Any Dakar fans out there?

Here are some cool vids to get the juices flown.







Watching the motos ride the dunes is just awesome. I probably go ride somoa dunes tomorrow, but sure as hell can't make it look that easy. (In fact I make it look pretty hard )

Any fellow dirt/dual sport riders out there?

Salty., where are you?????

Workin my azz off. thanks for the vids. my moto buddy called me this week looking to ride but gotta work while there's work to be had! After Xmas I'm hoping to fish n ride a bit.

Anyone following? 3 days in and 4 different makes of bikes in the top 4. Still a long way to go.  Results after the high altitude marathon stage:

Overall at the moment
1    003 - JOAN BARREDA BORT (ESP)   HONDA CRF 450 RALLY 9h56m44s   
2    001 - CYRIL DESPRES (FRA)   YAMAHA 450 YZF   10h09m48s +00:13:04   
3    002 - MARC COMA (ESP)   KTM 450 RALLY FACTORY REPLICA 10h10m40s   +00:13:56   
4    022 - ALAIN DUCLOS (FRA)   SHERCO 450 SR   10h13m22s +00:16:38   
5    005 - FRANCISCO LOPEZ CONTARDO (CHL)   KTM 450 RALLY FACTORY REPLICA   10h15m23s   +00:18:39   
6    009 - DAVID CASTEU (FRA)   KTM 450 RALLY   10h19m00s +00:22:16
Current local time: 14:21 (GMT -3)

Dakar isn't the same with out Caselli. But I'll be watching online.

I was watching the same type of race but in Russia the other weekend.  I love Dakar, when I bought my last motorcycle I almost bought the BMW Dakar, instead I bought a Hayabusa!!!  I miss my Busa

When I was a kid, I remember watching Dakar on TV, probably ABCs wide world of sports. I think they have a half hour recap on nbcsports, but its mostly all on line. Only mx and sx gets any real coverage in the US.

Stage 2 and 3 was absolute carnage, esp for the quads and trucks. Many WDs. Apparantly the dunes were massive and the high altitude stage, the highest ever for dakar, was no picnic either. Basically trials type riding in sections for the bikes. Makes sense that both Despres and Coma moved from 9/10 to 2/3 overall.

Looks like Honda has a good bike this year as well. We will see if it holds up.

http://m.sfgate.com/cars/slideshow/Insane-images-from-the-2014-Dakar-Rally-77256/photo-5690490.php

Damn, those pics of the poor guy's bike burning down to the sand & his look of crushed disappointment.......wow........ the agony of defeat x1000.