Getting ready for the “Next” Rally
It’s been a long time since my last post so I would like to update my Rally progress.
This weekend (April 15-17) I am attending another rally school with Charlie Rauseo and team Rally Pan AM in the Nevada desert and dunes. It should be a blast as I haven’t ridden off road since my unexpected departure from the 2010 Dakar rally. You see it has been a very busy past year.
On March 11, 2010 my daughter Madeleine Blair Hatswell was born. She was around at the time of Dakar but was in Mommy’s belly at the start line. I’m sure she heard the thunder of my rally bike go by as I crossed the podium. Bonnie is doing well and little Cooper has been very excited to have a new toy in the house!
Now a year has passed and Madeleine is already 1 year old. Time to get back to riding! I completely dismantled the Dakar Bike and rebuilt it to really learn about the mechanical intricacies of the machine. Probably should have done that before the race though… I found that the wires to my cooling fan were pulled apart so I didn’t have any additional cooling. Not that I am making excuses for not completing the Dakar but a simple wire pulled out was causing my bike to overheat and boil over. I wonder if I would have made it through the 3rd stage…
So now this weekend April 15- 17 I am getting together with the team and a bunch of new riders to practice navigation and long Dakar rally type routes to get ready for the next rally. What rally you say?
I am booking time for the 2011 Rally du Maroc in southern Morocco. This is the race that ended for me after 2 days with a broken leg and a helicopter ride in 2009, 8 weeks before the start of the 2010 Dakar rally. I feel I must complete this race before I look to go back to the Dakar. With a good start to the year in Nevada with the team I feel that I should be ready for a solid second to last in Morocco!
Stay tuned for more updates leading up to the Morocco rally. It is held in the end of October 2011 in Zagora Morocco.
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