Jim Hyde has always harboured a dream to go and see the Dakar Rally in person, but while the race traditionally took place in Europe and Africa, this was never possible. However, since it moved to South America, the boss of California-based official BMW Motorrad partner RawHyde Adventures made sure that it was on his ‘to do’ list for 2010.
In fact, along with ten other GS riders, Jim has spent the last few weeks in South America following the 2010 Dakar Argentina/Chile rally route. On GS bikes of varying sizes, including the R 1200 GS, R 1200 GS Adventure, F 800 GS and F 650 GS, Jim and his group of intrepid adventurers have quite literally had the time of their lives, riding 3,000 miles – mostly off-road – and following the course of the toughest off-road race in the world. As Jim explains, it was really a dream come true for lots of different reasons.
“I have always equated the Dakar Rally as one of the things that really defines the word ‘adventure’, said the off-road professional. “The idea of taking a motorcycle and travelling thousands of miles through forbidding terrain in undeveloped parts of the world has always appealed to me. The reality began to sink in when we got our rental bikes, which were all BMWs. We had five riders on 1200 GSs, three guys on F 800s and three on the F 650 GS.”
Having arrived at their destination following an eight-hour flight from Los Angeles to Lima, Peru, and then a night flight to Cordoba, Argentina, the group of riders were keen to start riding their first stage, which was 350 miles of mostly off-road terrain to the town of La Rioja, situated in the ‘valley of the moon’. Their first sight of the Dakar ‘train’ was an awe-inspiring spectacle. With around 575 motorcycles, cars and trucks in the event, and plenty of ‘viewing stations’ to watch the race go by, the group was amazed to see thousands of people lining the streets, all screaming like maniacs for their favourite riders and drivers.
As a rider who is passionate about big GS bikes, Jim was disappointed that there were no riders on the big bikes, as changes to the rules meant that all the entrants were on 450cc rally bikes. However, as his group of BMW riders was kitted out in various combinations of rally clothing, they were often mistaken for the genuine rally participants, as Jim explains:
“Everywhere we went, people thought we were somehow connected with the race, and we didn’t speak Spanish well enough to let them know that wasn’t the case! It’s true that we did ‘look the part’ as our big BMWs were kitted out with knobbly tyres, we all had our rally suits on, and we were absolutely filthy from all the dust and mud. Every single time we stopped, we were ‘swarmed’ by the locals. Most of them wanted a picture with us, many wanted an autograph, and lots wanted to climb on our bikes for a picture, so it was truly an awesome experience for us to be a part of an event that has the power to generate such enthusiasm among the population of a country.”
Another ‘high’ point for the group was their first experience of coca leaves, which were necessary to combat altitude sickness when attempting to ride over one of the highest mountain passes in the world. The Passo de San Francisco is over 4,750 metres high, and worried that they could be liable for any accidents that occurred on the rented motorcycles, their Argentine guides for this section came equipped with several packages of the mild stimulant that minimizes the effects of altitude sickness. So, like the indigenous people have done for thousands of years, Jim and his companions chewed the coca leaves and attempted the pass, whereupon they encountered another motorcyclist who hadn’t taken this vital precaution. On finding him so delirious due to the effects of the high altitude that he could not stand, talk clearly, or continue riding his motorcycle, Jim had no choice but to put the man’s motorcycle in the group’s support truck and give him a lift on his own bike.
“Because there was no room in the truck for a passenger I had no choice but to take him on my GS,” he said. “However, the journey was about 75 miles (120 kilometres) on a really rough dirt road and he was so ill he could barely hold on. So there we were, riding two-up, with the big Dakar race trucks flying by every few minutes just a few centimetres away from us. It certainly made for a nerve-wracking couple of hours.”
The following day the group entered Chile and the Atacama Desert – the driest place on earth – where they spent three days shadowing the rally through a landscape with no birds, insects and nothing around for hundreds of kilometres. At Iquique, near the Peruvian border, the group visited the largest sand dune in the world (around 750 metres high) and the rally course went right over the top of it, so it was a fantastic place to see competitors on bikes, cars, buggies and in huge trucks hurtling down the incredibly steep dune in a cloud of dust and seemingly out of control.
During the remainder of their trip, Jim and his co-riders also witnessed many acts of camaraderie among the Dakar competitors, including one rider being towed to the finish line of a stage by a fellow competitor on a quad bike. They noticed that the rider on the motorcycle was so tired that he could barely stay on the bike and later found out that he had been towed for nearly 50 miles (80 kilometres) by the man on the quad – truly an heroic effort in such tough conditions.
After two weeks of spending around 12 to 14 hours a day in the saddle of their BMW bikes, it was time for the group to return to the USA. Summing up what had been an amazing first adventure in South America, Jim Hyde was delighted to have turned his Dakar dream into reality.
“All in all, it’s been an incredible adventure to ride the BMW GS bikes through South America and add two new countries to my list of life experiences,” he said. “I had never been to South America before but this trip was way more than just following the Dakar – we had an amazing interaction with the people, we ate all kinds of new food, learnt a lot about life below the equator and enjoyed a magnificent adventure. ‘Following the Dakar’ is something that we plan to do again, so 15 lucky people will have the chance to join us if the rally stays in South America next year.”
Find out what other adventures and training opportunities Jim and his team can provide on BMW bikes by visiting the www.rawhyde-offroad.com website.
