Real-life Road Warriors

[miss_adventure]

I don't celebrate NYE, preferring to start my year at Samhain; typical Western NYE is just another night of dealing with drunks and fights, albeit on a grand scale. However, 31 December is saved for this: it marks the start of the annual Dakar Rally. The Rally, which started in 1979, is an off-road race from Europe (this year's race started in Lisbon, Portugal) through the Maghreb and West Africa to Dakar, Senegal. Racers use cars and trucks, motorcycles and quads, and self-created customized machines--there is even an American sidecar rig competing this year. The 2006 route is expected to take 15 days to complete for the serious contenders, as it is plotted to be as rugged and unforgiving as possible.

Needless to say, I want to ride this rally someday. Just finishing would be a Grand Adventure(TM). (Or because I'd have to enter as a broke privateer and because I would not be competing as a serious contender, a Grand Misadventure.)

Comments

[feyandstrange.livejournal.com]

(scowls) Isn't that smack in the middle of the hypothetical rainy season in the Maghreb? Sounds icky. (This from my mild experience with the northern edge of the Sahara.)

You just want to call yourself a privateer. While on a motorcycle. That does sound kind of cool though.

Shinto seems content to have moved its presumably-formerly-seasonal New Year to the calendar year, and I'm all good with that. Fall has *never* felt like the end of the year to me, Samhain notwithstanding. Then again, the drunk problem in Japan may be lessened by Shinto and Buddhism, because everybody wants to get to the shrine bright and early on New Year's morning. They're probably drunk on the trains though. Mmm, drunks on trains. At least they're not being drunks on trains during commute hour. Despite being something of a baseball fan, I HATED it when drunk so-called fans would be chugging beer and hollering and turning thei radios up to hear the game on my damn commute home. If you're a real damn fan, get there when the game starts!

[miss-adventure.livejournal.com]

You just want to call yourself a privateer. While on a motorcycle.

Well, yeah. *grin*