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.
