and few too many goblets of wine, but it feels good.
So the day arrives (1st Jan 2010) – We are up early, bikes are loaded and prepped from yesterday, and we all very eager to hit the road. We heard from the hotel staff the previous evening that they are expecting about 1 million people to flood into BA to watch the traditional start downtown. We decide against it, as it is not the actual racing start, but actually takes place 100km out of town. We are on the highway in no time, flags flying, RIGHT side of the road this time, GPS’s are set and everyone I am sure has a huge grin on their face. About the GPS in South America – before we left SA, we were led to believe that they do not have a usable GPS system and if they do, it would be very expensive. It turns out, not only do they have a brilliant comprehensive system, but also dirt cheap. We took our units to a supplier (anywhere on Florida Road) and simply had them load the maps onto our units. Cost – R250.00 for all of South America.
Road to Cordoba, La Rioja & Fiambala’
We had all decided to ride directly to Cordoba and stay ahead of the racers. Roads in Argentina are fantastic, excellent condition (you would have to search hard to find a pot hole). Tolls are cheap, the one’s we paid for at least, as we were for the most part allowed to route past the gates on the side with the competitors support vehicles. The people line the streets and highways like you have never seen before. Both the Argentinean’s and Chilean’s are motorsport mad, so it seems from the turn out of the crowds. People will camp for an entire week-end alongside the road to watch the Dakar train roll through. Even though we were not competitors, spectators saw us either as competitors or support crew, either way they cheered and greeted us like race stars. When refuelling we would be swallowed up in a frenzy of autograph requests, photo sessions and general questions. The more we tried to explain, that we were merely spectators like themselves, the more they cheered us. More courteous and humble people you will not meet. Before any photograph is taken of you, they will first approach and ask your permission. Then there was the “Babies”. Every Mother who had a baby would ask if you to hold her child so that she could take a picture of her little one and you. Signing requests were for posters, magazines, T-shirts, scraps of paper and my all time favourite, a boob . Yes you read right, a Breast. Hmmm I will quickly sign this one while the missus is in the road stop shop.........”Uhmmmmmm, excuse me, I am standing right behind you” came this voice that I seemed to be familiar with. Ooops, I guess she was not in the shop after all. So refuelling was always a very interesting affair. Arrived in Cordoba and watched the arrival of the competitors first day racing, some with smiles, some not. But our boys were all still in, so on we go.
We had prepared our bikes & equipment really well, from servicing to equipment check lists, you name it, and we had it. 2000 km’s into our ride I discover that my front brake pads were onto the metal. How did this happen? Oh yes, now that I think about, I was told by the service agent that they needed to be changed, but thinking I could save a penny, I decided against them doing it, and I will do it myself. Well the rest is as they say, history. We ride into a small town looking for any parts dealer who can supply me with brake pads. It’s Sunday and everything is closed, NOOOOOOO!! Sitting in the saddle alongside the road, with just about the whole Dakar train just about having passed me now, Bokkie says to me why did you not flag down a service truck? Again, NOOOOOOO!!! I was losing it. And then the crowds arrived again, oooh no, more photos & autographs, must get out of here quickly. Too late, a young girl wants her picture of her and “if you don’t mind can I be sitting on the bike with you”. “Sure, of course, hop on” Eish!! And in my broken Spanish & hand gesturing I ask her if she does not possibly know of ANYONE who could help me with “machanico problemo” “Sure she says, wait here. 2 minutes later, my hero in the picture below arrives. He does not speak any English. He hops on, gestures for me to do a u-turn on the “one-way street” and go. I hesitantly do this and ride up the road for about 200m, dart left between the buildings to a back alley and arrive at a dust bowl in what turns out to be his workshop. (Probably as big a half single garage) Before I can stop, he is already off, quick look at my pads, into his work shop, 2 minutes later he is out, with spanners and a small box. In another 4 minutes he has my pads off and is installing the new pads, from the small box (WHICH FIT!!!!! YEAH). Old lady arrives with ice cold water and gives to Bokkie and myself. She says drink quickly, don’t know why. My hero turns around after 6 minutes and says, “Ok, you go”. Then I got it, he thought, as well as Old Lady, that I was a competitor. I try and explain and that I want to also pay for his time and the parts. He does not want any, “just go quickly, aplease” Finally I manage to slow things down and make sense of this all. These poor people were only too eager to help and offer for free their time & equipment, so that I the foreigner may continue on with my journey. Do I need say more about the people in Argentina & Chile? I was only too happy to pay him handsomely, which he finally and bit reluctantly accepted.
The riding was a mixture of beautiful tar and sand roads. When we could we would be off into the bush in search of the Dakar racers. It was not easy finding points where the competitors would come through, as this is not exactly made public, for safety reasons I guess. But the exploring and finding roads to ride and the utter freedom of not knowing what lies ahead, turned it into a real adventure. We were getting what we came for, “A once in a lifetime adventure”. As it turns out I want there to be a 2nd, 3rd, 4th....................
Watching the riders & drivers was awesome, and the sights and sounds of all that machinery can only be explained as simply, “eye candy of a motoring orgy” All you petrol heads will know what I am talking about.
Km’s travelled – 1500km – no issues with any of the bikes, still going strong.
Taking on THE ANDES - TBC
