Imagine yourself screaming across the desert in Saudi Arabia, out in the hot sun, doing a buck fifteen, all on two wheels. The sand is whipping you in the face, as even your helmet and goggles aren't providing you full coverage and protection. It's hellishly hot, you're sweating like a pig, and the sun is glaring in your eyes. But still, to get to the finish line, you have to look down.
No, you can't keep your eyes on the path ahead. You can't keep your eyes up to ensure you don't encounter an unseen ditch or rock or errant camel. You have to look down. You have to look at the road book below you so you can figure out where you are and where you need to go. No Siri GPS to talk sweet nothings in your ears through a Cardo or set of headphones. Old-fashioned paper maps that spin on a wheel.
100 plus miles an hour across the sands, and you're looking at your road book. That's the reality of Dakar motorcycle racing. That's the reality that plays out each and every year in Saudi Arabia. And Sam Sunderland, one of the best Dakar motorcyclists of all time, is here to show you all how it works.
And it's nuts.
A "road book" is a bit different than your average GPS, even in the era of printed out MapQuest directions—Jesus, that made me feel old. The video is a few years old, but the premise is still very much in practice, as the road book tells you a ton about the rally stage you're currently on.
As Sunderland explains, the old-school method is one where you start off by putting your road book into your road book holder, which is attached to the motorcycle's dash. From there, you'll start at zero on your odometer and match it up to the zero on the road book's directions, and gradually move through the guidance as you move through the stage. The book's pages move as you move, too, though that's controlled through a toggle switch Sunderland operates on the bike's handlebars, with it being able to move forward and backward, depending on whether you're lost or not.
There are also buttons for adding or subtracting from your odometers, to which Sunderland has two—along with a Garmin inReach Mini2—so that when he rejoins the path after getting turned around, or finding a shortcut, he always has the right odometer reading for the road book's guidance.
Sunderland then goes into explaining the hieroglyphics that are the directions and navigations on the road book's pages, including what sandy and rough looks like, what means he has to turn, and more. I'm sure it makes perfect sense to him, but it's all Greek to me. And again, Sunderland and the rest of the racers are looking at this at race pace over the roughest terrain imaginable. That's...bonkers.
I highly recommend watching the full video, as it's a fascinating look into the death-defying antics of Dakar motorcycle racers. But, woof, I thought maybe one day I'd try my hand at it, but after watching that, maybe I'll stick to nearly dying in the woods packing out an elk...
