Kyle Chaney is quiet. The kind of quiet that makes you wonder what’s going on inside his head. He appears perpetually focused, too, and will often provide quick, somewhat curt replies to complicated questions. No need to explain himself, not anymore than is necessary. This focus and ceaseless calm are the ingredients for a successful off-road racer, and Kyle has proven that with his countless successes here in the States.
But winning off-road races in the deserts of the Southwest isn’t the same as competing in the most grueling race in the world, the Dakar Rally. The landscape of Saudi Arabia is far from hospitable, and during the nearly two-week-long cross-country rally raid, competitors have only French hieroglyphics, an odometer, and waypoints to guide them around the country.
This year, racers covered a total distance of approximately 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles), nearly all of which they had to navigate using only their roadbook. What was once a scroll of paper in an enclosed case and scrolled through as the kilometers passed beneath the tires is now uploaded into a tablet or digital roadbook. But the idea has stayed the same.
