I Want To Do DAKAR (The Right Way)

[skibum69]

Must have done the "F" route on Monday? How did you like the "squares". Anyone forget which 90 degree turn they were at and get lost in there? How about that very short little HP dune section? Not too bad, but a bit soft in there!

yes

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by HogWild

Must have done the "F" route on Monday? How did you like the "squares". Anyone forget which 90 degree turn they were at and get lost in there? How about that very short little HP dune section? Not too bad, but a bit soft in there!

The C loop has that huge wash crossing where the roadbook just says "find your way to that road you see way over on the other side". Of course it's a straight off cliff getting down into the wash, so you have to get creative there!

The E-A loop has the mini Grand Canyon where you ride along the rim. Overall that's a pretty high-speed route, but there's a few little "gatchas" thrown in to screw you up.

Then today the rock tunnel going up the wash on the D loop is super cool! The B loop is my favorite because it has all kinds of tough terrain and tough navigation. There's the sand washes with invisible exit points, the rabbit trail, and some good sort of HP stuff.

Would love to hear more about how it's going!

It was a total blast. I learned an ton. Between Jimmy and Johnny, it was an unparalleled opportunity. Scott, the routes were great. I got lost a few times, but managed to solve most issues by retracing to the last known tulip, usually not more than a mile. Still, Dave- moving slow and steady and not blowing the Nav, would catch me as I was just getting back on track, and then I'd go ahead till I blew a turn again

once or twice I used the lat/long and the GPS to find the tulip location, and get back that way, and also the mapbook making exercise was very educational.

A couple of things were weird, but in hindsight it turns out that in my haste I was not using all the available info on the route sheet to make good decisions. When I would see it the second time, it was more obvious.

There were a couple of places were it just didnt amake any sense to me at all, but at this point, I cant recall which of the 2-300 miles they were. I know there was one on the first day, and I got onto a trail that became a box canyon. Started first, came in last but hey. First time, thats my story Im sticking with it

Rabbit trails -v are very hard to see, especially from the same altitude as the trail itself. Another thing that goofed me up good was having the Odo be a little bit off. I would reset to the tulip usually at every known turn, (or not if it was right on) but it was funny, sometimes being off by a tenth or two didnt matter, sometimes it made all the difference.

I dont know about the squares, but the huge wash crossing was cool, and so was the rock tunnel I could have ridden slower and ended up going faster overall. A good lesson, one of many.

Every day I wanted to have a chance to do it again. Even now, I want to get back and do it perfectly.


A great, really great group of guys, too. All good riders, and all top notch gentlemen.

[Brodovitch]

Originally Posted by Stagehand

Another thing that goofed me up good was having the Odo be a little bit off. I would reset to the tulip usually at every known turn, (or not if it was right on) but it was funny, sometimes being off by a tenth or two didnt matter, sometimes it made all the difference.

Sounds like a heap of fun, I wish I lived closer to the location

Two things when you are constantly "off" in your distances: If you use an ICO, set it to Auto Correct in the settings... the ICO picks up how much you add/subtract every time you make a correction, and self-corrects the diameter entered.

The other thing, on which I always insist on getting spot-on to the point of being labelled anal, is riding and re-riding the organizer's "calibration kilometer", or in your case mile, and then using millimeters (all four digits of the value entered in the diameter field) to get it exactly right... did you guys have one?

On multi day rallies, as your front mousse dies, you might need to re-calibrate as well...

I soooo wish I could make it to one of these, as my CAP navigation skills are zero...

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by Brodovitch

Sounds like a heap of fun, I wish I lived closer to the location

Two things when you are constantly "off" in your distances: If you use an ICO, set it to Auto Correct in the settings... the ICO picks up how much you add/subtract every time you make a correction, and self-corrects the diameter entered.

The other thing, on which I always insist on getting spot-on to the point of being labelled anal, is riding and re-riding the organizer's "calibration kilometer", or in your case mile, and then using millimeters (all four digits of the value entered in the diameter field) to get it exactly right... did you guys have one?

On multi day rallies, as your front mousse dies, you might need to re-calibrate as well...

I soooo wish I could make it to one of these, as my CAP navigation skills are zero...

Thanks for the tips. A measured mile would have been a good idea, We could have done that, and also could have mucked about with the Vector to get the tire size correct, but really I was a bit awash just getting my head wrapped around it.. The self correcting ICO sounds pretty awesome.

