Why On Earth Would They Do That?

A conversation with one of my students at lunch today:

Lyndon demonstrating, 'it's hard' 

"What are you watching?"
"Footage from today’s stage of the Dakar race."
"What's that?"
"The hardest race in the world."
"Why is it so hard?"
"It's thousands of kilometres of dangerous off road racing with cars, bikes & trucks with little sleep over weeks at a time. Many people who start it don’t finish. People die on it almost every year."
This very smart grade 9 student was confused. Finally she asked, "Why would anyone do that?”
“Because it’s difficult,” I replied.
She ruminated on that a moment then asked, “why is it so dangerous?”
“Because people race it in cars, trucks, quads and bikes, all at the same time over deserts, mountains and jungles. If you’re on a smaller vehicle it becomes even more dangerous than it already is.”
“Why on earth would anyone do that on a motorcycle?!?”
“Because it’s even more difficult…”

Is attempting the dangerous and difficult with ample chance of failure a bad idea, or the point of it all?  Risk nothing and you lose everything.

If you haven't been keeping up with the race this year, it's still all to play for.  If you want the official feed you can find it on the Dakar YouTube channel.  

If you're into documentary film making using the latest in state of the art video and on the fly editing, Lyndon Posskitt's Youtube Channel will take you through the race one gruelling stage at a time.  If you've got some time, watch Lyndon's Malle Moto - The Forgotten Dakar Story about last year's race.  It'll set you up for this year's harrowing adventure.

Face Your Monsters: Dakar Heroism

Dakar 2018 keeps coming thick and fast.  Front runners are dropping like flies in the Peruvian sand dunes.  Some of those front runners suggest this is too difficult for amateurs, but it's the professionals who seem to be catching the worst of it.

When I see a self-funded privateer like Lyndon Poskitt rolling in, maintaining his own bike, sorting himself out with a good night of sleep (in a tent on the ground) and then going at it again the next day, I have to think that maybe the speed-wonky professional racers with their team prepared vehicles and motor-home accommodations have missed the point entirely.  Don't get me wrong, I love watching the genius of the fast riders, but when they start moping about how a stage wasn't simple enough that reflexes and speed wasn't all it took to win it, I get annoyed.  Why do professional athletes always want to try and boil complex things down into something simple that they can more easily dominate?  Is that really what win at all cost competition has done to them?  It isn't very flattering.  The less funded a competitor, the more in keeping with the spirit of the Dakar they seem to be.

The professionals of motor-sport with their ungodly reflexes and singular focus on speed struggle with the Dakar, and that's exactly why I like it.  They complain about difficult navigation and the challenges of driving on fech-fech because they want every race to play to their strengths and run like an off road rally on carefully prepared stages. They've failed to comprehend that the Dakar is a long distance, cross country race. If they want to run rally stages, go run rally stages, but don't whine about the Dakar for being what it is.

What the Dakar is confounds people, but rather than hearing millionaire pro-drivers whining, I'd rather see real people battling the thing without excuses.  That many privateers and small teams have struggled mightily to get the funds just for the opportunity to face this monster of a race only makes their struggle more poignant.  I wish advertisers would enable more privateers into doing the Dakar and media would spend more time showing their battles.  Your brand gets a chance to show support for some real heroism and the media would have human stories to develop instead of focusing on the monotonous drone of competition.

***

Charles Cuypers has navigated the rally in a car and ridden motorcycles previously.  He knows what he's up against and yet once again he dares to try and finish the thing.  Watching this fifty year old fail to finish yet again was truly heroic.  It wasn't very dignified, but it was the most honest, heart wrenching thing I've seen in ages.

 He filmed his crash in the desert and eventual rescue by helicopter.  Through the whole thing he was chanting to himself that he would never give up.  The moment when he realizes it's over and bursts into tears on the helicopter is genuine, unspoiled and a beautifully sad thing to watch.  Will this aging man try again, or has the monster finally beaten him?  I don't care, I'm already a fan.  He had the courage to face the monster in the first place, and isn't that what matters?

"When I think of the Dakar, I have an image engraved in my head: that of Stéphane Peterhansel, a biker flying over the dunes. It was in the 90s. I was a co-driver and since that day I never stopped dreaming of riding the Dakar on a motorcycle. Being at the start is already a victory.  This human adventure shows us what life can be beyond the day to day. I want to live this passion: live life and live the adventure!"

Damned right, Charles, c'est magnifique!  Keep fighting that Dakar monster, that's what heroes do.

Notes:

Charles rode for Casteu Aventure.