[Brodovitch]

Great video, and a nice moment of solidarity out on the course

A note on the self correcting ICO, I think it will only self correct if say you start by nailing the first 4-5 tulips properly...
and adjusting a small amount each time in one direction (either repeatedly adding a few tenths or subtracting)

If you get lost and have to adjust a larger distance, I'm not sure if it takes that into account and affects the auto-calibration feature (for example if you go down a wrong road for half a mile, then back again and need to make a total adjustment of 1 mile to line up mileage and tulip correctly)

I wouldn't know as I run a pair of Touratech IMOs. No self adjustment feature (hence being anal about the organizer's calibration kilometer), but they have a sweet larger display font which I find much easier on the eyes, and the programming menu doesn't need knowledge of occult practices to make adjustments

[drc42]

+1 on the autocal function of the ICO. It throws out any big changes (from like when you miss a turn and have to reset back to the real mileage) and just looks for trends of small adjustments. In Mexico my odo would start out way off but be dead on later in the day, I kept forgetting to set the proper tire diameter each night with all the running around getting ready. It appears that the autocal setting resets itself when it shuts off which is why I had to go through this each day.

[skibum69]

glad you had fun, Scott does an amazing job with the roadbooks

[Bluebull2007]

Nice video Stagehand!

Hehe, glad to know Im not the only one making the those mistakes.

Here is a pic of SethS trying figure the wash thing in 2010.





On the early part of this route, a Blackhawk helicopter happened to came over and jammed my GPS totally for about 10 minutes. I reckon it was Scott's doing..



Chilling somewhere on that rabbit trail -v

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by Bluebull2007

Nice video Stagehand!

Hehe, glad to know Im not the only one making the those mistakes.

Here is a pic of SethS trying figure the wash thing in 2010.





On the early part of this route, a Blackhawk helicopter happened to came over and jammed my GPS totally for about 10 minutes. I reckon it was Scott's doing..



Chilling somewhere on that rabbit trail -v

Thats cool! I figured discretion was the better part of figuring out my way down that hill. No sense risking a steep section, for a tenth mile or two

Jimmy gave us a link to a flickr account of all the shots he got - said we could use them at will so I figured this was as good a place as it was gonna get:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jlroffr...th/7185650020/

[Bluebull2007]

Originally Posted by Stagehand

Thats cool! I figured discretion was the better part of figuring out my way down that hill. No sense risking a steep section, for a tenth mile or two

Jimmy gave us a link to a flickr account of all the shots he got - said we could use them at will so I figured this was as good a place as it was gonna get:

Your route across was way quicker than mine. I rode about 200m downstream and really battled to get back once i got down.


Thanks for the link

[HogWild]

Received this from Peter and thought it should be posted here (with is permission)...

... Jimmy is a great instructor and person, his facility and location is perfect and the entire program was outstanding. His passion and enthusiasm for rally is genuine. Having Jonny and his team there was unbelieveable. The range of terrain you and Jimmy lead us through is beautiful. I enjoyed the scenery as much as anything. I noticed a similarity with Dakar; the journey is also a tour through beautiful places.

The roadbooks routes were challenging and rewarding. The B loop had some of the trickiest navigation in my opinion and produced a sense of accomplishment upon completion. All of the routes were enjoyable, and Jimmy sequenced them well. I was definately blown away by the whole deal and can see how people get caught up in roadbook navigation. I am hooked. I also can see how repeating a route would go quicker, would not be as challengeing, and would burn in the turns. Driving by Dumont was a real tease on the way home, and I am anxious to get back and do the routes you sent.

The excercise where we built roadbooks was insightful and gave me great appreciation for the work that goes into creating the roadbooks. It is difficult to make a book, and even more difficult to do it well.

Thank you for sharing your wisdom and skill with others who desire learning how to navigate. I have my work cut out for me. Jimmy makes a lot of sense when he states that learning to navigate well will shave more time than focusing on just riding faster. I hope to compensate for what I lack in raw speed with mindful navigation.

Respectfully,

Peter

[Stagehand]

Peter was great. I mistaken called him Dave in my earlier post... thank god most of them are not ADV'ers, or I'd never be able to keep any names straight at all.

I tried to learn a lot from him, as we were a perfect tortoise/hare pair. I wish my nav was as strong as his, I'd have done a lot better.




Major lesson #652: All you really need is a milage and a CAP. Everything else is gravy.

Also it maybe hurts that Hog did the mapbooks... we'll never have it so good again :haha might have been better to learn on napkins stuck together with gum :notreally



Lesson #843: Chaffing can be a major issue. (thanks for the powder, Dave)

[El Cucuy]

Thanks for the cool report and pics!--nice work!

So is Kamo going to race Dakar for JCR??!? Would be awesome--he can fly!

[Stagehand]

Originally Posted by El Cucuy

Thanks for the cool report and pics!--nice work!

So is Kamo going to race Dakar for JCR??!? Would be awesome--he can fly!

He and Colten are aliens as far as I'm concerned.

Really nice, humble aliens, but aliens nonetheless

Thank dog for their tracks

[drc42]

Any news or rumours on when there might be another training session scheduled?